Augustus' Health from Suetonius

[guy]

Most of us know that Augustus was a sickly man. Surprisingly, he lived nearly 77 years. But what were the maladies he suffered? Suetonius gives us some insight. Writing more than a century after Augustus' death, Suetonius describes Augustus' health in his sometimes scurrilous Lives of the Caesars. [My comments are listed below]:

http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/ancient/suet-augustus-rolfe.html

LXXX. It is said that his body was covered with spots and that he had birthmarks scattered over his breast and belly, corresponding in form, order and number with the stars of the Bear in the heavens [ursa Major, aka "the Big Dipper"]; 1 also numerous callous places resembling ringworm, caused by a constant itching of his body and a vigorous use of the strigil.2 He was not very strong in his left hip, thigh, and leg, and even limped slightly at times; but he strengthened them by treatment with sand and reeds. He sometimes found the forefinger of his right hand so weak, when it was numb and shrunken with the cold, that he could hardly use it for writing even with the aid of a finger-stall of horn. He complained of his bladder too, and was relieved of the pain only after passing stones in his urine. 3

LXXXI. In the course of his life he suffered from several severe and dangerous illnesses, especially after the subjugation of Cantabria [23 B.C.], when he was in such a desperate plight from abscesses of the liver, that he was forced to submit to an unprecedented and hazardous course of treatment. Since hot fomentations gave him no relief, he was led by the advice of his physician Antonius Musa to try cold ones. 4 He experienced also some disorders which recurred every year at definite times; for he was commonly ailing just before his birthday; and at the beginning of spring he was troubled with an enlargement of the diaphragm, and when the wind was in the south, with catarrh. 5 Hence his constitution was so weakened that he could not readily endure either cold or heat.

My footnotes and comments:

1. I'm not sure exactly what these "birthmarks" were. They could have been cafe au lait spots, a benign pigmentation (first picture) or , more likely, nevi or moles (second picture).





2. A classic description of eczema. This is a recurrent itchy rash made worse by scratching or rubbing (with a strigel, for example).

Typical pictures of eczema, "resembling ringworm:"




Strigil used to bath and scratch oneself:



3. Bladder or kidney stones can be quite painful. Treatment and removal in the Ancient world is unimaginable.

4. Antonius Musa was Augustus' personal physician (and my avatar). In 23 BCE Augustus suffered a near fatal illness. Musa achieved great fame and wealth by "curing" Augustus with cold baths and cold moist compresses. It was during this illness that Augustus signaled Agrippa (his friend and general) to be his heir-apparent over Marcellus (his nephew) by giving Agrippa his signet ring on his sickbed. Musa was not successful in later treating Marcellus who died shortly after Augustus' recovery. Horace also writes about Musa's cold bath treatment.

http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Cassius_Dio/53*.html
 

 

30 When Augustus was consul for the eleventh time, with Calpurnius Piso, he fell so ill once more as to have no hope of recovery; at any rate, he arranged everything as if he were about to die, and gathered about him the magistrates and the foremost senators and knights. He did not, to be sure, appoint a successor, although all were expecting that Marcellus would be preferred for this position, but after talking with them awhile about the public affairs, he gave Piso the list of the forces and of the public revenues written in a book, and handed his ring to Agrippa. And although he lost the power of attending even to the most urgent matters, yet a certain Antonius Musa restored him to health by means of cold baths and cold potions. For this, Musa received a great deal of money from both Augustus and the senate, as well as the right to wear gold rings (for he was a freedman), and he was granted exemption from taxes, both for himself and for the members of his profession, not only those living at the time but also those of future generations. But it was fated that he who had taken to himself the functions of Fortune or Destiny should speedily be caught in her coils; for though Augustus had been saved in this manner, yet when Marcellus fell ill not long afterward and was treated in the same way by Musa, he died

http://www.poetryintranslation.com/PITBR/Latin/HoraceEpistlesBkIEpXV.htm#BkIEpXV1

5. Catarrh is an old medical term. Catarrh is defined as an inflammation of any mucous membrane which results in a thick mucus production of the membrane. Hay fever is the result of the mucous membrane of the eyes and air passages being inflamed, for example. Catarrh of the nasal mucous membrane is known as rhinitis (stuffy nose). Asthma is another form of catarrh and is the congestive swelling of the bronchial mucous membranes. Catarrha symptoms would be more frequent during the spring with dust or pollen in the air, made worse by the winds.

People with eczema also frequently have asthma and hay fever. Apparently, Augustus suffered from all these things.

Although very different from us in many ways, people of antiquity suffered many of the same medical ailments we commonly face today. They did not benefit from many of the simple treatments and pain reliefs we have today, however. It is hard to imagine the possible level of pain and suffering endured on a daily basis by people of the Ancient world.


guy also known as gaius

Edited January 23, 2017 by guy

[caldrail]

There's plenty of suffering in the modern world too. Also, I think we need to be a little cautious in analysing ailments from records left by roman writers, especially from one who liked to add a lot of colour to his descriptions. We have a heightened awareness of aches and pains due to our comfortable lifestyles, plus the knowledge of what actually causes them, whereas even the greek physicians of the time were, for all their skill at healing, were relatively unaware.

[guy]

There's plenty of suffering in the modern world too. Also, I think we need to be a little cautious in analysing ailments from records left by roman writers, especially from one who liked to add a lot of colour to his descriptions.

 

Thank you for reading and responding to my post. I agree that Suetonius, a Flavian apologist, must be approached skeptically as he had an agenda and he wrote this rendition of events more than a century after they occured.

 

Cassius Dio, who wrote after Suetonius, at least seems to agree with Suetonius about many aspects of this story.

 

I agree, however, that we should approach with caution any source and not accept it as unbiased dogma.

 

I have written several times before on this forum about my skepticism concerning other long held "truths," including:

 

http://www.unrv.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=11470

 

http://www.unrv.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=10381

 

 

guy also known as gaius

Edited February 1, 2011 by guy

[Gallus]

Ursa is an sign of Great Mother, also Diana. The emperor is an Rex Sacrorum, and a priest of Diana. Diana=Artemis=Bear=Ursa. The constellation has name the Chariot of Charlemagne. Ursa is an Emperor sign of Chinese emperors too. Ursa is connected with sign of Virgo, civilised form of Diana = Athena, Vesta. Augustus was born in the sign of Virgo.

 

Corpore traditur maculoso, dispersis per pectus atque alvum genitivis notis, in modum et ordinem ac numerum stellarum caelestis Ursae.

I know it, I have it on the same place.

 

Gallus de Albi