miguel Posted October 1, 2006 Report Share Posted October 1, 2006 This topic may not related to history, but I would like to link it up to. I have read the Vampire Chronicles, a series of vampire novels written by Anne Rice, and there is a vampire named Marius who is a Roman himself. Other than this, I believe everyone of us here has heard of Dracula. The story is based on a true Romanian prince in the 15th century and it could be related to the late Byzantine Empire. The question is, has vampirism ever existed in Roman history? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DecimusCaesar Posted October 1, 2006 Report Share Posted October 1, 2006 Vampireism relates to the Medieval era and the age of Vlad Tepes (Count Dracula) I don't think I have ever come across Roman stories of Vampires. I have read in one source that the Emperor Constantine XI was related to Vlad Tepes. Is this true? As another note they did suffer death at the hands of Sultan Mehmet II. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ursus Posted October 1, 2006 Report Share Posted October 1, 2006 The myth of the Vampire is, as far as I understand, a product of Slavic folklore, not Greco-Roman mythology. If you consider Byzantium and its Slavic provinces "Roman" I suppose that is a connection, albeit a very weak one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pertinax Posted October 1, 2006 Report Share Posted October 1, 2006 I will have to take the precaution of moving this topic to the Hora Postilliae, so we dont get mixed up on time frames relevant to the Roman world....but please continue the thread.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aurelianus Posted October 1, 2006 Report Share Posted October 1, 2006 I thought it was Vlad II Dracul r.1436-46 who was count Dracula? His son Vlad III Tepes (Vlad the Impaler) r.1456-62 was well known for impaling captured Ottomans, and was deposed because his people were scared of Ottoman retribution. DC, what source is this? it is posible, although i suspect that they would have to be very distant relatives. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
docoflove1974 Posted October 2, 2006 Report Share Posted October 2, 2006 I thought it was Vlad II Dracul r.1436-46 who was count Dracula? His son Vlad III Tepes (Vlad the Impaler) r.1456-62 was well known for impaling captured Ottomans, and was deposed because his people were scared of Ottoman retribution. Vlad II Drago or Dracu was the father, and was bloody in his own right, but the 'count Dracula' that we know is based off of the deeds of Vlad III Tepes, or Vlad the Impaler; Dracula means 'small/young Dracu', with 'Dracu' meaning 'dragon'. Vlad III was not deposed, that I know of; in fact, I think it was Vlad II who was given the boot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nephele Posted October 2, 2006 Report Share Posted October 2, 2006 The question is, has vampirism ever existed in Roman history? In Book VII of his Historia Naturalis, Pliny the Elder wrote of the "undead", including this one account of somebody with a peripatetic "soul": "With reference to the soul of man, we find, among other instances, that the soul of Hermotinus of Clazomenae was in the habit of leaving his body, and wandering into distant countries, whence it brought back numerous accounts of various things, which could not have been obtained by any one but a person who was present. The body, in the meantime, was left apparently lifeless. At last, however, his enemies, the Cantharidae, as they were called, burned the body, so that the soul, on its return, was deprived of its sheath, as it were." From a non-supernatural view of possible vampirism in ancient Rome... if Suetonius is to be entirely believed regarding the excesses of the Roman emperors, then it probably wouldn't be too far-fetched to imagine perhaps Tiberius or Caligula having indulged in blood-drinking fetishes. -- Nephele Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aurelianus Posted October 2, 2006 Report Share Posted October 2, 2006 From a non-supernatural view of possible vampirism in ancient Rome... if Suetonius is to be entirely believed regarding the excesses of the Roman emperors, then it probably wouldn't be too far-fetched to imagine perhaps Tiberius or Caligula having indulged in blood-drinking fetishes. Tiberius was not nearly as bad as all that. the poor fellow suffered from bad press, partly because of his mothers habits, and partly because he was over paranoid. Caligula was insane and just downright queer. it probably wasn't beyond him, and perhaps if he had lived then he would have gone on to it? perhaps if he had then myths about vampires would have started much earlier... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DecimusCaesar Posted October 3, 2006 Report Share Posted October 3, 2006 DC, what source is this? it is posible, although i suspect that they would have to be very distant relatives I have searched through my books and I cannot find the source of this claim. The only mentions made of Dracula is his impaling of the Turkish Emissaries. Perhaps I read it on a website or heard it on a Television program I do not know. Perhaps I have imagined it or mistaken him for another person. I apologise if I have caused confusion. Has anyone else come across a similar source? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leonida Posted October 4, 2006 Report Share Posted October 4, 2006 This topic may not related to history, but I would like to link it up to. I have read the Vampire Chronicles, a series of vampire novels written by Anne Rice, and there is a vampire named Marius who is a Roman himself. Other than this, I believe everyone of us here has heard of Dracula. The story is based on a true Romanian prince in the 15th century and it could be related to the late Byzantine Empire. The question is, has vampirism ever existed in Roman history? The Romans called them "Lemures" (sp?). Every May, there was a festival called the Lemuria which was held to banish the evil spirits. Cheers L Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Primus Pilus Posted October 4, 2006 Report Share Posted October 4, 2006 Is there any relationship between succubi/incubi and vampirism? I have no idea their origin, but they are clearly named in Latin. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ursus Posted October 5, 2006 Report Share Posted October 5, 2006 The Lemures were the harmful spirits of the dead, but I don't recall seeing them in connection with blood sucking or other vampire like activity. They were merely discontented ghosts that had to be warded off. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pertinax Posted October 5, 2006 Report Share Posted October 5, 2006 Hence the reason for never picking dropped food up from the floor of the Triclinium, it belonged to the Lemures, so a wealthy person would seek appeasment by the artifice of a mosaic of food scraps thus: http://www.unrv.com/forum/index.php?act=mo...=si&img=114 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Augusta Posted October 21, 2006 Report Share Posted October 21, 2006 Is there any relationship between succubi/incubi and vampirism? I have no idea their origin, but they are clearly named in Latin. Well, I don't profess to be an expert here, PP, but where vampires are concerned, I'm a bit of a fan! You raise an interesting point. Succubi/incubi were sexual predators of the night, and there is clearly a psychological link between vampirical practices and the sublimation of the sexual urge to dominate/be dominated. But I think we're getting into very deep realms here. If you read Anne Rice, none of her toothy boys perform the sexual act. She applies logic to the idea of being Undead one minute (an undead person can't have the same urges as a living person), and then makes some of her Lestat's companions such sweeties, that we fall in love with them! However, back to Rome and the matter in hand. There has always been a school of thought that equates the cult of Dionysos with a branch of vampirism/cannibalism. Those who ate of human flesh became immortal like the god etc. Although the Romans outlawed his cult, there were no doubt those who practised it in secret, and this may have given us one strand to this very complex and eclectic myth that springs from numerous sources. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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