Vacations help us loosen up and get better. But the Greeks and Romans weren’t all the time convinced.

Greek philosopher Plutarch of Chaeronea (1st to 2nd century AD) observed that our life is split between rest and labor.

For example, there are occasions after we are working and times after we are on vacation. He said Rest was essential:

Rest gives pleasure to labor.

Many people in ancient Greece and Rome also recognized that taking a vacation was a possibility to revive the health of the body and mind.

However, not everyone was convinced that vacations were healthy and even a superb idea.

Take a vacation. It will do you good

In the traditional world, people sometimes went on vacations to try to enhance their mental and physical condition. This often means moving from one climate to a different, hopefully that helps.

Roman author and jurist in considered one of his letters Pliny the Younger (1st to 2nd century AD) writes About how he tried to cure a person named Zosimus of an illness that made him spit blood.

Pliny sent him on leave to Egypt. Zosimus returned “with his health restored” after an extended vacation.

However, Zosimus fell sick again. So Pliny sent him on one other retreat, this time to Gallia Narbonnus (in modern-day southern France). Pliny tells us In your letter:

The air there’s healthy and the milk is ideal for any such treatment. [illness].

But watch where you go and the way you get there.

People also sought out or avoided certain places, depending on whether those places were considered healthy or not.

The doctor Gallon (Around 129-216 AD) tells us The waters of Mytilene on the Greek island of Lesbos are known to have healing properties, including hydrops, a variety of fluid. Accumulates which cause inflammation:

This water is suitable for those with dropsy and other inflammations, as a consequence of severe dryness. Likewise, it’s suitable for obese people and particularly when one forces them to swim in it an excessive amount of and never to drink or eat immediately after bathing an excessive amount of. […].

Doctors also advised people to explore or avoid certain modes of travel.

For example, when treating a headache, the physician Caelius Aurelianus Wrote about Advantages of sea travel:

Sea voyages imperceptibly and steadily open the pores of the body, induce a burning effect as a consequence of the salinity of the ocean, and heal the physical condition by doing a transformative work. We should try to rearrange travel to places where the climate is mild and the wind blows from the north, versus the conditions that may promote disease.

But he Advised against Travel on fresh water:

Trips to rivers, bays and lakes are considered inappropriate, as they turn out to be damp and cold as they flow from the land.

It's easy to overdo it on vacation.

In precedent days, not everyone thought that holidays were healthy. Some people thought that holidays may very well be harmful, because we sometimes drank or ate an excessive amount of.

For example, Dr. Gallen complained about how people on vacation make their health worse relatively than higher.

Hygiene in your work, Galen observed That people who find themselves sick as a consequence of their difficult work routines, corresponding to slaves, need a possibility to get better their health by taking a vacation.

But the gallon noted These people didn’t all the time use vacations to revive their health because they used vacations to eat and drink an excessive amount of:

They may make such provision for themselves on the times on which there’s a public festival, once they have freed themselves from the service of a slave. But being uncontrollable, they not only do nothing to correct the things that accumulate harmfully within the body, but in addition they gorge themselves on this stuff by eating badly.

Greek author Athenaeus (2nd to third century AD) mentions How “everyone […] “Festivals are eagerly awaited”, because tables are filled with drinks and food during festive holidays. Clearly, it was easy to eat and drink an excessive amount of.

Vacations are a waste of time and are just for lazy people.

In the traditional world, people sometimes complained that vacations were a waste of precious time.

Philosopher. Seneca (1st century BC-1st century AD) said that the religious practice of taking every Sunday off from work meant that individuals ruined “Seventh of his life”.

Likewise the writer Claudius Allen (2nd to third century AD) said Holidays were used as excuses for laziness:

Look at your men – making countless excuses and excuses for laziness!

How do you ought to spend your time?

While a lot of us will use our holidays to loosen up and recuperate, others might want to work or work this festive season.

The ancients would have said that vacations offer latest possibilities not just for our health but for other things as well. For example, Pliny the Younger sometimes used holidays. Study Greek. It's hard to disagree with that.