Ancient Roman Medicine
...d gods would keep everyone healthy were eventually abandoned. As disease increased, so did the need for physicians. At first doctors were not very highly regarded by Roman society. The Romans did not believe it was right to charge people for their services. ?The Romans did not condemn the practice of medicine, but they regarded it as highly unethical to charge fees for treating the sick (Magner 81).? They were thought to be foreigners of the culture. This was actually the truth at first. The first doctors of Rome were actually Greek. Many Greek physicians moved to Rome for the work and to help a country in need. Most of the early medicine was borrowed from Greece. Many of these Greek physicians were prisoners of war after the fall of Corinth in 146 B.C. They were given the title medicus, which is the Greek word for physician (Gordon 622). This term was used literally, because it applied to drug peddlers also. Asclepiades was the first Greek physician to practice medicine in Rome. He lived in Prussa-Bithynia in Asia Minor before moving to Rome (Gordon 629). However, it is hard for me to view him as a true physician. He used no tools for his remedies. Nor did he use drugs to cure diseases. ?Asclepiades remedies were aimed at the restoration of harmony (Gordon 631).? He used change of diet, frequent baths, and exercise in place of drugs. He also believed in the use of wine for healing (Gordon 931). The beliefs that the many doctors arriving in Rome were doing the right thing took a long time for Roman emperors to believe. It wasn?t until 193 A.D., under the reign of Lucius Septimus Severus that the practice of medicine was finally officially legalized in Rome. He devised laws and punishments for certain forbidden practices (Gordon 641). Another great Roman contribution to medicine was the hospital system. The Romans were very well organized people. This was obvious from the beautiful buildings they built. Their genius in organization was connected to the Roman military system. Excavations at Pompeii revealed that a physician?s house might have been more than just a place where he lived. They were the structure much like today?s modern nursing home. Military hospitals were erected at strategic points to better suite the military (Gordon 643). This was better for the Romans instead of going home for treatment. Many of these sites have been excavated. The best explored site is the Novasium, on the lower Rhine near Dusseldorf (Gordon 641). Like the many luxuries in Rome, hospitals were not just for the rich. Even the poor could receive services at these hospitals. They received free medical treatment (Gordon 641). One of the most influential people of ancient medicine is Galen. Galen produced the concepts of anatomy, physiology, therapeutics, and philosophy. He was considered the Medical Pope of the Middle Ages (Magner 86). He distinguished seven pairs of cranial nerves, described the valves of the heart, and observed the structural differences between arteries and veins. One of his most important demonstrations was that the arteries carry blood, not air, as had been taught for 400 years. His vivisection experiments were also very notable. Such experiments included performing a series of transections of the spinal cord to establish the functions of the spinal nerves, and tying off the ureters to demonstrate kidney and bladder functions (Majno 472). Galen?s experiment put many philosophical myths to rest. An Aristotelian argument was that the voice, which is an instrument of reason, came from the chest. However, Galen's demonstration that the recurrent laryngeal nerves control the voice proved that it was controlled by the brain and also explained what happened when surgeons accidentally severed these nerves (Magner 89). Galen and many other physicians used many tools in their practice. The most interesting thing about these tools and procedures is that many of them have the same names and uses today. However, many of the materials use to make these tools has differed greatly over the years. The invention of plastic, rubber and many light metals replace what was used in ancient Rome. For instance, iron and steel were largely used for making instruments. Bronze was the most commonly used in early medical times. This is to the archaeologist?s advantage. Iron oxidizes much faster than bronze and, therefore, is harder to find whole iron tools (Milne 14). Many modern tubes are made of rubber, but the Romans used lead. Celsus referred to many tubes used for intra-uterin and insertion into the vagina and rectum to prevent contractions on these areas. Horns were also used to insert into the rectum and as syringes (Milne 14). There are two very productive sites in Italy where many medical artifacts have been discovered. Pompeii has been pursued for nearly three hundred years. Most of these artifacts have been placed on display at the museum in Naples. It was found that, much like many ancient traditions of burial sites, many physicians were buried with their tools (Milne 20). The other great find in history of Roman medicine was a military hospital at Baden. A scalpel, catheter, and several probes were found. The hospital had fourteen rooms in all, each of many shapes and sizes. After these finds and many others, many instruments of all shapes, sizes, and uses came to the surface. A common tool of surgeons today is the scalpel. Many different scalpels have been discovered. The ordinary scalpel had a straight, sharp-pointed blade. The scalpel in the Naples Museum is made of all bronze, including the handle and blade (Milne 27). Another scalpel Galen used was the bellied scalpel. Galen used this scalpel, which had a blade of steel and bronze handle, to incise the outer integument between the ribs (Milne 29). There are many specimens of the catheter in the Naples museum. Male and female catheters were found in the physician?s house in Pompeii (Milne 144). These early catheters were essentially hollow tubes made of steel or bronze and had two basic designs: one with a slight S curve for male patients and another straighter one for females. The same doctors also used similar shaped devices that were solid, as opposed to hollow, in order to probe the bladder in search of calcifications. The male catheter has two gentle...