Special module:
Dem Bones, Dem Bones
Roman Knowledge of the Human Skeleton
Watch this video to learn about the Romans' understanding of human bones with Zoé Elise Thomas of the University of Texas at Austin.
About the scholar:
Zoé Elise Thomas is a PhD candidate in Classical Archaeology at the University of Texas at Austin. She earned an MA in Classics from the same institution and a BA in Classics from the University of Washington in 2016. Her research interests include Roman provincial archaeology, osteological analysis, and architecture and infrastructure as power systems, as well as identity theory and gender theory and their applications in Classical archaeology. She has also written on the Bronze Age and Early Iron Age Aegean, focused on defensive military architecture and representations of walls in the Iliad. Zoé has excavated in Greece and Italy, and most recently served as a trench supervisor for the Potentino Exploration Project. In January 2023, she was elected as the first Graduate Student Director for the Society of Classical Studies’ Board of Directors. Outside of her academic work, she spends her time taking care of her cats, playing the occasional video game, and trying to keep her orchid collection alive.
Further Reading:
J. T. Valiance, “Anatomy and Physiology,” in The Oxford Classical Dictionary, eds. Simon Hornblower, Anthony Spawforth, & Esther Eidinow. 4th ed. Oxford University Press, 2012. (Digital access in Pitt's collection here.)
Valerie M. Hope, Death in Ancient Rome: A Sourcebook. Routledge, 2007.
Christopher Pinney, “Four Types of Visual Culture,” in Handbook of Material Culture, eds. Christopher Tilley, Webb Keane, Susanne Küchler, Michael Rowlands, and Patricia Spyer. SAGE Publications Ltd., 2006. (Ebook in Pitt's collection here.)
T. D. White, Michael T. Black, and Pieter A. Folkens. Human Osteology. 3rd ed. Academic Press, 2011.
Laura Zucconi, Ancient Medicine: From Mesopotamia to Rome. William B. Eermands Publishing Company, 2019. (Ebook in Pitt's collection here.)
And, if you want to do more of a deep-dive:
Lesley Dean-Jones, “Galen and the Culture of Dissection,” in At the Crossroads of Greco-Roman History, Culture, and Religion: Papers in Memory of Carin M. C. Green, eds. Sinclair W. Bell and Lora L. Holland. Archaeopress Publishing Ltd., 2018. (Ebook in Pitt's collection here.)
Katherine M. D. Dunbabin, “Sic Erimus Cuncti... The Skeleton in Graeco-Roman Art,” in Jahrbuch Des Deutschen Archäologischen Instituts 101: 185–255, 1986.
Latin Vocabulary:
Words in bold on DCC Latin Core Vocabulary List
Proper Names:
Trimalchiō, Trimalchionis, m. - Trimalchio
Orcus, Orcī, m. - The Underworld
Nouns:
articulus, articulī, m. - a joint, knuckle
catēnātio, catēnātiōnis, f. - a pin, clamp
cranium, craniī, n. - skull, from the Greek τό κρανίον (Medieval Latin)
forāmen, forāminis, n. - a hole or opening
lārva, lārvae, f. - skeleton
os, ossis, n. - bone
vertebra, vertebrae, f. - a joint
Adjectives:
argenteus, argentea, argenteum - made of silver
Verbs:
aptō, aptāre, aptāvī, aptātum - to fit, adjust
luxō, luxāre, luxāvī, luxātum - to dislocate