page_title: Travel in Classical antiquity
section_title: Religion and health
hierarchical_section_title: Travel in Classical antiquity / Motivations / Religion and health
context_page_description: Travel in classical antiquity over long distances was a specialised undertaking. Most travel was done in the interest of warfare, diplomacy, general state building, or trade. Social motivations for travel included visiting religious sites, festivals such as the Olympics, and health-related reasons. Most travel was difficult and expensive, both due to danger of violence, as well as the scarcity of well-maintained roads, and the variability of travel times over water, as ancient ships were subject to the vagaries of both the wind and the tides.
  Much of ancient literature is concerned with travel. The Odyssey, for example, relates the tale of Odysseus’ travel home to Ithaca over a ten-year period; later, the Aeneid tells the story of Aeneas' flight from Troy. Elsewhere, travel narratives from authors such as Herodotus and Caesar form more grounded examples of how individuals moved throughout the ancient world. Both Greek and Roman society had mores surrounding travel and the treatment of guests.
context_section_description: Pilgrimage to one of the major oracles was one of the central reasons for religious travel in the ancient world, particularly in Rome. These pilgrimages were generally made to oracles, such as that at Delphi, who was known as Pythia or simply the Oracle of Delphi, a title that passed to different women. Romans would have visited these oracles in the hopes of gaining some insight about their future. Generally, oracles were associated with a god. Pythia, for example, was associated with Apollo.
  Health also played a role in motivating travel, both in Roman and Greek culture. Travelers visited sanctuaries associated with deities or gods and specific phys, such as the Greek one at Epidaurus, in the hopes of curing illness and disease. These sanctuaries would have sometimes been associated with specific physicians, as well as deities. Galen, for example, was famously associated with the sanctuary of Asclepius. Sanctuary sites were often isolated, and included springs, as well as diversions, such as works of art and stadiums for athletic events. Other forms of travel in the name of health, such as journeys by ship, also existed.
caption: Lycurgus Consulting the Pythia (1835/1845), as imagined by Eugène Delacroix.
exif: {}