ABSTRACT
For millenia mors subita (sudden death) was more a voodoo-religious concept than a bio-pathologic problem. Cases are reported episodically in ancient writings as that of Phidippides, cited above, who died suddenly crying to the Athenians “Nike” (victory) against the Persian, having run 22 mi. 1,470 yd from Marathon to Athens. However, the association between sudden death and heart disease came with Lancisis publication (1745), the first scientific report based on autopsy findings. Subsequently, sudden death was recog nized as part of ischemic heart disease. Do similarities exist between the 18th Century Romans and modern societies? At best, relationships seem tenuous. Modern societies are populous, rich and technologically advanced while Rome in 1700 was at a peak of decadence and poverty and had a small, technologically unsophisticated population. A possible common denominator of the two, apparently opposite, social patterns might be mental depression consequent to loss of hope. Yet, both societies, faced tension, stresses and depression. Eliot (1994) reported an epi demic of sudden death amongst National Aeronautics and Space Administration employees when, in 1968 that agency faced budget cuts with the loss of highly technical jobs not readily available in other industries. This caused environmental instability. Other similar examples were reported to show the relationship between depression and socio-economic factors (Salomon et al, 2000). In the meantime, atherosclerosis, per se, is an old human disease being present in Egyptian mummies of high social class (Ruffer, 1911). However, the deluge of coronary heart disease cases started only when society became affluent in a highly unstable economic and technologic enviroment characterized by many stimuli and related tensions.
