Sovrappeso e obesità: indicazioni terapeutiche e prime manifestazioni di “fat” shaming e body shaming nella storiografia latina (Impero e tardo Impero)

In this paper we try to do some observations on the descriptions of the figure of the obese in Latin- language authors (empire and late empire) from the problem related to dietary regimes, considered only in a general way. The aim is to investigate how the typology of the obese is interpreted politically and socially in the ancient world, trying to understand if and when obesity becomes an instrument of characterisation. Attempting to overcome the difficulty of defining the obese in the ancient world and at the same time to circumvent the scarcity of occurrences, the analysis of the collected material reveals some repeatedly used modes of description related to the “obese”, mostly linked to themes such as health (and food) and morality.