Abstract: Received opinion concerning Roman Antiquity is that suicide by poisoning was particularly frequent amongst the female population. The evidence shows, however, that it was in fact rare and associated predominantly with men. Why this discrepancy ? Is there something specific about suicide by poison ? Did those who committed suicide belong to a particular social group ? Can they be distinguished somehow by this choice of method ? This article seeks to answer these questions by analysing voluntary deaths by poison in the larger context of suicides in Rome.
