The ancient Greek Temple of Hera in Selinunte, also known as “Temple E” at Castelvetrano, in Sicily. Credit: AdiJapan , CC BY 2.5/Wikipedia CommonsAncient Greeks and Romans got a surprising number of things right about how disease spreads and the importance of airflow for public health.
By Barbara Zipser
From packed train carriages to busy shopping centers, being crammed together in often poorly-ventilated spaces had become so normal that it has taken us a long time to get used to social distancing. But our ancient ancestors were much more used to using airflow and space to guard against disease. Indeed, ancient Greek and Roman doctors got a surprising number of things right in this sense—even if the thinking behind their remedies was very far from what we know about how disease spreads today.
Ancient Mediterranean societies had a developed understanding of the importance of airflow for public health. Public buildings and entire cities were designed in a way that minimized stagnant air. In this sense, we could learn a thing or two from the ancients as the pandemic encourages people to rethink how we design towns and buildings to help limit the spread of infectious diseases.
These ancient designs were based on four qualities: hot, cold, wet, and dry. These qualities were thought to correspond to four “humors”: blood, phlegm, black, and yellow bile, and to four elements: air, water, fire, and earth—all of which were believed to influence the body and its emotions.
