1. Roman Medicine A summary

2. Aims of this revision session By the end of this revision session you will Describe the main features of Roman medicine Describe the work of Claudius Galen and evaluate his importance to the development of medicine Evaluate the progress made from Greek to Roman times

3. The Roman World The Romans took over most of the Greek world Had a love-hate relationship with all things Greek The Romans saw the Greeks as being dreamers whilst they were do-ers The first to develop in depth public health facilities

4. Greek doctors in Rome The Romans accepted that the Greeks had the best doctors in the world and transported many of them to Rome Developed many ideas which had been used in ancient Greece Kept open Alexandria as a centre of medial expertise

5. Practical medicine in Rome Most Roman households had a copy of the works of Hippocrates The father would usually consult this book to treat members of the family and their servants Discordes wrote “The Herbarium” which outlined the uses of many herbs in medicine

6. Supernatural treatments Many poor Romans believed in supernatural explanations of disease – especially the worship of Asklepios Sacrifices to the gods were common to promote good health Popular but the reliance on supernatural explanations of disease was decreasing

7. Claudius Galen (1) Born in Turkey – studied at Alexandria Most influential figure in medicine for the next 1000 years Developed the ideas of Hippocrates – particularly the theory of the four humors Believed in the theory of opposites – usually worked

8. Claudius Galen (2) Developed an interest in anatomy – but got lots of details wrong as he only officially dissected pigs His work was important but held back medicine for 1000 years – people thought that he could do not wrong Believed in god so his ideas were acceptable to Christians and Muslims

9. Roman public health (1) First to realise the connection between dirty water and poor health Had Aqueducts and sewers Realised that you had to build towns and settlements away from swamps and near rivers Army had clean hospitals with good ventilation

10. Roman public health (2) Most Roman towns had public baths These serves both public health and social purposes They also had public lavatories These PH ideas benefited the people who lived in the empire as well as Rome