Hereafter in the Roman Empire

  • 2017

The conception of a world outside of life that we know varies according to different cultures and societies. That is why today we are going to focus our entrance on the afterlife in the Roman Empire . How did this people live the transit to the underworld? We will proceed to discover it.

What was the hereafter like in the Roman Empire?

A curious fact presented by the Roman people and not seen much in other cultures is that they considered that the deceased clung to life . That is, the person, once dead, tried to hold onto the vital world in any way. Thus, according to their tradition, in order for this transit to be correct, it should be carried out according to their ceremonial processes.

In ancient Rome there were the Manes, who were deities representing the spirits of the ancestors . Thus, if the ritual was not carried out according to the norms, they would not pick up the deceased, since he did not have the proper purification.

However, if the Manes did not pick up the deceased, he remained locked between the world of the living and the dead . We can observe that this spiritual transition has been inherited by many current societies.

In fact, this being adopted an atrocious hatred for the living, very similar to what we see today. So even wise men like Cicero would write that while some thought that death separated the soul from the body, others believed that it dissipated with speed, while a last group considered that they would live. Forever.

The trip over there in the Roman Empire

The trip to beyond the Romans is well known today. At the time they had to place an symbol, a small silver coin, under the tongue of the deceased . This would be the tribute to pay Charon, the boatman waiting for them in the Styx lagoon to cross to the other shore. It is believed that this ceremony originated in the time of the Etruscans, a town that previously inhabited the lands that are now Italy.

Arriving at the opposite shore on the promenade provided by Charon, a Roman was with Cerberus. This famous dog had three heads, and was owned by Father Dis, true god of the ultraworld . Thus, the dog is friendly with every soul, unless he tries to escape without authorization, which makes him aggressive.

This is really the legend after the belief that Cerberus is a truly brutal hell dog . Although in reality, beyond its long snake tail and its three heads, it was also previously used in Greek mythology and inherited by the Romans, like so many other deities.

The judges of the afterlife in the Roman underworld

At this point, the three judges who would judge each Roman soul appeared. They are Minos, Aeacus and Radamantos . Thus, it was up to each person to narrate their life, after which they were anointed with water from the Leta River. This is one of the 5 that run the Roman ultraworld. Thus, this liquid purged of all earthly existence, falling into oblivion.

Then comes the trip to the Champs Elysees, which is really a kind of paradise for good warriors. However, exemplary citizens ended up in Asfodel, while penitents traveled to the terrible Tartarus. This was the purge for offending the gods. Depending on the crime in life, the punishment lasted more or less, but it was not eternal.

It should be noted that Father Dis, owner of Cerberus, did the work that the true god of death did not do, whose name was Mors or Tanatos . However, I didn't decide on who died or not. In this case we will remember the three grim reapers, Nona, Morta and Tenth. Also originating in ancient Greece, they were the rulers of Roman destinies.

This was the afterlife in the Roman Empire . However, everything changed when they massively embraced Christianity and began to believe in a life after death. It was approximately the year III AD

By Pedro, editor of the Great White Brotherhood, seen in archaeological history

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