![Laurence Totelin FRHistS FLS](https://profiles-cardiff.imgix.net/attachments/2113?w=200&h=200&auto=format&crop=faces&fit=crop&q=90")
Professor Laurence Totelin
(she/her)
FRHistS FLS
- Media commentator
- Available for postgraduate supervision
Teams and roles for Laurence Totelin
Professor of Ancient History
Overview
I am a historian of Greek and Roman Science, Technology, and Medicine. I have published extensively on the history of ancient pharmacology, gynaecology, botany, and the body.
I have a background in Classics/Ancient History (BA, Free University of Brussels); History and Philosophy of Science (MPhil, Cambridge); and History of Medicine (PhD, UCL). I joined Cardiff University in 2009 after a Wellcome postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Cambridge.
I am currently carrying out research on the history of bodily fluids, and in particular breastmilk; the history of pharmacological retail; the history of plant grafting; and the history of ancient cosmetics and sexual aids, such as aphrodisiacs.
I also enjoy sharing my research through the medium of blogging. I was one of the co-editors of the Recipe Project. and was involved in the design of the FutureLearn MOOC Health and Wellbeing in the Ancient World.
I am currently the administrator of the Women's Classical Committee, UK. I am the review co-editor for the Journal of Hellenic Studies.
Publication
2025
- Perkins, E. and Totelin, L. 2025. Introduction. In: Totelin, L. and Perkins, E. eds. Tools, Techniques, and Technologies: Essays on Ancient Science and its Reception in Honour of Liba Taub. Trends in Classics – Pathways of Reception De Gruyter. , pp.5-12. (10.1515/9783111010632-002)
- Totelin, L. 2025. Carmen salutiferum: Quintus Serenus and his health-giving Liber Medicinalis. In: Blanco, C. , Hahn, A. and Martorana, S. eds. Body and Medicine in Latin Poetry. Translated from the original by C. Blanco , A. Hahn and S. Martorana Berlin: De Gruyter. , pp.161-178.
- Totelin, L. 2025. Faithful Marriages and Wild Unions: Palladius’ On Grafting. In: Totelin, L. and Perkins, E. eds. Tools, Techniques, and Technologies Essays on Ancient Science and its Reception in Honour of Liba Taub. Trends in Classics – Pathways of Reception De Gruyter. , pp.153-168. (10.1515/9783111010632-011)
- Totelin, L. 2025. La médecine grecque: Thérapeutique. In: Perilli, L. ed. Histoire des sciences de la vie et de la médecine 1: Antiquité et Moyen Age. Iste. , pp.235-243.
- Totelin, L. 2025. The “Second Order”: Interactions between physicians, painters, and stone engravers in the Roman world. History of Pharmacy and Pharmaceuticals 67 (1), pp.35-50. (10.3368/hopp.67.1.35)
2024
- Totelin, L. 2024. A thorn in the flesh: roses, rose gardens, and health in Greek and Roman antiquity. Studies in the History of Gardens and Designed Landscapes 44 (2-3), pp.105-117. (10.1080/14601176.2024.2367927)
- Totelin, L. 2024. Review of John G. Fitch, On Simples, attributed to Dioscorides. Studies in ancient medicine, 57. Leiden; Boston: Brill, 2022. Bryn Mawr Classical Review
- Totelin, L. et al. 2024. The dark side of sunthesis? Fraud and substitution in Graeco-Roman pharmacology. In: Newman, W. R. and Schickore, J. eds. Traditions of Analysis and Synthesis. Archimedes (ARIM, volume 73) Cham, Switzerland: Springer. , pp.15-40. (10.1007/978-3-031-76398-4_2)
2023
- Totelin, L. 2023. Before 'breast is best'. Argo, A Hellenic Review 19 , pp.18-19.
- Totelin, L. 2023. Orchids, lizards, and lettuce: aphrodisiacs and technosomata. In: Gerolemou, M. and Chesi, G. M. eds. Body Technologies in the Greco-Roman World: Technosôma, Gender and Sex. Liverpool: Liverpool University Press. , pp.221-239.
- Totelin, L. 2023. Waxing lyrical: Ancient medical authors on wax and wax tablets. Deltos 33 , pp.13-18.
- Totelin, L. 2023. Weaning and lactation cessation in late antiquity and the early byzantine period. In: Constantinou, S. and Skouroumouni-Stavrinou, A. eds. Breastfeeding and mothering in antiquity and early Byzantium. London: Routledge. , pp.130-151. (10.4324/9781003265658-7)
- Totelin, L. and Rieder, P. 2023. Purger, fortifier: remèdes lactés (d’Hippocrate à Pasteur). In: Foehr-Janssens, Y. and Solfaroli Camillocci, D. eds. Allaiter: De l’Antiquité à nos jours. Histoire pratiques d'une culture en Europe. Brepols. , pp.669-677.
2022
- Totelin, L. 2022. [Book Review] (D.) Lavalle Norman and (A.) Petkas (eds) Hypatia of Alexandria. Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2020.. The Journal of Hellenic Studies 142 , pp.460-461. (10.1017/S0075426922001057)
- Totelin, L. 2022. Aelian’s fabulous trees. In: De Brasi, D. and Fronterotta, F. eds. Poikile Physis: Biological Literature in Greek during the Roman Empire: Genres, Scopes, and Problems. Science, Technology, and Medicine in Ancient Cultures De Gruyter. , pp.115-128. (10.1515/9783110796858-007)
- Totelin, L. 2022. Paula S. De Vos, Compound remedies: Galenic pharmacy from the Ancient Mediterranean to New Spain [Book Review]. Journal of the History of Medicine and Allied Sciences 77 (3), pp.372-374. (10.1093/jhmas/jrac019)
- Totelin, L. 2022. The body in antiquity. - (F.) Gherchanoc, (S.) Wyler (edd.) Corps en morceaux. Démembrer et recomposer les corps dans l'Antiquité classique. [Book review]. Classical Review 72 (2), pp.569-572. (10.1017/S0009840X22000439)
- Totelin, L. 2022. Trade and exploration. In: Giesecke, A. and Mabberley, D. eds. A Cultural History of Plants in Antiquity. Vol. 1, A Cultural History of Plants London: Bloomsbury. , pp.67-83.
- Totelin, L. and King, H. 2022. Body. In: Whitmarsh, T. ed. Oxford Classical Dictionary Online. Oxford University Press. , pp.online. (10.1093/acrefore/9780199381135.013.1120)
2021
- Bradley, M. , Leonard, V. and Totelin, L. 2021. Introduction. In: Bradley, M. , Leonard, V. and Totelin, L. eds. Bodily Fluids in Antiquity. London: Routledge. , pp.1-14.
- Totelin, L. 2021. Breastmilk in the cave and on the arena: early Christian stories of lactation in context. In: Bradley, M. , Leonard, V. and Totelin, L. eds. Bodily Fluids in Antiquity. Routledge. , pp.240-255.
- Totelin, L. 2021. Easy remedies – difficult texts: the Pseudo-Galenic Euporista. In: Petit, C. , Swain, S. and Fischer, K. eds. PseudoGalenica: The Formation of the Galenic Corpus from Antiquity to the Renaissance. London: The Warburg Institute. , pp.31-45.
- Totelin, L. 2021. Hippocratic corpus. In: Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Oxford Classical Dictionary. Oxford: Oxford University Press(10.1093/acrefore/9780199381135.013.8525)
2020
- Totelin, L. 2020. A little old lady told me: appropriation of weak actors' knowledge in Graeco-Roman pharmacology. In: Epple, M. , Imhausen, A. and Muller, F. eds. Weak Knowledge: Forms, Functions, and Dynamics. Campus Verlag. , pp.109-124.
- Totelin, L. 2020. Do no harm: Phanostrate's midwifery practice. Technai, An International Journal for Ancient Science and Technology 11 , pp.129-143. (10.19272/202010501010)
- Totelin, L. 2020. Healing correspondence: letters and remedy exchange in the Graeco-Roman world. In: Totelin, L. and Flemming, R. eds. Medicine and Markets in the Graeco-Roman World and Beyond: Essays in Honour of Vivian Nutton. Classical Press of Wales. , pp.17-36.
- Totelin, L. M. V. 2020. A woman in flux: fluidity in Hippocratic gynaecology. In: Thumiger, C. ed. Holism in ancient medicine and its reception. Leiden: Brill. , pp.220-236. (10.1163/9789004443143_011)
- Totelin, L. M. V. 2020. What's a plant?. In: Taub, L. ed. The Cambridge Companion to Ancient Greek and Roman Science. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. , pp.141-159. (10.1017/9781316136096.008)
2019
- Totelin, L. 2019. A sea of synonyms: naming plants in ancient pharmacological texts. In: Reggiani, N. and Bertonazzi, F. eds. Parlare la medicina: fra lingue e culture, nello spazio e nel tempo. Atti del Convegno Internazionale, Universita di Parma, 5-7 Settembre 2016. Le Monnier Universita. , pp.195-206.
- Totelin, L. 2019. Gynécologie. In: Bodiou, L. and Mehl, V. eds. Dictionnaire du corps dans l'Antiquité. Presses universitaires de Rennes. , pp.296-298.
- Totelin, L. 2019. Hystérie. In: Bodiou, L. and Mehl, V. eds. Dictionnaire du corps dans l'Antiquité. Presses universitaires de Rennes. , pp.326-327.
- Totelin, L. 2019. Puberté. In: Bodiou, L. and Mehl, V. eds. Dictionnaire du corps dans l'Antiquité. Presses universitaires de Rennes. , pp.529-531.
- Totelin, L. 2019. Sweet honey and hare's brains: Ancient pharmacology for children's diseases. In: Lambrugo, C. ed. Una favola breve: Archeologia e antropologia per la storia del''infanzia. Edizioni All'Insegna del Giglio. , pp.37-42.
- Totelin, L. 2019. The map of knowledge: how classical ideas were lost and found: a history in seven cities, by Violet Moller [Book Review]. BBC History Magazine , pp.73.
- Totelin, L. 2019. Utérus. In: Bodiou, L. and Mehl, V. eds. Dictionnaire du corps dans l'Antiquité. Presses universitaires de Rennes. , pp.635-636.
- Totelin, L. M. V. 2019. Review of the pharmakon: concept figure, image of transgression, poetic practice ed. by Hermann Herlinghaus. Bulletin of the History of Medicine 93 (3), pp.453-454. (10.1353/bhm.2019.0061)
2018
- Totelin, L. 2018. Animal and plant generation in classical antiquity. In: Hopwood, N. , Flemming, R. and Kassell, L. eds. Reproduction: Antiquity to the Present. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. , pp.53-66.
- Totelin, L. 2018. Botany. In: Jones, A. and Taub, L. eds. The Cambridge history of science. Volume 1. Ancient Science. Cambridge University Press. , pp.238-247.
- Totelin, L. 2018. Gone with the wind: laughter and the audience of the Hippocratic treatises. In: Bouras-Vallianatos, P. and Xenophontos, S. eds. Greek medical literature and its readers: From Hippocrates to Islam and Byzantium. Routledge. , pp.30-47.
- Totelin, L. 2018. Recréer les recettes de Galien. In: Verbanck-Pirard, A. , Boudon-Millot, V. and Gourevitch, D. eds. Au temps de Galien: Un médecin grec dans l'empire Romain. Musée Royal de Mariemont. , pp.214-217.
- Totelin, L. 2018. Review of A. Ferraces Rodriguez, Curae quae ex hominibus atque animalibus fiunt. Estudio y edición crítica. L’Antiquité Classique 87 396.
- Totelin, L. 2018. Therapeutics. In: Pormann, P. E. ed. The Cambirdge Companion to Hippocrates. Cambridge Companions to Philosophy Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. , pp.200-216.
- Totelin, L. M. V. 2018. Tastes in ancient botany, medicine and science. In: Rudolph, K. C. ed. Taste and the Ancient Senses. London: Routledge. , pp.60-71.
2017
- Totelin, L. 2017. From technē to kakotechnia: use and abuse of ancient cosmetic texts. In: Formisano, M. and van der Eijk, P. eds. Knowledge, Text and Practice in Ancient Technical Writing. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. , pp.138-162. (10.1017/9781316718575.008)
- Totelin, L. 2017. Motherhood in flux: Greek nymphs, breastfeeding, and ancient gynaecology. In: Guignard, F. P. , Pedrucci, G. and Scapini, M. eds. Maternita e politeismi. Motherhood(s) and polytheisms. Patron Editore. , pp.359-370.
- Totelin, L. 2017. The third way. In: Lemhaus, L. and Martelli, M. eds. Collecting Recipes: Byzantine and Jewish Pharmacology in Dialogue. Science, Technology, and Medicine in Ancient Cultures Boston and Berlin: De Gruyter. , pp.103-122. (10.1515/9781501502538)
- Totelin, L. M. V. 2017. Technology in the ancient world. BBC History Magazine: The story of science & technology. , pp.16-19.
- Totelin, L. M. V. 2017. Whose fault is it anyway? Plant infertility in antiquity. In: Davies, G. and Loughran, T. eds. The Palgrave Handbook of Infertility in History: Approaches, Contexts and Perspectives. Basingstoke: Palgrave. , pp.57-75.
- Totelin, L. M. V. 2017. Call the (Roman) midwife. BBC History Magazine Collec , pp.40-43.
- Totelin, L. M. V. 2017. Milk: the symbolism & ambivalence of a substance. Viewpoint: the Magazine of the British Society for the History of Science 112 , pp.6-7.
- Totelin, L. M. V. 2017. Snakes and ladders: wonder cures of the ancient world. BBC History Magazine Collec , pp.22-25.
- Trickey, H. , Totelin, L. M. V. and Sanders, J. 2017. Nain, Mam and Me: Historical artefacts as prompts for reminiscence, reflection and conversation about feeding babies. A qualitative development study. Research for All 1 (1), pp.64-83. (10.18546/RFA.01.1.06)
2016
- Totelin, L. 2016. Pharmakopolai: a re-evaluation of the sources. In: Harris, W. V. ed. Popular Medicine in Graeco-Roman Antiquity: Explorations. Columbia Studies in the Classical Tradition Brill. , pp.65-85. (10.1163/9789004326040_003)
- Totelin, L. M. V. 2016. Breastfeeding. In: Bagnall, R. S. et al., The Encyclopedia of Ancient History. Wiley. , pp.1-2. (10.1002/9781444338386.wbeah30237)
- Totelin, L. M. V. 2016. Hippocratic and Aristophanic recipes: a comparative study. In: Dean-Jones, L. and Rosen, R. eds. Ancient Concepts of the Hippocratic. Papers presented at the XIIIth Hippocrates Colloquium, Austin, Texas, 11-13 August, 2008. Leiden: Brill. , pp.292-301.
- Totelin, L. M. V. 2016. Homo Patiens, Approaches to the patient in the Ancient World, edited by Georgia Petridou and Chiara Thumiger [Book Review]. Early Science and Medicine 21 (6), pp.575-577. (10.1163/15733823-00216p05)
- Totelin, L. M. V. 2016. Ido Israelowich. Patients and healers in the High Roman Empire [Book Review]. Isis 107 (3), pp.620-621. (10.1086/688242)
- Totelin, L. M. V. 2016. L’Expressivité du lexique médical en Grèce et à Rome: Hommages à Françoise Skoda ed. by Isabelle Boehm and Nathalie Rousseau [Book Review]. Bulletin of the History of Medicine 90 (1), pp.141-142.
- Totelin, L. M. V. 2016. Technologies of knowledge: pharmacology, botany, and medical recipes. Oxford Handbooks Online (10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199935390.013.94)
- Totelin, L. M. V. 2016. The world in a pill: local specialties and global remedies in the Graeco-Roman world. In: Futo Kennedy, R. and Jones-Lewis, M. eds. The Routledge Handbook of Identity and the Environment in the Classical and Medieval World. London and New York: Routledge. , pp.151-170.
- Trickey, H. , Totelin, L. M. V. and Sanders, J. 2016. Mamgu, mam and me: feeding babies in Wales - now and then. Exhibition for the general public at Cardiff Story Museum. [Exhibition] Cardiff Story Musuem 5-6 November 2016.
2015
- Hardy, G. and Totelin, L. 2015. Ancient botany. Science of Antiquity Abingdon and New York: Routledge. (10.4324/9780203458358)
- Totelin, L. M. V. 2015. Ancient breast milk for modern debates. Breastfeeding matters: La Leche League GB mother-to-mother support for breastfeeding (209), pp.12-15.
- Totelin, L. M. V. 2015. L'odeur des autres: femme et odeur - l'intersection de la pratique Hippocratique et de la pratique religieuse. In: Jouanna, J. and Zinc, M. eds. Hippocrate et les hippocratismes : médecine, religion, société. Academies des Inscriptions et Belles Lettres. , pp.83-98.
- Totelin, L. M. V. 2015. Stephen M. Oberhelman (ed.), Dreams, healing and medicine in Greece: from antiquity to the present [Book Review]. Social History of Medicine 28 (4), pp.930-931. (10.1093/shm/hkv080)
- Totelin, L. M. V. 2015. When foods become remedies in ancient Greece: the curious case of garlic and other substances. Journal of Ethnopharmacology 167 , pp.30-37. (10.1016/j.jep.2014.08.018)
- Trickey, H. , Sanders, J. and Totelin, L. M. V. 2015. Nain and Mam and Me: historical artefacts, social history and opening the conversation about infant feeding in Wales. NCT Perspective 29 , pp.33-34.
- Trickey, H. , Totelin, L. M. V. and Sanders, J. 2015. Nain and Mam and me: Historical artefacts, social history and opening the conversation about infant feeding in Wales. [Blog] Fferm Mathrafal, Meifod, Wales 1-8 August 2015.
2014
- Baker, P. , King, H. and Totelin, L. M. V. 2014. Teaching ancient medicine: the issues of abortion. In: Rabinowitz, N. S. and McHardy, F. eds. From Abortion to Pederasty: Addressing Difficult Topics in the Classics Classroom. Columbus, Ohio: The Ohio State University Press. , pp.71-91.
- Totelin, L. M. V. 2014. J. Jouanna, Greek medicine from Hippocrates to Galen [Book Review]. Isis 105 (1), pp.206-206. (10.1086/676764)
- Totelin, L. M. V. 2014. Review: Anne Van Arsdall and Timothy Graham (eds), herbs and healers from the ancient Mediterranean through the medieval West: essays in honor of John M. Riddle. Social History of Medicine 27 (1), pp.165-166. (10.1093/shm/hkt078)
- Totelin, L. M. V. 2014. Smell as sign and cure in ancient medicine. In: Bradley, M. ed. Smell and the Ancient Senses. The Senses in Antiquity London: Routledge. , pp.17-29.
- Totelin, L. M. V. 2014. Suzanne Amigues, Théophraste. Les causes des phénomènes végétaux. Tome I. Livres I et II [Book Review]. Aestimatio 11 , pp.168-170.
- Totelin, L. M. V. 2014. Sweet as honey. [Online].The Recipes Project. Available at: http://recipes.hypotheses.org/4099.
2013
- Muir, S. and Totelin, L. M. V. 2013. Medicine & disease. In: Tulloch, J. H. ed. A Cultural History of Women in Antiquity. Vol. 1, Oxford: Berg. , pp.81-104.
- Totelin, L. M. V. 2013. Richard A. Gabriel, Man and wound in the Ancient World: A history of miltary medicine from Sumer to the Fall of Constantinople [Book Review]. Isis 104 (1), pp.153-154. (10.1086/670872)
2012
- Totelin, L. M. V. 2012. And to end on a poetic note: Galen’s authorial strategies in the pharmacological books. Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part A 43 (2), pp.307-315. (10.1016/j.shpsa.2011.12.019)
- Totelin, L. M. V. 2012. Botanizing rulers and their herbal subjects: Plants and political power in Greek and Roman literature. Phoenix LXVI (1-2), pp.122-144.
- Totelin, L. M. V. 2012. Carian medicine (C.) nissen entre Asclépios et Hippocrate. étude des cultes guérisseurs et des médecins en Carie.(Kernos supplément 22.) pp. 397, ills, maps. liège: centre international d'étude de la religion Grecque antique, 2009. paper €40. ISBN: 978-2-9600717-5-7 [Review]. The Classical Review 62 (1), pp.61-62. (10.1017/S0009840X11002903)
2011
- Totelin, L. M. V. 2011. B. Holmes, The symptom and the subject: the emergence of the physical body in Ancient Greece [Book Review]. Isis 102 (3), pp.551-552. (10.1086/663030)
- Totelin, L. M. V. 2011. J. Scarborough, Pharmacy and Drug Lore in Antiquity: Greece, Rome, Byzantium [Book Review]. Aestimatio 8 , pp.116-120.
- Totelin, L. M. V. 2011. Old recipes, new practice? The Latin adaptations of the Hippocratic 'Gynaecological Treatises'. Social History of Medicine 24 (1), pp.74-91. (10.1093/shm/hkq103)
2010
- Totelin, L. M. V. 2010. A. Mayor, The Poison King: The Life and Legend of Mithradates Rome's Deadliest Enemy [Book Review]. Isis 101 (3), pp.639-639. (10.1086/657189)
- Totelin, L. M. V. 2010. A recipe for a headache: translating and interpreting ancient Greek and Roman remedies. In: Imhausen, A. and Pommerening, T. eds. Writings of Early Scholars in the Ancient Near East, Egypt and Greece: Zur Übersetzbarkeit von Wissenschaftssprachen des Altertums. Beiträge zur Altertumskunde Vol. 286.Berlin: De Gruyter. , pp.219-237.
- Totelin, L. M. V. 2010. Bronwen L Wickkiser, Asklepios, medicine, and the politics of healing in fifth-century Greece: between craft and cult, Baltimore, Johns Hopkins University Press, 2008, pp xiii, 178, £29.00, $55.00 (hardback 987-0-8018-8978-3) [Review]. Medical History 54 (2), pp.271-272.
- Totelin, L. M. V. 2010. C. Gill, T. Whitmarsh and J. Wilkins (eds.), Galen and the World of Knowledge [Book Review]. British Journal of the History of Science 43 (3), pp.478-479. (10.1017/S0007087410001032)
- Totelin, L. M. V. 2010. Teaching the hippocratic gynaecological recipes?. In: Horstmanshoff, M. and Tilburg, C. R. v. eds. Hippocrates and Medical Education: Selected Papers Presented at the XIIth International Hippocrates Colloquium, Universiteit Leiden, 24-26 August 2005. Studies in Ancient Medicine Vol. 35.Leiden: Brill. , pp.287-300.
- Totelin, L. M. V. 2010. Thomas Rütten, Geschichten vom Hippokratischen Eid, Wiesbaden, Harrassowitz, 2008, CD-ROM €20.00 (978-3-447-05679-3) [Review]. Medical History 54 (1), pp.135-136. (10.1017/S0025727300004518)
2009
- Totelin, L. M. V. 2009. Birth and reproduction. In: Gargarin, M. ed. Encyclopedia of Ancient Greece and Rome. Oxford: Oxford University Press
- Totelin, L. M. V. 2009. Galen's use of multiple manuscript copies in his pharmacological treatises. In: Doody, A. and Taub, L. eds. Authorial Choice, Authorial Voice: Greco-Roman Scientific and Medical Writing.. Trier: Wissenschaftlicher Verlag. , pp.81-92.
- Totelin, L. M. V. 2009. Gynecology. In: Gargarin, M. ed. The Oxford Encyclopedia of Ancient Greece and Rome. Oxford: Oxford University Press
- Totelin, L. M. V. 2009. Hippocratic recipes: Oral and written transmission of pharmacological knowledge in fifth- and fourth-century Greece. Studies in Ancient Medicine Vol. 34Leiden: Brill Academic Publishers.
- Totelin, L. M. V. 2009. Hospitals and Healing from antiquity to the later middle ages [Review]. Social History of Medicine 22 (1), pp.195-197.
2008
- Totelin, L. M. V. 2008. Parfums et huiles parfumées en médecine. In: Verbanck-Piérard, A. , Massar, N. and Frère, D. eds. Parfums de l'Antiquité: La rose et l'encens en Méditerranée. Morlanwelz-Mariemont: Musée Royal de Mariemont. , pp.227-232.
2007
- Totelin, L. M. V. 2007. Hippokratic Corpus, nosological works. In: Keyser, P. T. and Irby-Massie, G. L. eds. The Encyclopaedia of Ancient Natural Scientists: the Greek Tradition and its many Heirs. London: Routledge. , pp.413-414.
- Totelin, L. M. V. 2007. Perfume. In: Cancik, H. et al., Brill's New Pauly: Encyclopaedia of the Ancient World. Leiden ; Boston: Brill. , pp.753-754.
- Totelin, L. M. V. 2007. (R.) Mayhew The female in Aristotle's Biology: reason or rationalization. Pp. xii+ 136. Chicago and London: The University of Chicago Press, 2004 [Book Review]. The Classical Review 57 (1), pp.49-50. (10.1017/S0009840X06003118)
- Totelin, L. M. V. 2007. Sex and vegetables in the Hippocratic gynaecological treatises. Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part C: Studies in History and Philosophy of Biological and Biomedical Sciences 38 (3), pp.531-540. (10.1016/j.shpsc.2007.06.001)
2006
- Totelin, L. M. V. 2006. Philip J van der Eijk (ed.), Hippocrates in context: papers read at the XIth international Hippocrates colloquium, University of Newcastle upon Tyne 27–31 August 2002, studies in ancient medicine, vol. 31, Leiden and Boston, Brill, 2005, pp xvi, 521, €149.00, US$199.00(hardback 90-04-14430-7) [Review]. Medical History 50 (4), pp.552-553. (10.1017/S0025727300010474)
- Totelin, L. M. V. 2006. S. Amigues, Theophraste. Recherches sur les Plantes. Tome V. [Book Review]. Bryn Mawr Classical Review 2006.07.24.
2004
- Totelin, L. M. V. 2004. Mithradates’ antidote: A pharmacological ghost. Early Science and Medicine 9 (1), pp.1-19. (10.1163/1573382041153179)
- Totelin, L. M. V. 2004. Review: Maria Michela Sassi, The science of man in Ancient Greece. Translated by Paul Tucker. With a Foreword by Sir Geoffrey Lloyd. Chicago and London: University of Chicago Press, 2001 [Book Review]. The British Journal for the History of Science 37 (04), pp.467-468.
Articles
- Totelin, L. 2022. [Book Review] (D.) Lavalle Norman and (A.) Petkas (eds) Hypatia of Alexandria. Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2020.. The Journal of Hellenic Studies 142 , pp.460-461. (10.1017/S0075426922001057)
- Totelin, L. 2024. A thorn in the flesh: roses, rose gardens, and health in Greek and Roman antiquity. Studies in the History of Gardens and Designed Landscapes 44 (2-3), pp.105-117. (10.1080/14601176.2024.2367927)
- Totelin, L. 2023. Before 'breast is best'. Argo, A Hellenic Review 19 , pp.18-19.
- Totelin, L. 2020. Do no harm: Phanostrate's midwifery practice. Technai, An International Journal for Ancient Science and Technology 11 , pp.129-143. (10.19272/202010501010)
- Totelin, L. 2022. Paula S. De Vos, Compound remedies: Galenic pharmacy from the Ancient Mediterranean to New Spain [Book Review]. Journal of the History of Medicine and Allied Sciences 77 (3), pp.372-374. (10.1093/jhmas/jrac019)
- Totelin, L. 2018. Review of A. Ferraces Rodriguez, Curae quae ex hominibus atque animalibus fiunt. Estudio y edición crítica. L’Antiquité Classique 87 396.
- Totelin, L. 2024. Review of John G. Fitch, On Simples, attributed to Dioscorides. Studies in ancient medicine, 57. Leiden; Boston: Brill, 2022. Bryn Mawr Classical Review
- Totelin, L. 2022. The body in antiquity. - (F.) Gherchanoc, (S.) Wyler (edd.) Corps en morceaux. Démembrer et recomposer les corps dans l'Antiquité classique. [Book review]. Classical Review 72 (2), pp.569-572. (10.1017/S0009840X22000439)
- Totelin, L. 2019. The map of knowledge: how classical ideas were lost and found: a history in seven cities, by Violet Moller [Book Review]. BBC History Magazine , pp.73.
- Totelin, L. 2025. The “Second Order”: Interactions between physicians, painters, and stone engravers in the Roman world. History of Pharmacy and Pharmaceuticals 67 (1), pp.35-50. (10.3368/hopp.67.1.35)
- Totelin, L. 2023. Waxing lyrical: Ancient medical authors on wax and wax tablets. Deltos 33 , pp.13-18.
- Totelin, L. M. V. 2019. Review of the pharmakon: concept figure, image of transgression, poetic practice ed. by Hermann Herlinghaus. Bulletin of the History of Medicine 93 (3), pp.453-454. (10.1353/bhm.2019.0061)
- Totelin, L. M. V. 2017. Technology in the ancient world. BBC History Magazine: The story of science & technology. , pp.16-19.
- Totelin, L. M. V. 2010. A. Mayor, The Poison King: The Life and Legend of Mithradates Rome's Deadliest Enemy [Book Review]. Isis 101 (3), pp.639-639. (10.1086/657189)
- Totelin, L. M. V. 2015. Ancient breast milk for modern debates. Breastfeeding matters: La Leche League GB mother-to-mother support for breastfeeding (209), pp.12-15.
- Totelin, L. M. V. 2012. And to end on a poetic note: Galen’s authorial strategies in the pharmacological books. Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part A 43 (2), pp.307-315. (10.1016/j.shpsa.2011.12.019)
- Totelin, L. M. V. 2011. B. Holmes, The symptom and the subject: the emergence of the physical body in Ancient Greece [Book Review]. Isis 102 (3), pp.551-552. (10.1086/663030)
- Totelin, L. M. V. 2012. Botanizing rulers and their herbal subjects: Plants and political power in Greek and Roman literature. Phoenix LXVI (1-2), pp.122-144.
- Totelin, L. M. V. 2010. Bronwen L Wickkiser, Asklepios, medicine, and the politics of healing in fifth-century Greece: between craft and cult, Baltimore, Johns Hopkins University Press, 2008, pp xiii, 178, £29.00, $55.00 (hardback 987-0-8018-8978-3) [Review]. Medical History 54 (2), pp.271-272.
- Totelin, L. M. V. 2010. C. Gill, T. Whitmarsh and J. Wilkins (eds.), Galen and the World of Knowledge [Book Review]. British Journal of the History of Science 43 (3), pp.478-479. (10.1017/S0007087410001032)
- Totelin, L. M. V. 2017. Call the (Roman) midwife. BBC History Magazine Collec , pp.40-43.
- Totelin, L. M. V. 2012. Carian medicine (C.) nissen entre Asclépios et Hippocrate. étude des cultes guérisseurs et des médecins en Carie.(Kernos supplément 22.) pp. 397, ills, maps. liège: centre international d'étude de la religion Grecque antique, 2009. paper €40. ISBN: 978-2-9600717-5-7 [Review]. The Classical Review 62 (1), pp.61-62. (10.1017/S0009840X11002903)
- Totelin, L. M. V. 2016. Homo Patiens, Approaches to the patient in the Ancient World, edited by Georgia Petridou and Chiara Thumiger [Book Review]. Early Science and Medicine 21 (6), pp.575-577. (10.1163/15733823-00216p05)
- Totelin, L. M. V. 2009. Hospitals and Healing from antiquity to the later middle ages [Review]. Social History of Medicine 22 (1), pp.195-197.
- Totelin, L. M. V. 2016. Ido Israelowich. Patients and healers in the High Roman Empire [Book Review]. Isis 107 (3), pp.620-621. (10.1086/688242)
- Totelin, L. M. V. 2014. J. Jouanna, Greek medicine from Hippocrates to Galen [Book Review]. Isis 105 (1), pp.206-206. (10.1086/676764)
- Totelin, L. M. V. 2011. J. Scarborough, Pharmacy and Drug Lore in Antiquity: Greece, Rome, Byzantium [Book Review]. Aestimatio 8 , pp.116-120.
- Totelin, L. M. V. 2016. L’Expressivité du lexique médical en Grèce et à Rome: Hommages à Françoise Skoda ed. by Isabelle Boehm and Nathalie Rousseau [Book Review]. Bulletin of the History of Medicine 90 (1), pp.141-142.
- Totelin, L. M. V. 2017. Milk: the symbolism & ambivalence of a substance. Viewpoint: the Magazine of the British Society for the History of Science 112 , pp.6-7.
- Totelin, L. M. V. 2004. Mithradates’ antidote: A pharmacological ghost. Early Science and Medicine 9 (1), pp.1-19. (10.1163/1573382041153179)
- Totelin, L. M. V. 2011. Old recipes, new practice? The Latin adaptations of the Hippocratic 'Gynaecological Treatises'. Social History of Medicine 24 (1), pp.74-91. (10.1093/shm/hkq103)
- Totelin, L. M. V. 2006. Philip J van der Eijk (ed.), Hippocrates in context: papers read at the XIth international Hippocrates colloquium, University of Newcastle upon Tyne 27–31 August 2002, studies in ancient medicine, vol. 31, Leiden and Boston, Brill, 2005, pp xvi, 521, €149.00, US$199.00(hardback 90-04-14430-7) [Review]. Medical History 50 (4), pp.552-553. (10.1017/S0025727300010474)
- Totelin, L. M. V. 2007. (R.) Mayhew The female in Aristotle's Biology: reason or rationalization. Pp. xii+ 136. Chicago and London: The University of Chicago Press, 2004 [Book Review]. The Classical Review 57 (1), pp.49-50. (10.1017/S0009840X06003118)
- Totelin, L. M. V. 2014. Review: Anne Van Arsdall and Timothy Graham (eds), herbs and healers from the ancient Mediterranean through the medieval West: essays in honor of John M. Riddle. Social History of Medicine 27 (1), pp.165-166. (10.1093/shm/hkt078)
- Totelin, L. M. V. 2004. Review: Maria Michela Sassi, The science of man in Ancient Greece. Translated by Paul Tucker. With a Foreword by Sir Geoffrey Lloyd. Chicago and London: University of Chicago Press, 2001 [Book Review]. The British Journal for the History of Science 37 (04), pp.467-468.
- Totelin, L. M. V. 2013. Richard A. Gabriel, Man and wound in the Ancient World: A history of miltary medicine from Sumer to the Fall of Constantinople [Book Review]. Isis 104 (1), pp.153-154. (10.1086/670872)
- Totelin, L. M. V. 2006. S. Amigues, Theophraste. Recherches sur les Plantes. Tome V. [Book Review]. Bryn Mawr Classical Review 2006.07.24.
- Totelin, L. M. V. 2007. Sex and vegetables in the Hippocratic gynaecological treatises. Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part C: Studies in History and Philosophy of Biological and Biomedical Sciences 38 (3), pp.531-540. (10.1016/j.shpsc.2007.06.001)
- Totelin, L. M. V. 2017. Snakes and ladders: wonder cures of the ancient world. BBC History Magazine Collec , pp.22-25.
- Totelin, L. M. V. 2015. Stephen M. Oberhelman (ed.), Dreams, healing and medicine in Greece: from antiquity to the present [Book Review]. Social History of Medicine 28 (4), pp.930-931. (10.1093/shm/hkv080)
- Totelin, L. M. V. 2014. Suzanne Amigues, Théophraste. Les causes des phénomènes végétaux. Tome I. Livres I et II [Book Review]. Aestimatio 11 , pp.168-170.
- Totelin, L. M. V. 2016. Technologies of knowledge: pharmacology, botany, and medical recipes. Oxford Handbooks Online (10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199935390.013.94)
- Totelin, L. M. V. 2010. Thomas Rütten, Geschichten vom Hippokratischen Eid, Wiesbaden, Harrassowitz, 2008, CD-ROM €20.00 (978-3-447-05679-3) [Review]. Medical History 54 (1), pp.135-136. (10.1017/S0025727300004518)
- Totelin, L. M. V. 2015. When foods become remedies in ancient Greece: the curious case of garlic and other substances. Journal of Ethnopharmacology 167 , pp.30-37. (10.1016/j.jep.2014.08.018)
- Trickey, H. , Sanders, J. and Totelin, L. M. V. 2015. Nain and Mam and Me: historical artefacts, social history and opening the conversation about infant feeding in Wales. NCT Perspective 29 , pp.33-34.
- Trickey, H. , Totelin, L. M. V. and Sanders, J. 2017. Nain, Mam and Me: Historical artefacts as prompts for reminiscence, reflection and conversation about feeding babies. A qualitative development study. Research for All 1 (1), pp.64-83. (10.18546/RFA.01.1.06)
Book sections
- Baker, P. , King, H. and Totelin, L. M. V. 2014. Teaching ancient medicine: the issues of abortion. In: Rabinowitz, N. S. and McHardy, F. eds. From Abortion to Pederasty: Addressing Difficult Topics in the Classics Classroom. Columbus, Ohio: The Ohio State University Press. , pp.71-91.
- Bradley, M. , Leonard, V. and Totelin, L. 2021. Introduction. In: Bradley, M. , Leonard, V. and Totelin, L. eds. Bodily Fluids in Antiquity. London: Routledge. , pp.1-14.
- Muir, S. and Totelin, L. M. V. 2013. Medicine & disease. In: Tulloch, J. H. ed. A Cultural History of Women in Antiquity. Vol. 1, Oxford: Berg. , pp.81-104.
- Perkins, E. and Totelin, L. 2025. Introduction. In: Totelin, L. and Perkins, E. eds. Tools, Techniques, and Technologies: Essays on Ancient Science and its Reception in Honour of Liba Taub. Trends in Classics – Pathways of Reception De Gruyter. , pp.5-12. (10.1515/9783111010632-002)
- Totelin, L. 2020. A little old lady told me: appropriation of weak actors' knowledge in Graeco-Roman pharmacology. In: Epple, M. , Imhausen, A. and Muller, F. eds. Weak Knowledge: Forms, Functions, and Dynamics. Campus Verlag. , pp.109-124.
- Totelin, L. 2019. A sea of synonyms: naming plants in ancient pharmacological texts. In: Reggiani, N. and Bertonazzi, F. eds. Parlare la medicina: fra lingue e culture, nello spazio e nel tempo. Atti del Convegno Internazionale, Universita di Parma, 5-7 Settembre 2016. Le Monnier Universita. , pp.195-206.
- Totelin, L. 2022. Aelian’s fabulous trees. In: De Brasi, D. and Fronterotta, F. eds. Poikile Physis: Biological Literature in Greek during the Roman Empire: Genres, Scopes, and Problems. Science, Technology, and Medicine in Ancient Cultures De Gruyter. , pp.115-128. (10.1515/9783110796858-007)
- Totelin, L. 2018. Animal and plant generation in classical antiquity. In: Hopwood, N. , Flemming, R. and Kassell, L. eds. Reproduction: Antiquity to the Present. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. , pp.53-66.
- Totelin, L. 2018. Botany. In: Jones, A. and Taub, L. eds. The Cambridge history of science. Volume 1. Ancient Science. Cambridge University Press. , pp.238-247.
- Totelin, L. 2021. Breastmilk in the cave and on the arena: early Christian stories of lactation in context. In: Bradley, M. , Leonard, V. and Totelin, L. eds. Bodily Fluids in Antiquity. Routledge. , pp.240-255.
- Totelin, L. 2025. Carmen salutiferum: Quintus Serenus and his health-giving Liber Medicinalis. In: Blanco, C. , Hahn, A. and Martorana, S. eds. Body and Medicine in Latin Poetry. Translated from the original by C. Blanco , A. Hahn and S. Martorana Berlin: De Gruyter. , pp.161-178.
- Totelin, L. 2021. Easy remedies – difficult texts: the Pseudo-Galenic Euporista. In: Petit, C. , Swain, S. and Fischer, K. eds. PseudoGalenica: The Formation of the Galenic Corpus from Antiquity to the Renaissance. London: The Warburg Institute. , pp.31-45.
- Totelin, L. 2025. Faithful Marriages and Wild Unions: Palladius’ On Grafting. In: Totelin, L. and Perkins, E. eds. Tools, Techniques, and Technologies Essays on Ancient Science and its Reception in Honour of Liba Taub. Trends in Classics – Pathways of Reception De Gruyter. , pp.153-168. (10.1515/9783111010632-011)
- Totelin, L. 2017. From technē to kakotechnia: use and abuse of ancient cosmetic texts. In: Formisano, M. and van der Eijk, P. eds. Knowledge, Text and Practice in Ancient Technical Writing. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. , pp.138-162. (10.1017/9781316718575.008)
- Totelin, L. 2018. Gone with the wind: laughter and the audience of the Hippocratic treatises. In: Bouras-Vallianatos, P. and Xenophontos, S. eds. Greek medical literature and its readers: From Hippocrates to Islam and Byzantium. Routledge. , pp.30-47.
- Totelin, L. 2019. Gynécologie. In: Bodiou, L. and Mehl, V. eds. Dictionnaire du corps dans l'Antiquité. Presses universitaires de Rennes. , pp.296-298.
- Totelin, L. 2020. Healing correspondence: letters and remedy exchange in the Graeco-Roman world. In: Totelin, L. and Flemming, R. eds. Medicine and Markets in the Graeco-Roman World and Beyond: Essays in Honour of Vivian Nutton. Classical Press of Wales. , pp.17-36.
- Totelin, L. 2021. Hippocratic corpus. In: Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Oxford Classical Dictionary. Oxford: Oxford University Press(10.1093/acrefore/9780199381135.013.8525)
- Totelin, L. 2019. Hystérie. In: Bodiou, L. and Mehl, V. eds. Dictionnaire du corps dans l'Antiquité. Presses universitaires de Rennes. , pp.326-327.
- Totelin, L. 2025. La médecine grecque: Thérapeutique. In: Perilli, L. ed. Histoire des sciences de la vie et de la médecine 1: Antiquité et Moyen Age. Iste. , pp.235-243.
- Totelin, L. 2017. Motherhood in flux: Greek nymphs, breastfeeding, and ancient gynaecology. In: Guignard, F. P. , Pedrucci, G. and Scapini, M. eds. Maternita e politeismi. Motherhood(s) and polytheisms. Patron Editore. , pp.359-370.
- Totelin, L. 2023. Orchids, lizards, and lettuce: aphrodisiacs and technosomata. In: Gerolemou, M. and Chesi, G. M. eds. Body Technologies in the Greco-Roman World: Technosôma, Gender and Sex. Liverpool: Liverpool University Press. , pp.221-239.
- Totelin, L. 2016. Pharmakopolai: a re-evaluation of the sources. In: Harris, W. V. ed. Popular Medicine in Graeco-Roman Antiquity: Explorations. Columbia Studies in the Classical Tradition Brill. , pp.65-85. (10.1163/9789004326040_003)
- Totelin, L. 2019. Puberté. In: Bodiou, L. and Mehl, V. eds. Dictionnaire du corps dans l'Antiquité. Presses universitaires de Rennes. , pp.529-531.
- Totelin, L. 2018. Recréer les recettes de Galien. In: Verbanck-Pirard, A. , Boudon-Millot, V. and Gourevitch, D. eds. Au temps de Galien: Un médecin grec dans l'empire Romain. Musée Royal de Mariemont. , pp.214-217.
- Totelin, L. 2019. Sweet honey and hare's brains: Ancient pharmacology for children's diseases. In: Lambrugo, C. ed. Una favola breve: Archeologia e antropologia per la storia del''infanzia. Edizioni All'Insegna del Giglio. , pp.37-42.
- Totelin, L. 2017. The third way. In: Lemhaus, L. and Martelli, M. eds. Collecting Recipes: Byzantine and Jewish Pharmacology in Dialogue. Science, Technology, and Medicine in Ancient Cultures Boston and Berlin: De Gruyter. , pp.103-122. (10.1515/9781501502538)
- Totelin, L. 2018. Therapeutics. In: Pormann, P. E. ed. The Cambirdge Companion to Hippocrates. Cambridge Companions to Philosophy Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. , pp.200-216.
- Totelin, L. 2022. Trade and exploration. In: Giesecke, A. and Mabberley, D. eds. A Cultural History of Plants in Antiquity. Vol. 1, A Cultural History of Plants London: Bloomsbury. , pp.67-83.
- Totelin, L. 2019. Utérus. In: Bodiou, L. and Mehl, V. eds. Dictionnaire du corps dans l'Antiquité. Presses universitaires de Rennes. , pp.635-636.
- Totelin, L. 2023. Weaning and lactation cessation in late antiquity and the early byzantine period. In: Constantinou, S. and Skouroumouni-Stavrinou, A. eds. Breastfeeding and mothering in antiquity and early Byzantium. London: Routledge. , pp.130-151. (10.4324/9781003265658-7)
- Totelin, L. and King, H. 2022. Body. In: Whitmarsh, T. ed. Oxford Classical Dictionary Online. Oxford University Press. , pp.online. (10.1093/acrefore/9780199381135.013.1120)
- Totelin, L. et al. 2024. The dark side of sunthesis? Fraud and substitution in Graeco-Roman pharmacology. In: Newman, W. R. and Schickore, J. eds. Traditions of Analysis and Synthesis. Archimedes (ARIM, volume 73) Cham, Switzerland: Springer. , pp.15-40. (10.1007/978-3-031-76398-4_2)
- Totelin, L. and Rieder, P. 2023. Purger, fortifier: remèdes lactés (d’Hippocrate à Pasteur). In: Foehr-Janssens, Y. and Solfaroli Camillocci, D. eds. Allaiter: De l’Antiquité à nos jours. Histoire pratiques d'une culture en Europe. Brepols. , pp.669-677.
- Totelin, L. M. V. 2020. A woman in flux: fluidity in Hippocratic gynaecology. In: Thumiger, C. ed. Holism in ancient medicine and its reception. Leiden: Brill. , pp.220-236. (10.1163/9789004443143_011)
- Totelin, L. M. V. 2018. Tastes in ancient botany, medicine and science. In: Rudolph, K. C. ed. Taste and the Ancient Senses. London: Routledge. , pp.60-71.
- Totelin, L. M. V. 2020. What's a plant?. In: Taub, L. ed. The Cambridge Companion to Ancient Greek and Roman Science. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. , pp.141-159. (10.1017/9781316136096.008)
- Totelin, L. M. V. 2017. Whose fault is it anyway? Plant infertility in antiquity. In: Davies, G. and Loughran, T. eds. The Palgrave Handbook of Infertility in History: Approaches, Contexts and Perspectives. Basingstoke: Palgrave. , pp.57-75.
- Totelin, L. M. V. 2010. A recipe for a headache: translating and interpreting ancient Greek and Roman remedies. In: Imhausen, A. and Pommerening, T. eds. Writings of Early Scholars in the Ancient Near East, Egypt and Greece: Zur Übersetzbarkeit von Wissenschaftssprachen des Altertums. Beiträge zur Altertumskunde Vol. 286.Berlin: De Gruyter. , pp.219-237.
- Totelin, L. M. V. 2009. Birth and reproduction. In: Gargarin, M. ed. Encyclopedia of Ancient Greece and Rome. Oxford: Oxford University Press
- Totelin, L. M. V. 2016. Breastfeeding. In: Bagnall, R. S. et al., The Encyclopedia of Ancient History. Wiley. , pp.1-2. (10.1002/9781444338386.wbeah30237)
- Totelin, L. M. V. 2009. Galen's use of multiple manuscript copies in his pharmacological treatises. In: Doody, A. and Taub, L. eds. Authorial Choice, Authorial Voice: Greco-Roman Scientific and Medical Writing.. Trier: Wissenschaftlicher Verlag. , pp.81-92.
- Totelin, L. M. V. 2009. Gynecology. In: Gargarin, M. ed. The Oxford Encyclopedia of Ancient Greece and Rome. Oxford: Oxford University Press
- Totelin, L. M. V. 2016. Hippocratic and Aristophanic recipes: a comparative study. In: Dean-Jones, L. and Rosen, R. eds. Ancient Concepts of the Hippocratic. Papers presented at the XIIIth Hippocrates Colloquium, Austin, Texas, 11-13 August, 2008. Leiden: Brill. , pp.292-301.
- Totelin, L. M. V. 2007. Hippokratic Corpus, nosological works. In: Keyser, P. T. and Irby-Massie, G. L. eds. The Encyclopaedia of Ancient Natural Scientists: the Greek Tradition and its many Heirs. London: Routledge. , pp.413-414.
- Totelin, L. M. V. 2015. L'odeur des autres: femme et odeur - l'intersection de la pratique Hippocratique et de la pratique religieuse. In: Jouanna, J. and Zinc, M. eds. Hippocrate et les hippocratismes : médecine, religion, société. Academies des Inscriptions et Belles Lettres. , pp.83-98.
- Totelin, L. M. V. 2008. Parfums et huiles parfumées en médecine. In: Verbanck-Piérard, A. , Massar, N. and Frère, D. eds. Parfums de l'Antiquité: La rose et l'encens en Méditerranée. Morlanwelz-Mariemont: Musée Royal de Mariemont. , pp.227-232.
- Totelin, L. M. V. 2007. Perfume. In: Cancik, H. et al., Brill's New Pauly: Encyclopaedia of the Ancient World. Leiden ; Boston: Brill. , pp.753-754.
- Totelin, L. M. V. 2014. Smell as sign and cure in ancient medicine. In: Bradley, M. ed. Smell and the Ancient Senses. The Senses in Antiquity London: Routledge. , pp.17-29.
- Totelin, L. M. V. 2010. Teaching the hippocratic gynaecological recipes?. In: Horstmanshoff, M. and Tilburg, C. R. v. eds. Hippocrates and Medical Education: Selected Papers Presented at the XIIth International Hippocrates Colloquium, Universiteit Leiden, 24-26 August 2005. Studies in Ancient Medicine Vol. 35.Leiden: Brill. , pp.287-300.
- Totelin, L. M. V. 2016. The world in a pill: local specialties and global remedies in the Graeco-Roman world. In: Futo Kennedy, R. and Jones-Lewis, M. eds. The Routledge Handbook of Identity and the Environment in the Classical and Medieval World. London and New York: Routledge. , pp.151-170.
Books
- Hardy, G. and Totelin, L. 2015. Ancient botany. Science of Antiquity Abingdon and New York: Routledge. (10.4324/9780203458358)
- Totelin, L. M. V. 2009. Hippocratic recipes: Oral and written transmission of pharmacological knowledge in fifth- and fourth-century Greece. Studies in Ancient Medicine Vol. 34Leiden: Brill Academic Publishers.
Exhibitions
- Trickey, H. , Totelin, L. M. V. and Sanders, J. 2016. Mamgu, mam and me: feeding babies in Wales - now and then. Exhibition for the general public at Cardiff Story Museum. [Exhibition] Cardiff Story Musuem 5-6 November 2016.
- Trickey, H. , Totelin, L. M. V. and Sanders, J. 2015. Nain and Mam and me: Historical artefacts, social history and opening the conversation about infant feeding in Wales. [Blog] Fferm Mathrafal, Meifod, Wales 1-8 August 2015.
Websites
- Totelin, L. M. V. 2014. Sweet as honey. [Online].The Recipes Project. Available at: http://recipes.hypotheses.org/4099.
Research
Ancient botany
In collaboration with the botanist Gavin Hardy, I have published a book entitled Ancient Botany, Routledge 2015. Our hope was for this book to promote further research in the field. Personally, I will look further in the history and symbolism of grafting, as well political allusions in ancient texts on plants.
Retail Therapy: Selling pharmaka, buying health in the Greek and Roman World
Ancient pharmacological recipes may appear to be a very dry topic of research, but they are a mine of information for any ancient historian interested in social or economic history. I have published a book on the earliest recipes preserved in Greek, the recipes of the Hippocratic Corpus (Hippocratic Recipes: Oral and Written Transmission of Pharmacological Knowledge in Fifth- and Fourth-Century Greece, 2009). This study brought together my interests in the history of Greek medicine, social, cultural and economic history, studies of ancient literacy, and gender studies. With Dr Rebecca Flemming (Cambridge), I have edited a volume on the ancient medical marketplace, Medicine and Markets in the Graeco-Roman World and Beyond. Essays on Ancient Medicine in Hnour of Vivian Nutton (2020). I am currently working on a book examining the economic aspects of ancient pharmacology. I discuss how those involved in the Greek and Roman pharmacological 'business' promoted their remedies and sold them at the highest cost.
Got Milk? The symbolism of milk in antiquity and beyond
I am interested in the symbolic significance of milk – all milks, be they human, animal or vegetable – in Greek and Roman culture. Together with Dr Mark Bradley and Dr Victoria Leonard, I am editing a volume entitled Bodily Fluids in Antiquity (Routledge, 2021). I have also worked on a project entitled 'Nain, Mam and Me: infant feeding in Wales, social history and modern practices' with sociologist Dr Heather Trickey and professor of midwifery Professor Julia Sander. Our aim was to use historical artefacts to promote discussions on infant feeding in Wales.
Teaching
Undergraduate
- Investigating the Ancient World: Skills and Evidence
- Ancient Objects, Then and Now
- Empires East and West
- Life in Rome
- Gender and Sexuality in the Ancient World
- Greek and Roman Medicine
- Independent Second Year Study
- Researching the Ancient World: Final Year Dissertation
Biography
Education and qualifications
- 2002–2005 PhD, Wellcome Trust Centre for the History of Medicine at UCL
- 2001–2002 MPhil in History and Philosophy of Science, University of Cambridge
- 2000–2001 Teaching degree in History and Classical languages, Free University of Brussels
- 1996–2000 BA in Ancient History, Free University of Brussels
Career overview
- 2022–present Professor of Ancient History, School of History, Archaeology and Religion, Cardiff University
- 2019–2022 Reader in Ancient History, School of History, Archaeology and Religion, Cardiff University
- 2015–2019 Senior Lecturer in Ancient History, School of History, Archaeology and Religion, Cardiff University
- 2009–2015 Lecturer in Ancient History, School of History, Archaeology and Religion, Cardiff University
- 2006–2009 Wellcome Trust Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of History and Philosophy of Science, University of Cambridge, and bye-fellow at Newnham College. I combined my postdoctoral research with teaching at various UK institutions (Cambridge, UCL, Imperial College, and Reading)
Honours and awards
- Marie Curie Consortium Grant, led by Professor Stavroula Constantinou, with collaboration from colleagues in Cardiff, Bamberg, Lund, and Saleno, 2024-2028
- Institute of Classical Studies Engagement grant for virtual exhibition ‘I’m Your Venus: An exhibition on the reception of Antiquity in Modern Cosmetic Advertising and Marketing', 2022
- Named collaborator for the Cyprus Research Promotion Foundation Grant awarded to Dr Stavroula Constantinou and Dr Aspasia Skouroumouni for their project MotherBreas, 2019-2021
- ISSF Cardiff Wellcome Trust Grant for ‘Ancient-biotics, re-evaluating traditional medicines for future antibacterial therapies’, collaborative project led by Professor Les Baillie (Pharmacy), 2016
- Wellcome Trust small grant to organise the conference 'Bodily Fluids/Fluid Bodies in Greek and Roman Antiquity', 2016
- Classical Association grant to organise the conference 'Bodily Fluids/Fluid Bodies in Greek and Roman Antiquity', 2016
- ICS grant to organise the conference 'Bodily Fluids/Fluid Bodies in Greek and Roman Antiquity', 2016
- ISSF Cardiff Wellcome Trust Grant for ‘Nain, Mam and Me: infant feeding in Wales, social history and modern practices’, collaborative project with Dr Julia Sanders (consultant midwife) and Ms Heather Trickey (DECIPHer). Smaller grants were awarded to this project by the School of History, Archaeology and Religion, Cardiff and Cardiff Engagement Team, 2015
- Cardiff University Research Leave Grant, 2014-2015
- Wellcome Trust Grant to organise the ‘Approaches to Ancient Medicine’ conference 2012 (Cardiff University), 2012
- Classical Association grant to organise ‘Approaches to Ancient Medicine’ conference 2012 (Cardiff University), 2012
- Classical Association grant for ‘Approaches to Ancient Medicine’ conference 2010 (Cardiff University), 2010
- Wellcome Trust Grant to organise ‘Approaches to Ancient Medicine’ conference 2010 (Cardiff University), 2010
- Wellcome Trust Grant to organise panel entitled ‘History of ancient science and medicine vs economic history’ at the Classical Association Conference 2010 (Cardiff University), 2010
- Wellcome Trust Grant to organise panel on Ancient Medicine at the Classical Association Conference 2007 (University of Birmingham), 2007
- Wellcome Trust Postdoctoral Research Fellowship, 2006-2009
- Wellcome Trust Centre PhD Studentship, 2002-2009
- Maurice Wiener–Philippe Anspach Studentship, 2001-2002
- Medal of the Free University of Brussels for Excellence, 2000
- Erasmus Studentship, 1998
- Marguerite Bervoets Prize for the best first-year result in the Faculty of Philosophy and Letters, Free University of Brussels, 1997
Professional memberships
- Member of the Classical Association
- Member of the British Society for the History of Science
- Member of the British Society for the History of Pharmacy
Academic positions
- 2006-2009 Wellcome Trust Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of History and Philosophy of Science, University of Cambridge
- 2006-2009 Bye-fellow of Newnham College, Cambridge
- 2006-2009 Teaching fellow, Department of History and Philosophy of Science, Cambridge University
- 2006-2009 Supervisor, Faculty of Classics, Cambridge University
- 2006-2007 Teaching fellow, Department of Classics, University of Reading
- 2005-2006 Teaching fellow, London Centre for the History of Science, Technology and Medicine, Imperial College, London
- 2005-2006 Teaching fellow, Department of Science and Technology Studies, University College London
- 2003-2006 Supervisor, Department of History and Philosophy of Science, Cambridge University
Supervisions
I welcome PhD proposals relating to Greek and Roman medicine, science and technology. In particular I am interested in topics relating to pharmacology, botany and gardening, especially if they have a gender element, and gynaecology. I would also be interested in topics relating to the reception of ancient botany and pharmacology, especially in the eighteenth, nineteenth and twentieth centuries.
Current supervision
Past projects
Rhian Williams, Childlessness in the Roman World
Gina Bevan, Pop! Medusa: The Reappropriation of the Gorgon in Pop Music
Shuya Yang (visiting PhD), Theophrastus' botany
Ioan McAvoy, Effeminacy and Orientalism in Latin Literature
Contact Details
Research themes
Specialisms
- Gender studies
- history of science
- history of medicine
- History of sexuality