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Roman Medicine400 BC–AD 500

The History of Medicine

For more detailed instructions, see the Getting Started presentation.

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Greek and Roman empires

By 200 BC the Greek Empire was in decline and the Roman Empire was growing.

However, there was a significant period of overlap between the two empires, and much knowledge and understanding was shared between the two.

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Growth of the Roman Empire

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By the 2nd century AD, the Romans controlled much of Western Europe. To control this huge empire, Rome used a vast, highly-trained army.

Each Roman fort had a bath house, toilets, fresh water supplies and a hospital. The Romans emphasized hygiene, together with exercise and diet, to help keep their soldiers fit.

What did the Romans do for us?

The Romans knew that to keep this army effective and able to take over new lands and defend existing territory, its soldiers needed to be well cared for.

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Roman public health

Public health is the measures taken by a government to look after the health of its people.

Today we expect to have a toilet and a bath in our homes, to have a ready supply of running water and to have sewage taken away. These services are part of public health.

Although the Egyptians and Greeks promoted hygienic lifestyles, the Romans had a system of public health on a scale not seen before.

Can you think of reasons why the Romans emphasized public health?

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This process led to a developed system of public health, which included:

The Romans were able to make the link between hygiene and disease. They made this link by observing what seemed to cause ill health, and then taking preventative methods against the causes of illness.

Why did the Romans improve public health?

The location of villas and other buildings were carefully planned: Marcus Varro wrote "…place it at the foot of a wooded hill where it is exposed to health-giving winds…”

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Aqueducts were built to transport fresh water, such as the Pont du Gard in France.

Public bathhouses were built which charged minimal entrance fees.

Remains of the Roman baths at Bath.

Communal public toilets were built in all towns.

What would have been the effects of these public health systems?

Efficient drainage systems carried away sewage and waste water.

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How did the Romans improve public health?

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Although there were developments in medicine and public health, many people still relied on the gods for cures. This was often their first step in treating disease.

Religious beliefs

People prayed to Salus, the Roman goddess of health, and the Greek god of medicine, Asclepius.

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Greek and Roman ideas compared

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Roman doctors

Anyone could practise as a doctor without training or any regulation. Like the Greeks, however, many doctors were keen to find out more and trained by working for experienced doctors and/or by reading the Hippocratic Collection of books.

Others travelled to Alexandria, the capital of the medical world. Here, libraries built by the Greeks contained medical books and writings from Greece, China, Egypt and India. Doctors went to Alexandria to share ideas and to gain new medical knowledge. It was also the only place where they were allowed to dissect a human body.

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Galen

Rome’s most famous doctor was Galen.

Worked in an Asclepeia in Greece;Surgeon at gladiators’ school;Doctor to the Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius;Teacher of doctors.

Name: GalenAD 129 in Greece

Doctor

Studied medicine from age 17; Later studied in Alexandria.

Career highlights:

Education:

Occupation:

Born:

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Galen’s four methods and his importance

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The main reason that Galen is so important in the history of medicine is that his methods and ideas were followed for some 1,500 years. Throughout this time Galen’s theories remained unquestioned throughout Europe.

Why do you think that doctors’ acceptance of Galen’s ideas could be damaging to the progress of

medicine?

The problem with Galen

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