article_snippet.sent: Binge drinking might seem like a uniquely modern phenomenon - but in fact it is a time-honoured tradition, according to health experts.
article_snippet.sent: Ancient civilisations such as the Romans, Greeks and Egyptians have had to deal with rowdy, drunken behaviour in public for thousands of years.
article_snippet.sent: Now one academic suggests that modern authorities should take a lead from modern authorities forebears as modern authorities attempt to mitigate the impact of our boozy culture.
article_snippet.sent: Mark Bellis, who is honorary professor of public health at Bangor University, is giving a talk at a conference in Las Vegas this week about the history of binge drinking.
article_snippet.sent: The use of alcohol goes back to the Stone Age, and almost all societies around the world have made some sort of drink - despite the problems that come with a booze culture.
article_snippet.sent: Some of the earliest written texts, from Mesopotamia, make reference to alcohol - the law code of Hammurabi, from 1750 BC, contains regulations stopping tavern landlords from ripping off tavern landlords customers.
article_snippet.sent: However, to avoid excess drinkers were advised to water down excess drinkers wine with water, and to drink more water between each cup of alcohol.
article_snippet.sent: Gin Lane, by William Hogarth, graphically depicted the dark side of booze culture .
article_snippet.sent: The Islamic world attempted to eliminate the problem of drunkenness with a religious ban on alcohol, but there are signs that this did not always work.
article_snippet.sent: One tactic used to tackle alcohol abuse was to substitute less strong drinks instead of spirits - for example, in the Georgian era William Hogarth published two prints contrasting the hellish 'Gin Lane' with the relaxed and peaceful 'Beer Street'.
highlights_snippet.sent: Health expert Mark Bellis says alcohol abuse goes back as far as ancient civilisations such as the Greeks and Mesopotamians .
  