Public Health in Ancient Rome
Students construct a twelve square grid (6x2 or 4x3) numbered 1 -12 on a
sheet of A4 paper.
The teacher reads each of the following sentences slowly, twice, with a one
minute pause between each sentence.
Students draw a symbol or sketch (no words allowed) for each of the twelve
sentences.
After all twelve sentences have been read and illustrated, the students work
in pairs. They take it in turns to explain to each other what each frame is
about.
(Hint: It helps if the students have seen images of baths, aqueducts, houses
and other scenes of life in ancient Rome before attempting to draw relevant
images.)
- The Romans had to take public health seriously because of the size of
Rome, about a million people at 1A.D.
- In a city pollution is a problem and unless waste is dealt with
efficiently, diseases can easily spread.
- In AD100, there were nine aqueducts bringing water to Rome and filter
tanks to purify it.
- Rich people even had water piped to their homes.
- There were also public lavatories, baths and fountains.
- Rome also had a vast network of sewers which carried sewage down the
River Tiber and into the sea.
- Only the richer Romans could afford a doctor; most sick people were cared
for by their families.
- Greek medical knowledge would not have reached most Romans, although the
upper classes benefited from the teachings of Greek doctors like Galen.
- Roman Baths were huge buildings built by rich emperors trying to impress
the public.
- The baths were very luxurious with mirrors covering the walls and pools
lined with marble.
- The bathhouse was used to meet friends for a chat, exercise or just
wash.
- The baths were more like a modern day sports complex than a swimming
pool.
Adapted from:
The BBC's Medicine through Time: Prehistory and Ancient World: Public Health.
Did the Greek and Roman Governments Improve Public Health?
This material has been produced by UNITEC Institute of Technology
under contract to the Ministry of Education.
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