Abstract
verytallskeleton,foundduringarchaeologicalex-cavationsnearRome(Italy)anddatedbacktotheImperial Age (3rd century AD), was affected by pitu-itary gigantism, a rare growth disease seldom docu-mented in ancient times. This case represents the firstdescriptionofthisendocrinediseaseinacompleteskel-eton from the past.The skeleton T.30 was found in the Imperial Age ne-cropolis of Torre Serpentana (7 km north of Rome) andbelonged to a young male (age range, 16–20 yr) with avery tall but normally proportioned stature estimatedaround202cm(1).Somelongbonesandvertebralbodiesdidnotshowcompleteepiphysealunion,andthereforethestature would probably have been taller if he had livedlonger.TheaveragemaleRomanstaturewasaround167cm during the Imperial Age, and the difference with T.30is35cm(21%overtheaveragestatureofthepopulation),indicating an overgrowth syndrome (2); all the main longbone lengths are over 5
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