Readers interested in the general history of ancient medicine, including that of Late Antiquity, should consult H. King, Greek and Roman Medicine (London, 2001), and V. Nutton, Ancient Medicine (London, 2004) and “From Galen to Alexander: Aspects of Medicine and Medical Practice in Late Antiquity,” Dumbarton Oaks Papers 38 (1984): 1–14. On the history of health care in Late Antiquity, the earliest hospitals in the Roman Empire, and their link to early Christianity, see A. Crislip, From Monastery to Hospital: Christian Monasticism and the Transformation of Healthcare in Late Antiquity (Ann Arbor, MI, 2005). Those interested specifically in disease should read Ralph Jackson, Doctors and Diseases in the Roman Empire (London, 1988), especially for its images of surgical instruments, R. Sallares, Malaria and Rome: A History of Malaria in Ancient Italy (Oxford, 2002), and B. Shaw, “Seasons of Death: Aspects of Mortality in Ancient Rome,” Journal of Roman Studies 86 (1996): 100–138. Contraception and abortion are discussed in E. Eyeben, “Family Planning in Greco-Roman Antiquity,” Ancient Society 11/12 (1980–1981): 5–82. For the Justinianic plague, see the essays in Plague and the End of Antiquity: The Pandemic of 541–750, ed. L. Little (Cambridge, 2006).

For ancient education, see E. Watts, City and School in Late Antique Athens and Alexandria (Berkeley, CA, 2006), R. Kaster, Guardians of Language: The Grammarian and Society in Late Antiquity (Berkeley, CA, 1988), and H. I. Marrou, A History of Education in Antiquity (New York, 1956). For a general introduction to ancient sexuality, see M. Skinner, Sexuality in Greek and Roman Culture (London, 2005). And for the impact of Christianity on sex and the body, start with P. Brown, The Body and Society: Men, Women, and Sexual Renunciation in Early Christianity (New York, 1988). On clothing, see A. T. Croom, Roman Clothing and Fashion (Stroud, UK, 2002), M. Harlow, “Female Dress, Third-Sixth Century: The Messages in the Media,” Antiquité Tardive 12 (2004): 203–215, and K. Olson, Dress and the Roman Woman: Self-Presentation and Society (Milton Park, UK, 2008). On apotropaic clothing, see J. Ball, “Charms: Protection and Auspicious Motifs,” in Designing Identity: The Power of Textiles in Late Antiquity (Princeton, 2016), pp. 54–65. J. Arnold, “Theoderic’s Invincible Mustache,” Journal of Late Antiquity 6.1 (2013): 152–183 tackles the always pertinent matter of male facial hair.