The Body in Space: Visual Dynamics in Graeco-Roman Healing Pilgrimage

This chapter presents a vivid analysis of the experience of the healing pilgrim in the Roman Empire. The focus is the Asklepieion at Pergamum that offers evidence of several types: architectural evidence, i.e. the layout of the shrine; art-historical evidence, i.e. dedications of body-parts; epigraphic evidence, i.e. the illuminating Sacred Law from Pergamum prescribing ritual practice for visitors; and literary evidence, especially Aelius Aristides' Sacred Tales. From this evidence, it reconstructs an impression of the pilgrim's experience characterised by a tension between the control and order of communal ritual and the individual's experience of his illness and his encounter with the deity.