Disease and Death in the Ancient City of Rome
Princeton/Stanford Working Papers in Classics
14 Pages Posted: 21 Feb 2009 Last revised: 24 Mar 2009
Date Written: March 21, 2009
Abstract
This paper surveys textual and physical evidence of disease and mortality in the city of Rome in the late republican and imperial periods. It emphasizes the significance of seasonal mortality data and the weaknesses of age at death records and paleodemographic analysis, considers the complex role of environmental features and public infrastructure, and highlights the very considerable promise of scientific study of skeletal evidence of stress and disease.
Keywords: Roman History, Demography, Disease, Seasonal Mortality, Paleodemography
JEL Classification: I12
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation