Health and Private Hygiene
Juvenal's maximum, Mens sana in copore sano,
contains all the wisdom of the Roman education system, and reflects
the care they dedicated to their body. By means of bath and massages,
physical exercise and home made remedies, they sought to maintain
their health and only consulted physicians when illness persisted.
The strigilis, a bone or metal implement with which the body
grease and dirt were scraped away, the razors to shave and to cut
the hair and the comb were additionaly items for the care of the body.
The most frequent specialised tools medicine needed were spatula-like
spoons, ligulae, tweezers, scapel, dissecting knives as well
as probes. Ladies needed an endless amount of cosmetics and toilet
implements like powders, creams, ointments and perfumes for such daily
cares as hair dyeing, and making the skin of the face as smooth and
white as marble. These cosmetics would be made at home or bought in
small containers like small unguent vessels and boxes or in little
glass, ceramic, alabaster, bone or metal amphorae.
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