Health and Hygiene

FEMALE LONGEVITY

Sources

Longevity. The Romans lived longer than ancient peoples before them and, for that matter, medieval peoples who lived after them. When one studies Roman medicine, no matter however sympathetically, one cannot conclude that the reason for an extended life was because of medical intervention. Skeletal evidence of people buried in ancient cemeteries, as well as other evidence, indicates that the average life span for Romans may have peaked at about forty-seven years, a figure not reached again until modern times. Medicine not being the reason, speculation focuses on nutrition and public health. Probably the greatest single factor is one already described: good water. Some medical historians regard good water and nutrition as the primary factors for longevity in both ancient and modern periods. Even in the last century, the practice of medicine did not appreciably affect gross demographic statistics nearly as much as public health and nutrition.

Nutritious Diet. The Romans’ diet was highly nutritious. Customarily there were three meals a day: breakfast (ientaculum), usually a light amount of bread and fruit; lunch (prandium), often consisting of eggs, cold meats, vegetables, fish, and bread; dinner (cena), which could begin as early as the ninth hour (3-4 P.M.) and which continued into the darkness. Dinner was the largest meal of the day and often consisted of several courses. Fruit, vegetables, and whole-grain breads gave the Romans a well-balanced diet. Poor and rich alike ate as a mainstay of their diet a pottage of meal called polenta, normally made of barley, with a fish sauce on top. The fish sauce, generically called garum, was commercially prepared by layering fish catches in a large pit, using the fish whole without any cleaning. For days the fish would be allowed to deteriorate and the oils were drained off for the sauces, with the highest quality coming near the end. The last of the oils was clearer and less smelly than the less expensive oils that came earlier in the process. Garum contained basic, easily digested amino acids and as high in B vitamins and other nutrients.

Roman Culinary Science. A collection of 470 Roman culinary recipes was edited in the fourth century and attributed to Apicius, the author of the earliest extant cookbook. Several persons with a reputation for culinary art may have been the author, one of whom lived in the time of Julius Caesar, a second during the reigns of Augustus and Tiberius, and, finally, a third, Apicius, in the time of Trajan. The recipes reveal highly refined culinary tastes that must have reflected the eating habits of the upper socioeconomic classes. The variety of foods is amazing, with spices, fruits, and condiments being delivered to Rome from North Africa, Black Sea regions, the Near East, and the Far East.

FEMALE LONGEVITY

Regimens. In addition to a healthy diet, part of the reason for the Romans’ successful lifestyle was attention to hygiene and exercise. At the bathhouses—a regular part of most Romans’ day—there was exercise (including some ball sports) as well as bathing, massage, lectures (on health and diet), and medical personnel performing much the same services as sports medical personnel do today. The Roman emphasis on diet, exercise, hygiene, and cleanliness doubtlessly was a major health factor. A cultural trait was an aversion to unpleasant body odors. Cosmetologists,

perfume vendors, and pharmacists were common among the many street vendors; sometimes one person sold all such items.

Public Medicine. The Roman government enhanced public health by providing free, publicly paid medical services for the poor. During the Roman Empire, many if not most municipalities contracted physicians, who were appointed and paid by the city council to provide medical services for the poor. Appointment as a public physician was prestigious and competitive, although the stipend was not sufficiently large to provide entirely for the physician’s livelihood. In addition to the public clinic the physician conducted a clinic for private patients who paid their own fees. The feature of governmental health care was borrowed from the Greeks and was embraced not only in Greek-speaking areas of the East but in Latin-speaking areas of the western empire as well.

Sources

Apicius, The Roman Cookery of Apicius:A Treasury of Gourmet Recipes & Herbal Cookery, translated by John Edwards (Port Roberts, Wash.: Hartley & Marks, 1984).

Robert I. Curtis, Garum and Salsamenta: Production and Commerce in Materia Medica (Leiden & New York: E. J. Brill, 1991).