logo
welcome
Live Science

Live Science

'The waters become corrupt, the air infected': How the ancient Greeks and Romans viewed pollution and what they did about it

Live Science
Summary
Nutrition label

74% Informative

Literature from these ancient times contains many references to the environment and the harms it suffers.

Many of these insights ring true today : Polluting the soil we farm, air we breathe and water we drink has clear repercussions.

The Greeks and Romans introduced various measures to prevent or reduce environmental harm.

The bottom line is, keeping the planet in a healthy state is good not just for the environment, but also for ourselves. In a modern world where stories about pollution and related environmental problems frequently appear in the news, this message of the ancients is well worth remembering. Originally from Western Australia , I received my doctorate from the University of Oxford in 2022 as a Clarendon Scholar. My current work is about health in the ancient world, the subject of an upcoming book. I am also involved in the editing of unpublished papyri from the Greco-Roman period..

VR Score

81

Informative language

82

Neutral language

48

Article tone

informal

Language

English

Language complexity

46

Offensive language

not offensive

Hate speech

not hateful

Attention-grabbing headline

not detected

Known propaganda techniques

not detected

Time-value

long-living

External references

26

https://www.britannica.com/place/Tiber-Riverhttps://www.loebclassics.com/view/LCL322/1937/volume.xmlhttps://theconversation.com/the-waters-become-corrupt-the-air-infected-heres-how-ancient-greeks-and-romans-grappled-with-environmental-damage-236680https://oxfordre.com/classics/classics/abstract/10.1093/acrefore/9780199381135.001.0001/acrefore-9780199381135-e-979https://oxfordre.com/classics/display/10.1093/acrefore/9780199381135.001.0001/acrefore-9780199381135-e-5134https://oxfordre.com/classics/display/10.1093/acrefore/9780199381135.001.0001/acrefore-9780199381135-e-6709https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Temple_of_Iupiter_Olympios_in_Athens_(1821).jpghttps://www.oxfordreference.com/display/10.1093/oi/authority.20110803105304855https://www.loebclassics.com/view/LCL031/1914/volume.xmlhttps://www.britannica.com/biography/Sextus-Julius-Frontinushttps://www.loebclassics.com/view/LCL091/2004/volume.xmlhttps://oxfordre.com/classics/display/10.1093/acrefore/9780199381135.001.0001/acrefore-9780199381135-e-5133https://oxfordre.com/classics/display/10.1093/acrefore/9780199381135.001.0001/acrefore-9780199381135-e-4391http://theconversation.com/https://www.oxfordreference.com/display/10.1093/acref/9780198606413.001.0001/acref-9780198606413-e-6117https://www.loebclassics.com/view/LCL371/1950/volume.xmlhttps://archive.org/details/bim_eighteenth-century_de-re-militari-english_vegetius-renatus-flaviu_1767/page/n129/mode/2up?q=corrupthttps://oxfordre.com/classics/display/10.1093/acrefore/9780199381135.001.0001/acrefore-9780199381135-e-2778https://www.dcceew.gov.au/environment/protection/air-qualityhttps://www.loebclassics.com/view/LCL174/1925/volume.xmlhttps://books.google.com.au/books?id=mhNUGgG2eacC&pg=PA793&dq#v=onepage&q&f=falsehttps://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/term/x46949https://oxfordre.com/classics/display/10.1093/acrefore/9780199381135.001.0001/acrefore-9780199381135-e-3522;jsessionid=AC36445A29BD7F0130E44C49367D6DFEhttps://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Grande_Illustrazione_del_Lombardo_Veneto_Vol_3_Plinio_Secondo_300dpi.jpghttps://www.missionaustralia.com.au/media-centre/media-releases/new-report-confirms-biggest-concerns-for-young-people-in-australia#:%7E:text=Responses%20from%20more%20than%2019%2C500,considered%20most%20important%20in%20Australia.https://www.loebclassics.com/view/LCL059/1969/volume.xml