Editing Insanity (section)

===Ancient Rome===
[[Ancient Rome|Romans]] made other contributions to psychiatry, in particular a precursor of some contemporary practice. They put forward the idea that strong emotions could lead to bodily ailments, the basis of today's theory of [[psychosomatic]] illness. The Romans also supported humane treatment of the mentally ill, and in so doing, codified into law the principle of insanity as a mitigation of responsibility for criminal acts,<ref>{{Cite book
  | last =Craighead
  | first = W. Edward
  | title = The Corsini Encyclopedia of Psychology and Behavioral Science
  | publisher = [[John Wiley and Sons]]
  | year = 2002
  | page = 941
  | isbn = 0-471-27082-2}}</ref> although the criterion for insanity was sharply set as the defendant had to be found "''non compos mentis''", a term meaning "not sound of mind".<ref>{{Cite book
  | last = Robinson
  | first = Daniel N.
  | title = An intellectual history of psychology
  | publisher = [[University of Wisconsin Press]]
  | year = 1995
  | page = [https://archive.org/details/intellectualhist00robeho/page/305 305]
  | url = https://archive.org/details/intellectualhist00robeho/page/305
  | isbn = 0-299-14844-0
  }}</ref>