Disabilities and the Disabled in the Roman World: A Social And Cultural History

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Synopsis
Almost fifteen per cent of the world's population today experiences some form of mental or physical disability and society tries to accommodate their needs. But what was the situation in the Roman world? Was there a concept of disability? How were the disabled treated? How did they manage in their daily lives? What answers did medical doctors, philosophers and patristic writers give for their problems?

This book, the first monograph on the subject in English, explores the medical and material contexts for disability in the ancient world, and discusses the chances of survival for those who were born with a handicap. It covers the various sorts of disability: mental problems, blindness, deafness and deaf-muteness, speech impairment and mobility impairment, and includes discussions of famous instances of disability from the ancient world, such as the madness of Emperor Caligula, the stuttering of Emperor Claudius and the blindness of Homer.

The first scholarly study of the subject in English.

Comprehensively engages with literary sources, legal texts, epigraphy and papyrology, as well as with material evidence such as iconography.

Adopts an explicitly comparative approach which constantly seeks dialogue with new approaches and studies concerning other periods.

Copyright:
2017

Book Details

Book Quality:
Publisher Quality
ISBN-13:
9781316732021
Related ISBNs:
9781107162907, 9781107162907
Publisher:
Cambridge University Press
Date of Addition:
Copyrighted By:
Christian Laes
Adult content:
No
Language:
English
Has Image Descriptions:
No
Categories:
History, Nonfiction, Disability-Related, Social Studies, Medicine
Submitted By:
Bookshare Staff
Usage Restrictions:
This is a copyrighted book.

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