History of suicide

The study of how suicide, its meanings, prevalence, and social responses have changed across societies and periods.

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Suicide in ancient Greece: Practices and arguments concerning self-killing in ancient Greek societies. Greek philosophers disagreed over when self-killing could be justified.
Suicide law: Laws governing suicide, attempted suicide, and assistance in suicide. Legal treatment shifted from punishment of the dead toward prevention and regulation.
Suicide in ancient Rome: Roman practices and debates concerning self-killing in antiquity. Roman views linked suicide to civic duty, honor, enslavement, and political power.
Suicide: The act of intentionally ending one’s own life. The historical subject depends on how societies have defined intentional self-killing.
Historical suicide methods: Ways of self-killing documented in historical records across societies and periods. Methods vary in visibility, changing what records can reveal about past deaths.
Augustine of Hippo: A Christian theologian whose writings shaped Western doctrine and moral thought. His arguments against self-killing helped establish Christian opposition to suicide.
Common law: A legal system developed through judicial decisions and precedent. English common law historically treated suicide as a felony and enabled forfeiture.
Suicide in medieval Europe: Beliefs and practices surrounding suicide in European societies during the Middle Ages. Christian doctrine and local legal customs shaped responses to suspected suicide.
Suicide attempt: A nonfatal act undertaken with at least some intent to die. Historical records often distinguish attempts imperfectly from deaths and accidents.
Historical cause of death: The classification of causes behind deaths recorded in historical sources. Authorities often recorded uncertain or stigmatized deaths under other causes.