Philanthropy and places of care (xenodochia) in the late Roman empire, 350-600 CE

Júlio Matzenbacher Zampietro,Pedro Paulo Abreu Funari

doi:10.20396/revpibic262018737

Júlio Matzenbacher Zampietro, Pedro Paulo Abreu Funari

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.20396/revpibic262018737

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Abstract

Hospitals and places of care in general are topics that have received little attention from historians of Late Antiquity. The scarcity of detailed studies, although explained by a proportional scarcity of primary sources, written or archaeological, seems unjustified. The study of places of care can be a good tool to assess changes in power relations in the Later Roman Empire, as well as a way of comprehending important features of the Late Antique landscape that affected the general population in a myriad of ways. Our research chiefly intends to learn how Byzantine places of care related to the social surroundigs from the fourth to the sixth centuries of the Common Era, while also aiming to understand internal aspects of these institutions, ranging from its healthcaring practices to the objectives of their members.

Highlights

The study of ancient hospitals and other places of care is important to elucidate some aspects of the social interactions that permeated the Late Roman world. BROWN (2002) argues that the emergence of hospitals in the relevant time frame is an effect of widespread ideological changes in the Roman Empire, which included a modification of the Roman culture of evergetism due to the rise of Christianity
These ideological changes turned philanthropy, and especially the care of the sick and the poor, into a social value, of which even emperors were not exempt. (CONSTANTELOS, 1968) Our research objective can be broken down into five main components. 1) to comprehend general aspects of medicinal practice in the period covered by our work; 2) to determine social roles peculiar to Late Roman medical practitioners during that time; 3) to assess the relationship between philanthropy as a cultural value and the creation of these hospitals; 4) to broadly characterize a model of the internal functioning of these health institutions; 5) to uncover what responses the xenodochia provided to plagues, such as the Justinian Plague in the sixth century
While the medical profession was open for everyone, this period saw a growth in its hierarchy and the social prominence of some practitioners, which were sent from the court of Byzantium to the Persian Empire's court and vice versa. (NUTTON, 1984) The relation of philanthropy as a social value and the creation of hospitals and other places of care is shown by letters from Jerome (347-420 CE) which describe the life of persons that donated all their riches to monasteries and funded the construction of these places of care

Summary

Introduction

The study of ancient hospitals and other places of care is important to elucidate some aspects of the social interactions that permeated the Late Roman world. BROWN (2002) argues that the emergence of hospitals in the relevant time frame is an effect of widespread ideological changes in the Roman Empire, which included a modification of the Roman culture of evergetism due to the rise of Christianity. Introduction The study of ancient hospitals and other places of care is important to elucidate some aspects of the social interactions that permeated the Late Roman world.

Results

Conclusion