This 2,000-Year-Old Skeleton Reveals How Ancient Romans Celebrated Life and Death
· Vice
With Halloween approaching, we wanted to share a bit of cute, spooky content with you. Many of us already know that a memento mori (which translates to “remember that you must die”) is an object meant to remind us of our mortality, whether to encourage us to enjoy life while it lasts or to be righteous because we could meet our Maker at any moment.
The Science Museum Group Collection just took it upon itself to draw our attention to one of its rare miniature treasures on Instagram. They shared a clip (from a longer 2024 video featuring several artifacts) of a shockingly realistic 2,000-year-old skeleton, referred to as a larva convivialis (or “banquet ghost”).
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This bronze relic, which could also be made of silver, was given to feast or party attendees. As curator Gabrielle Bryan-Quamina says, call it a “party favor,” if you will. It was most definitely meant to impress. Ms. Bryan-Quamina shows off the detailed, articulated limbs of the skeleton, which guests could play with.
This 2,000-Year-Old Roman Skeleton Was Actually a Party Favor
The ancient Roman tradition of the larva convivialis dates back to about 500 B.C. Ms. Bryan-Quamina notes that the use of these figurines has even been recorded in the likes of Petronius’ historic, canonical work of fiction The Satyricon.
For unknown reasons, the right leg on the item featured in the video has been eerily replaced with a left arm; nothing dangles from one of the shoulder sockets. This larva convivialis belongs to Sir Henry Wellcome’s Museum Collection and measures 112 mm x 22 mm x 13 mm and weighs 0.02kg.
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