Diagnosing and Treating the Pained Body

This chapter argues that rational Greek medicine was underpinned by its understanding of pain experience. It focuses especially on the nature of diagnosis and therapy in the Imperial period, showing that this combined specific anatomical thought about the body with a more holistic view of the patient. Employing tools from medical anthropology, this chapter shows that a central (and hitherto downplayed) aspect of the diagnostic process was the narration and explanation of symptoms and experiences: diagnosis and therapy were embedded in narrative practices of Imperial society. The way in which pain is described moulds its significance for Imperial medicine, allowing it to be effectively integrated into medical knowledge and understanding and treatment.