WEEK 7 (Medicine in Ancient Rome) Flashcards
What was important regarding hygiene?
- Roman baths were accessible to everyone
- Clean drinking water
- Spread awareness about the importance of general hygiene
- Exercise & Diet (VERY IMPORTANT)
Where was Greek medicine established?
Rome by Ascelpiades
What did The Methodic School emphasise?
Identification of the disease first followed by treatment; it paid less attention to the individual patient
What was distinguishable about The Methodic School?
- Knowledge in the disease itself is sufficient for treatment
[“if you know what the disorder is, you already know the treatment”] - Sufficient to observe some general symptoms of illnesses
- Did not believe in trials, research or experience
- A Methodist’s knowledge is “firm and certain” and leaves no room for future revision
How were Dogmatic schools different from Methodic Schools?
They believed there were hidden causes behind symptoms
[Research + experience is needed]
What was distinguishable about The Empiric School?
- Experience was a key factor
- Remedies should be familiar, tried and tested
- Not evidence-based medicine
- Rejected that there were hidden causes behind disease
- Knowledge is not “firm and certain” and leaves room for revision
What was distinguishable about The Dogmatic School?
- Knowledge is not “firm and certain” and leaves room for revision
- They believed that there were hidden causes behind symptoms
- Highlighted traditions of Hippocrates e.g HUMORS
- Developed GALEN (believed illnesses were caused by an imbalance in bodily fluids)
What was the major treatment in The Dogmatic School?
Rebalancing the humours to restore health
[which included changes in diet & exercise and herbal & mineral treatments]
What minor treatments occurred in The Dogmatic School?
- Bleeding
- Cupping
- Cauterisation
What was important about Asclepiades?
- Against Hippocratic humour theory
- Believed disease was caused by mechanical disturbance of the movement of the atoms through the pores of body
- Founder of The Methodic School -> students were also against Humour theory
- Opposed blood-letting and purging & relied on diets and baths for treatment
Did everyone in Ancient Rome have access to drinking water?
YES
Because Ancient Rome were the first to develop aqua ducts
Who was Celsus?
- One of the roman authors that wrote about the eye
- Believed that eyes served to produce light
- Introduced “COUCHING”
(Introducing a sharp needle through the front of the eye and pressing against the lens, dislocating the lens allowing light to pass through the pupil)
What did Celsus believe?
If you formed a cataract in your eye then the light would not be able to shine out and therefore you would not be able to see
Who was the main god of medicine in Ancient Rome and Greece?
Asclepius
What did the Ancient Romans believe about gods in terms of medicine?
- Believed that gods wished sickness upon those who lapsed in their worship and morality
- Less significant than in Ancient Egypt or Greece
- Offerings & Prayers were a routine part of many treatments
What other gods did the Ancient Romans have?
- VEJOVIS = god of healing
- FEBRIS = goddess protecting against malaria & other fevers
- ENDOVELICUS = public health
- CARNA = heart and inner organs
- BONA DEA = goddess of women & fertility
Who was Claudius Galen?
- A physician who was elevated to godlike status
- Developed The Dogmatic School of Medicine
- Believed in Hippocrates’ Humour theory
- Began his career as a physician to the gladiators in PERGAMUM
- Ideas & teachings became laws of medicine for more than 1,300 years
What were important achievements of Claudius Galen?
- Considered that common sense, cognition and memory were functions of the brain
- Distinguished sensory nerves from motor nerves
- Established that urine was made in kidneys
- Description of seven pairs of cranial nerves
- Description of valves of the heart
- Described between arteries and veins
What was Surgery in Ancient Rome?
- First to come up with mobile surgical units (for battlefield)
- More developed than in Ancient Greece
- Surgery was FAST but CAREFUL
- Patients received Alcohol, opium and herbs for pain relief & Wound dressings of hot oils, herbal poultices and vinegar
Describe the Surgical Tools in Ancient Rome?
Extensive sets of equipment
What were the healthcare facilities like?
- First dedicated hospitals were set up (reserved for government officials, merchants, soldiers & favoured slaves)
- Set up mobile hospitals and medical rooms in forts
- A physician’s role in provinces was of low status
- Healthcare was made first for gladiators
What was the name for healthcare facilities in Ancient Rome?
Valetudinaria
What was dentistry like in Ancient Rome?
- Dentistry was not a profession
- Some Roman Surgeons specialised in treatments for the mouth and teeth
- Gold bridges were fitted over existing teeth to hold additional ones (real/ivory)
How could you become a physician?
- Social class was very important
- Formal training and licensing was introduced
- No official qualifications
- Almost anyone could practice
Could women become doctors in Ancient Rome?
YES
They were even on equal footing as men
Which theory made Galen famous?
Gaelic Pneumatic Theory
[he believed that the main organ in the body is the liver]
Describe Galen’s Unquestionable Authority
Everyone believed what Galen believed and if anyone believed against then they would be outcasted
[it’s because his description of the body aligned with the Christian church so the church promoted it]
What was the importance of Materia Medica?
- Written by Dioscorides (Greek physician who served in the Roman Army)
- Work remained in regular use from the time or writing until the 17th century
