Was Public Health Better in the Roman Era or the Middle Ages

In my opinion, the Romans had superior public health, as they had much better sanitation and plumbing systems, which were in the Middle Ages available solely in monasteries, rather than entire towns. This was due to the fact that the Romans infrastructure and methods of treatment were more developed than Medieval ones, as well as the fact that the Roman government were far more involved in the health of their citizens than later rulers, who found war and developing trade far more important, and viewed civilians health as their own responsibility. The Roman towns were also much better planned and built than those in the Middle Ages, which often placed wells and sources of drinking and bathing water in close proximity to cesspits and†¦show more content†¦However, the Roman Empire was also poorly equipped to deal with plagues, such as the one which occurred in AD 80, and claimed hundreds of lives. However, public health in the Middle Ages did have some benefits: the towns often employed people such as gong farmers and muck rakers to survey and clean the streets to prevent disease, and remove sewage, although it was not possible to employ enough to maintain the cleanliness. The Romans had a similar system which worked to much greater advantage. Medieval towns also developed regulations and fines for littering and dirtying the streets, although these could not be easily enforced. As well as this, the rich were happy to pay the fines and continue to deposit refuse in the streets. Moreover, near the end of the Dark Ages, butchers were banned from working in the inner city, which prevented pollution and assisted in keeping the streets clean. In conclusion, I believe that public health was much better under Roman rule, although the Medieval government did endeavour to improve the situation (albeit without much success.) 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