page_title: Disability in ancient Rome
section_title: Roman laws on disability
hierarchical_section_title: Disability in ancient Rome / Roman laws on disability
caption_attribution_description: English: Twelve Tables Engraving
context_page_description: Ancient Romans with disabilities were recorded in the personal, medical, and legal writing of the period. While some people with disabilities were sought as slaves, others with disabilities that are now recognized by modern medicine were not considered disabled. Some disabilities were deemed more acceptable than others, either as honorable characteristics or as traits that increased morality. Small, scattered medical references contain the only direct acknowledgments of disability in ancient Rome.
context_section_description: The Twelve Tables included a law that said disabled or deformed children should be put to death, usually by stoning. They also stipulated that if a free person or a slave is injured and subsequently disabled by an individual, the injurer has to pay a certain amount of money or is punished by being disfigured in a similar fashion.
  In addition, Dionysius of Halicarnassus wrote that the city's founder Romulus required children who were born disabled to be exposed on a hillside. Historians think that this was a fairly common practice due to a believed high number of congenital defects due to the prevalence of poor nutrition, incest, and disease. As time passed however, enforcement of this law became less and less common until eventually in the third century, it was reversed by a new law requiring parents to take care of infants who were disabled.
  It is also stated that those with physical disabilities like deafness would be given a person to represent them in court if it was required. Roman society valued the act of communication and private interaction, and the law did its best to accommodate those with physical disabilities affecting sight, hearing and speech. The Romans shared an indifference to those with mobility issues and disabilities handicapping their ability to travel. Problems arose with the many legalities in ancient Rome that required face-to-face, physical and private meetings not allowing the substitution of a slave or representative. 
  In Commentarii de Bello Gallico, Julius Caesar mentions that the Gauls commonly maimed his centurions, usually by blinding them, mentioning that four centurions out of a cohort were blinded. Soldiers disabled in such circumstances were given a stipend by the state once they retired.
  In Roman law the blind experienced the least amount of troubles, as there was a higher value placed on speech rather than sight, but were still not given any extreme or special accommodations. Blind people in Rome were seen as capable to provide and care for themselves as any other Roman citizen. One of the few exceptions was will writing, as without the ability to see, multiple witnesses had to be present. Unlike the deaf or those deemed mentally incapable, blind citizens had the option to represent and speak for themselves in court, but were unable to speak for or represent anyone else. 
  Deaf and mute people experienced some difficulty with Roman law when it came to transactions like buying and selling. Most Roman agreements relied on verbal affirmation for a transaction to be considered complete, hindering deaf and/or mute citizens.
  There were chances and times when disabled Roman citizens took higher positions of power within systems like the Senate or other leadership roles, but they had a harder time gaining respect from their peers and those under them.
  Many late-period Emperors, such as Nero or Caligula, are known to have used disfigurement or disablement as punishments for legal infractions, as well as personal attacks.
caption: The Twelve Tables included laws that also accommodated disabled people in Rome.
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