Hellenistic and Roman Medicine

2018 ◽  
pp. 316-344
Author(s):  
Vivian Nutton
Keyword(s):  
Nowa Medycyna ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 25 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Alberto Lluch

The origins of Western Medicine can be found through the Greeks and the Romans, originally with Mythological figures represented by the god Asclepius, and later by Greek doctors such as Hippocrates and Galen. Roman medicine was highly influenced by the Greek medical tradition, relying more on naturalistic observations rather than on spiritual rituals. The writings of Galen survived more than other medical scriptures in antiquity. His theories dominated and influenced Western medical science for more than 1,300 years. This acceptance led to the spread of Greek medical theories throughout the Roman Empire, and thus a large portion of the West. Most of the actual medical terms are of Greek origin, as they were the founders of rational medicine in the golden age of Greek civilization. The Hippocrates were the first to describe diseases based on observation, and the names given by them to many conditions are still used today. On the other hand, most anatomical terms are in Latin (Nomina Anatomica), explained by the printed descriptions and illustrations of human dissections published in 1543 in the seminal work “De humani corporis fabrica” (“The Fabric of the Human Body”) by Andreas Vesalius.


2004 ◽  
Vol 78 (2) ◽  
pp. 465-466
Author(s):  
John M. Riddle

Author(s):  
Philip van der Eijk

This article focuses on a number of developments that have made the place of Graeco-Roman medicine in surveys of the history of medicine. A further development discussed is that medical history now also prominently includes the topic of health, both physical and mental health and related topics such as lifestyle, quality of life, well-being, fitness, and ‘flourishing’. It identifies a number of different mental states or conditions on a scale from an optimum to a pessimum, and thus presents a good example of the scalar, gradualist view of health characteristic of Greek medicine. This article shows philosophy competing with medicine for the role of authoritative guide to health, mental as well as physical, and diagnostic as well as therapeutic. The study of Graeco-Roman medicine has profited significantly from connections and comparisons with the study of the history of medicine, science, and culture from other time frames and other parts of the world.


1970 ◽  
Vol 64 (3) ◽  
pp. 96
Author(s):  
L. R. Lind ◽  
John Scarborough
Keyword(s):  

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