Editing Damnatio memoriae (section)

== Ancient world ==
[[File:Römermuseum Osterburken (DerHexer) 2012-09-30 008.jpg|thumb|left|{{lang|la|Damnatio memoriae}} of [[Commodus]] on an inscription in the Museum of Roman History [[Osterburken]]. The abbreviation "CO" was later restored with paint.]]
Today's best known examples of ''damnatio memoriae'' from antiquity concern chiselling stone inscriptions or deliberately omitting certain information from them.

=== Ancient Mesopotamia ===
According to [[Stefan Zawadzki]], the oldest known examples of such practices come from around 3000–2000 BC. He cites the example of [[Lagash]] (an ancient city-state founded by the [[Sumer]]ians in southern [[Mesopotamia]]), where preserved inscriptions concerning a conflict with another city-state, [[Umma]], do not mention the ruler of Umma, but describe him as "the man of Umma", which Zawadzki sees as an example of deliberate degradation of the ruler of Umma to the role of an unworthy person whose name and position in history the rulers of Lagash did not want to record for posterity.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Zawadzki |first=Stefan |author-link=Stefan Zawadzki |url=https://przystanekhistoria.pl/pa2/tematy/polityka-historyczna/36430,Damnatio-memoriae-w-europejskiej-kulturze-politycznej.html |title=Damnatio memoriae w europejskiej kulturze politycznej |date=2011 |publisher=IPN |isbn=978-83-61336-45-7 |editor-last=Gałaj-Dempniak |editor-first=Renata |language=pl |trans-title=Damnatio memoriae in European political culture |chapter=Puścić w niepamięć, zachować złą pamięć: władcy w asyryjskich inskrypcjach królewskich w pierwszym tysiącleciu przed Chr. |trans-chapter=Letting go, keep a bad memory: rulers in Assyrian royal inscriptions in the first millennium BC. |editor-last2=Okoń |editor-first2=Danuta |editor-last3=Semczyszyn |editor-first3=Magdalena}}</ref>

=== Ancient Egypt ===
[[File:KV55 sarcophagus (Cairo Museum).jpg|thumb|upright|Coffin believed to belong to [[Akhenaten]] found in Tomb [[KV55]]. Note the typical obliteration of the face.]]

Egyptians also practiced this,<ref name="Wilkinson 2011">{{Cite journal |last=Wilkinson |first=Richard H. |author-link=Richard H. Wilkinson |date=1 January 2011 |title=Controlled Damage: The Mechanics and Micro-History of the Damnatio Memoriae Carried Out in KV-23, the Tomb of Ay |url=https://brill.com/view/journals/jeh/4/1/article-p129_6.xml |journal=Journal of Egyptian History |language=en |volume=4 |issue=1 |pages=129–147 |doi=10.1163/187416611X580741 |issn=1874-1665}}</ref> as seen in relics from pharaoh [[Akhenaten]]'s tomb and elsewhere. Akhenaten's sole worship of the god [[Aten]], instead of the traditional [[Ancient Egyptian deities|pantheon]], was considered heretical. During his reign, Akhenaten endeavoured to have all references to the god [[Amun]] chipped away and removed.<ref name="Amun">{{Cite web |last=Jarus |first=Owen |date=24 July 2014 |title=Egyptian Carving Defaced by King Tut's Possible Father Discovered |url=https://www.livescience.com/46978-egyptian-carving-discovered.html |access-date=6 January 2021 |website=[[Live Science]]}}</ref> After his reign, temples to Aten were dismantled and the stones reused to create other temples. Images of Akhenaten had their faces chipped away, and images and references to Amun reappeared. The people blamed their misfortunes on Akhenaten's shift of worship to [[Atenism]], away from the gods they served before him.<ref name="Heretic">{{Cite book |last=Redford |first=Donald |author-link=Donald B. Redford |title=Akhenaten: The Heretic King |publisher=Princeton University Press |year=1984 |isbn=978-0-691-03567-3 |pages=170–172}}</ref> Other Egyptian victims of this practice include the pharaohs that immediately succeeded Akhenaten, including [[Smenkhkare]], [[Neferneferuaten]], and [[Ay (pharaoh)|Ay]].<ref name="Wilkinson 2011" /> The campaign of ''damnatio memoriae'' against Akhenaten and his successors was initiated by Ay's successor, [[Horemheb]], who decided to erase from history all pharaohs associated with the unpopular [[Amarna Period]]; this process was continued by Horemheb's successors.<ref name="CarneyMüller2020">{{Cite book |last=Carney |first=Elizabeth D. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZJb-DwAAQBAJ&pg=PT64 |title=The Routledge Companion to Women and Monarchy in the Ancient Mediterranean World |last2=Müller |first2=Sabine |date=9 November 2020 |publisher=Taylor & Francis |isbn=978-0-429-78398-2 |page=64}}</ref> [[Tutankhamun]] was also erased from history in this way, even though he had restored Egypt to the Amun god, because he was one the kings who succeeded Akhenaten; he may also have been Akhenaten's son.

=== Ancient Hittites ===
[[File:Sirkeli entferntes Relief2.jpg|thumb|The erased rock relief at [[Sirkeli Höyük]] that is believed to be of Mursili III.<ref name="Kozal Novák p. ">{{Cite book |last=Kozal |first=Ekin |url=https://www.academia.edu/36561943 |title=Facing Muwattalli: Some Thoughts on the Visibility and Function of the Rock Reliefs at Sirkeli Höyük, Cilicia |last2=Novák |first2=Mirko |date=2017 |publisher=Ugarit-Verlag |isbn=9783868352511 |volume=445 |pages=373–390 |doi=10.7892/BORIS.106777 |access-date=17 June 2022}}</ref>]]

One case of ''damnatio memoriae'' is known for the ancient [[Hittite empire]]. [[Mursili III]] was a king of the Hittites for about seven years in 1282–1275 BC who was then overthrown by his uncle [[Hattusili III]], who assumed the throne.

There is a well known relief of Mursili's father [[Muwatalli II]] near the village of [[Sirkeli Höyük]] in [[Turkey]], as well as a second, very similar relief that is believed to be that of his son Mursili. It was largely destroyed in antiquity, most likely by his spiteful uncle. The relief of the father was left untouched.

=== Ancient Greece ===
[[File:Honours for Phaedrus of Sphettus (IG II3 1 985 = IG II2 681) part 2.jpg|thumb|upright=0.65|Part of an honorific decree for [[Phaedrus of Sphettus]], passed in 259/8 BC. The lines mentioning Phaedrus' interactions with the Antigonids were chiselled out as part of the ''damnatio memoriae'' of 200 BC.]]

The practice was known in Ancient Greece.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Callataÿ |first=François De |author-link=François de Callataÿ |title=Celebrity, Fame, and Infamy in the Hellenistic World |date=18 May 2020 |publisher=University of Toronto Press |isbn=978-1-4875-3178-2 |pages=90–110 |language=en |chapter=4. Remelted or Overstruck: Cases of Monetary Damnatio Memoriae in Hellenistic Times? |doi=10.3138/9781487531782-008 |chapter-url=https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.3138/9781487531782-008/html |s2cid=234432435}}</ref> The [[Ancient Athens|Athenians]] frequently destroyed inscriptions which referred to individuals or events that they no longer wished to commemorate.{{sfn|Low|2020|pp=239-243}} After [[Timotheus (general)|Timotheus]] was convicted of treason and removed from his post as general in 373{{nbs}}BC, all references to him as a general were deleted from the previous year's naval catalogue.{{sfn|Low|2020|p=246}} The most complete example is their systematic removal of all references to the [[Antigonids]] from inscriptions in their city, in 200{{nbs}}BC when they were besieged by the Antigonid king [[Philip V of Macedon]] during the [[Second Macedonian War]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Byrne |first=S. G. |title=Philathenaios : studies in honour of Michael J. Osborne |date=2010 |publisher=Hellēnikē Epigraphikē Hetaireia |isbn=9789609929707 |editor-last=Tamis |editor-first=A. |location=Athēnai |pages=157–177 |chapter=The Athenian damnatio memoriae of the Antigonids in 200 B.C. |editor-last2=Mackie |editor-first2=C.J. |editor-last3=Byrne |editor-first3=S. G.}}</ref> One decree praising [[Demetrius Poliorcetes]] (Philip V's great-grandfather) was smashed and thrown down a well.{{sfn|Low|2020|p=240}}

At [[Delphi]], an honorific inscription erected between 337 and 327 BC for [[Aristotle]] and his nephew [[Callisthenes]], two philosophers who were closely associated with the [[Ancient Macedon|Macedonians]], were smashed and thrown in a well after the death of [[Alexander the Great|Alexander of Macedon]] in 323{{nbs}}BC.{{sfn|Low|2020|p=240}}

=== Ancient Rome ===
[[File:1366 - Inscription for Geta (198-209 AD) - Museo Archeologico, Cagliari - Photo by Giovanni Dall'Orto, November 11 2016.jpg|thumb|right|300px|Erased mention of [[Geta (emperor)|Geta]] in an inscription after his {{lang|la|damnatio memoriae}} ([[Museo Archeologico Nazionale di Cagliari]])]]
[[File:Sejanus Damnatio Memoriae.jpg|thumb|300px|[[Sejanus|Lucius Aelius Sejanus]] suffered {{lang|la|damnatio memoriae}} following a failed conspiracy to overthrow emperor [[Tiberius]] in AD{{nbs}}31. His statues were destroyed and his name obliterated from all [[public records]]. The above coin from [[Augusta Bilbilis]], originally struck to mark the consulship of Sejanus, has the words ''L. Aelio Seiano'' obliterated.]]
In ancient Rome, the practice of {{lang|la|damnatio memoriae}} was the condemnation of [[List of Roman Emperors|emperors]] after their deaths. If the Senate or a later emperor did not like the acts of an emperor, they could have his property seized, his name erased and his statues reworked (normally defaced). Because there was an economic incentive to seize property and rework statues, historians and archaeologists have had difficulty determining when official {{lang|la|damnatio memoriae}} actually took place, although it seems to have been quite rare.

Compounding this difficulty is the fact that a completely successful {{lang|la|damnatio memoriae}} results—by definition—in the full and total erasure of the subject from the historical record. In the case of figures such as emperors or consuls it is unlikely that complete success was possible, as even comprehensive obliteration of the person's existence and actions in records and the like would continue to be historically visible without extensive reworking. The impracticality of such a cover-up could be vast—in the case of [[Geta (emperor)|Emperor Geta]], for example, coins bearing his [[Effigy#Other types|effigy]] proved difficult to entirely remove from circulation for several years, even though the mere mention of his name was punishable by death.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Geta: The One Who Died |url=http://dougsmith.ancients.info/geta.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101203213839/http://dougsmith.ancients.info/geta.html |archive-date=3 December 2010}}</ref>

Difficulties in implementation also arose if there was not full and enduring agreement with the punishment, such as when the Senate's condemnation of [[Nero]] was implemented—leading to attacks on many of his statues<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Russell |first=Miles |last2=Manley |first2=Harry |year=2013 |title=Finding Nero: shining a new light on Romano-British sculpture |journal=Internet Archaeology |issue=32 |doi=10.11141/ia.32.5 |doi-access=free}}</ref>—but subsequently evaded with the enormous funeral he was given by [[Vitellius]]. Similarly, it was often difficult to prevent later historians from "resurrecting" the memory of the sanctioned person.

The impossibility of actually erasing memory of an emperor has led scholars to conclude that this was not actually the goal of ''damnatio''. Instead, they understand ''damnatio'':
{{blockquote|not so much as an attempt to obliterate memory entirely as to transform honorific commemoration into a form of visible denigration. That is: the power of an act of damnatio relies, at least in part, on the viewer of a monument being able to supplement the gaps in an inscription with their own knowledge of what
those gaps had once contained, and the reasons why the text had been removed|[[Polly Low]], {{qi|Remembering, Forgetting, and Rewriting the Past}}{{sfn|Low|2020|page=245}}}}{{Anchor|List of condemned Roman emperors}}These emperors are known to have been erased from monuments:<ref>{{Cite book |last=Sandys |first=John |author-link=John Sandys (classicist) |title=Latin epigraphy: an introduction to the study of Latin inscriptions |publisher=[[Cambridge UP]] |year=1919 |pages=232}}</ref>
{| class="wikitable sortable"
! Emperor
! Reign
! Notes
|-
| [[Caligula]]
| 37–41
| Disputed whether per senate decree<ref name=":0">{{Citation |last=Gizewski |first=Christian |title=Damnatio memoriae: Historisch |date=1 October 2006 |work=Der Neue Pauly |url=https://referenceworks.brillonline.com/entries/der-neue-pauly/*-e310400 |access-date=4 September 2022 |publisher=Brill |language=de |doi=10.1163/1574-9347_dnp_e310400 |s2cid=244835165}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Edoardo Bianchi |date=2014 |title=Il senato e la "damnatio memoriae" da Caligola a Domiziano |url=https://doi.org/10.7381/77974 |journal=Politica Antica |issue=1 |pages=33–54 |doi=10.7381/77974 |issn=2281-1400}}</ref>
|-
| [[Nero]]
| 54–68
| ''hostis iudicatio'' (posthumous trial for treason)<ref name=":0" />
|-
| [[Domitian]]
| 81–96
| per senate decree (96)<ref name=":0" />
|-
| [[Commodus]]
| 177–192
| per senate decree (192)<ref name=":0" />
|-
| ''[[Clodius Albinus]]''
|
| ''[[Roman usurper|Usurper]]''
|-
| [[Geta (emperor)|Geta]]
| 209–211
| per his brother Caracalla
|-
| [[Macrinus]]
| 217–218
| ''Usurper''
|-
| [[Diadumenian]]
| 217–218
| ''Usurper''
|-
| [[Elagabalus]]
| 218–222
|
|-
| [[Severus Alexander]]
| 222–235
| Only during the reign of Maximinus Thrax
|-
| [[Maximinus Thrax]]
| 235–238
| per senate decree (238)<ref name=":0" />
|-
| [[Gaius Julius Verus Maximus|Maximus I]]
|
| ''Caesar only''
|-
| [[Philip the Arab]]
| 244–249
|
|-
| [[Philip II (emperor)|Philip II]]
| 247–249
| Philip the Arab's son
|-
| [[Decius]]
| 249–251
|
|-
| [[Herennius Etruscus]]
| 251
| Decius' son
|-
| [[Hostilian]]
| 251
| Decius' son
|-
| [[Aemilianus]]
| 253
|
|-
| [[Gallienus]]
| 253–268
|
|-
| [[Aurelian]]
| 270–275
| Briefly
|-
| [[Probus (emperor)|Probus]]
| 276–282
|
|-
| [[Carus]]
| 282–283
|
|-
| [[Carinus]]
| 284–285
|
|-
| [[Numerian]]
| 283–284
|
|-
| [[Diocletian]]
| 284–305
|
|-
| [[Maximian]]
| 286–305
| per senate decree (310)<ref name=":0" />
|-
| [[Galerius]]
| 305–311
|
|-
| [[Valerius Severus]]
| 306–307
|
|-
| [[Maximinus II]]
| 308–313
| per senate decree (313)<ref name=":0" />
|-
| [[Maxentius]]
| 306–312
|
|-
| [[Licinius]]
| 308–324
|
|-
| [[Constantine II (emperor)|Constantine II]]
| 337–340
|
|-
| [[Constans]]
| 337–350
|
|-
| ''[[Magnentius]]''
|
| ''Usurper''
|-
| [[Magnus Maximus]]
| 383–388
|
|}