There is a longstanding tradition – though nearly extinct now – of telling ghost stories around Christmas-time. In this episode of Esoterica we are going to conjure the tradition up by exploring a Roman ghost story recounted by Pliny the Younger. Here we find a Stoic philosopher in a house haunted by a chain-shaking specter. We’ll discover all the classic haunted house tropes here dating back nearly 2000 years! I’ll also be reading the tale aloud in both Latin and English if you want to hear it as well.
Recommended Reading:
Pliny’s letters in Latin – http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Plin.+Ep.+7.27
The Latter in English – http://www.attalus.org/old/pliny7.html (scroll down to the Sura )
Ogden – Magic, Witchcraft and Ghosts in the Greek and Roman Worlds – 978-0195385205
#latin #ghoststory #stoicism
