Health and wellbeing in the ancient world

Week 1: What is health? Using the evidence

Introduction

Welcome to Week 1 of this free course, Health and wellbeing in the ancient world.

In this exciting course you will engage directly with voices and objects from the ancient Greek and Roman worlds to find out what people in the past thought about their health, and to consider how healthy they would have been. You’ll be looking at the body from head to toe, exploring aspects including sight, digestion, reproduction and body image.

You’ll also learn how to evaluate fragmentary evidence of different kinds, setting a variety of sources in context and bringing them together to make a better picture of the past.