The house is quiet. It is midnight, the dogs have stopped barking, and the rest of the household is asleep. The head of the family rises from bed without putting on his shoes. He washes his hands, makes a protective gesture with his fingers, and begins walking through the darkened house. Then he throws black beans over his shoulder. He does not look behind him. According to the Romen poet Ovid, a spirit is following him and gathering the beans from the floor. This was not Halloween. It was Lemuria, one of ancient Rome’s strangest festivals.
Did the Romans Have Halloween?
Not exactly. There is no good historical evidence that the Roman festival of Lemuria developed into our modern Halloween, and the two celebrations took place at completely different times of the year. Halloween falls on October 31, whereas the Romans observed Lemuria on May 9, 11, and 13. These dates are confirmed not only by Ovid but also by surviving Roman calendars. Still, the similarities make Lemuria fascinating to discuss around Halloween. Both involve the dead, the nighttime, and the idea that the boundary between the living and the dead may not always be comfortable. But Lemuria was not about costumes, candy, or celebrating the arrival of autumn. It was about dealing with the dead.
When the Dead Came Home
Our most detailed account comes from the Roman poet Ovid, who describes Lemuria in Book Five of his Fasti, a poem explaining the Roman religious calendar. Ovid calls the observance an ancient rite. His account begins at midnight, when the household has become silent. The paterfamilias, or head of the household, rises barefoot. He then makes a gesture with his hand, placing his thumb between his fingers. Ovid suggests this was intended to protect him from encountering a wandering shade. Next, he washes his hands in fresh water, then come the beans. The man takes black beans, turns away, and throws them behind him. As he does so, he repeats a formula nine times. In Ovid’s description, the beans are offered as a means of redeeming himself and his household. Most importantly, he does not look back. the spirit is believed to follow behind him and gather the beans. For anyone familiar with modern ghost stories, this is where the ceremony begins to feel remarkably familiar. Whatever you do……don’t look behind you.
Getting the Ghosts Out
Throwing the beans was not the end of the ritual. After repeating the formula nine times, the man touched water again. He then made noise by striking bronze. Finally, he ordered the spirits to leave. Ovid tells us that he repeated his command nine times before finally looking behind him. Only then could he consider the ceremony properly completed. The purpose seems fairly clear. These were the spirits that the household wanted outside. Modern scholarship generally interprets Lemuria as dealing with potentially troublesome or dangerous spirits of the dead, although Roman ideas about lemures, Manes, larvae, and other categories of the dead are more complicated than simply dividing ghosts into “good” and “evil.” The Oxford Classical Dictionary describes the Lemuria as a private ritual intended to propitiate dangerous and hungry ghosts believed to be wandering through houses. That makes Lemuria different from another Roman festival of the dead, the Parentalia.
Not All Roman Ghosts Were the Same
The Romans maintained an important relationship with their ancestors. During Parentalia in February, families remembered their deceased relatives and visited tombs with offerings. These rites were connected with maintaining the proper relationship between a Roman family and its dead. Lemuria feels different. Instead of visiting a family tomb during the day, Ovid gives us a private nighttime ritual performed inside the home. Rather than approaching the dead with ordinary commemorative offerings, the head of the household performs protective actions and ultimately orders the spirits to leave. Scholars caution us, however, against making the distinction too simple. Roman beliefs about the dead changed over time, and the categories used for different kinds of spirits were not always consistent. Modern research into Roman beliefs about the Di Manes shows that the relationship between the living and dead was far more complicated than a simple division between friendly ancestors and hostile ghosts. The Romans could respect the dead while also being concerned about what happened when the dead did not remain where they belonged.
Why Black Beans?
This is one of the questions we cannot answer with certainty. Beans had associations with death and the supernatural in several ancient traditions, but exactly why black beans played this particular role during Lemuria is not explained clearly by Ovid. The ritual itself is clear; its meaning is harder to reconstruct. That distinction is important. It is tempting to take every strange ancient custom and provide a neat explanation for it. The Romans themselves did not always know why their oldest religious practices existed. Ovid even admits that the origin of the name Lemuria was uncertain before providing a mythological explanation connecting the festival with Romulus and the murdered Remus. Ovid’s story is valuable evidence for what Romans of his time believed about the festival, but that does not necessarily mean it preserves the festival’s actual historical origin. Sometimes the most accurate answer is simply: “we don’t know.”
Ghost Stories in the Roman World
Lemuria also reminds us that Romans could be deeply concerned about ghosts. Roman literature contains stories of haunted houses, restless dead, strange noises, and apparitions. These beliefs existed alongside the more familiar Roman world of temples, sacrifices, household gods and public religious ceremonies. The supernatural was part of Roman life. That does not mean every Roman believed every ghost story. Ancient people could be skeptical too. But rituals like Lemuria demonstrate that dealing properly with the dead was taken seriously enough to occupy specific days on the Roman religious calendar. The festival appears in inscribed Roman calendars on May 9, 11, and 13 even though Ovid provides our only detailed description of what happened inside the home.
So, Was Lemuria the Roman Halloween?
Simple answer is no. But it is probably one of the closest comparisons we can make. There were no jack-o-lanterns, no trick or treat, and no costumes. There is no evidence that any Halloween traditions descended from Lemuria. Anyone planning a historically accurate Lemuria party in October is about five months early. Still, imagine the scene Ovid describes:
Midnight
A dark Roman house.
Bare feet walking quietly across the floor.
Water dripping from freshly washed hands.
Black beans disappearing into the darkness behind you.
Something unseen following along and gathering them.
Then the sudden crash of bronze breaking the silence.
Finally, the command: Spirits of my ancestors……go forth.
Maybe the Romans did not have Halloween, but they certainly knew how to deal with a haunted house.
Legio XIIII, Protinus!
