Ancestor Masks and Aristocratic Power in Roman Culture

Author	Harriet Flower
Format	Paperback
ISBN	9780199240241
Publication Date	28/10/1999
Publisher	Oxford University Press, Usa

The author discusses how the Roman elite commemorated politically prominent family members with wax masks worn by actors at the funerals of the deceased. She looks at literary sources, legal texts, epigraphy, archaeology, numismatics, and art to trace the functional evolution of ancestor masks, from the third century BC to the sixth century AD. By putting these masks into their legal, social, and political context, the author elucidates their central position in the media of the time and their special meaning as symbols of power and prestige.

Flower explains why the Roman elite commemorated politically prominent family members with wax masks worn by actors at the funerals of the deceased. She looks at literary sources, legal texts, epigraphy, archaeology, numismatics, and art, tracing the functional evolution of ancestor masks, from the third century BC to the sixth century AD. By putting these masks into their legal, social, and political context, Flower elucidates their central position in the media of the time and their special meaning as symbols of power and prestige.