The Romans understood the role of dirt and poor hygiene in spreading disease and created aqueducts to ensure that the inhabitants of a city received clean water. Their superb level of personal hygiene and obsession with cleanliness certainly acted to reduce the number of epidemics in the major cities. Clean water was very important to the Romans. Said Vitruvius, a Roman architect, “We must take great care in searching for springs and, in selecting them, keeping in mind the health of the people.” And if there were illnesses, because in the early years of the Roman Empire there were no people in a separate medical profession, each head of the household was expected to know enough about herbal cures and medicine to treat illnesses in his household.
Comments are closed.