Orietta Dora Cordovana Livres

Focusing on the Anthropocene debate, this book explores environmental interrelations and ecological sensitivity in the Graeco-Roman world. It examines ancient concepts of environmental depletion, species loss, and biodiversity through historical sources and evidence, analyzing the political and socioeconomic contexts. The research highlights how ancient societies exhibited sustainable behaviors and practical uses of biodiversity, while noting their lack of a cohesive ecological culture compared to modern environmentalism. The author, a historian, aims to reveal ancient responses to environmental challenges.

Was there any awareness of environmental problems among intellectuals and politicians of the ancient world? Did they even have notions of 'pollution', 'exploitation', and 'depletion' of natural resources? And what forms did human action take for the protection of the environment? The authors – from the fields of Ancient History, Classical Archeology, Ancient Laws, and History of Medicine – focus on the environmental and ecological awareness in the ancient world, both in material evidence of daily life and in the intellectual thought. They analyse if there was a common awareness of environmental and ecological questions, or if there were only a few and isolated measures aimed at the interest of special social groups and at specific political goals. They discuss to which extent the ancient evidence can be used to identify the roots of modern environmental sensitivity.