The Impact of Malaria on the Spatial Distribution of Healing Cults in Roman Italy, Sicily, and Sardinia : A GIS Approach
| Authors | |
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| Year of publication | 2026 |
| Type | Article in Periodical |
| Magazine / Source | OPEN ARCHAEOLOGY |
| MU Faculty or unit | |
| Citation | |
| web | https://doi.org/10.1515/opar-2025-0074 |
| Doi | https://doi.org/10.1515/opar-2025-0074 |
| Keywords | malaria; Roman religion; ancient healing cults; GIS; Latin epigraphy |
| Description | Malaria has long ranked among the most serious health threats in human history, a reality that was also reflected in certain regions of the Roman Empire. This article investigates the cultural impact of malaria on Roman society, particularly in terms of the distribution of ancient healing cults dedicated to Asclepius and Apollo, which functioned as one of the key medical institutions of the time. Our approach combines traditional historiographical methods with a spatial analysis using a Geographic Information System (GIS) to assess whether a meaningful spatial correlation existed between malaria and Roman healing cults. The Roman territories of Italy, Sicily, and Sardinia are of particular interest, as the distribution of malaria in these areas can be reconstructed using a digitized version of the Torelli map, a 19th-century pre-eradication source that is spatially in agreement with literary and archaeological evidence of malaria in Roman times. Within a GIS environment, epigraphic evidence of ancient healing cults was used to evaluate their spatial relationship with malaria-prone zones as represented in the Torelli map, alongside a comparative analysis involving inscriptions of other selected Roman deities. In our research, we considered both the proportional intensity of the worship of healing cults and their spatial proximity in relation to malaria-prone zones. The results provide significant support for the hypothesis that malaria risk was a contributory factor in the spread of the healing cults of Asclepius and Apollo. |
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