Disabilities and the disabled in the Roman world : a social and cultural history / Christian Laes, Universiteit Antwerpen.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Laes, Christian, author.

Standardized Title:

Beperkt

Language:

Dutch

English

Subjects (All):

Medicine, Greek and Roman--History.

Medicine, Greek and Roman.

People with mental disabilities--Rome--History.

People with mental disabilities.

People with disabilities--Rome--History.

People with disabilities.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (xi, 238 pages) : digital, PDF file(s).

Place of Publication:

Cambridge : Cambridge University Press, 2018.

Summary:

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.

Notes:

Title from publisher's bibliographic system (viewed on 04 Apr 2018).

First published as Beperkt? Gehandicapten in het Romeinse Rijk, Davidsfonds Uitgeverij, Leuven, 2014.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

1-316-73202-9

1-316-67848-2

1-316-73009-3