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Ancient Roman culture and Greek influence
Ancient Roman culture and Greek influence
Ancient Roman culture and Greek influence
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The Romans used both scientific and mythological methods in their medicine. By adopting the methods of Greek medicine; the Romans obtained a solid foundation. They copied Hippocrates, who separated the study of medicine from philosophy and had an overall approach to the health of humans. Hippocrates also observed the habits and environment of humans to accurately determine illnesses and discover treatments. The Romans adapted the Hippocratic method and combined it with mythical and religious views. The Romans used Greek methods, and also included prayers and offerings to the gods. Although all gods had healing powers, Aesculapius, the god of healing, was the most important.
Unlike today, the Ancient Roman doctors received no respect, because they were considered to be fraudilant. This reputation was caused by the doctors magical tricks, and the lack of useful treatments. The job required minimal training, as they only had to apprentice with their senior. Thus, many free slaves and people who had failed at everything else filled this profession. Some did try to find new remedies; however, others used medicine to con people. Public surgeries were done to attract audiences as an advertisement. Doctors would even become beauticians providing perfumes, cosmetics, and even hairdressing. When wives wanted their husbands gone, they would say, ¡§put the patient out of his misery¡¨ and the doctors would be the murderers. However, as wars began to break out, there were improvements bec...
Doctors believed the human body was part of the universe, so they used elements for each humour, “Yellow bile was the equivalent of fire. Phlegm was the equivalent of water. Black bile was the equivalent of earth and blood was the equivalent of air”(“Shakespearean and Elizabethan Medicine”). Also, because of their beliefs and lack of knowledge on serious medical conditions, most severe cases were not treated accurately. Some doctors believed if a person broke a bone, then it was never supposed to be used again because the accident was based from many sins of the soul (“Shakespearean and Elizabethan Medicine”). The doctors also believed in completely covering their body when treating a patient. It was thought that if they wore boots, gloves, masks and robes, then they would be protected from the diseases. They also wore an amulet around their waste, filled with dried blood and ground up toads (Alchin). Although this may seem out of the ordinary today, these precautions were something an Elizabethan doctor did not go
Kieckhefer, when analyzing medieval texts, notes that “magic is often less important in and of itself than as a symbol or indicator of some psychological state.” The physiological state in the case of Cligés would play out between Thessala and the Salernitan doctors. Around the turn of the millenia, organized medicine began to take a stronger hold in Europe. According to Kieckhefer, “some of the business of these folks practitioners - the healing if not the divining - must have been siphoned off by the rise of university-trained physicians around the twelfth century.” One thing of particular interest is Chrétien de Troyes decision to write about Salernitan doctors in particular. Unlike most of Europe, Salerno was developing institutionalized medical training before the practice became mainstream -- “medical study had been available at Salerno as early as the tenth century.” In Chrétien de Troyes’ time, Salerno was the face of new movement amongst learned men. Not only the movement to organize medicine, but the push towards scientia, “a true and certain body of knowledge, focused on a given topic, whose reliability is guaranteed by its being derived from known first principles.” Scientia, not to be confused with modern day science, revolved around knowledge opposed to quantifiable data. Certain new practices were reflective
In the Renaissance, some aspects of medicine and doctors were still in a Dark Age. Outbreaks of disease were common, doctors were poor, medicine was primitive and many times doctors would kill a patient with a severe treatment for a minor disease! But, there were other sections where medicine and the use of medications improved greatly. This paper is written to illustrate the "light and dark" sides of medicine in the Renaissance.
There weren’t many trained doctors in Europe in the Middle Ages . In Paris in 1274 there were only 8 doctors and about 40 people practising medicine without any official training and they didn’t really understand how the body worked and why people got sick. When making a diagnosis doctors might consult medical books, astrological charts and urine samples. Some doctors believed disease was caused by bad smells or small worms, or the position of the planets or stars. They also charged very high fees, so only the rich could afford them.
Some people that gave out medicine were not actual doctors. Physicians were the highest ranking. They would cover themselves from head to toe in clothing to protect them from getting terrible diseases. They would wear long robes with a pointed hood, leather gloves and boots, they would also wear a mask that had a long beak that had special oils in it so they could breath the same air without getting sick (Williams and Lacasse 1). Old wise women were typically the doctor for the poor.
Ancient Rome). With the herbs and medical care provided in the Ancient Roman times, the people of Rome could treat and cure their illnesses (Trueman…Rome and Medicine and Surgery in Ancient Rome). With their knowledge of the causes and preventions of illness, as well as the remedies for illness, the Roman people could take control of their health and take the steps required to refrain from getting the diseases.
Before we can trace the development of these theories by the Presocratics we must first consider Hippocratic medicine and humoral theory. Most of what is known about the historical figure Hippocrates, the supposed founder of the Hippocratic medical approach, must be evaluated with caution. Hippocrates lived c. 460-370 BC, but further reliable information about his life is difficult to obtain.(1) Two passages from Plato are seen as legitimate sources of information about Hippocrates' life. Plato lived from 427-348 BC, making him a contemporary of Hippocrates. A passage from Plato's work Protagoras suggests that Hippocrates was a physician, associated with the island of Cos, who taught medicine to students for a fee. Another passage from a work of Plato, the Phaedras, alludes to a "method" by which Hippocrates gained an understanding of medicine. These sources provide some means by which to evaluate the impact of Hippocrates upon ancient medical practice.
Ancient Greek Medicine While Greek Medicine, particularly from the 5th century B.C onwards, increasingly used scientific methods to develop cures, there still however remained people that considered medicine to be a religion. The ancient Greeks (Hellenic) made important discoveries about the human body and health, so by the sixth century BC, medicinal practices focused largely on a more clinical approach involving observation. Their discoveries were made by firstly studying the human anatomy using dissection and vivisection, finding ways to heal using things such as plants and herbs, then finally practising surgery on the human body using different instruments. Before the scientific method developed, most people still saw medicine as a religion, and believed that superstitions, evil spirits and punishments caused illness from the gods. The best-known ancient Greek physician Hippocrates, made several important medical discoveries in Ancient Greece.
Ancient Greek medicine before Hippocrates was primarily based upon superstition and spirituality, where their devotion to Asclepios (the God of medicine and healing) overpowered advancements of the scientific inquiry aspects of medicine. Initially, the Greeks during the 6th and the beginning of 5th century regarded illnesses as a form of divine punishments and healing from the gods. The knowledge based on superstitious belief hindered the understanding of medicine, given that the subjective beliefs were held in higher esteem rather than empirical observation. Hence, religion decisively played a major role during this time before Hippocrates particularly because it was the priests who were considered the primary care givers in the name of Asclepius. Although further into the 5th c. philosophers such as Hippocrates Pre-Socratic contemporaries: Pythagoras, Empedocles, Thales, and
In ancient times religion and science were tied in together when it came to health and everyday living. The ruins throughout Greece and Italy stand as testament to their ingenuity with creating and building infrastructure, but also of the people’s belief in the power and influence of the ancient Gods to heal illness (Krieger 2012, p.47, Hays 1998, p.9). According to Tountas (2009) the ancient Greeks were the first to break with mystical notions of health re-orienting ‘medicine toward a ...
Egyptian doctors were highly respected throughout the Middle East. Sometimes, they were even summoned abroad to treat foreign princes. Egyptian medicine was closely linked to religion, so when science didn’t work, doctors turned to magic instead. Doctors may have passed their knowledge from father to son, although there were probably medical schools as well. Once they had finished their training and were officially recognized as doctors, they received the government. Most doctors worked as general practitioners in the community. Others worked in temples, or as army surgeons or specialist consultants. The most skilled doctors were appointed physicians royal court. Egyptian doctors understood quite a lot about the body. They knew that
Hippocrates was a Greek physician that left a legacy that existed during his lifetime in Classical Greece and continues today. His moral and ethical standards were the foundation of his teachings, along with his meticulous writings concerning the study of the human body. He firmly believed that poor health and disease were the result of a natural process that could be discovered and cured through careful clinical reasoning and observations. Hippocrates travelled throughout Greece teaching and describing disease symptoms, and taught doctors how to analyze and treat specific illnesses or diseases. Hippocrates’s accomplishments give him the respect from doctors and medical professionals around the world that continues even today.
There has never been a time that men and women have not suffered from sickness, and the physician’s specialized social role has developed in response to it. Even when the assume the guise of priests or shamans, doctors are by definition individuals presumed to have special knowledge or skills that enable them to treat men and women experiencing pain or incapacity, who cannot work and fulfill family or other social obligations. (Rosenberg 1)
Ancient Egypt is the first time in history where we see true medical care. The first great civilization on this planet was the Egyptians. The Egyptians thought gods, demons and spirits played a key role in causing diseases. (Nordqvist) Many doctors at the time believed that spirits blocked channels in the body, and affected the way the body functioned. (Nordqvist) Most Egyptian medicine involved trying to find ways to unblock these “channels”. (Nordqvist) These Egyptian doctors would use natural remedies combined with prayer. They showed extensive knowledge of the human body for their time.
Hippocrates “On the Surgery” is a outlook on how Athenian medicine was approached and the procedures that all in the medical field must follow. Hippocrates explains in the reading about how a doctor should care for his/her patients at their time of need without hurting the sick no more than what is already damaged. A doctor is not supposed to cause any ruthless actions, but only to heal the sick. Hippocrates also explains the type of bandages, how tight the bandages should be, the length of the bandage, and so on to properly care for the wound. Hippocrates also goes into great details on the hygiene of a doctor, and the time of day the surgery must be performed to have light.