Pliny the Younger (c. 61/62-113)—a wealthy Roman lawyer, administrative official and statesman—had the means and access to hire the best medical advisors of his day, and he also had enough flexibility of occupation and time to put himself through dramatic recovery programs. Pliny was something of a guinea pig for ancient folk medicine, as he was more than willing to try out home-brew remedies and to follow new ideas from his health consultants. As a result, whenever Pliny fell ill, it was not unusual for the methods of his recuperation to be quite odd and flamboyant. Thankfully, as Pliny the Younger was a prolific writer of letters, he described many of his curious healing tactics in messages to his friends, and copies of these letters have survived the erosion of time.
In a letter to a certain Cornutus Tertullus, Pliny the Younger mentioned that he was suffering from a bad case of eye strain or inflammation and was willing to take drastic measures to soothe his pain. Pliny eventually accepted a prescribed change of living conditions for his eye trouble and, curiously, the prescriber—or at least the inspiration for the treatment—was none other than the aforementioned Cornutus Tertullus, the recipient of the letter. The plan was for Pliny to plunge himself into darkness and rest his eyes in draped-off rooms or covered carriages. Also prescribed were baths and some controlled doses of wine. On the curious treatment plan, Pliny wrote:
“I obey, dear colleague, and I am seeing to my eye trouble as you bid me. I travelled here in a closed carriage with the light completely excluded, so that I might have been at home in bed, and now that I am here I am neither writing nor reading—no easy sacrifice, but I have made it—and am working only by ear. I can darken my rooms by drawing the blinds, without making them too dark, and the light in the roofed arcade is reduced by half when lower windows have their shutters closed. By this means I am gradually reaccustoming myself to full daylight. I take baths, as they do me good, and wine, which can do no harm, but only very sparingly; this has always been my way, and now I am under supervision” (Pliny the Younger, Letters, 7.21).
Pliny’s treatment worked for him, but it was not feasible for most ancient Romans. Few residents of the Roman Empire had jobs where they could stay in dark rooms and covered carriages all day to rest their eyes. Furthermore, for Pliny to continue his work by audio during his eye treatment period, he would have needed to bring in literate attendants to narrate aloud for him whatever he wanted to hear and to also write down whatever he wanted to record. This is very much an elite remedy instead of a common one. Nevertheless, it seemed to have been an amusing experience for Pliny the Younger.
Written by C. Keith Hansley
Picture Attribution: (Modified Antiochus And Stratonice, painted by Pompeo Batoni (c. 1708-1787), [Open Access] via Creative Commons and the Museo de Arte de Ponce).
Sources:
- The Letters of Pliny the Younger, translated by Betty Radice. New York: Penguin Classics, 1963, 1969.
