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. 2021 Sep 10;29(3):488-491.
doi: 10.53854/liim-2903-21. eCollection 2021.

All roads lead to Rome: Aspects of public health in ancient Rome

Iraklis Karabatos  1 , Christos Tsagkaris  2 , Konstantinos Kalachanis  3
Affiliations

All roads lead to Rome: Aspects of public health in ancient Rome

Iraklis Karabatos et al. Infez Med. .

Abstract

Modern western civilization can be traced back to the Roman antiquity in terms of policy, legislation, art, and culture. The development of ancient Rome from a kingdom in Latio to a democracy and finally a thriving empire has paved the way for medicine and public health. As a kingdom, Rome has established laws for maternal health and abortion. Later on, as a democracy, Rome payed special attention to sanitation and infections control building aqueducts and public baths. During the imperial period, apart from the aforementioned, Roman administration improved public health measures with regard to pandemics. The correlation of infectious outbreaks with animals, are considered as one of the first noticed of zoonotic diseases in the field of public health. The term public health itself (medici publici) can be traced back to doctors appointed with public health and disease control duties in Ancient Rome.

Keywords: Public health; Rome; epidemic; infections; sanitation; water.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflicts of interest The authors declare no conflict of financial or other interests as far as the submitted work under the title “All roads lead to Rome: Aspects of public health in Rome” is concerned.

Comment in

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