Ancient Greece/Ancient Roman medicine

1. Ancient Greece/Ancient Roman medicine By: Johnny Biondo and Shekinah Hollingsworth

2. Key people • Arcagathus was the first doctor to come to ancient Rome. He was an excellent wound surgeon, but he used the knife and cautery very vigorously, earning the name “executioner”. • Hippocrates conducted studies on order to prove that disease was a natural cause, and to show that a physician was there to help the body’s natural resistance against disease. • The Iatros were a group of Greek physicians who brought the Greek medical philosophies to Rome.

3. Tools • The Romans used many surgical tools made from bronze, some include probes, vaginal spectrum, and the rectal spectrum. • They also had the basic surgical tools such as scalpels and forceps.

4. Medical Techniques-Remedies • Herbal remedies were very common for treating minor ailments such as nausea, joint pain, and upset stomach. • They would often times rely on religious rituals to heal the sickly. • They would submerge their medical tools in boiling water to sterilize them. • Opium was used to treat basic pain. • They would drain one of the humors believed to be an excess to help cure the disease.

5. Cultural Factors Influencing Medical Philosophies • Religious rituals were heavily influenced on medical practices. • Certain herbs were more medically beneficial than others. • Some Greeks believed that diseases in specific people were the will of the Gods.

6. Key Philosophies • Very ritualistic. • Dogmatists were the first to emphasize the study of anatomy. • Empiricists rejected the idea that a physician could detect the unknown functional origins of the body. • Methodists rejected all generalities in medical science, they believed that each individual had a different case. • Pneumatists were an offshoot of the Dogmatists and they believed that the (Pneuma) soul was primary in the source of life. • They believed “The Four Humors” which were blood, mucus, black bile, and yellow bile, when these substances were imbalanced, disease occurred.

7. Health Problems In The Era • Food contamination was an overwhelming problem in Rome, so intestinal parasites were most common. • Lots of sanitation issues regarding the disposal of human waste. • Diseases such as tuberculosis, typhoid fever, and malaria were very common in Rome.

8. Preventative Methods • The Romans had bath houses, which they believed to help keep them clean, but in reality it help spread diseases. • They would pray to the Gods to keep good health.

9. The end!