Corps et mémoire à Rome

• Main Author: Catherine Baroin
• Format: Article
• Language: fra
• Published: Presses universitaires de Caen 2003-12-01
• Series: Kentron
• Online Access: http://journals.openedition.org/kentron/1859

To ancient Romans memory (memoria) is a characteristic of one’s identity and is fundamental to the individual’s integrity, the biological and the cultural being indissociable in this respect. In all forms of discourse – medical texts included –, a fully performing memory is a sign of a healthy body (corpus) as well as of a healthy animus, mens or ingenium. Conversely, lapses of memory reveal an altered body (due to illness or ageing), and at the same time a disordered state of the individual as social being – forgetfulness may even be, in some cases, a moral lapse. Furthermore, ancient Romans connect memory and specific parts of the body (in particular, the ear), although memory is not located in any one part of the human anatomy. This connection between memoria and body makes it possible to understand how memory can be actualized through physical gestures and specific behaviour in given contexts (interpersonal relationships for instance).