A Unique, Aesculepian Model Of Chronic Inappro-priate Laughter: Leading To Gross Loss Of Political Gravitas.
A Roman-British model showing the risus brittanicus associated with risible obsessive-compulsive disorder (ROCD). Galen (b. 131 AD), while serving as surgeon to the gladiators of Pergamos, was first to describe the disease with regard to a member of the Brittani tribe who laughed himself to death.
Epidemiologically, transmission of individual ROCD to pandemic, social hilarity is still not understood, but diet, including alcohol, and genetic factors are known to be involved. About 90% of the adult population of the British Isles are carriers of the disease and political morbidity is grievous.
Aesculepian ludic models, made by Roman military surgeons as mementoes of diseases and their symptoms, were widely used throughout the Western Empire, but few remain. Roughly modelled in white clay, coloured, trimmed and stamped with the signet of a surgeon (not shown), this fine example gives a fair representation of the facial aspects of the disease.