Roman Medicine

Sophia and Julia

The romans were a largely warlike and organised civilisation. They conquered many countries, expanding their empire and population count. This meant that many cultures were absorbed into the roman populace, bringing new knowledge and resources. Much of this knowledge was related to medical procedures and medicines, but only the ideas that directly attended to the needs of the Roman populace were utilised.
Greek medicine was brought to Rome very early on. Many Greek doctors came willingly, setting up homes and integrating into roman culture. Usually, this was because of strife in their homeland, or the prospect of a new life in Rome. The first show of evidence that the Greeks influenced Roman medicine dates back to 431BC when a temple was constructed to honour the Greek god Apollo. This temple was built in response to a plague that ran through Rome.

The first known Greek doctor to arrive in Rome seeking trade was Archelaus of Sparta. He was a specialist in battlefield medicine and provided valuable insight into Greek knowledge on this subject. Not all Romans agreed with allowing Greek doctors to share their skills. Pliny the Elder, a well-known philosopher and writer at the time, proclaimed that these doctors charged too much, and that they were not any better than Roman doctors. However, Greek doctors became more popular anyway, and more and more Greek doctors arrived to meet the growing demand. Later on, the library of Alexandria in Egypt would become a hub of knowledge from across the Mediterranean, and so their knowledge included Egyptian treatments and tools, as well as many other cultures.

When the Roman Empire split into two empires, Western and Eastern, medicine became more centred around the Eastern Empire. The Western Empire’s high standards of medicine and public health slowly declined, and often doctors would harm their patients rather than help them. The Eastern Empire, on the other hand, continued to gather and develop knowledge, and this became the base of Islamic medicine.

Roman doctors used a large range of medicines and treatments to help cure sick civilians. They used a variety of herbs and spices, which they believed healed and relieved pain. For example, fennel was believed to calm nerves and sage was eaten as a prayer to the gods asking for a cure to their sickness. Cabbage, on the other hand, was used to counter the aftereffects of an alcoholic overdose. Silphium was another plant used to cure fevers, coughs, indigestion, sore throats, aches, pains, and warts. The Romans did believe in religious healing. They prayed to the gods of healing, such as Asclepius, as they believed that their cries would be answered, and they would be healed.

Most Roman medicines were taken in the form of lozenges, melted, or in some cases were taken in a pill-like manner. Ancient Roman drugs were often considered to have many uses. An example of this is the seeds from the opium poppy, which were crushed and used to cure insomnia, coughs, boils and indigestion.

Doctors in Rome were not nearly as practised or experienced as doctors from Greece. The Roman medics were considered to have a low social status that was on par with that of freedmen and slaves. This is proven when Cato the Elder said to his son, “I forbid you any communion with doctors!” Almost any Roman citizen could become a doctor, even without the correct qualifications, however, there were still some Roman medics, especially surgeons, that were highly respected. Because of the inexperienced doctors, the number of successful treatments were very low. It also meant that lots of Roman citizens had low health levels and could die from something as harmless as a cold or an infected wound. Roman medics were often present on a battlefield to provide immediate assistance to injured soldiers and the soldiers themselves were expected to have a basic medical knowledge. There were also some known cases of roman doctors being hired as assassins, poisoning and killing their patients instead of healing them, this however, was very rarely found. Female doctors did not exist in Rome; however, midwives were highly knowledgeable and skilled when it came to women’s health and giving birth. They helped provide high quality medical service to Roman women.

Many different tools were used by ancient Roman doctors and some of these tools are still being used today. For example, scalpels were a common tool used among Roman doctors and were made from iron, bronze or steel. A similar looking tool is still used today, this suggests that modern doctors continue to utilise ancient Roman tools. The Romans used many tools when regarding bones, including bone drills, bone saws, bone levers and bone hooks. The bone drill looks very similar to a modern-day corkscrew and was used to remove diseased bone tissue from different bones in the human body. They were also used to drill holes in the bone to allow access to different parts of the body, for example, the brain. A bone saw was used to amputate body parts as the Romans knew it would decrease the cases of gangrene, which is dead tissue in the body. Bone levers were used to either remove teeth or put bone fractures back in place. Lastly, bone hooks were used to manoeuvre small parts of body tissue and were also used as probes. The Roman medical tools were very important and used regularly, however, the most important tool by far was the scalpel. Another common treatment was the cautery technique. This is said when Hippocrates writes: “What is not healed with medicine, is healed with the knife; what the knife does not heal, is healed with the cautery, and what the cautery does not heal must be considered incurable.”

The idea of psychiatry was first discovered by the Greeks and then by extension, the Romans. However, Roman psychologists were rarely found. The Greek psychologist Aelius Galen, who later became the most learned and accomplished psychologist in the Roman Empire, was the first person to develop the idea that mental health and physical health were connected. He then went on to share his theory with the Roman citizens, this is proven when Celsus, a roman resident, says, “A person should put aside some part of the day for the care of his body. He should always make sure that he gets enough exercise, especially before a meal.” This theory then went on to be the base of most modern-day psychology. Galen believed that a person’s state of mind would affect their physical state and that the mind and body were connected. Some mental diseases found in Rome included hysteria, a condition believed to only occur in women, or depression which could occur in all genders and was believed to be treatable by bathing in warm water.

Roman medicine and knowledge have greatly influenced our modern-day views of medicine by developing ideas and methods that have become the base of the medicinal treatment we take for granted today. Without the Romans, public health and treatment for all social classes would have not been developed for many years. The Romans believed in good public health and were the first civilization known to create a system of aqueducts and reservoirs available not only to the rich but to everyone in the city, as recognised by Vitruvius, a Roman architect, (see quote below).

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This ensured that everyone had relatively clean water and were constantly hydrated and healthy, and as said by Strabo, a Greek geographer, the Romans took great care when regarding public health and architecture within their cities (see quote below)

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They were the first to develop sewage and clean water filtration systems, although they were not at the same standard as today, however, today’s high standard of cleanliness was still developed from the Roman’s ideas.

Roman contribution to today’s medicine continues with something as simple as sterilising medical equipment before a surgery with boiling water. This practice was uncommon among many civilisations of the time, and quite possibly was the basis of the clean medical environments that are so common today.

The Romans were the first civilians to develop the first theories of psychology, a field which has been added to and studied until it has become an important part of modern-day mental health. Aelius Galen was one Roman phycologist that greatly influenced all sorts of medical fields today with his theories and studies. Some of these include, human anatomy, psychology, pathology, logic and neurology.

In Ancient Rome, some plants were used as dye for hair, such as henna, which was used in a powdered form to dye fingernails and hair a reddish brown that was considered fashionable at the time. Today, henna is used to stencil designs on hands as an ink. Spearmint was used to flavour wines and was burned in birthing chambers, and we still used spearmint to flavour chewing gum, among other uses. Chamomile tea was also used in drinks to help calm an upset stomach and the tea is still drunken regularly today for medicinal purposes.

The idea of a hospital was first introduced by the Romans, and hospitals are an important part of today’s treatments and medical procedures. They also began the system of different types of doctors, which has become an integral part of the medical profession. Most medical tools today were developed, or at least idealised by the Romans. Consequently, many of today’s medical technologies have Latin names.

Romans were the first culture to understand and develop the idea that food had a large effect on health. This idea has come to be well known today, and has developed into diets, companies and marketing, all based on the principles that the Romans came up with. Living a healthy lifestyle was one of the top recommendations to any Roman citizen from a doctor. The Romans had a; prevention is better than a cure, approach with diseases. Therefore, the Romans knew about the significance of putting healthy things into your body. All sorts of lifestyles are used today to keep ourselves healthy, some of these lifestyles include, a Mediterranean lifestyle or an East Asian/Chinese lifestyle. These lifestyles include special diets, and other rules or beliefs.

Contagion was also a common theory in Rome and therefore resulted in several quarantines, better sanitation and less spread of sickness. Our knowledge of contagion comes from Rome, this means without their discoveries the theory of contagion would have developed much later on.

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Roman Medicine

Influence of Other Cultures

Roman Medicines

Roman Doctors

Roman Medical Tools

Mental Health in Rome

How Has Ancient Roman Medicine Influenced Modern-Day Medicine?

Bibliography