The Influence Of Roman Medical Practices: Western Civilization
Roman Civilisation Controlled Assessment.
Roman medical practices.
Rome and Greece had very advanced civilisations that had good levels of sanitation and logical ideas about medicine and science. Because the Romans had good levels of sanitation they had better living conditions that meant they had better health; it took the western civilisations over 2000 years to associate human waste with illness. Their diet and concept of medicine also contributed to their good health as a civilisation.
Religion was very important to the Romans, as they believed that the gods controlled their destiny. Asclepius was the god of healing and medicine and his daughters are Hygeia the goddess/personification of health, cleanliness, and sanitation, Iaso the goddess of recuperation, Aceso the goddess of the healing process and Panacea the goddess of universal remedy1. Most physicians would have studied …show more content…
in the temples of Asclepius to gain their medical knowledge and to train as a successful physician. The original Hippocratic Oath was also originally from the Roman times where they had to swear by Apollo the Physician, by Asclepius, by Hygeia and Panacea, and by all the gods in one of the temples2. If someone were ill they would give a sacrifice to all of the gods because they thought they were had done something to anger them. In the modern world medicine is science and science often goes against religion but in the Roman times religion and medical practices were the same or very closely intertwined.
The Romans got much of their medical knowledge from the Greeks as well as when they conquered Alexandria and therefore got access to The Great Library which held many of the Hippocratic writings. They would also have carried out dissections, which furthered their knowledge of the anatomy of the body3. The surgery that was carried out was usually external such as removing a tumour. Sometimes they would do internal operations such as a hernia repair or trepanation (when you drill a small hole into the skull to relieve pressure and headaches). The Romans also invented many surgical instruments to aid the success of surgery such as scalpels, bone hooks, catheters and forceps, many of which are used today. Most surgeries had a high survival rate due to the advancement in medicine and surgical practices.
Surgeons also did caesarean sections, the word caesarean is believed to have come form the Latin word ‘caedere’ that means ‘to cut’4. They would only usually do caesarean sections on dead mothers or mothers that were dying, as Caesar had demanded it as it might save the baby from dying. Many Jewish Roman surgeons preformed caesarean sections on living mothers who were not dying.5
The Romans used the four humours to diagnose what was wrong and where. This was originally a Greek technique. The following table shows the four humours with their corresponding elements, seasons, sites of formation, and resulting temperaments alongside their modern equivalents6.
Humour
Season
Element
Organ
Qualities
Ancient name
Modern
MBTI
Ancient characteristics
Blood
spring air liver warm & moist sanguine artisan
SP
courageous, hopeful, amorous
Yellow bile summer fire spleen warm & dry choleric idealist
NF
easily angered, bad tempered
Black bile autumn earth gall bladder cold & dry melancholic guardian
SJ
despondent, sleepless, irritable
Phlegm
winter water brain/lungs cold & moist phlegmatic rational
NT
calm, unemotional
(MBTI - Myers-Briggs Type Indicator.)
The Romans used a wide range of herbs and plants to cure ailments. Fennel was used to cure sore eyes, poor sight and to calm people who were nervous. Garlic would be used to disinfect and for the heart. Bramble leaves was used to stop gums from bleeding, gout and as a pain reliever for scars and ulcers. Instead of saffron, the poor used calendula for skin rashes. Rosemary would be used as an antiseptic and preservative for other medicines. The poor would use cabbage as a cure all. Chicory was used to aid digestion and to help problems with the liver. Almonds and violets would be used to cure hangovers and would lessen the effects of alcohol on the body. Most of these herbs would have been infused with wine, made into a tea/poultice or they could have been chewed or swallowed.7 Ancient Roman villas often had a garden in the centre and ancient Roman recipes are full of a number of them. A Roman herb garden would have included Angelica, Aniseed, Coriander, Elecampane, Fennel, Hyssop, Mint, Rosemary, Speedwell, Tansy, Thyme, Violets and Wormwood amongst others. Many other herbs would have been imported from the Orient at great expense, for example Cinnamon. Only the rich would have herb gardens or would be able to buy exotic herbs to treat themselves.
Many or the doctors in early Roman times were Greeks who had been bought in as slaves and therefore had a very low social status. As time progressed, they earned their freedom and trained other higher class Romans or taught in the great library in Alexandria. Other physicians and surgeons learnt their trade at the gladiator schools one of these doctors was Galen who was the greatest doctor of the Roman period as only a handful of his patients died and he developed many ideas on treatments for different ailments.8
Pliny acknowledges the debt that the Romans owed the Greeks.
“Medicine changes every day and we are swept along on the puffs of the clever brains of the Greeks.
People can live without doctors (though not, of course, without medicine). It was not medicine which our ancestors hated, but doctors. They refused to pay fees to profiteers in order to save their lives. Of all the Greek arts, it is only medicine which we serious Romans have not yet practiced.” 9 Pliny The Elder. This implies that only the wealthier Romans could afford medical help from doctors
The highest people in society often had their own physician who would cure them of everything that ailed them. Then the middle class would have to pay for a physician but they could afford most of the treatments for a reasonable price. The lower and working class would only be able to afford the most basic treatments and would often make their own medicines. Many of the lower class died from plagues or colds because they could not afford the medicine where as some of the higher class died from over use of painkillers such as willow, poppy and henbane due to the inexperience of the
doctor.
Roman medicine has shaped our medical practices and ideas today and in turn has led to better healthcare and sanitation. The symbol of Asclepius, which is a snake around a staff, is now used today as the symbol of the faculty of public health and the royal collage if physicians. Some of the herbs that they used are still used today such as willow and poppy which are now aspirin and opium. It also shows that access to medicine depended on the wealth of the Roman.
Asclepius 10 Roman surgical instruments in Pompeii. 11
A Roman picture of a caesarean section.12 An assortment of Roman herbs used in medicine13 An ancient Roman doctor examining a patient. The symbol of public health.14
Bibliography
Books
The Cult of Asklepios, Farnell.
Caesarean Section, Anon.
Caesarean Section with Maternal Survival Among Jews in the Roman Period, Jeffrey Boss.
Please Understand Me II: Temperament, Character, Intelligence, David Keirsey.
Natural History, Pliny.
Websites. www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aesculapius www.crystalinks.com/romemedicine.html http://www.mariamilani.com/ancient_rome/Ancient_Roman_Medicine.htm www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/history/shp/ancient/romandoctorsrev2.shtml http://catholic-resources.org/AncientRome/asc10-15.jpg http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medicine_in_ancient_Rome http://www.nlm.nih.gov/exhibition/cesarean/part1.html http://mrsherbal.com/blog/
http://scholarlykitchen.sspnet.org/2013/09/10/the-m-in-stm-publishing/
Roman medical practices.
Rome and Greece had very advanced civilisations that had good levels of sanitation and logical ideas about medicine and science. Because the Romans had good levels of sanitation they had better living conditions that meant they had better health; it took the western civilisations over 2000 years to associate human waste with illness. Their diet and concept of medicine also contributed to their good health as a civilisation.
Religion was very important to the Romans, as they believed that the gods controlled their destiny. Asclepius was the god of healing and medicine and his daughters are Hygeia the goddess/personification of health, cleanliness, and sanitation, Iaso the goddess of recuperation, Aceso the goddess of the healing process and Panacea the goddess of universal remedy1. Most physicians would have studied …show more content…
in the temples of Asclepius to gain their medical knowledge and to train as a successful physician. The original Hippocratic Oath was also originally from the Roman times where they had to swear by Apollo the Physician, by Asclepius, by Hygeia and Panacea, and by all the gods in one of the temples2. If someone were ill they would give a sacrifice to all of the gods because they thought they were had done something to anger them. In the modern world medicine is science and science often goes against religion but in the Roman times religion and medical practices were the same or very closely intertwined.
The Romans got much of their medical knowledge from the Greeks as well as when they conquered Alexandria and therefore got access to The Great Library which held many of the Hippocratic writings. They would also have carried out dissections, which furthered their knowledge of the anatomy of the body3. The surgery that was carried out was usually external such as removing a tumour. Sometimes they would do internal operations such as a hernia repair or trepanation (when you drill a small hole into the skull to relieve pressure and headaches). The Romans also invented many surgical instruments to aid the success of surgery such as scalpels, bone hooks, catheters and forceps, many of which are used today. Most surgeries had a high survival rate due to the advancement in medicine and surgical practices.
Surgeons also did caesarean sections, the word caesarean is believed to have come form the Latin word ‘caedere’ that means ‘to cut’4. They would only usually do caesarean sections on dead mothers or mothers that were dying, as Caesar had demanded it as it might save the baby from dying. Many Jewish Roman surgeons preformed caesarean sections on living mothers who were not dying.5
The Romans used the four humours to diagnose what was wrong and where. This was originally a Greek technique. The following table shows the four humours with their corresponding elements, seasons, sites of formation, and resulting temperaments alongside their modern equivalents6.
Humour
Season
Element
Organ
Qualities
Ancient name
Modern
MBTI
Ancient characteristics
Blood
spring air liver warm & moist sanguine artisan
SP
courageous, hopeful, amorous
Yellow bile summer fire spleen warm & dry choleric idealist
NF
easily angered, bad tempered
Black bile autumn earth gall bladder cold & dry melancholic guardian
SJ
despondent, sleepless, irritable
Phlegm
winter water brain/lungs cold & moist phlegmatic rational
NT
calm, unemotional
(MBTI - Myers-Briggs Type Indicator.)
The Romans used a wide range of herbs and plants to cure ailments. Fennel was used to cure sore eyes, poor sight and to calm people who were nervous. Garlic would be used to disinfect and for the heart. Bramble leaves was used to stop gums from bleeding, gout and as a pain reliever for scars and ulcers. Instead of saffron, the poor used calendula for skin rashes. Rosemary would be used as an antiseptic and preservative for other medicines. The poor would use cabbage as a cure all. Chicory was used to aid digestion and to help problems with the liver. Almonds and violets would be used to cure hangovers and would lessen the effects of alcohol on the body. Most of these herbs would have been infused with wine, made into a tea/poultice or they could have been chewed or swallowed.7 Ancient Roman villas often had a garden in the centre and ancient Roman recipes are full of a number of them. A Roman herb garden would have included Angelica, Aniseed, Coriander, Elecampane, Fennel, Hyssop, Mint, Rosemary, Speedwell, Tansy, Thyme, Violets and Wormwood amongst others. Many other herbs would have been imported from the Orient at great expense, for example Cinnamon. Only the rich would have herb gardens or would be able to buy exotic herbs to treat themselves.
Many or the doctors in early Roman times were Greeks who had been bought in as slaves and therefore had a very low social status. As time progressed, they earned their freedom and trained other higher class Romans or taught in the great library in Alexandria. Other physicians and surgeons learnt their trade at the gladiator schools one of these doctors was Galen who was the greatest doctor of the Roman period as only a handful of his patients died and he developed many ideas on treatments for different ailments.8
Pliny acknowledges the debt that the Romans owed the Greeks.
“Medicine changes every day and we are swept along on the puffs of the clever brains of the Greeks.
People can live without doctors (though not, of course, without medicine). It was not medicine which our ancestors hated, but doctors. They refused to pay fees to profiteers in order to save their lives. Of all the Greek arts, it is only medicine which we serious Romans have not yet practiced.” 9 Pliny The Elder. This implies that only the wealthier Romans could afford medical help from doctors
The highest people in society often had their own physician who would cure them of everything that ailed them. Then the middle class would have to pay for a physician but they could afford most of the treatments for a reasonable price. The lower and working class would only be able to afford the most basic treatments and would often make their own medicines. Many of the lower class died from plagues or colds because they could not afford the medicine where as some of the higher class died from over use of painkillers such as willow, poppy and henbane due to the inexperience of the
doctor.
Roman medicine has shaped our medical practices and ideas today and in turn has led to better healthcare and sanitation. The symbol of Asclepius, which is a snake around a staff, is now used today as the symbol of the faculty of public health and the royal collage if physicians. Some of the herbs that they used are still used today such as willow and poppy which are now aspirin and opium. It also shows that access to medicine depended on the wealth of the Roman.
Asclepius 10 Roman surgical instruments in Pompeii. 11
A Roman picture of a caesarean section.12 An assortment of Roman herbs used in medicine13 An ancient Roman doctor examining a patient. The symbol of public health.14
Bibliography
Books
The Cult of Asklepios, Farnell.
Caesarean Section, Anon.
Caesarean Section with Maternal Survival Among Jews in the Roman Period, Jeffrey Boss.
Please Understand Me II: Temperament, Character, Intelligence, David Keirsey.
Natural History, Pliny.
Websites. www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aesculapius www.crystalinks.com/romemedicine.html http://www.mariamilani.com/ancient_rome/Ancient_Roman_Medicine.htm www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/history/shp/ancient/romandoctorsrev2.shtml http://catholic-resources.org/AncientRome/asc10-15.jpg http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medicine_in_ancient_Rome http://www.nlm.nih.gov/exhibition/cesarean/part1.html http://mrsherbal.com/blog/
http://scholarlykitchen.sspnet.org/2013/09/10/the-m-in-stm-publishing/