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Common causes of death in ancient Greece and Rome had a lot to do with a lack of modern healthcare and wellness. In an urban society with no central plumbing, impure water supplies that transmitted bacteria, and insufficient medical knowledge and disease prevention, it's not surprising that life expectancy in the ancient world was low and health was precarious.
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Living in ancient Greece and Rome wasn't as glamorous as the myths and legends would have us believe
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A lack of central plumbing, bacteria-laden water supplies, and insufficient medical knowledge
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led to high mortality rates throughout antiquity and beyond. Today, heart disease, cancer, and old age are the leading causes of death
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But back then, things were a little different. With a life expectancy of only 20 to 33 years, it's no surprise life was a bit uncertain during
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ancient times. So today, we're looking at the most common causes of death in ancient Greece and Rome
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Movies about Greek and Roman times tend to focus on men having heroic adventures
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or gladiators being pitted against all odds in battle. But the reality of death in the ancient
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world affected women and children the most. The biggest killer of them all
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Having a kid. Yeah, not only a killer to your social life, but also your life life
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Poor sanitation and a lack of knowledge about microorganisms often led to high infant mortality
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rates in ancient Greece and Rome. Medical practices were centered on having an experienced midwife, medicinal herbs, and
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making offerings or prayers to the gods. Very little written evidence regarding childbirth death rates survives from the period
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Researchers estimate death rates from Greece and Rome at being comparable to those of 18th century rural England, where maternal mortality rates hovered around 2.5%
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Unfortunately, surviving birth didn't necessarily guarantee a long life ahead. Even after successful childbirth, infants still suffered a high mortality rate
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Historians estimate that only 75% of Roman children survived to the age of 10
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To make matters worse, both Greek and Roman families gave their patriarchs the power to
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accept or reject a child after birth. That meant if a child was ill, weak, or suffered from a birth
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defect, a man in the family could determine their fate. This could lead to adoption, being sent into
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slavery, or being left to die from the cold. Even if accepted into the family, underdeveloped immune
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systems could spell doom for the unfortunate child. In the end, many infants still succumb
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to illnesses we can treat with modern medicine today. Infection and lack of sanitation may have been responsible for many deaths in Rome
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but other diseases would also make their mark on the ancient civilization. Ample historic evidence suggests malaria may have been one of the deadliest killers in ancient Rome
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especially during those long hot summer months Characterized by high fevers shaking chills and a flu illness malaria is a deadly and debilitating disease It transmitted by infected mosquitoes
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who have a tendency to linger around stagnant water sources. Unfortunately, the Romans didn't understand
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the relationship between standing water, mosquitoes, and the deadly disease. Due to marshy conditions surrounding the city
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several malaria epidemics broke out that helped contribute to the decimation of the city
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By the start of the Dark Ages, Rome went from a bustling city to a small town surrounded by swampland
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Plague outbreaks arrived in ancient Greece and Rome quickly, usually occurring during critical months of overcrowding in the streets
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During the Peloponnesian War, Thucydides wrote of Athens being overcrowded with refugees
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and suffering the deaths of tens of thousands of inhabitants. No one, regardless of status, was spared by the plague
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Casualties included everyone from commoners to a prominent statesman named Pericles. Plague pandemics ran amok during this period to disastrous results
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During the time of Marcus Aurelius, the Antonine Plague, also known as the Plague of Galen
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decimated Rome. Although it sounds like something from a mid-season Babylon 5 episode, it was largely regarded
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as one of Rome's first known pandemics, and it may have been caused by smallpox or measles
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The plague is said to have killed one-third of the population in the regions of Rome
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Asia Minor, Egypt, Greece, and Italy. Transmitted by soldiers returning from faraway military
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outposts, the plague may have also been responsible for the death of Marcus Aurelius himself
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In the 6th century, a form of the bubonic plague took out as much as half of the Roman population
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in what one might consider a macabre prequel to the medieval Black Death that occurred centuries
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later. But plagues weren't the only diseases plaguing the ancient Romans. It might be one of the great wonders of the ancient world, but the Roman Colosseum has
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nothing on the horrors of venereal disease. While it may not have had much impact on the
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mortality rates of ancient Greeks and Romans, it still caused major problems in a world where
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poor sanitation, a lack of contraception, and misunderstanding of microorganisms all converged
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to allow its wanton spread. The word gonorrhea actually derives from the ancient Greek terms for
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seed and flow, which suggests they may have misunderstood the disease entirely. The debate
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over syphilis and how it originated has been going on for centuries. Researchers first thought the
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travelers to the new world brought the disease back with them But in true historical fashion it turns out to have been described by Hippocrates writings and evidence of the disease appeared in the skeletons from Pompeii This just goes to show it been around a long time and definitely existed in Europe
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well before the discovery of the Americas by Europeans. Just like every game of organ trail you've ever played, the likelihood of someone getting
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cholera or dysentery was pretty high. Due to its size, density, and social structure
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ancient Rome was an ideal breeding ground for infectious diseases. One of them, the bacterial
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nightmare known as cholera, was closely tied to life and death in Rome, so much so that its name
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is derived from the Latin phrase bilious disease. While cholera is commonly spread through
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contaminated drinking water, ancient Rome provided ample other opportunities for the disease to
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Much like today, poor hygiene habits abounded in public toilets everywhere. Shared public baths, located conveniently adjacent to those same shared public toilets
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certainly didn't help. As for the toilets themselves, they were basically just dark rooms with a bunch of holes in the ground
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Just like today's big box stores, they didn't have any dividers, lacked cleanliness, and
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didn't have any toilet paper. Instead, the population used a shared tool called a xylospongium, which was basically
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just a sponge on a stick. After a thorough cleaning, the xylospongium was cleaned in water with salt and vinegar
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which ended up facilitating the spread of bacteria-borne disease. Of course, if it wasn't disease taking someone out, a battle might do it instead
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War is common to any civilization's history. Ancient historians did a pretty good job of keeping track of casualties associated with
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various wars in ancient Rome. The writings of Livy and Appian tell of over 100,000 soldier deaths between 201 and 151 BCE
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The three Punic Wars were fought between Carthage and Rome over expansions of their respective
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empires. The First Punic War was largely a dispute between the Empire of Carthage and Rome
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in a new hope to gain the island of Sicily. The empire struck back in 218 when Hannibal
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crossed the Alps to attack Rome. The deadly Battle of Cannae during the Second Punic War
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in 216 claimed the lives of over 70,000 Romans at the hands of Carthage forces. The third Punic
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War saw Rome laying siege to Carthage and bringing an end to the wars in 146. Many other battles
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resulted in countless lives lost as the empire began to wane. In ancient Greece, the specter
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of war wasn't as prevalent, but it did strike with deadly ferocity whenever it reared its ugly head
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Wars between city like Athens and Sparta rocked the ancient world Other invasions took their toll as well When the Persian Empire invaded Greece it significantly affected male mortality
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rates and caused trouble throughout the land. Who doesn't enjoy a little drink now and then
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The ancient Greeks and Romans certainly did. Drinking wine became a widespread practice over
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time, eventually taking on religious overtones. But by the first century BCE, it became the drink
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of choice for Romans everywhere. Everyone from the working class to the emperor indulged in wine
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drinking, with the average person consuming about 100 gallons of the stuff each year. That is a lot
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of wine. In Greek society, they encouraged moderation and temperance when it came to wine
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But in Rome, things were a little different with the cult of Bacchus. The Bacchia were popular
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and well-organized throughout Rome. As a ritualistic, covert practice, it involved drunken depravity, promiscuity, aggression, and even death. The government attempted to outlaw
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and suppress such practices, banning and putting the Bacchia under the Senate's control in 186
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BCE. Heavy drinking had much the same effect on people as it does today, and an increase in crime
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and violence. If there was one thing that was prevalent in ancient Rome, it was crime and
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violence. Wars were often brutal enough, but entertainment often involved displays of violence
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and bloodshed through the infamous Colosseum. Society was also divided by class, race, and
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religion, making conflict inevitable. Robbery, street crime, alcohol-related aggression, and assault were common and often deadly
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Perhaps the most devastating killer of ancient Greeks and Romans is one villain we're still
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battling today, cancer. The word actually originated from the work of the Greek physician
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Hippocrates. When he noticed ulcers and non-ulcer forming lesions, he described them as
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carkinos and carkinoma. In Greek, these words refer to crabs. Hippocrates thought crabs
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resembled tumors due to their finger-like projections. The Roman physician Kelsus translated these Greek terms to cancer, which was the Latin word for crab. The Greek physician
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Galen used the word onkos to describe the swelling, which later became the basis of the word
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oncologist, currently used to describe modern cancer specialists. Etymology aside, cancer was
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just as deadly and pervasive during ancient times as it is now. It was often diagnosed and described
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but evidence suggests it wasn't nearly as common as it is today. This is probably because people
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didn't live as long, but it could also be due to the lack of carcinogens in the air that the
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industrial age would eventually bring. But that's a story for another time
#Infectious Diseases
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