Roman Medicine

ANCIENT ROME MEDICINE

ORIGIN OF ROMAN MEDICINE BY: MARISA NIETO

DOCTORS IN ANCIENT ROME BY: ZILMARIE DÍAZ

MEDICINE TECHNIQUES USED NOWADAYS BY: MICHELLE SERRANO

TOOLS USED IN ROMAN MEDICINE BY: ANNA GARCÍA

ROMAN SURGERY TECHNIQUES BY: LAURA MAZA

WOMEN AND MEDICINE IN ANCIENT ROME BY: FRANCES DUMONT

ANCIENT ROMAN MEDICINE IS MAINLY BASED ON THE OLD MEDICAL TECHNIQUES USED BY THE GREEKS. THE ROMANS ENHANCED AND MODIFIED EVERYTHING THAT THE GREEKS ORIGINALLY DISCOVERED. THEY MADE NEW DISCOVERIES AND ADAPTED THEM TO THE GREEK’S MEDICAL METHODS. THEY WERE LEAD TO THEIR MEDICAL KNOWLEDGE BY THEIR GODS. IN GREEK CIVILIZATION, THEY BELIEVED THAT THE GODS CONTROLLED EVERYTHING, INCLUDING MEDICINE. THEY THOUGHT THAT THE GODS WANTED GOOD THINGS FOR THEIR PEOPLE; THEREFORE, THEY CONTROLLED EVERYTHING THAT KEPT THEM HEALTHY. THE GOD OF MEDICINE WAS AESCULAPIUS, SON OF  APOLLO. HE WAS REPRESENTED AMONG ROMANS AS A SNAKE. THE LEGEND SAYS THAT THE ROMANS WERE PREY OF A BAD EPIDEMIC AND THE PROPHECIES SUGGESTED THAT THE GOD'S ASSISTANCE WOULD BE NEEDED. A ROMAN SHIP WAS SENT TO GO AND FETCH THE GOD.   

WHILE SAILING ALONG THE NILE A SNAKE SWAM AND BOARDED THE SHIP. THIS WAS A SIGN OF THE AESCULAPIUS' PRESENCE. ITS PURPOSE WAS TO INFORM THE SAILORS TO RETURN TO ROME. WHILE SAILING DOWN THE TIBER, THE SNAKE DECIDED TO LEAVE THE SHIP AND

SWIM TO TIBER ISLAND. SINCE THEN, THE ISLAND HAS BEEN VIEWED AS A MEDICAL OASIS. ITS ISOLATED LOCATION FROM THE CITY MADE IT AN IDEAL PLACE FOR MEDICAL TREATMENT.

ROMAN DOCTORS STUDIED MEDICAL TEXTS BY HIPPOCRATES, THE FATHER OF MEDICINE. BEFORE HIM, DISEASES WERE THOUGHT OF AS DIVINE PUNISHMENTS.  HE WAS ONE OF THE MOST EXPERIENCED AND PROFESSIONAL DOCTORS OF ANCIENT ROME.  HIS PERSONAL POPULARITY MADE SURE HIS BOOKS WERE SAVED BY HIS PREDECESSORS AND SAVED FOR THE COMING AGES. HE WAS MOSTLY KNOWN FOR CREATING THE CONCEPT OF MEDICINE AS A SCIENCE AWAY FROM THE PHILOSOPHICAL AND MYTHICAL  APPROACH.  ALSO REVERED WERE ARETAEUS OF CAPPADOCIA, PEDANIOS DISCORIDES, SORANUS OF EPHESUS, AND ONBASIUS. ARETAEUS WROTE ABOUT DISEASE, THEIR CAUSES, SYMPTOMS AND CURES AND

THESE WRITINGS ARE STILL RELEVANT TODAY.

PEDANIOS DISCORIDES WROTE ABOUT HERBAL MEDICINE AND HIS TEXT IS STILL IN USE TODAY IN ALTERNATIVE MEDICINE. SORANUS WROTE ABOUT OBSTETRICS AND GYNECOLOGY AND ONBASIUS WROTE AN ENCYCLOPEDIA OF MEDICINE CONSISTING OF ABOUT 70 BOOKS. 

ONE OF THE MOST FAMOUS DOCTORS OF THE ROMAN WORLD WAS GALEN. GALEN WAS ACTUALLY A GREEK. HE LOOKED AFTER INJURED GLADIATORS AND WAS APPOINTED TO LOOK AFTER COMMODUS, THE SON OF MARCUS AURELIUS. HE WORKED TO EXPAND MEDICAL KNOWLEDGE. HE MOVED AWAY FROM THE MYTHICAL APPROACH OF THE AGE AND PURSUED THE METHODS OF RESEARCH OF HIPPOCRATES. HE STUDIED THE WORKINGS OF HUMAN ANATOMY AND EXPERIENCED WITH VARIOUS PROCEDURES. GALEN DESCRIBED MANY OF THE MEDICAL INSTRUMENTS USED BY DOCTORS IN BOTH ROME AND GREECE. HE PUT TOGETHER MEDICAL TEXTS AND MANUALS MEANT TO INFORM AND SET RULES FOR OTHER DOCTORS. HE ALSO LEFT DETAILED WRITING ABOUT PHYSIOLOGY AND SURGICAL PROCEDURES. THIS INCLUDED THE MEDICAL AND SURGICAL INSTRUMENTS THAT WERE USED.  ALTHOUGH MANY EXPERIMENTS AND RESEARCH WERE DONE, UNETHICAL PRACTICES ABOUNDED. SOME DOCTORS USED QUESTIONABLE METHODS TO GAIN PATIENTS. SOME OF THESE WERE ESCORTING PATIENTS HOME FROM BARS TO SHARING DIRTY JOKES WITH THEM. IT WAS ONCE SAID THAT “...STILL OTHERS WERE NOT ABOVE MURDERING THEIR PATIENTS IN COLD BLOOD FOR FINANCIAL GAIN, FOR EXAMPLE, THEY MIGHT BE PAID AND TOLD TO JUST ‘PUT THE PATIENT OUT OF HIS MISERY’.” 

MANY DOCTORS WERE ACTUALLY FREED GREEK SLAVES THAT HAD LOW SOCIAL STANDING. FOR THIS REASON, MANY PEOPLE WERE SKEPTICAL OR SCORNFUL OF DOCTORS AT THE TIME. WHILE THERE WERE GOOD DOCTORS, SOME CHARGED TOO MUCH FOR THE MOST WORTHLESS MEDICINES AND DRUGS AND OTHERS TRIED TO TREAT DISEASES THEY DID NOT UNDERSTAND. THERE WERE NO LICENSING BOARDS AND NO FORMAL REQUIREMENTS. ANYONE COULD CALL HIMSELF A DOCTOR. IF THIS PERSON HAD SUCCESSFUL METHODS, HE ATTRACTED MORE PATIENTS. MEDICAL TRAINING CONSISTED MOSTLY OF APPRENTICE WORK WITH ANOTHER DOCTOR.  DURING THESE ANCIENT TIMES, ROMAN MEDICAL CORPS WERE FORMED BY EMPEROR AUGUSTUS. HE GAVE LAND, TITLES, AND SPECIAL RETIREMENT GIFTS TO DOCTORS THAT PARTICIPATED IN THE CORPS. THIS WAY, THE PROFESSION LOST ITS CARELESS ASPECT AND BECAME RESPECTABLE. MEDICAL PROFESSIONALS HEREAFTER WERE REQUIRED TO TRAIN AT THE NEW ARMY MEDICAL SCHOOL AND HAD TO PASS TO BE ABLE TO PRACTICE. THIS INCREASED THE EFFICIENCY AND SUCCESS IN TREATMENTS.  

WARTIME DOCTORS WERE THE ONES WHO CREATED MOST OF THE INNOVATION IN MEDICINE. THEY WERE ORGANIZED, DISTRIBUTED THROUGH THE EMPIRE, THEY WERE CAREFUL ABOUT SPREADING NEW INFORMATION OR TECHNIQUES AND WERE MOTIVATED BY THE GREAT LOSS OF LIFE SUFFERED BY SOLDIERS DURING BATTLE. MANY DOCTORS WERE ACTUALLY FREED GREEK SLAVES THAT HAD LOW SOCIAL STANDING. FOR THIS REASON, MANY PEOPLE WERE SKEPTICAL OR SCORNFUL OF DOCTORS AT THE TIME. WHILE THERE WERE GOOD DOCTORS, SOME CHARGED TOO MUCH FOR THE MOST WORTHLESS MEDICINES AND DRUGS AND OTHERS TRIED TO TREAT DISEASES THEY DID NOT UNDERSTAND. 

After Hippocrates, doctors were able to use the earlier discoveries to acquire a more detailed knowledge of plant uses, surgical procedures and prognosis of diseases. He was well known for his contributions towards medical knowledge and his practices are still used today. His findings were documented and used for centuries after his death such as his knowledge of human anatomy and treatment of injuries. An aspect of medical practice that ancient societies began is the ethical standards of the profession. The well-known ‘ Hippocratic Oath ‘details the values and responsibilities of physicians. This oath is still sworn by doctors nowadays. 

By realizing that environmental conditions were the origin of some illnesses, they were able to reduce the chances of these contaminating people, and therefore develop ways to alleviate and possibly cure them. This clinical method of diagnosing causes and diseases has been carried on today, allowing us to deal with illnesses more appropriately. As clinical methods did, some natural therapies used to treat ailments in ancient Greek and Roman times began the foundations of modern medicine.

The Greeks discovered numerous plant extracts that they could use to treat and alleviate illnesses. These early discoveries of the narcotic and stimulating properties of certain plants have been acknowledged and over fifty are still used today. One plant extract that the ancient world discovered is 'digitalis', derived from foxglove and used 'to treat epilepsy, coughs, and swollen glands. It is still used commonly to increase the activity of all forms of muscle tissue-mostly the heart, after the ancient practitioners later discovered its stimulating properties. Another plant used in ancient times that is still useful to us is Hypericium. It is now used widely as an anti-depressant. This use of plants has allowed our modern world to realize the potential of many naturally occurring substances from flora that can cure and heal.  On their knowledge of surgical, herbal and physical remedies, the ancient Romans founded many procedures. One ancient method, which was described back then as a baby 'cut out of its mother' and today it is known as the caesarean section.

It was the Romans who founded the concept of keeping the sick and injured in a common place. Rome didn't have hospitals but they had buildings and places for the sick and the ones who were dying. Nowadays we have hospitals were they treat injured and really sick people. 

IN ROMAN TIMES, MULTIPLE INSTRUMENTS WERE USED TO PERFORM PROCEDURES. SOME OF THE INSTRUMENTS THEY USED INCLUDED THE SCALPELS OR THE BONE HOOKS. THESE ARE JUST SOME EXAMPLES OF THE INSTRUMENTS USED FOR MEDICAL PROCEDURES. THE SCALPELS USED IN ROMAN MEDICINE PROCEDURES WHERE OFTEN MADE OF STEEL OR BRONZE. THESE WERE USED TO MAKE INCISIONS. THE SCALPELS COULD ALSO BE MADE OF A MIX OF BOTH STEEL AND BRONZE. THE SCALPEL COULD HAVE A STEEL BLADE, BUT A BRONZE HANDLE. THESE SCALPELS ARE ALMOST THE SAME AS THEY ARE NOW IN THE PRESENT.

ANOTHER COMMON TOOL IN ROMAN MEDICINE PROCEDURES WAS THE BONE HOOK.  THESE WERE LONG, THIN AND MADE OF METAL. THESE HOOKS WERE UTILIZED AS PROBES AND FOR WORKING WITH SMALL PIECES OF TISSUE WITH LESS DIFFICULTY. HOOKS COULD BE BLUNT OR SHARP. BOTH ARE STILL USED TODAY BY MODERN DOCTORS. BLUNT HOOKS SERVED AS PROBES FOR DISSECTION AND LIFTING BLOOD VESSELS

THE SHARP HOOKS COULD RAISE AND HOLD SMALL PIECES OF TISSUE SO THAT THEY COULD BE REMOVED. SHARP HOOKS COULD ALSO BE USED TO PULL BACK THE EDGES OF WOUNDS. A BONE FORCEPS, ANOTHER EXAMPLE OF A MEDICINAL INSTRUMENT, WAS USED TO REMOVE PIECES OF THE SKULL IF IT WAS FRACTURED. BONE LEVERS WERE UTILIZED TO LEVER BONES THAT HAD BEEN FRACTURED OR TO LEVER TEETH. OTHER EXAMPLES OF INSTRUMENTS USED IN ROMAN MEDICINE WERE THE VAGINAL SPECULUM AND THE RECTAL SPECULUM. THE VAGINAL SPECULUM COULD BE OPEN AND CLOSED BY A HANDLE WITH A SCREW MECHANISM. THIS INSTRUMENT WAS UTILIZED TO DIAGNOSE AND TREAT POSSIBLE UTERINE OR VAGINAL DISORDERS. THE RECTAL SPECULUM, ON THE OTHER HAND, WAS USED TO EXAMINE THE ULCERATED PART OF THE BOWEL.

THE MALE CATHETER AND PROBES WERE ALSO USED DURING THESE TIMES. THE CATHETER WAS A LONG TUBE MADE OF METAL. THEY LOOK VERY MUCH LIKE THE ONES USED TODAY, AND THEY HELP OPEN UP A BLOCKED URINARY TRACT INFECTION. PROBES COULD BE USED TO MIX, MEASURE OR APPLY MEDICAMENTS. ANY OF THE INSTRUMENTS USED IN ROMAN TIMES ARE STILL USED TODAY. THIS GOES TO SHOW THAT ROMANS WERE VERY ADVANCED IN SOME ASPECTS LIKE MEDICINE AND THE INSTRUMENTS THAT THEY USED. SOME OF THEIR INVENTIONS HAVE SURVIVED THE TEST OF TIME AND HAVE PROVED TO BE EFFICIENT, EVEN NOWADAYS.

ANCIENT ROMAN MEDICINE WAS BASED ON A COMBINATION OF PHYSICAL TECHNIQUES USING DIFFERENT INSTRUMENTS AND USING RELIGIOUS AND SPIRITUAL METHODS. AT FIRST, THE ROMANS BELIEVED THAT DISEASES WERE CAUSED BY THE ANGER OF THE GODS. THEY THOUGHT THAT PRACTICES BASED ON RELIGIOUS RITUALS AND BELIEFS IN SPELLS WOULD ELIMINATE ANY TYPE OF DISEASE. BECAUSE MOST OF THE DISEASES WERE GONE AFTER SOME TIME, THEY BELIEVED THAT THEY HAD DONE THE CORRECT RELIGIOUS AND SPIRITUAL ACTS TO CURE THE PERSON. THE ROMANS OFTEN USED HERBOLOGY AS THE FIRST WAY TO CURE PEOPLE. HOSPITALS IN ROMAN SOCIETY WERE FIRST BUILT FOR THE SOLDIERS IN THE MILITARY. MEDICINE USED IN ANCIENT ROME WAS QUITE SIMILAR TO THE MEDICINE USED IN THE LATE NINETEENTH CENTURY. ANCIENT ROMAN MEDICINE HAD DIFFERENT DIVISIONS OF SPECIALTIES LIKE INTERNISTS, OPHTHALMOLOGISTS, AND UROLOGISTS. A SPECIALIZED DOCTOR AND NO ONE ELSE PERFORMED EVERY SURGERY. THE TOOLS USED BY DOCTORS IN ROME WERE BASICALLY THE SAME AS THE ONES USED BY AMERICAN DOCTORS JUST ONE HUNDRED YEARS AGO. THE DOCTORS WOULD USE TOOLS SUCH AS FORCEPS, SCALPELS, CATHETERS, AND ARROW-EXTRACTORS. THEY ALSO USED A VAST VARIETY OF PAINKILLERS AND SEDATIVES TO HELP DURING THEIR SURGERIES. SOME OF THESE PAINKILLERS AND SEDATIVES INCLUDED PRIMITIVE TYPES OF MORPHINE AND SCOPOLAMINE.

THE ROMANS DID NOT UNDERSTAND YET HOW GERMS WERE RELATED TO DISEASES IN ANY WAY, BUT THEY USED MANY TECHNIQUES THAT KILLED GERMS. AN EXAMPLE OF THIS IS THAT THEY BOILED THEIR TOOLS BEFORE USING THEM AND WOULD NOT REUSE THE SAME TOOL ON ANOTHER PATIENT IF IT WAS NOT BOILED BEFORE. THEY CLEANED THE PATIENTS WOUND WITH ACETUM, WHICH IS A MUCH BETTER ANTISEPTIC THAN CARBOLIC ACID INVENTED BY JOSEPH LISTER. ALL ROMAN SURGEONS KNEW HOW TO USE DIFFERENT TOOLS TO STOP THE BLOOD FLOW DURING SURGERY. THEY USED TOOLS LIKE TOURNIQUETS, ARTERIAL CLAMPS, AND LIGATURES. THEY ALSO USED AMPUTATION TO PREVENT DEADLY GANGRENE. OVER THE YEARS, ROMAN DOCTORS THAT SERVED IN THE WAR LEARNED WAYS TO PREVENT MANY BATTLEFIELD EPIDEMICS.

ANCIENT ROMANS DEVELOPED MANY TYPES OF PROCEDURES TO HELP CURE PATIENTS. ONE OF THESE PROCEDURES IS TREPHINATION, WHICH IS A FORM OF BRAIN SURGERY THAT HELPS RELIEVE PRESSURE AND RELIEVE HEADACHES. THEY DID THIS BY USING A DRILL TO DRILL A HOLE IN THE SKULL. ANOTHER FORM OF SURGERY THAT WAS PERFORMED WAS THORACIC SURGERY, EVEN THOUGH IT WAS VERY RARE. THEY DID THIS TO REMOVE ARROWS AND TO CLOSE ABDOMINAL WOUNDS. THEY DID TRACHEAL SURGERIES TO RESTORE BREATHING AND RECONSTRUCT TRACHEAL OPENINGS. ROANS ALSO DID SUTURES AND TIED LIGATURES TO STOP BLEEDINGS. LATER IN TIME THEY DEVELOPED THE CONSTRUCTION OF LIMB PROSTHESES. ANCIENT ROMANS ALSO DID MINOR PLASTIC SURGERIES TO DO ANY FACIAL OR OTHER REPAIRS. THEY ALSO PERFORMED PLASTIC SURGERY FOR REVERSAL GENITAL MUTILATION. ANOTHER SURGERY ROMANS PERFORMED WAS CATARACT SURGERY, WHICH CONSISTED OF A THIN NEEDLE GOING INTO THE EYE TO BREAK UP THE CATARACT AND THEN REMOVING THE EXCESS PIECES BY SUCTION. ROMANS INVENTED PERMANENT HOSPITALS THAT CONTAINED SPECIALIZED ROOMS FOR DIFFERENT PURPOSES AND WITH ISOLATED ROOMS FOR SOME PATIENTS TO REDUCE THE SPREAD OF DISEASE THROUGHOUT THE HOSPITAL. CENTRAL HEATING AND GOOD VENTILATION ALSO HELPED KEEP THE PATIENTS HEALTHY FROM OTHER DISEASES. THERE WEREN’T MANY ROMAN DOCTORS; INSTEAD, THE DOCTORS WERE FREED GREEK. THIS CAUSED THE SOCIAL STATUS OF DOCTORS TO BE QUITE LOW. SINCE CURE RATES WERE LOW IN THAT TIME, MANY PEOPLE WERE NOT EASILY CONVINCED AND WERE EVEN SCORNFUL ABOUT DOCTORS. ALTHOUGH PEOPLE WERE NOT FOND OF DOCTORS, THEY REVOLUTIONIZED MEDICINE AND THEIR PROCEDURES, EVEN IF THEY’VE BEEN ALTERED A BIT, ARE STILL USED TODAY TO CURE AND HELP EVERYONE AROUND THAT WORLD.

IT WAS DURING THE ROMAN TIMES THAT WOMEN ACHIEVED THEIR MOST PRESTIGIOUS ROLE IN MEDICINE, GIVEN THAT IN POSTERIOR TIMES WOMEN WERE NOT ABLE TO BE PART OF MEDICAL PROCEDURES BECAUSE OF GOVERNMENT LAWS. THE GREEKS RARELY LET WOMEN WORK AT TEMPLES, WHICH WERE USED AS HOSPITALS, AND THEY USUALLY DELIVERED BABIES OR BECAME EXPERTS IN WOMEN’S HEALTH. IN CONTRAST TO THE 19TH CENTURY, WOMEN INCREASINGLY HAD LIBERTY TO PRACTICE AND PERFORM MEDICINE AS MEN DID. WOMEN STOOD OUT AS OBSTETRICIANS AND PHYSICISTS, ONLY PRACTICING ON OTHER SICK WOMEN, SINCE THEY WEREN’T ABLE TO PRACTICE THEIR SKILLS ON MEN. THE RESEARCHERS HAVE FOUND THAT THE TRAINING AND QUALIFICATION OF WOMEN DURING THESE TIMES WERE BASED ON THE PRACTICE OF SUCCESSFUL PROCEDURES. THESE WOMEN WERE HONORED IN THE SAME WAY AS MEN FOR THEIR SERVICE TOWARDS THE SICK. MEDICAL WORKS WERE DEDICATED TO THE WOMEN WHO TOOK THEIR TIME TO WRITE ABOUT MEDICINE AND THE DIFFERENT FINDINGS DURING THE 19TH CENTURY.

THERE WEREN’T AS MANY FEMALE SUCCESSFUL DOCTORS AS THERE WERE MALE DOCTORS. YET, THE LACK OF LIBERTY DIDN’T BECOME AND OBSTACLE FOR WOMEN TO PRACTICE WHAT THEY WISHED FOR, IN THIS CASE, MEDICINE.