ABSTRACT

Although the distinctive - and sometimes bizarre - means by which Roman aristocrats often chose to end their lives has attracted some scholarly attention in the past, most writers on the subject have been content to view this a s an irrational and inexplicable aspect of Roman culture. In this book, T.D. Hill traces the cultural logic which animated these suicides, describing the meaning and significance of such deaths in their original cultural context. Covering the writing of most major Latin authors between Lucretius and Lucan, this book argues that the significance of the 'noble death' in Roman culture cannot be understood if the phenomenon is viewed in the context of modern ideas of the nature of the self.

chapter 1|29 pages

Introduction

chapter 2|41 pages

Cicero

chapter 3|13 pages

Lucretius and Epicureanism

chapter 5|16 pages

Vergil

chapter 6|23 pages

Ovid

chapter 7|38 pages

Seneca

chapter 8|30 pages

The Concept of Political Suicide at Rome

chapter 9|24 pages

Lucan

chapter 10|15 pages

Petronius

chapter |7 pages

Epilogue

Roman Suicide after Nero