Summary

This week you’ve learned that the face and eyes were key to seeing an ancient person’s appearance as healthy or ill, beautiful or ugly, and that the eyes were both a common location of disease and a mirror to the soul. You’ve also seen how important facial reconstruction is to engagement with the individuals of the past. You’ve seen several examples of how written evidence of different kinds – medical treatises, literary sources, papyri and letters – needs to be read with care. You’ve also discovered some other ways of encountering the past through skeletons, surgical tools, cosmetics, medical remedies, votive offerings and statues.

Figure 10 Roman woman at her morning toilette

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Image of a carved stone relief of a robed woman seated in a substantial chair, being attended to by four maidservants. The woman is facing to the right of the image. The four servants are standing in a row next to her: starting from the left, the first of them is combing her hair; the second is waiting with her arms folded, holding a jar; the third is holding up a mirror; and the fourth is carrying a flask.

Figure 10 Roman woman at her morning toilette

In Week 3, you are going to move from the outside to the inside of the body, to understand how ancient diet contributed to health. What do you think an average person in the ancient world ate? And what evidence do you think there is for this?