In the United Kingdom, Remembrance Sunday is observed annually on the second Sunday of November. This solemn occasion is meant to commemorate the contribution of British and Commonwealth military and civilian servicemen and women in the two World Wars and later conflicts. As the phrase commonly associated with this day, ‘lest we forget’ indicates, there is a conscious desire to prevent forgetting the fallen. Yet, the living do not always intend to remember the dead, and at times even made an effort to erase them from people’s memories.
The ancient Romans (the Roman Senate to be more precise) could pass a form of dishonour known as the damnatio memoriae (literally meaning ‘damnation of memory’). In theory, this punishment was meant to be inflicted upon traitors or those who brought discredit to the Rome. In practice, however, it could be imposed on anyone that was not in the Senate’s or the Roman Emperor’s good books. One of the most well-known cases may be that of Emperor Geta, who was murdered by his brother of Caracalla, and subsequently had the damnatio memoriae inflicted upon him.
The removal of a person from memory may take several forms. For instance, the name of a person may be scratched away from public inscriptions. In addition, statues of a condemned individual could be reworked, and the faces of their images mutilated. Nevertheless, it is impossible to know how effective this measure actually was, as if the damnatio memoriae succeeded as intended, we would not be aware of the person that was erased!
Whilst several Roman Emperors, including Nero, Domitian and Commodus, were victims of damnatio memoriae, they are still quite well known today, thanks to the survival of literary evidence. Perhaps the damnatio memoriae was more effective on less important figures, though we will never know if this was the case.
