08. March 2023

Christian Laes: On disabled emperors and common people Christian Laes: On disabled emperors and common people

Our Senior Fellow Christian Laes researches families, children, sexuality, and disabilities in Antiquity.

C. Laes Podcast Publications © BCDSS

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In particular, he examines disability from various angles in Antiquity: from mythology, theoretical concepts to disability in daily life.

Recently, he was invited to discuss "Did Julius Caesar have epilepsy?" on the Dutch podcast The Story of Flanders.

If you're interested, you can listen to the podcast here. Just a heads up: it's in Dutch! For all non-Dutch speakers, you can check out his recent publications below:

Disabilities in Greek and Roman Mythology (Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 2023) [under contract].

C. Laes, I. Metzler (eds.),‘Madness’ in the Ancient World: Innate or Acquired? From Theoretical Concepts to Daily Life (Turnhout, Brepols, 2023).

Dysfunctional and Pitied? Multiple Experiences of Being ‘Disabled’ in Ostia Antica and Environs, in Medicina nei Secoli 33, 1 (2021) p. 199-216.

C. Laes (ed.), A Cultural History of Disability in Antiquity (London, Bloomsbury, 2020).

Power, Infirmity and 'Disability'. Five Case Stories on Byzantine Emperors and Their Impairments, in Byzantinoslavica 77 (2019) p. 211-229.

Disabilities and the Disabled in the Roman World. A Social and Cultural History (Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 2018). [Original version: Beperkt? Gehandicapten in het Romeinse Rijk (Leuven, Davidsfonds, 2014)]

C. Laes (ed.), Disability in Antiquity (London, New York, Routledge, 2017).