Witch Psych

Today I learned about one of the oddest jobs I have ever heard of, at least by modern-day standards: Archimimi.

In ancient Rome, if you held a funeral, you may have had an archimimi present. The archimimus were essentially funeral clowns who mimicked the dead. They would dress up like the deceased person, wear a mask, and speak like them. These performers weren’t just at any regular funeral but at the most ornate and fancy funerals. 

What if you were a commoner? Well, you probably didn’t have one. Emperor Vespasian had one. This archimimi made jokes about how expensive the funeral was. 

The purpose of the archimimus was to honor and ease the spirits’ anger over being dead. They also helped the family cope and probably brought some comedic relief. Humor can be quite an effective coping mechanism.

Side note: One source spelled it as “archimime,” while the others spelled it like I did. I am still unclear on what is correct.

References

Smith, W. (2020 May 19). Funus. https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/secondary/SMIGRA*/Funus.html

Suetonius. (1920). Life of Vespasian (J.C. Rolfe, Trans.). (Original work published 120 AD). https://lexundria.com/suet_ves/0/r

Wikipedia contributors. (2023, July 29). Archimime. In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 05:43, May 10, 2025, from https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Archimime&oldid=1167777771