CLASSICS 2902 ANCIENT MEDICINE FINAL
PAPER 2026 QUESTIONS WITH SOLUTIONS
GRADED A+
◉5th & 4th c BCE: Etruscans lose.... Answer: Power to Roman
aristocrats (patricians), who form the Republic (2 consuls & Senate)
◉Internal strife:. Answer: Shared government with lower class
plebeians (2 tribunes)
◉Important concept. Answer: Conflict; elite vs lower class
◉Expansion based on:. Answer: Expansion based on military
successes (on peninsula, then Carthage, Greece and all the rest)
Rise of Rome & Alexander's conquests
◉By 3rd CE:. Answer: Control Greece & western Anatolia; 1st c:
Egypt; end of Republic
◉Attitudes & Relevance for medicine (5). Answer: - 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. Answer: - 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. Answer: - 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
◉Sacrifices & Medicine. Answer: Sacrifices = point of contact
between human & divine; maintenance of relationship
, ◉3 basic sacrifice rituals. Answer: 1) burnt offering for celestial
deities
2) blood offering for underworld (chthonic) deities
3) libation & bloodless sacrifices for ancestors
◉Blood offering:. Answer: Relationship between living beings &
earth
◉Etruscan ritual sacrifices influence:. Answer: Roman religion &
medicine; rationalize & accept medical theories/ teachings about
blood (e.g. bloodletting as sacrifice)
◉Healing deities (7). Answer: Ascelepius, Aplu, Diana, Hercle, Isis,
Tiana, Menrva
EVERY GOD CAN CAUSE & CURE ILLNESS
◉Ascelepius. Answer: Asklepieion (pl. Asklepieia) popular
pilgrimage site
Temple on Tiber Island on healing spring (most popular with slaves)
◉Aplu. Answer: Etruscan version of Apollo
PAPER 2026 QUESTIONS WITH SOLUTIONS
GRADED A+
◉5th & 4th c BCE: Etruscans lose.... Answer: Power to Roman
aristocrats (patricians), who form the Republic (2 consuls & Senate)
◉Internal strife:. Answer: Shared government with lower class
plebeians (2 tribunes)
◉Important concept. Answer: Conflict; elite vs lower class
◉Expansion based on:. Answer: Expansion based on military
successes (on peninsula, then Carthage, Greece and all the rest)
Rise of Rome & Alexander's conquests
◉By 3rd CE:. Answer: Control Greece & western Anatolia; 1st c:
Egypt; end of Republic
◉Attitudes & Relevance for medicine (5). Answer: - 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. Answer: - 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. Answer: - 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
◉Sacrifices & Medicine. Answer: Sacrifices = point of contact
between human & divine; maintenance of relationship
, ◉3 basic sacrifice rituals. Answer: 1) burnt offering for celestial
deities
2) blood offering for underworld (chthonic) deities
3) libation & bloodless sacrifices for ancestors
◉Blood offering:. Answer: Relationship between living beings &
earth
◉Etruscan ritual sacrifices influence:. Answer: Roman religion &
medicine; rationalize & accept medical theories/ teachings about
blood (e.g. bloodletting as sacrifice)
◉Healing deities (7). Answer: Ascelepius, Aplu, Diana, Hercle, Isis,
Tiana, Menrva
EVERY GOD CAN CAUSE & CURE ILLNESS
◉Ascelepius. Answer: Asklepieion (pl. Asklepieia) popular
pilgrimage site
Temple on Tiber Island on healing spring (most popular with slaves)
◉Aplu. Answer: Etruscan version of Apollo
