Ghost stories have always had a certain charm for me. I have long been engaged by the simplicity of the paranormal anecdotes of Pu Songling's Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio, as well as the cheesiness of Scifi Original's horror films.
The broad stretch of time which my interests cover, provides an interesting parallel that shows how little the structure and stock characteristics of the traditional ghost story vary over time. Recently, my interests have begun to wander over to whether or not ghosts or other paranormal beings existed in Roman and Greek society. Yes, there is the story in the Iliad of Achilles' ghost, as well as countless others. And in Virgil's Aeneid we have ghosts too, however I have seen little mention of everyday encounters with the paranormal. It's one thing for the ghosts to exist in the realm of epic, but quite another to be talked about by the people.
So far I have come across only one mention (only having done a little research) of a traditional haunted house story by Pliny the Younger in one of his letters. Pliny is writing to L. Licinius Sura, a famous orator and ex-consul. His letter opens up with a short discourse on the paranormal:
"Et mihi discendi et tibi docendi facultatem otium praebet. Igitur perquam velim scire, esse phantasma et habere propriam figuram numenque aliquod putes an inania et vana ex metu nostro imaginem accipere.
Since leisure provides a means for me to learn and you to teach I would very much like to know therefore, if you think that there are ghosts and that they have a proper figure and any divine power, or that they are some unsubstantial and hollow thing that receive form out of our fear."
It is interesting here to note the words that represent what ghosts are in Roman society. Phantasma comes from the Greek φάντασμα which literally means an image or appearance. This same concept is reflected in other words used for ghosts in Latin: imago, idolon, and simulacrum. All these concepts have a base meaning somewhere along the lines of "likeness, copy, image". This shows that the Romans clearly related ghosts to reflections of human beings. They saw these figures as copies of the real thing, also implying that perhaps they were imitators of dead friends, whom would be recognized.
His first account of a ghost is one which appears to Curtius Rufius, foretelling events in hid life which end up coming true. Further on in Pliny's letter a very traditional ghost story is set up:
"Erat Athenis spatiosa et capax domus, sed infamis et pestilens. Per silentium noctis sonus ferri et, si attenderes acrius, strepitus vinculorum longius primo, deinde e proximo reddebatur. Mox apparebat idolon, senex macie et squalore confectus, promissa barba, horrenti capillo; cruribus compedes, manibus catenas gerebat quatiebatque.
There was in Athens a large and spacious house, but is was ill-reputed and unwholesome. Through the silence of night the sound of iron, and if you paid close attention, the rattling of chains was heard at first from far off, then from nearby. Soon a ghost appeared, an emaciated old man weakened by squalor, with a long beard and dishevelled hair; he was holding and shaking chains with hands and shackles with his legs."
This is a very traditional depiction of the popular ghost. You have the mysterious rattling of chains in a run-down house with a dirty looking ghoul as the culprit. This depiction is still popular today, with almost every ghost-based horror movie having mysterious sounds that approach, and the ghoul in the attic of the Weasley's house in Harry Potter is known to have a chain shaking fetish.
However, a ghost story would not be complete without some seemingly hapless victim coming along, who manages to turn the tables and solve the ghost problem. Many stories by Pu Songling have a Taoist priest coming by to trick the ghost or fox spirit into going away. Even the setup is very similar as well as the scenes. I highly recommend to get a translated copy if you can.
Our hapless man happens to be the philosopher Athenodorus. He has recently arrived in Athens and is looking for a place to live. The locals have been bothered by the ghost long enough that they are even frightened in the day time, though the ghost is not out. The house he haunts has been put up for sale at a cheap price to lure the unsuspecting buyer in. Athenodorus purchases the house and is not bothered by the warning of his neighbors. At first all is quiet and Athenodorus is writing peacefully, but it is not long before he hears the sounds of the ghost:
"Initio, quale ubique, silentium noctis; deinde concuti ferrum, vincula moveri; ille non tollere oculos, non remittere stilum, sed obfirmare animum auribusque praetendere. Tum crebrescere fragor, adventare et iam ut in limine, iam ut intra limine audiri; respicit, videt agnoscitque narratam sibi effigiem.
The beginning of the night was the usual sort of silence; then the sound of iron being struck together and of chains moving was heard; Athenodorus did not raise his eyes, did not lay down his pen, but strengthened his mind and shut his ears. Then the din grew louder, and now approached the door, now was heard within the room; he looked up, and saw and recognized the image that had been described to him."
The ghost then beckons to him with a finger and at first he tells it to hold on and continues writing, but the ghost grows impatient and rattles its chains above his head until he gets up and follows it. This is a pretty humorous scene. Athenodorus follows the ghost into the courtyard of the house whereupon it disappears, however being a wise philosopher he marks the spot with some grass and orders the magistrate to dig up the spot the next day. Under the spot they find the remains of a man shackled in chains. They collect the bones and bury him at public expense (a willing compromise I am sure), and afterwards the haunting ceases.
One more ghost story is included in the letter and is a bit more personal. Apparently one of Pliny's slave boys was visited by a ghost which cut off his hair and scattered it about the room.
A bit of an odd thing to do as a ghost in my opinion.
At first the household is suspicious and thinks perhaps the slave boy did it himself. A few days later, however, another slave boy is woken in the middle of the night by two people garbed in white who climb in through his window and cut off his hair too and spread it around the room. So either there is some weird hair fetish cult in ancient Rome or the ghosts were real. Pliny takes it as a sign that he would escape persecution under Domitian's reign, since it was common for the accused to grow out their hair.
I hope to find some more interesting ghost stories to share, and perhaps I can follow this line of study at school. Stay tuned for further episodes of A Haunting: Ancient Rome.
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