Memoria damnata. Memoria pubblica negata e memoria privata manomessa nei monumenti funerari romani
Author(s)
Stefano De Angeli
Date Issued
2025
Type
bookPart
Start Page
287
End Page
298
Abstract
Through their texts and images, Roman funerary monuments addressed a wide range of visitors — family members, friends, and strangers alike — projecting their commemorative purpose into private and public dimensions. In the latter, particularly for individuals of political and social standing, these monuments materially contributed to the construction of Roman cultural memory, much like urban honorary monuments. This construction involved continuous additions, but also occasional acts of memory subtraction, exemplified by the practice of damnatio memoriae (or, more accurately according to Latin literary sources, memoria damnata). Beyond the sanction of a public memory post mortem, material evidence from private funerary monuments also reveals intentional tampering with epigraphs and portraits. These manipulations, through re-inscription, deletion, destruction, or reworking, aimed to distort the deceased’s memory and establish a negative one. Rather than simply erasing the past of the condemned, these actions sought to dishonor them through the clear visibility of sanctions to their name and image, serving as “marks of shame”.