Did Strabo describe rickets among the native Britons

[guy]

 

Reading this passage from Strabo's Geography (Book IV, Chapter 5, Section 2), I wonder whether he was describing rickets among the native Britons:

 

Quote

The [native Britons] are taller than the [Continental] Celts, with hair less yellow; they are slighter in their persons. As an instance of their height, we ourselves saw at Rome some youths who were taller than the tallest there by as much as half a foot, but their legs were bowed, and in other respects they were not symmetrical in conformation. Their manners are in part like those of the [Continental] Celts, though in part more simple and barbarous; insomuch that some of them, though possessing plenty of milk, have not skill enough to make cheese, and are totally unacquainted with horticulture and other matters of husbandry.

 

 

First, the background. 

Strabo was a Greek geographer, historian, and intellectual, born in 64 or 63 BCE in Amaseia, Pontus (modern Amasya, Turkey), and died around 24 CE. He lived through one of the most transformative periods in Roman history: the collapse of the Roman Republic and the rise of the Roman Empire.

His major surviving work, the Geographica, is a 17-book synthesis of geographical, ethnographic, and historical knowledge of the known world. It is among the most important surviving works of ancient geography.

Strabo was a child during Caesar’s invasion of Britannia in 55-54 BCE. These expeditions produced the Roman world’s earliest firsthand descriptions of Britain.

 

What was rickets:

Rickets is a childhood disorder affecting bones, causing them to become soft, weak, and poorly mineralized. It develops when a child lacks sufficient vitamin D, calcium, or phosphorus—the key nutrients needed for healthy bone development and mineralization. Vitamin D plays a crucial role in aiding the absorption of calcium and phosphorus from food. Without adequate vitamin D, the growth plates at the ends of bones can't mineralize correctly. This leads to bone deformities, delayed growth, and muscle weakness.

 

Common Symptoms

- Bowed legs or knock knees

- Bone pain in the spine, pelvis, or legs

- Muscle weakness and fatigue

- Delayed growth and motor skill development

 

Causes of deficiencies include vitamin D deficiency (the most common), limited sunlight exposure, a diet low in vitamin D due to few natural food sources, and exclusive breastfeeding without vitamin D supplements. Darker skin pigmentation can also reduce vitamin D synthesis. Additionally, deficiencies in calcium and phosphorus contribute to the condition.

 

So, the lack of adequate Vitamin D (from milk and milk products such as cheese) or of adequate sunlight could explain the rickets among the native Britons. Strabo continues:

Quote

Their atmosphere is more subject to rain than to snow; even on their clear days, the mist persists for a considerable time, so that throughout the whole day the sun is visible for only three or four hours around noon.

 

Interestingly, no other ancient source described this physical anomaly among the native Britons. Strabo probably had no deep understanding of the causes or treatment of rickets, either. It is, nevertheless, a strange physical characteristic to mention. 
 

Note: It is estimated that 10-15% of all 19th century Victorian children in Briton had rickets, much higher in the urban areas (25-40%) and lower in the rural areas.

 

 

Strabo, Geography, BOOK IV., CHAPTER V., section 2

 

https://academic.oup.com/shm/article/35/2/566/6381535

Edited January 4 by guy

[guidoLaMoto]

It certainly sounds like rickets (childhood osteomalacia). The usual cause is low Vit D caused by inadequate exposure to sunlight (UV radiation)....As he mentions-- they had plenty of milk, so inadequate dietary Ca wasn't the problem (natural milk is not a source of Vit D. Our modern milk is fortified with D as an additive) but the Brit. Isles have notoriously few days of good sunshine....

CJ Caesar, who wrote in some detail about all the ethnic groups he encountered in his exploits north of the Alps didn't mention anything about boney deformities among the Brits....but then, he wasn't there all that long....(We get our word "pixie" from Caesar describing the painted skin ( Latin- picti or pixi) of some of the Brit/Celtic warriors.)

Interestingly, sub- Saharan Africans have very darkly pigmented skin and the bell shaped curve of their Vit D levels are significantly lower than that of Caucasians, yet osteoporosis is significantly lower among Americans of African ancestry compared to Americans of European ancestry.