Medicine Through Time

1. Medicine Through Time The Romans

2. Background From about 300B.C. Rome grew in power as a result of trade and conquest In the early days there were few doctors � the head of the household treated the sick

4. When Greece was conquered Rome absorbed much specialist knowledge and many doctors Roman medicine was a mixture of new theories and developments of the Greeks Medicine in Ancient Rome also brought about some great developments in Public Health Medicine was improved through the studies of Galen

5. At first Greek doctors were hated and treated with suspicion (they were a defeated enemy) Slowly, over time, their skill and knowledge led to greater acceptance Greek ideas regarding the cause of disease crept into Roman life In 293 following an outbreak of plague in Rome an Asclepion was built In 46B.C. Julius Caesar passed a law allowing Greeks to become Roman citizens

8. Roman power and influence depended on the army Rome needed fit and healthy men This need drove forward many medical advances particularly in Public Health

9. Apart from the army and the need for fit and healthy soldiers � there were other reasons why Rome made huge advances 1. A strong well organised central government 2. The Romans were great engineers 3 They absorbed much of the knowledge and skills of the countries they conquered

10. The Romans were very practical people and learnt much from observation The realised that people living near swamps and marshes got ill (malaria) Solution � Build a temple to the gods ! little changed Solution � drain the swamps � it worked !

11. Roman Public HealthRomans were not as enquiring as the Greeks � they were not so interested in the cause or the cure - they were more interested in PREVENTATIVE MEDICINE Aqueducts brought in clean fresh water to the cities There were public baths & fountains There were public toilets There was a sewage system

12. Roman Aqueducts

14. Public Lavatories

15. Roman Sewers

16. Roman Baths

18. Public Fountains

19. How good was Roman Public Health? The Romans had doctors and hospitals for all its citizens � first National Health Service? Life expectancy in Rome was longer than in England 1300 years later Problems � The River Tiber often became polluted and smelly !

20. Great Individuals - GALEN

21. Claudius Galen A Greek doctor born 129 A.D. in Pergamum (Turkey) (Greece) Trained as a doctor at the Asclepion there Continued his studies at Alexandria (dissections no longer allowed) By 157 A.D. he was a surgeon/doctor to the gladiators back in Pergamum

22. Claudius Galen Went to Rome in 161 A.D. became famous as a skilled doctor Appointed doctor to the emperors Began to experiment and write � he wrote over 100 books ! He was not religious but often talked about �the creator� � his ideas therefore were acceptable to Christians and Muslims in the centuries ahead

23. Claudius Galen He was a great believer & follower of Hippocrates� ideas � especially the 4 humours He added to the ideas of Hippocrates. He suggested the �treatment of opposites� to restore balance pepper for colds, cucumber for hot fever He was a great believer in blood-letting

24. His most famous experiment was on a pig By cutting certain nerves he proved the brain not the heart controlled the body

26. Why is Galen so important ? Galen�s writings brought together the knowledge of Hippocrates and the Greeks, but also the great medical ideas, from Indian and Egypt He wrote about all aspects of medicine � drugs, anatomy, physiology These writings survived the fall of Rome and were to become the most comprehensive and accepted medical work for the next 1500 years

27. However . . . Galen only really recorded his successes He was arrogant and opinionated Most of his dissections were on animals and he made anatomical mistakes Galen�s was not questioned until the Renaissance over a 1000 years later

28. Summary from Bitesize Revision