CLASSICS 2902 ANCIENT MEDICINE
EXAM (UPDATED 2026) QUESTIONS AND
CORRECT ANSWERS 100% VERIFIED !!
Etruscan & Roman History -CORRECTANSWER - 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... -CORRECTANSWER Power to Roman aristocrats
(patricians), who form the Republic (2 consuls & Senate)
Internal strife: -CORRECTANSWER Shared government with lower class plebeians (2
tribunes)
Important concept -CORRECTANSWER Conflict; elite vs lower class
Expansion based on: -CORRECTANSWER Expansion based on military successes (on
peninsula, then Carthage, Greece and all the rest)
Rise of Rome & Alexander's conquests
,By 3rd CE: -CORRECTANSWER Control Greece & western Anatolia; 1st c: Egypt; end
of Republic
Attitudes & Relevance for medicine (5) -CORRECTANSWER - 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 -CORRECTANSWER - 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 -CORRECTANSWER - 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 -CORRECTANSWER Sacrifices = point of contact between
human & divine; maintenance of relationship
3 basic sacrifice rituals -CORRECTANSWER 1) burnt offering for celestial deities
2) blood offering for underworld (chthonic) deities
3) libation & bloodless sacrifices for ancestors
Blood offering: -CORRECTANSWER Relationship between living beings & earth
Etruscan ritual sacrifices influence: -CORRECTANSWER Roman religion & medicine;
rationalize & accept medical theories/ teachings about blood (e.g. bloodletting as
sacrifice)
Healing deities (7) -CORRECTANSWER Ascelepius, Aplu, Diana, Hercle, Isis, Tiana,
Menrva
EVERY GOD CAN CAUSE & CURE ILLNESS
Ascelepius -CORRECTANSWER Asklepieion (pl. Asklepieia) popular pilgrimage site
Temple on Tiber Island on healing spring (most popular with slaves)
Aplu -CORRECTANSWER Etruscan version of Apollo
Late Republic: Aplu —> Apollo
EXAM (UPDATED 2026) QUESTIONS AND
CORRECT ANSWERS 100% VERIFIED !!
Etruscan & Roman History -CORRECTANSWER - 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... -CORRECTANSWER Power to Roman aristocrats
(patricians), who form the Republic (2 consuls & Senate)
Internal strife: -CORRECTANSWER Shared government with lower class plebeians (2
tribunes)
Important concept -CORRECTANSWER Conflict; elite vs lower class
Expansion based on: -CORRECTANSWER Expansion based on military successes (on
peninsula, then Carthage, Greece and all the rest)
Rise of Rome & Alexander's conquests
,By 3rd CE: -CORRECTANSWER Control Greece & western Anatolia; 1st c: Egypt; end
of Republic
Attitudes & Relevance for medicine (5) -CORRECTANSWER - 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 -CORRECTANSWER - 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 -CORRECTANSWER - 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 -CORRECTANSWER Sacrifices = point of contact between
human & divine; maintenance of relationship
3 basic sacrifice rituals -CORRECTANSWER 1) burnt offering for celestial deities
2) blood offering for underworld (chthonic) deities
3) libation & bloodless sacrifices for ancestors
Blood offering: -CORRECTANSWER Relationship between living beings & earth
Etruscan ritual sacrifices influence: -CORRECTANSWER Roman religion & medicine;
rationalize & accept medical theories/ teachings about blood (e.g. bloodletting as
sacrifice)
Healing deities (7) -CORRECTANSWER Ascelepius, Aplu, Diana, Hercle, Isis, Tiana,
Menrva
EVERY GOD CAN CAUSE & CURE ILLNESS
Ascelepius -CORRECTANSWER Asklepieion (pl. Asklepieia) popular pilgrimage site
Temple on Tiber Island on healing spring (most popular with slaves)
Aplu -CORRECTANSWER Etruscan version of Apollo
Late Republic: Aplu —> Apollo
