Volume 4 • Issue 3 • 1000154 J Clin Res Bioeth ISSN: 2155-9627 JCRB, an open access journal Review Article Open Access Clinical Research & Bioethics Minozzi et al., J Clin Res Bioeth 2013, 4:3 http://dx.doi.org/10.4172/2155-9627.1000154 Case Reports in Bioethics Keywords: Congenital disorder; Dwarism; Achondroplasia; Roman Imperial Age; Italy Introduction Many aspects of ancient diseases, with particular regard to some genetic conditions, remain unclear, because literary sources are missing or scarce. Investigations on diseases are sometimes possible by studying skeletal remains from archaeological sites, as in the case we are presenting. he skeleton, dated back to the Roman Imperial Age (I-II century A.D.), is afected by a rare growth disorder, and shows very short dimensions due to dwarism. he skeletal remains were found in the Collatina necropolis, the greatest Roman necropolis (over 2,200 burials) of the Imperial Age, placed only a few kilometres from the centre of Rome, during archaeological excavations directed by the Special Superintendence to the Archaeological Heritage of Rome. he archaeological evidences such as funerary structures and grave goods, in particular the frequent ritual use of coins as Charon’s obol, permitted to date the necropolis back to the 1 st -2 nd centuries AD [1]. he presence of dwarfs in Rome during this period is testiied by historical and iconographical sources, which oten depicted these “little people” in ridiculous scenes, with special capabilities or particular attributes. Since the earliest times dwarism has been the most commonly depicted human physical disorder, found in Egypt, Greece, and in the Roman world, in a large part of the period of Predynastic Egypt (about 3000 BC) until the end of the Roman Empire (V th century AD) [2]. However, despite numerous artistic representations, the palaeopathology of dwarism is scarce. he earliest case of chondrodystrophic dwarism was found in an Italian Late Upper Paleolithic burial (10,000 BP,) [3] and a few cases have been reported in ancient Egyptian skeletal remains [4-6]; more recent examples of achondroplasia of Medieval Age have been described in Poland, Hungary, and Wales [7-9]. Description he skeleton, poorly preserved but in anatomical connection, was found in a simple soil grave, lying on its let side with lexed legs, an uncommon disposition for this period in which the corpses were usually buried in supine position [1]; some amphora fragments partially covered the upper part of the body and no grave goods were found (Figure 1). hese elements, alongside the position of the tomb in a part of the necropolis used by urban people belonging to the lower social class, suggest that the individual belonged to the common population, but we have no archaeological data that can help establish whether he was a slave, libertus or Roman citizen. he individual was over 20 years of age, on the basis of complete fusion of the femoral head epiphyses, and younger than 25 years of age, according to the incomplete formation of the root apex of the third molar, probably not yet completely erupted because no occlusal wear facet was visible. Accurate age estimation was diicult, as growth *Corresponding author: Simona Minozzi, Divisione di Paleopatologia, Dipartimento di Ricerca Traslazionale e delle Nuove Tecnologie in Medicina, Università di Pisa, Via Roma 57, 56126 Pisa, Italy; Tel: 0039 050 992894; Fax: 0039 050 992894; E-mail: simo.min@tiscali.it Received May 24, 2013; Accepted July 02, 2013; Published July 10, 2013 Citation: Minozzi S, Lunardini A, Catalano P, Caramella D, Fornaciari G (2013) Dwarism in Imperial Rome: A Case of Skeletal Evidence. J Clin Res Bioeth 4: 154. doi:10.4172/2155-9627.1000154 Copyright: © 2013 Minozzi S, et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. Dwarfism in Imperial Rome: A Case of Skeletal Evidence Simona Minozzi 1 *, Agata Lunardini 1 , Paola Catalano 2 , Davide Caramella 3 and Gino Fornaciari 1 1 Division of Paleopathology, Department of Translational Research on New Technologies in Medicine and Surgery, University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy 2 Special Superintendence to Archaeological Heritage of Rome, Service of Anthropology, Rome, Italy 3 Division of Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology, Department of Translational Research on New Technologies in Medicine and Surgery, University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy Abstract The palaeopathological study of skeletal human remains may contribute to extend the knowledge about ancient diseases and their impact on society. Literary sources about many pathological conditions are scarce, but in some cases they are improved by iconographic representations of diseases in paintings and sculptures from the ancient world in Egyptian, Greek and Roman art. In the same way, the anthropological description and medical diagnosis of pathological skeletons found during archaeological excavations witness the presence of diseases. This work presents a case of dwarism in an adult skeleton of the Imperial Age (I-II century A.D.) from Rome. The anthropological study evidenced a very short stature of this individual (ca 134 cm) who showed several centimetres of shortening of the limbs, compared with the osteometric data of the coeval Roman population. The presence of dwarfs in Rome during the Imperial Age is well documented by literary and iconographic sources; they were very appreciated, in particular by elitarian families, and provided for jokes and entertainment purposes. Figure1: Archaeological excavations: The grave of the pathological individual during excavations.