La vigilanza sanitaria: il controllo dell’igiene nella Roma liberale

The article interprets sanitary inspection as an important aspect of the dialectical relationship between power and freedom that characterises liberal societies, in which freedom can only be exercised by a disciplined individual who can make appropriate use of the technological systems that constitute the urban environment. Following Italian unification, public health surveillance of environments and food in Rome was carried out by a variety of individuals with empirical knowledge and few instruments to enhance the inspectors’ sensory capacities. This practice was modernised through more rigorous technical training, the construction of infrastructures that increased the visibility of subjects and objects to be controlled, and the adoption of simple yet effective instruments. Mundane and routine as it was, the surveillance thus exercised represented a significant step in the construction of the modern hygienic subject.