The Conversation

Leaders as healers: Ancient Greek ideas on the health of the body politic

02-04-2020 Author: Eva Anagnostou-Laoutides, Associate Professor in Ancient History, Australian Research Council Future Fellow, Macquarie University

Detail from Raphael rooms in Vatican museum.Shutterstock

In the current health crisis, we might ask what needs to be cured more urgently: the virus itself or people’s poor sense of moderation.

We have seen shocking footage of panicked citizens fighting over the last pack of toilet tissue, our politicians’ exasperation at selfish...

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