An Ancient Roman Ghost Story As Told By Pliny The Younger

A classic haunted house tale

(Public domain)

Pliny the Younger was a prominent scholar, author, and lawyer in ancient Rome. His career spanned thirty years, from 81 CE until 110 CE. Pliny was an astute writer and penned hundreds of letters that carry invaluable historical insights. Combing through these letters, you can find everything from his perspective on Roman politics to his views on the newly emerging Christian faith. However, one letter stands out as an oddity. In a letter addressed to a friend named Sura, titled Letter 27, Pliny the Younger asks his friend a question that we have all asked at one point or another. Do you believe in ghosts?

Pliny writes:

I am extremely desirous therefore to know your sentiments concerning spectres, whether you believe they actually exist and have their own proper shapes and a measure of divinity, or are only the false impressions of a terrified imagination?

Even more interesting than that, Pliny goes on to expose that he recently has come around to the idea of ghosts being real thanks to a convincing story he heard about a haunted house in Athens…

The Haunted House of Ancient Athens

The story tells of a house in Athens that was large, spacious, and in a good location. However, the house stood empty because the locals claimed it was haunted. At night, the sound of rattling chains could be heard coming from the house, which grew louder as you grew closer. Locals who ventured to the house to investigate were met with an apparition of a man with a long white beard and empty eyes.

The spirit terrified the local neighbors who passed many “sleepless nights” around the house. Pliny writes that the apparition never appeared during the day but that the haunting was so potent that the house still evoked horror from people even at high noon.

Still, the house was too large and impressive to sit empty, so the neighbors hatched a plan to sell the house to an ignorant tenant who would move in despite the haunting. They posted a rental notice and immediately attracted the eye of a philosopher who was new to town, Athenodorus.