Cicero's description of mental disorder – 100 words

Mentally unwell Romans could be denied property rights, but Cicero (106–43 bce) drew a distinction between a lack of mental soundness, termed insania or dementia, and a more serious condition, furens, a delusional condition incompatible with ordinary life. Furens – literally bedevilled – is derived from the Furies (Latinised from the Greek goddesses, the Erinys), a trio of blood-thirsty avenging goddesses of Hades, who could afflict anybody, even the wise and well balanced. In contrast, insania was a feature of moral weakness; commonly translated as ‘insanity’ it bears little resemblance to the total lack of mental reasoning associated with the insanity defence.