Sources of Ancient Healing Thermalism

Cicero ad Atticum 370.1

Marcus Tullius Cicero: 
Epistulae ad Atticum
Way of Transmission
Literature
Datation
May the 2nd, 44 BCE
Language
Latin
Literary Genre
Epistolography
Canonical Reference
Cic. Att. 370.1
Thermal Spa Related
Cumae Puteoli

[…] perpaucis diebus in Pompeiano, post in haec Puteolana et Cumana regna renavigare. o loca ceteroqui valde expetenda, interpellantium autem multitudine paene fugienda!

[…] A day or two in Pompeii, then back over the water to these realms of Puteloli and Cumae. Most desirable spots they are, if only it were not for the droves of visitors whose interruptions make them almost best avoided.

[…] muy pocos días en la finca de Pompeya; luego volver por mar a estos reinos de Puteoli y Cumas. ¡Qué lugares tan deseables por lo demás, pero casi rehuibles por la multitud de importunos!

Commentary

Cicero praises Puteoli and Cumae, while lamenting the abundance of annoying people they attract.

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Plinius Naturalis historia 31.4

Pliny the Elder indicates the importance of mineral and thermal springs were for humans, and how in some occassions, these springs caused the creation of some urbes because the value of these waters for health. In this case, he includes the examples of some of those cities: Puteolos (Puteoli, Italy), (Aquae) Statiellas (Acqui Terme, Italy) and (Aquae) Sextias (Aix-en-Provence, in France)

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Lucretius 6.738–756

Describe lugares donde hay charcas o lagos que exhalan vaporesVapor de agua. nocivos. El indicador más importante de la existencia estos lugares es que los pájaros caen muertos al sobrevolarlos.

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Related Sources

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