Classics 2902 Ancient Medicine Approved Final Exam 2026

Classics 2902 Ancient Medicine Approved Final Exam 2026 Etruscan & Roman History - - - 1st millennium BCE: 2 major ethnic groups - Etruscans (indigenous) & Latins (Indo European) - Rome on Tiber River; forming the border between Etruscans & Latins (6th c BCE) - Closeness between ethnic groups recounted in Roman histories & origin myths - IMPORTANT: mixing of cultures & cultural exchange 5th & 4th c BCE: Etruscans lose... - -Power to Roman aristocrats (patricians), who form the Republic (2 consuls & Senate) Internal strife: - -Shared government with lower class plebeians (2 tribunes) Important concept - -Conflict; elite vs lower class Expansion based on: - -Expansion based on military successes (on peninsula, then Carthage, Greece and all the rest) Rise of Rome & Alexander's conquests By 3rd CE: - -Control Greece & western Anatolia; 1st c: Egypt; end of Republic Attitudes & Relevance for medicine (5) - -- Expansion bad - Pliny & Cato most vocal; Romans grow lax and too fond of luxuries - IMPORTANT: Greek culture permeated Italy, therefore, medical concepts shared between Greek, Etruscan & Roman medical cultures - Illness comes from gods - Characterizations of Greek gods adopted/ transported to Rome Religion & Culture - -- Public vs private worship (public gods vs household gods) - Forms of worship access power over deities through ritual actions (do ut des) - Healing not limited to either sphere: Roman piety = consult all deities involved - Healing can occur among Capitoline deities (Jupiter, Juno, Minerva) or private gods Cosmology - -- Etruscans: division of sky into 16 sections (interpretation of divine messages) - Etruscan gods form councils (cf. Mesopotamia) - "Good to bad" spectrum: east to west - Romans: division of sky into 4 sections - Negative to positive: left to right CLASSICS 2902 CLASSICS 2902 Sacrifices & Medicine - -Sacrifices = point of contact between human & divine; maintenance of relationship 3 basic sacrifice rituals - -1) burnt offering for celestial deities 2) blood offering for underworld (chthonic) deities 3) libation & bloodless sacrifices for ancestors Blood offering: - -Relationship between living beings & earth Etruscan ritual sacrifices influence: - -Roman religion & medicine; rationalize & accept medical theories/ teachings about blood (e.g. bloodletting as sacrifice) Healing deities (7) - -Ascelepius, Aplu, Diana, Hercle, Isis, Tiana, Menrva Ascelepius - -Asklepieion (pl. Asklepieia) popular pilgrimage site Temple on Tiber Island on healing spring (most popular with slaves) Aplu - -Etruscan version of Apollo Late Republic: Aplu — Apollo Healing aspects of Greek Apollo transferred to Roman version Name Aplu no longer used Diana - -Etruscan healing goddess — Artemis CULTURAL EXCHANGE Childbirth & general healing Hellenization: loss of childbirth association; general healing deity Hercle - -Hercle — Herakles (Greek) — Hercules (Roman) Healing linked to physical prowess Military nature of Rome; what it means to be a "manly man" Isis - -Late Republican medical culture (alliance with Ptolemaic Cleopatra) Increasing popularity; longest lasting ancient cult Associations: health & safety Tinia - -Jupiter Head of parthenon; most influential for healing Divine consent to cause harm (cf. Mesopotamia) Jupiter associated with childbirth Tinia births Menrva (Athena) vs Zeus (Jupiter) birthing Athena Menrva - -Etruscan goddess Later Minerva (Roman) from Athena (goddess of wisdom & technology) Menrva significant healing role (a ton of votive offerings!) CLASSICS 2902 CLASSICS 2902 Development from Etruscan context makes Minerva patron of physicians (Minerva Medica on coinage) Philosophy - -Hippocrates, Epicurus, Plato, Aristotle influential on Roman schools Methodists, Dogmatists/ Rationalists, & Empiricists (Hellenistic philosophies) Dogmatists: - -Theory key; "internal causal base of disease" (etiology) Empiricists: - -Experience & Pragmatism Methodists: - -Middle course; body made of invisible entities ("corpuscles" & space in between i.e. "pores") Disease due to movement of corpuscles/ atoms; kinda use theory of humours Archaeology sources - -Sanctuaries, shrines, temples Remains of medical recipes/ instruments Remains of medicinal gardens Medical kits (mostly Pompeii) Textual Sources - -Latin medical papyri (Egypt) "Iatromagical" papyri: protective charms & amulets Vindolanda tablets (Hadrian's wall): eye ailments, lists of wounded soldiers Private letters Encyclopedic works (Pliny & Celsus) Medical texts: Dioscorides, Rufus of Ephesus, Soranus, Galen "Popular literature" (Martial, Juvenal) CATO!!! On Agriculture: medicinal plants Spotlight: Pliny - -Pliny the Elder (23-79 CE) "Roman way of healing" Cato as preserver of Roman virtues Cabbage as cure all Similar philosophical views: Stoicism Quality of life over quantity; don't artificially prolong life Natural History: comprehensive yet superficial TENSION: Luxury, Greek culture Anatomy & Physiology - -Generally based on Greek/ Hellenistic developments No one theory dominated Roman medicine Morals, social status, health connected: thin body = poverty, old age, sickness OR moral quality & personal discipline 2 general themes: - -1) balance of substances 2) regular flow/ movement of substances necessary Abundance of fat: - -affluence & authority (coinage of Nero to Vespasian) CLASSICS 2902 CLASSICS 2902 Gaelen Biography - -Born: Aug/Sept. 129 CE at/near Pergamon Elite Age 16: begins study of medicine Extensive anatomical training (~10 yrs): Pergamon, Smyrna, Corinth, Alexandria 157 CE: Surgeon of gladiators in Pergamon G 162 CE - -162 CE: Travels to Rome; part of upper social circle G 166-169 CE: - -Return to Pergamon (avoid plague) Recalled to Rome by Marcus Aurelius Imperial physician (esp. for Commodus) G After 192 CE: - -Return to Pergamon G 210CE: - -Dies? G Philosophy (7) - -Physicians need philosophical knowledge Logic required for diagnosis Ethics needed for patient interaction Stoics, Platonists, Aristotelians, Epicureans Conflicting doctrines led him to "scientific demonstration" (logic + evidence) Weakness to commit to one sect Theoretical knowledge & practical experience (Empiricism) Galen's View of Physiology - -Influenced by Aristotle & Hippocrates (4 humours) Plato's tripartite soul G View of the body: - -Heart = furnace; stomach = oven (pepsis) Digestion — juice (chymos); juice sent to liver Liver: origin of veins; venomous blood distributes nutrients Galen on anatomy - -Animal dissection & vivisection important; intimate connection to physiology Goal: demonstrate bodily functions through anatomy Argumentation from theoretical to clinical GALEN IS THE BEST: if others cannot recreate his results it's because THEY SUCK G Demonstrations - -showmanship + rhetorical techniques to charm intellectuals G public demonstrations - -care of wounded in hands of exceptional doctor; show philosophical points (seat of soul) Galen's view on food - -Distinct connection between food & pharmacology Diet is an important aspect of regimen CLASSICS 2902 CLASSICS 2902 Foods roles - -1) Nutrition 2) Drug On Properties of Food - -Written late in his career (?) Goal: describe effects of food on the body Mentions nutritional value of food + physiological & pathological effects on body Food used to prevent illness, maintain health & treat diseases Galen's Humoral Theory - -4 humours: blood, phlegm (mucus), yellow bile, black bile Balance = health Not found in food, just potential of producing humour Blood produced in moderate heat; yellow bile or phlegm if food was hot or cold Blood: - -separate fluid; blood from wounds mixed with bile & phlegm Yellow bile: - -range of fluids; varying colour Black bile: - -some sort of clack fluid (black stool, blood in urine?) black bile = overheated yellow bile Epilepsy in Antiquity Sources (4) - -Hammurabi Code: bennu; legal advice Ebers Papyrus: nsji ("nesejet") - "sent by god" Other Assyrian, Babylonian, and Mesopotamian sources: supernatural causes Sushruta Samhita: apasmára: neurological problem Hippocratic On the Sacred Disease: brain dysfunction; curable using rational methods (diet, drugs) rather than ritual Things to consider when reading the Sacred Disease (7) - -Knowledge of anatomy & physiology Etiology Pathophysiology - blockages Risk factors & prognosis Clinical observation + rational thinking Proactive vs. reactive approaches Patient care Key notions - -supernatural elements contaminated patient — social stigma On the Sacred Disease mentions shameful nature of seizures: contortions, bladder evacuations Perceived uncleanliness gave rise to apotropaic practices (superstitious elements): "the disease which is spit upon" [Plautus, Captivi, III.4] Apuleius' Apologia: slave Thalles must eat alone; maybe sent away CLASSICS 2902 CLASSICS 2902 Practice of covering the epileptic's head (folk medicine); sign of sin Morbus comitiales: assembly (comitia) must be dispersed if someone has a seizure Medicinal cannibalism + 3 approaches - -Curative properties of human remains well established 3 approaches to remedies using human blood: 1. Magic-religious: purification/ appeasement of deity; cf. Pliny: smear mouth of epileptic with blood; Persian magician Osthanes the "destroyer of human laws and mastermind of monsters" 2. Rational medicine (upper high medicine): topical application 3. Folk-medicinal (lower high medicine): consumption [ONLY ROMAN] Cultural significance of gladiator's blood - -Use of blood widespread (ancient & early modern physicians) HC: pollutant therapy: "polluted blood of violence," menstrual blood, "corpse food" to fight impurity Celsus: 1st Roman writer to mention use of gladiator's blood similia similibus remedy Etruscan origins: - -Fallen gladiators as sacrificial victims (blood for chthonic deities) Powerful curative substance Folk-medicine vs epileptic surgery - -Professional practitioners recommend surgical treatments Rational medicine primarily for wealthy, educated patients Drugs or changed diet requires certain level of wealth Surgical methods risky and invasive Folk medicine (use of blood) relatively safe and affordable (?) Fear of epilepsy: try whatever may help The ideal body & problematic definitions - -"The perfected physical form" (male) Few references to "disability" Rome: no distinction between mental and physical Mental deficit (e.g. melancholy) due to physical problem (brain, heart, stomach) "Disability:" - -social label connected to issues of power & status How did the Romans define disability? - -Roman definition: not just deviation from the "norm"; Galen: no one embodies "the ideal" Disability defined by social function — how severe the "impairment" is varies from place to place Gellius on disability - -difference between "disease" & "defect" (can someone work?); defect prevents work ("disability") CLASSICS 2902 CLASSICS 2902 Can people with physical impairments function in ancient Roman society? - -Yes (with caveats) Urban vs rural; rich vs poor Integration within family & community is key; eases economic burden of caretakers Presence & strength of religious & occupational groups (e.g. fraternities) Visual impairment: - -Hindrance to full cultural participation (but there were supports) Latin vocab: distinction between degrees of visual impairment; possible compensation BUT: cultural & moral implication of blindness Augustus: - -blind in left eye, still Pontifex Maximus Nero & Domitian: - -cause blindness Vespasian & Hadrian: - -heal blindness (WHAT A MIRACLE) "Deaf-mute:" offensive (today) - -Makes one "unacceptable to public life" (oral-based education system) Serious functional disability among elite; possibly "doable" for lower class Evidence for "deaf-mute" slaves at imperial court G deaf - -Hippocrates/ Greeks link deafness & muteness (connected nerves) Roman law deaf - -"deaf-mutes" mentally deficient & suffering from an illness; unable to participate The "monster market" - -"Monstrous births:" any abnormality (Minotaur to physical disabilities) Impaired slaves as "pets" Early Christian period: Augustine: descendants of Adam & Eve Plutarch: - -Rome's "monster market" Quintillian: - -high demand for disabled slaves; deliberate disfiguration on monster market Intersex people: - -"erotic entertainment" during Empire Vocab - -deformis, deformitatus, distortus References/Authors - -References in variety of sources Imperial court: companions & entertainers Authors: interest in emperor's relationship with deformed/ disabled slaves CLASSICS 2902 Authors: encode abnormal moral & political status of emperor Bad emperors: - -connected with disabled "monstrous" individuals "Monstrous emperor" surrounding himself with "monstrous bodies" Commodus - -monster, has monstrous slaves calling people one-eyed or one-footed after taking said body parts Good emperors: - -God-like Caligula - -"the monster" (Suetonius); irregular body, ugly face, bald, physical impairment, hoarse Emperor's authority & reputation linked to - -physical body Ideal emperor - -moral example vs bad emperor - warning Sanctuary of Asclepius at Epidaurus - -The Sanctuary of Asclepius, the Sanctuary of Apollo and Asclepius, the Grove, the Sanctuary Pausanias: - -area particularly sacred because Asclepius was born on nearby hill Mortal hero & physician of Homer: - -associated with Thessaly God of healing: - -Epidaurus (~6th c BCE); most important god of that polis Sanctuary of Asclepius - -Closely connected to Epidaurus Attracted suppliants from across the Greco-Roman world Asclepieion remained active until end of the 4th c CE 2 major building periods: - -1) by polis: 4th-3rd c BCE 2) by Roman senator Antoninus: ~mid-2nd c CE Monumental building: 4th-3rd c BCE - -Modest in 5th c BCE; but influential: sanctuaries on Cos, Cyrene, Crete, Sicyon, Aegina, Athens (& across Attica) Monumental building to increase size & quality of sanctuary Temple of Asclepius; other temples Dormitory (Abaton) Thymele/ Tholos Theater & banqueting hall Katagonion/ hotel Baths, stoas, cisterns, fountains, etc CLASSICS 2902 CLASSICS 2902 CLASSICS 2902 Panhellenic Sanctuary - -Compete in prestige; must see destination; influence expands 292 BCE: Roman plague: envoys sent, transfer of cult to Rome Important & popular cult; wealthy until sacked by Sulla (1st c BCE) Wealth of votive offerings = success/ decline of sanctuary Dedication after successful supplication Support for the sanctuary - -After Roman conquest (2nd c BCE): none Improvement during Augustus' reign Strabo: temple is full of the sick and of votive tablets recording their cures (8.6.15) 2nd c CE: improvement through Roman renovations Pausanias: Antoninus built a bath, a house outside the sanctuary for birthing & death, 2 temples (to Epidotes "beneficent gods" & Hygieia, Asclepius & Apollo) More building until 4th c CE then decrease in popularity (Christianity) Iamata inscriptions - -"Cure inscriptions" Pausanias: inside the peribolos (court enclosed by wall), written on large stone slabs, names of cured suppliants May convince people of Asclepius' power & inspire new healings Facilities of the sanctuary - -Ritual core: healing Temple of Asclepius next to abaton & thymele/ tholos (Pausanias) Temple & altar essential Abaton: north of temple Bath, next to abaton (east); close to sacred well Katagonion/ hotel Abaton: north of temple - -Pausanias: near the temple and the tholos was a building where the suppliants of the god sleep Central building of the healing ritual; pilgrims "incubate" & are visited by god or representative Thymele/ tholos (near temple): - -Ritual cleansing? Unknown function Pausanias: housed painting of Eros & Drunkenness Expensive; central spot Katagonion/ hotel - -Capacity: 140-420 guests Largest preserved example of a hotel For upper class pilgrims? For festival goers? Buildings: - -for public festival & healing cult Asclepieia - -Panhellenic festival connected to athletic contests Similar to other festivals with athletic competitions: procession, sacrifice, dining, competitions CLASSICS 2902 CLASSICS 2902 Just in honour of patron god 9 days after festival of Poseidon at Isthmia (end of April); - -every 5 years or annually? The Healing Cult - -Operated throughout the year Inscriptional evidence; mention suppliants & cures Name of suppliant, illness, cure Most well-attested activity: incubation Also: prothysis & purifying bathing Finally: dedication of votive: inexpensive (food, leaves) - elaborate (inscribed statues) Prothysis - -Preliminary sacrifice: animal sacrifice & bloodless Voiceless boy "who performed the preliminary sacrifices" then regained voice Important for obtaining a cure Sacred law (4th-3rd c BCE): supplies for sacrifice & costs - -Grain & wreath = half an obol; firewood for young pigs = half an obol; for grown pigs = full obol Bathing - -Ritual cleansing Before sacrificial meals & prerequisite for cure Shallow basins on stands: hands & face; bath buildings for full-body baths 1 bath close to abaton: - -for healing process? 1 (hellenistic) bath: - -recreational? Incubation - -Central activity Get curative dream Spend night in abaton Set up dedication Dedications - -For successful cure: animal sacrifice - material offerings Payment: 1 drachma? More? Cure inscription: - -Echedoros punished for not upholding his vow to the god MUST pay Asclepius & respect cultic prescription Accommodations - -Travellers from across the world Prolonged stays Also: resident staff requiring accommodation Bathing according to Pliny & Celsus - -Bathing - health Celsus: medical focus Pliny: medical component Troublesome Terminology - -Balineum (balnae, balneum), thermae CLASSICS 2902 CLASSICS 2902 Balineum (balnae, balneum) - -medicinal uses of baths; also bathing facility, bathing tub, act of bathing not swimming pools/ medicinal springs (cf. Celsus 4.12.7) thermae - -bath-building; not used in Celsus; Pliny: imperial baths of Agrippa What bath? - -Celsus mentions variously heated rooms (caldaria, tepidaria) & "pool" (solium) Roman style bath: - -communal pools, differently heated rooms Variety of bathing options: - -hot, cold, tepid water; humid & dry sweating; anointing & rubbing Medicinal springs - -"Spas" for the sick (cf. Celsus 4.12.7) Pliny: Homer doesn't mention hot springs "since medicine at that time did not have recourse to waters as it does today" (NH 31.59) Bath buildings open to the sick P&C must be talking about - -Roman baths; or are they? Public or private baths? - -Audience: elite Romans; private bathing suites or "going to the baths" Evidence for public bath Bathing outside the home, recovery at home? Elite vs lower class bathing - -Elite: going to the bath is social practice; active membership in the community Dramatic effect: arrive at baths with entourage — show off wealth & status Lower classes: no other option Medicinal bathing pliny - -Pliny: naturalistic inquiries Pliny: baths + drugs Pliny: dietetics useless & lethal; morally corrupting BUT: baths healthy Medicinal bathing celsus - -Celsus: baths + regimen Celsus: EXCLUSIVELY medical treatise Remedial bathing (both Celsus & Pliny) - -Pliny: folk medicine + magic Celsus: A) continue with regular routine; B) increase frequency/ duration of bath; C) decrease frequency/ duration; D) avoid bath Fits in dietetic prescriptions CLASSICS 2902 Widely disseminated information Pliny and celsus on greeks - -Pliny: Ew Greeks - YAY Italic traditions Celsus: YAY Greek medical theories CLASSICS 2902