Ancient practical face readingPhysiognomy is of great antiquity, and in ancient and medieval times it had an extensive literature. There is evidence in the earliest classical literature, including Homer and Hippocrates, that physiognomy formed part of the most ancient practical philosophy.
The earliest-known systematic treatise on physiognomy is attributed to Aristotle. He examined the characters derived from the different features, and from color, hair, body, limbs, gait, and voice.Among the Latin classical authors Juvenal, Suetonius, and Pliny the Elder refer to the practice of physiognomy. While the earlier classical physiognomy was chiefly descriptive, the later medieval studies particularly developed the predictive and astrological side, their treatises often digressing into prophetic folklore and magic. Arabian writers such as the alchemist ar-Razi and Averroыs also contributed to the literature of physiognomy