How Has Ancient Roman Medicine Influenced Modern-Day Medicine?

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).



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)



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.