Healing, Disease and Placebo in Graeco-Roman Asclepius Temples
narrates a story of religious healing that took place at
sanctuaries dedicated to the ancient Greek god Asclepius, the so
called asclepieia. The Asclepius cult, which attracted supplicants
afflicted by various illnesses, appeared in Greece in the sixth
century BCE, thrived in the Hellenistic period and spread
throughout the Graeco-Roman world only declining during the final
dominance of Christianity in the fifth century CE. This study
analyses inscriptions from the asclepieia which were supposed to
record personal stories of healing. Using the archaeological and
historical evidence it looks at the placebo effect and the role it
may have played in healing at the Asclepius sanctuaries in light of
contemporary theories and neurocognitive research on placebo
effects. It explores the specific biological, cognitive, and
psychological processes as well as the external cultural and social
influences that would have shaped personal healing experiences. It
is the first historical study of the Asclepius cult which
integrates theoretical insights into the human mind provided by
neurocognitive sciences. It can be considered a cognitive
historiography of patients who visited the asclepieia as
supplicants which aims to deepen our understanding of past minds
and, more generally, of human cognition.
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