Disabilities in Roman Antiquity: Disparate Bodies __A Capite ad Calcem__

"This is the first volume ever to systematically study the subject of disabilities in the Roman world. The contributors examine the topic a capite ad calcem, from head to toe. Chapters deal with mental and intellectual disability, alcoholism, visual impairment, speech disorders, hermaphroditism, monstrous births, mobility problems, osteology and visual representations of disparate bodies. The authors fully engage with literary, papyrological, and epigraphical sources, while iconography and osteo-archaeology are taken into account. Also the late ancient evidence is taken into account. Refraining from a radical constructionist standpoint, the contributors acknowledge the possibility of discovering significant differences in the way impairment was culturally viewed or assessed"--Back cover. Disabilities in Roman Antiquity: Disparate Bodies A Capite ad Calcem 4 Contents 6 Acknowledgments 8 List of Abbreviations 10 List of Contributors 12 Christian Laes, C.F. Goodey and M. Lynn Rose: Approaching Disabilities a Capite ad Calcem: Hidden Themes in Roman Antiquity 16 1. A New Subject? 16 2. Disability History: Not a New Subject 18 3. Combining the Old and the New 20 4. Prospects for Further Investigationin to Ancient Disability 24 Bibliography 28 C.F. Goodey and M. Lynn Rose: Mental States, Bodily Dispositions and Table Manners: A Guide to Reading ‘Intellectual’ Disability from Homer to Late Antiquity 32 1. Introduction 32 2. Historiographical Issues 34 3. Methodological Issues 38 4. Greek Homeric Writings 39 5. The Philosophers 42 6. Roman Reception of Greek Perception in Satire 44 7. Greek Writings in the Middle and Late Roman Empire 52 8. Conclusion 56 Bibliography 57 Patricia A. Clark and M. Lynn Rose: Psychiatric Disability in the Galenic Medical Matrix 60 1. Introductory Notes 60 2. Approach 63 2.1. The Social Process of Disease and Healing 63 2.2. Models of Scholarship 64 2.3. Disability Studies 65 2.4. Entangled Assumptions 66 3. The Galenic Corpus 67 3.1. Antecedents: The Hippocratic Corpus 67 3.2. Galenic Approach 68 3.3. Passions of the Soul and Other Omissions 70 4. Syndromes, Symptoms and Causes of Mental Illness in Galen’s Works 72 4.1. Phrenitis 72 4.2. Mania 74 4.3. Melancholy 75 4.4. Memory Loss; Dementia; Morosis 78 4.5. Epilepsy 80 5. Transcultural Mental Distress 82 6. Conclusions 84 Bibliography 84 Danielle Gourevitch, with the collaboration of Gilles Demigneux: Two Historical Case Histories of Acute Alcoholism in the Roman Empire 88 1. Drunkenness, Alcoholism and Ancient History (By Christian Laes) 88 2. Greek and Roman Addictions 90 3. Asclepiades, the Son of Anaxippos 91 4. The Young Slave of a Teacher 93 5. Back to Hippocrates? 95 6. Conclusion 97 Bibliography 99 Lisa Trentin: Exploring Visual Impairment in Ancient Rome 104 1. Visual Impairment in the Classical World 104 1.1. The Ancient Roman Evidence 106 1.2. Terminology 108 2. The Causes of Visual Impairment in Ancient Rome 109 2.1. Disease 110 2.2. Injury 113 2.2.1. Accidental Injury 113 2.2.2. Intentional Injury 115 2.3. Old Age 119 2.4. Contextualising the Causes of Visual Impairment 122 3. The Implications of Visual Impairment in Ancient Rome 123 3.1. Integration, Not Isolation 123 3.2. Accommodation, Not Alienation 125 Bibliography 127 Cornelia B. Horn: A Nexus of Disability in Ancient Greek Miracle Stories: A Comparison of Accounts of Blindness from the Asklepieion in Epidauros and the Shrine of Thecla in Seleucia 130 1. Perceptions of Disabilities in Late Antiquity 130 2. Textual and Literary Witnesses to Healing Miracles at the Asklepieion at Epidauros and the Shrine of Thecla in Seleucia 132 3. Medical Anthropology, Healing the Self, and Personal Religion 136 4. Blindness 138 5. Conclusions 155 Bibliography 156 Christian Laes: Silent History? Speech Impairment in Roman Antiquity 160 1. Introduction 160 2. Causes of Speech Impairment: Then and Now 161 3. Known Instances of Speech Impaired Persons in Antiquity 163 4. The Ancient Vocabulary on Speech Impairment 165 5. Roman Law on Speech Impairments 168 6. Medical Aetiology and Terminology 170 7. Speech Therapy 176 8. The Emperor’s Speech: Claudius as a Paradigmatic Stutterer 178 9. Conclusion 182 Appendix: Instances of Speech Impaired Persons in Antiquity 184 Addendum 193 Bibliography 193 Lutz Alexander Graumann: Monstrous Births and Retrospective Diagnosis: The Case of Hermaphrodites in Antiquity 196 1. Introduction 196 2. Two Important Preliminaries 197 3. Hermaphrodites in Ancient Graeco-Roman Written Sources 199 3. Modern Diagnoses and Hypotheses 201 4. Hermaphrodites in Their Ancient Context 203 Terminology 203 Political and Religious Contexts 205 Morphological, Medical and Philosophical Contexts 206 The Juridical Context 211 The Sculptural Context 212 Summary 213 5. Contemporary Views of Intersex 213 6. Hermaphrodite = DSD? 217 7. The Result: New Possibilities for Learning 218 Literary Sources of Tables 219 Sources Table 1 219 Sources Table 2 220 Bibliography 221 Bert Gevaert and Christian Laes: What’s in a Monster? Pliny the Elder, Teratology and Bodily Disability 226 1. Introduction 226 2. Latin Terminology on Monsters 227 3. Plinian Classifications of Strangeness 232 4. Pliny and His Time 236 5. Monstrous Races and Disabilities 238 6. Perception of the Other and Self-Perception by the Other 239 Bibliography 242 Évelyne Samama: A King Walking with Pain? On the Textual and Iconographical Images of Philip II and Other Wounded Kings 246 1. Introduction 246 2. Menelaus, King of Sparta 247 2.1. The Symbolism of Wounds 247 2.2. Early Developments in the Classical Period 248 3. Philip II, King of the Macedonians 249 3.1. Injuries in General 250 3.2. Eye Injury 251 3.3. Thigh Injury 253 4. Is a Disabled King Still a Good King? 254 4.1. The Classical View 254 4.2. A Trained Warrior or a Disabled Commander? 256 4.3.Wounds Exhibited as Proof of Courage 258 5. Conclusion 260 Bibliography 261 Emma-Jayne Graham: Disparate Lives or Disparate Deaths? Post-Mortem Treatment of the Body and the Articulation of Difference 264 1. Disability: Definitions and Approaches 264 2. Palaeopathology, Burial and Identity 266 3. Experiences of the ‘Normal’ Roman Body 269 4. Disparate Bodies, Disparate Deaths? 273 Via Collatina, Rome 274 Further Examples 281 5. Conclusions 283 Bibliography 285 Alexandre G. Mitchell: Disparate Bodies in Ancient Artefacts: The Function of Caricature and Pathological Grotesques among Roman Terracotta Figurines 290 1. Preliminary Remarks 290 2. Actor Figurines 292 3. Caricature and Visual Humour 294 4. Pathological Grotesques 296 Bibliography 308 Index Locorum 314 General Index 329 Disabilities in Roman Antiquity: Disparate Bodies A Capite ad Calcem......Page 4 Contents......Page 6 Acknowledgments......Page 8 List of Abbreviations......Page 10 List of Contributors......Page 12 1. A New Subject?......Page 16 2. Disability History: Not a New Subject......Page 18 3. Combining the Old and the New......Page 20 4. Prospects for Further Investigationin to Ancient Disability......Page 24 Bibliography......Page 28 1. Introduction......Page 32 2. Historiographical Issues......Page 34 3. Methodological Issues......Page 38 4. Greek Homeric Writings......Page 39 5. The Philosophers......Page 42 6. Roman Reception of Greek Perception in Satire......Page 44 7. Greek Writings in the Middle and Late Roman Empire......Page 52 8. Conclusion......Page 56 Bibliography......Page 57 1. Introductory Notes......Page 60 2.1. The Social Process of Disease and Healing......Page 63 2.2. Models of Scholarship......Page 64 2.3. Disability Studies......Page 65 2.4. Entangled Assumptions......Page 66 3.1. Antecedents: The Hippocratic Corpus......Page 67 3.2. Galenic Approach......Page 68 3.3. Passions of the Soul and Other Omissions......Page 70 4.1. Phrenitis......Page 72 4.2. Mania......Page 74 4.3. Melancholy......Page 75 4.4. Memory Loss; Dementia; Morosis......Page 78 4.5. Epilepsy......Page 80 5. Transcultural Mental Distress......Page 82 Bibliography......Page 84 1. Drunkenness, Alcoholism and Ancient History (By Christian Laes)......Page 88 2. Greek and Roman Addictions......Page 90 3. Asclepiades, the Son of Anaxippos......Page 91 4. The Young Slave of a Teacher......Page 93 5. Back to Hippocrates?......Page 95 6. Conclusion......Page 97 Bibliography......Page 99 1. Visual Impairment in the Classical World......Page 104 1.1. The Ancient Roman Evidence......Page 106 1.2. Terminology......Page 108 2. The Causes of Visual Impairment in Ancient Rome......Page 109 2.1. Disease......Page 110 2.2.1. Accidental Injury......Page 113 2.2.2. Intentional Injury......Page 115 2.3. Old Age......Page 119 2.4. Contextualising the Causes of Visual Impairment......Page 122 3.1. Integration, Not Isolation......Page 123 3.2. Accommodation, Not Alienation......Page 125 Bibliography......Page 127 1. Perceptions of Disabilities in Late Antiquity......Page 130 2. Textual and Literary Witnesses to Healing Miracles at the Asklepieion at Epidauros and the Shrine of Thecla in Seleucia......Page 132 3. Medical Anthropology, Healing the Self, and Personal Religion......Page 136 4. Blindness......Page 138 5. Conclusions......Page 155 Bibliography......Page 156 1. Introduction......Page 160 2. Causes of Speech Impairment: Then and Now......Page 161 3. Known Instances of Speech Impaired Persons in Antiquity......Page 163 4. The Ancient Vocabulary on Speech Impairment......Page 165 5. Roman Law on Speech Impairments......Page 168 6. Medical Aetiology and Terminology......Page 170 7. Speech Therapy......Page 176 8. The Emperor’s Speech: Claudius as a Paradigmatic Stutterer......Page 178 9. Conclusion......Page 182 Appendix: Instances of Speech Impaired Persons in Antiquity......Page 184 Bibliography......Page 193 1. Introduction......Page 196 2. Two Important Preliminaries......Page 197 3. Hermaphrodites in Ancient Graeco-Roman Written Sources......Page 199 3. Modern Diagnoses and Hypotheses......Page 201 Terminology......Page 203 Political and Religious Contexts......Page 205 Morphological, Medical and Philosophical Contexts......Page 206 The Juridical Context......Page 211 The Sculptural Context......Page 212 5. Contemporary Views of Intersex......Page 213 6. Hermaphrodite = DSD?......Page 217 7. The Result: New Possibilities for Learning......Page 218 Sources Table 1......Page 219 Sources Table 2......Page 220 Bibliography......Page 221 1. Introduction......Page 226 2. Latin Terminology on Monsters......Page 227 3. Plinian Classifications of Strangeness......Page 232 4. Pliny and His Time......Page 236 5. Monstrous Races and Disabilities......Page 238 6. Perception of the Other and Self-Perception by the Other......Page 239 Bibliography......Page 242 1. Introduction......Page 246 2.1. The Symbolism of Wounds......Page 247 2.2. Early Developments in the Classical Period......Page 248 3. Philip II, King of the Macedonians......Page 249 3.1. Injuries in General......Page 250 3.2. Eye Injury......Page 251 3.3. Thigh Injury......Page 253 4.1. The Classical View......Page 254 4.2. A Trained Warrior or a Disabled Commander?......Page 256 4.3.Wounds Exhibited as Proof of Courage......Page 258 5. Conclusion......Page 260 Bibliography......Page 261 1. Disability: Definitions and Approaches......Page 264 2. Palaeopathology, Burial and Identity......Page 266 3. Experiences of the ‘Normal’ Roman Body......Page 269 4. Disparate Bodies, Disparate Deaths?......Page 273 Via Collatina, Rome......Page 274 Further Examples......Page 281 5. Conclusions......Page 283 Bibliography......Page 285 1. Preliminary Remarks......Page 290 2. Actor Figurines......Page 292 3. Caricature and Visual Humour......Page 294 4. Pathological Grotesques......Page 296 Bibliography......Page 308 Index Locorum......Page 314 General Index......Page 329 "This is the first volume ever to systematically study the subject of disabilities in the Roman world. The contributors examine the topic a capite ad calcem, from head to toe. Chapters deal with mental and intellectual disability, alcoholism, visual impairment, speech disorders, hermaphroditism, monstrous births, mobility problems, osteology and visual representations of disparate bodies. The authors fully engage with literary, papyrological, and epigraphical sources, while iconography and osteo-archaeology are taken into account. Also the late ancient evidence is taken into account. Refraining from a radical constructionist standpoint, the contributors acknowledge the possibility of discovering significant differences in the way impairment was culturally viewed or assessed."-- Publisher's website