Dyslexia Augusti: Does Suetonius describe a pattern of signs consistent with dyslexia?

  • David O'Sullivan
  • , Sean Hammond

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

    Abstract

    It is generally agreed that Morgan was the first to reliably describe dyslexia with the case of Percy F. However, Suetonius, in “The lives of the twelve Caesars” describes the Emperor Augustus as having a range of language and literacy difficulties that could be consistent with this diagnosis. Using the framework of cognitive psychology, which rarely comments on the historical record, this article argues that Suetonius describes both signs and compensating strategies typical of an adult with remediated developmental dyslexia. If accepted, this analysis would locate a possible coherent description of the condition back to the second century CE.

    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)335-344
    Number of pages10
    JournalDyslexia
    Volume25
    Issue number4
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - 1 Nov 2019

    Keywords

    • dyslexia
    • literacy
    • memory
    • reading
    • writing

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