TY - JOUR
T1 - Physicians as figures of authority in the Roman courts and the attitude towards mental diseases in the roman courts during the high empire
AU - Israelowich, Ido
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© Franz Steiner Verlag, Stuttgart.
PY - 2014
Y1 - 2014
N2 - This article examines the attitude of Roman law towards madness during the High Roman Empire through exploring the role of physicians and medicine in Roman courts. It reviews the prominent views which physicians themselves expressed about madness and considers the relevance of medical knowledge in cases involving the mad; violence; and questionable parenthood in order to assess the scope of medical authority. In conclusion it seeks to explain the irrelevance of medicine in diagnosing madness, positing that it was not seen by the general public as a medical matter. Consequently, the legal definition of madness under the Principate was not a medical one, but a social one.
AB - This article examines the attitude of Roman law towards madness during the High Roman Empire through exploring the role of physicians and medicine in Roman courts. It reviews the prominent views which physicians themselves expressed about madness and considers the relevance of medical knowledge in cases involving the mad; violence; and questionable parenthood in order to assess the scope of medical authority. In conclusion it seeks to explain the irrelevance of medicine in diagnosing madness, positing that it was not seen by the general public as a medical matter. Consequently, the legal definition of madness under the Principate was not a medical one, but a social one.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84940103316&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.25162/historia-2014-0024
DO - 10.25162/historia-2014-0024
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AN - SCOPUS:84940103316
SN - 0018-2311
VL - 63
SP - 445
EP - 462
JO - Historia - Zeitschrift fur Alte Geschichte
JF - Historia - Zeitschrift fur Alte Geschichte
IS - 4
ER -