200-400CE

Development in ancient Rome of precursor to the hospital, an aspect of the Christianization of the Roman Empire that preserved earlier Jewish moral principles, e.g., the obligation to provide care to the vulnerable, especially those without family support. By the fourth century, Christian charity, which took the form of alms and food doles, had been institutionalized in “hospitality” centers, of which the “sick house” created outside Rome by wealthy noblewoman Fabiola is a prime example. A contemporary lauded it as the first such institution of its kind. These institutions were also revolutionary “in that they provided care for a class of people physicians often refused to treat: the chronically ill and dying” (Upson-Saia, et al., 34-35).