L'Italo-Americano

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 23, 2023 www.italoamericano.org 22 L'Italo-Americano M e d i c i n e i n R o m e w a s a t o n c e incredibly different and incredibly close to what it is today. Different, of course, because of what 2,000 years of discoveries and research gave us; but similar, because some of our ancestors' intuitions - which they, to be fair, largely inher- ited from the Greeks and the E g y p t i a n s - a r e t h e s a m e upon which modern medicine was founded. The Romans had doctors and medicines, surgeons, and e v e n f a m i l y p h y s i c i a n s : according to sources, in 229 BC the State had bought an o f f i c e f o r a G r e e k d o c t o r named Archagathus, had and awarded him Roman citizen- ship immediately so that he c o u l d b e g i n p r a c t i c i n g straight away. Archagatus didn't pay any rent on the rooms he practiced in, a clear sign that his work was subsi- dized by the Roman State: his duty was to provide its citi- zens with medical care. This is not far from the concept of m e d i c o d i f a m i g l i a a s w e know it in Italy: a general practitioner every Italian can consult for free whenever needed. J u s t l i k e A r c h a g a n t u s , m o s t o f t h e e a r l y d o c t o r s p r a c t i c i n g i n R o m e w e r e Greek and most people who wanted to become doctors would move to Greece and Egypt to study. These coun- tries were at the forefront of m e d i c a l k n o w l e d g e b a c k then, even though we should- n't forget that the Etruscans were known to be good doc- tors, too. Before caring for sick peo- ple became a profession in Rome, it was all in the hands and practical knowledge of Roman women: they knew how to cure pains and ail- ments with herbs and natural r e m e d i e s , m a n y o f w h i c h would become central to the development of early Roman medicine. And even after the diffusion of medical sciences a c r o s s t h e R e p u b l i c a n d , later, the Empire, medicine remained relatively gender- balanced, as female practi- tioners were quite common, e s p e c i a l l y i n t h e f i e l d s o f gynecology, midwifery, and g e n e r a l w o m e n ' s h e a l t h . However, some women spe- cialized in other fields of medicine, too, even if it was rare. Most of them were of Greek origin. The importance of Greek and Egyptian scientific cul- ture in the development of Roman medicine is embod- ied perfectly by Galen, prob- ably the most important doc- tor in Ancient Rome. Galen of Pergamon was born in Greece and studied medicine in Alexandria, Egypt. He ini- tially practiced in his home- land and developed his skills by caring for wounded gladi- ators. In 162 AD, he moved to Rome, where he continued practicing and researching. He was a breakthrough prac- titioner: Galen knew how to perform cataract removal surgeries and believed in the importance of exercise and balanced nutrition to remain healthy. He advocated good hygiene as a staple of good health and believed that the brain was the organ that con- t r o l l e d o u r b o d y , n o t t h e heart, as it was commonly believed. He understood and demonstrated that human voice is produced in the lar- ynx and recognized the dif- ference between venous and arterial blood. His incredible skills led him to become the personal physician of more than one emperor and many o f h i s w r i t i n g s i n f o r m e d medical practice and inspired scientific research until the 16th century. But Galen, just like every other doctor in Rome, had to face some problems, too. For i n s t a n c e , l e a r n i n g a b o u t human anatomy wasn't that simple because dissecting human corpses was forbid- den, mostly for religious and public health reasons. Doc- tors, therefore, could only learn by practicing on ani- m a l s s u c h a s p i g s o r p r i - mates, as their anatomical structure is similar to ours. As gory as it may sound, ani- mal vivisection was often performed publicly by doc- tors, both as a form of enter- tainment and a way to attract new clients. An important connection, which was to help greatly the development of medical sci- ences in the Empire, was that between medicine and the a r m y . D u r i n g h i s r e i g n , Emperor Augustus created a professional military medical corps to provide continuous medical care to soldiers dur- ing military campaigns and wars. Aware of the fact that, in those years, the best doc- tors were Greek, he promised full Roman citizenship and retirement pensions to all Greek doctors who joined the corps. Augustus' medical corps are behind many key discov- eries in the field of medicine, i n c l u d i n g t h e h e m o s t a t i c tourniquet, and they also d e v e l o p e d t h e f i r s t t r u l y effective sanitation system to limit the spreading of conta- gious diseases. Because they traveled with the army, these doctors could learn new prac- tices common in the coun- tries they visited, and under- s t o o d a l o t a b o u t h u m a n a n a t o m y b y o p e r a t i n g o n wounded soldiers. Thanks to their work, the life expectan- cy of a Roman soldier was longer than that of the aver- age Roman citizen by about 5 years. Last but not least, it seems that Roman doctors also had an eye for their patients' psy- c h e . T h e y b e l i e v e d t h a t d r e a m s c o u l d b e a n o p e n window into people's health and that they could be used to investigate the mind and the soul. More specifically, Roman physicians believed dreams could show whether there were unbalances in a person's body and, on their basis, they developed diag- noses and determined treat- ments. FRANCESCA BEZZONE Reconstruction of medical practice in Ancient Rome (Photo: Whpics/Dreamstime) HERITAGE HISTORY IDENTITY TRADITIONS PEOPLE Doctors in ancient Rome: between science, magic, and popular lore

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