Hygiene Technologies, Water, and Health in the Hellenic World

Abstract

The relation between human health, water, and hygiene facilities has been realized since during the Bronze Age, the explanations of illness and health problems were based on theocratic elements. However, the Greeks during the Classical and mainly the Hellenistic period clearly differentiated their thinking from all other civilizations by inventing philosophy and empirical science. Drains/sewers, baths and toilets, and other sanitary installations are reflecting high cultural and technological level, while they also are associated with observations and ideas about hygiene and medicine. The aim of this paper is to examine the knowledges about the influence of water on human health throughout antiquity. In other words, it focuses on the views that Greeks and Romans had on water quality and its impact on the human body.