Haunted houses in antiquity: Did the Romans believe in ghosts?
Several written sources reveal that the ancient Romans also feared chain-rattling ghosts and haunted houses.
During the October–November period, people’s imaginations are more captivated than usual by the supernatural. On long autumn evenings, it’s not uncommon for familiar ghost stories to resurface in the form of books or horror films. Yet it’s fascinating to consider that even centuries ago, the Romans were no strangers to such tales.
Multiple stories have survived
Various ghost stories appear in numerous written sources, most of which date from the first centuries CE, according to National Geographic. Plutarch, the Greek-Roman biographer, for instance, mentions in one of his works an old, abandoned Greek bathhouse near which locals often saw strange figures — and from which, on occasion, screams and cries could be heard.
However, he was not the only one to record such phenomena. Pliny the Younger, one of the most prominent writers and statesmen of the 1st–2nd centuries CE, left behind a large collection of letters. In one of these, addressed to his friend Senator Sura, he recounts three stories that shed light on how people of his time viewed the supernatural.
In one account, Pliny recalls how two men who had stayed in his home for a while noticed at night that someone had cut locks of their hair, and they thought they saw strange shapes in the darkness.
Ancient haunted houses
The haunted house, a central motif of so many modern horror stories, appears not only in Plutarch’s writings but also in one of Pliny’s letters. He describes how the residents of a house in Athens were terrorised by a mysterious phantom draped in heavy, clanking chains.
The ghost eventually drove away everyone who lived in or near the house — until a philosopher, sceptical of the reports, decided to move in. One night, as he worked by lamplight, the apparition appeared before him, dispelling all his doubts.
According to historian Daniel Ogden, this story — and the very concept of haunted houses — has its roots in ancient Greek folklore, from which the Romans, as in many other cases, adopted it. The motif has remained part of cultural tradition ever since.
The earliest surviving story about a haunted house comes from Plautus’s comedy Mostellaria (circa 200 BCE). In it, a slave deceives his master, who has returned from a long journey, by claiming that the house became haunted during his absence. However, even this play is based on an earlier, now-lost Greek comedy from the 3rd or 4th century BCE — showing just how deep the roots of ghostly tales run.
The importance of burial customs
According to Debbie Felton, a researcher at UMass Amherst, Greek-Roman ghost stories share a common theme: spirits return to haunt the living because they were not buried according to proper ritual. In Pliny’s letter, the ghost leads the philosopher to the spot where its remains had been buried, and after receiving a proper funeral, the apparition never returned.
The belief also held that anyone who helped a ghost could be rewarded. The famous writer and philosopher Cicero recounts a story in which a poet buried the body of a dead man, whose spirit later warned him not to board a ship — a warning that saved his life, as the ship later sank.
Some accounts even claim that a ghost appeared before Julius Caesar as he crossed the Rubicon. In another of Pliny’s letters, a spirit foretells a man’s successful political career — but also warns him of his impending death.
Did the Romans believe in ghosts?
In ancient Rome, the existence of ghosts was taken almost as much for granted as it is today. The best evidence for this lies in the fact that most surviving tales appear in comedies — suggesting that, much like modern horror films or novels, they were created primarily for entertainment. It’s therefore possible that Pliny himself was simply the victim of a cruel prank and deception. Or maybe not?