Physicians are generally held in high esteem today, but first-century Romans were skeptical and even contemptuous of them. Many of the doctors were treating illnesses they didn’t understand. Poets in particular ridiculed surgeons for being greedy, exploitative of patients, and above all incompetent.
Admiral and scholar Pliny the Elder, who died trying to rescue desperate villagers fleeing from the rubble of Mount Vesuvius in AD 79, wrote in his Natural History that “on behalf of the Senate and Rome” medical experts I tried to raise my voice against 600 years of people and Rome. Their fees were high, their remedies questionable, and their altercations excruciating. “Doctors are taking advantage of our dangers, gaining experience, and using our deaths to conduct experiments,” he wrote. The inscription on several Roman-era tombstones read, “Doctors killed me.”
Medical treatments have advanced since then, and crushed snails, salted weasel meat and ashes from cremated dog heads are no longer used. But surgical instruments have changed surprisingly little. Scalpels, needles, tweezers, probes, hooks, chisels and drills are as much a part of today’s standard medical tool kit as they were during the Roman Empire.
Hungarian archaeologists recently unearthed a rare and mysterious set of such instruments. The items were found in a cemetery near Yasbeleni, about 55 miles from Budapest, and were contained in two wooden boxes, including forceps used to extract teeth. His three copper-alloy scalpels with removable steel blades inlaid with silver in the Roman style and a curette for mixing, measuring and applying the drug. There was also the remains of a man presumed to have been a Roman citizen.
The site, which appears to have been undisturbed for 2,000 years, also unearthed a pestle probably used to crush herbs, judging by the scratches and drug residue. The most unusual were bone levers for repositioning fractures and a handle that appeared to be a drill to pierce the skull and extract the impacted weapon from the bone.
This instrument, suitable for performing complex surgeries, offers a glimpse into the advanced medical practice of the first-century Romans and how far physicians traveled to provide healing. “In antiquity, these were relatively sophisticated tools made from the finest materials,” says Tivadar Vida, director of the Archaeological Institute and excavation leader at the Etvös Lorand University (ELTE) in Budapest. talk.
Two thousand years ago, Yasbereni and its surrounding counties were part of the Barbaricum, a vast region that stretched beyond the borders of the empire and served as a buffer against possible external threats. “How could someone so well-equipped die in the middle of Barbaricum, so far from Rome,” muses Leventu Sam, an ELTE researcher and member of the excavation team. rice field. “Was he there to treat a prominent local figure, or was he accompanying a Roman legion on a military campaign?”
Similar kits have been found in most parts of the empire. The largest and most diverse was discovered in 1989 in the ruins of his 3rd century doctor’s house in Rimini, Italy. However, the new find is said to be one of the most extensive collections of first-century Roman medical instruments known. Until now, the oldest was a heap of objects unearthed in 1997 at a burial ground in Colchester, England, thought to date from the very early days of the Roman occupation of Britain, around 70 AD. The most famous set was found in the so-called “Surgeon’s House” in Pompeii in the 1770s, but was buried under layers of ash and pumice during the eruption of Mount Vesuvius.
Colin Webster, professor of classics at the University of California, Davis, and president of the Society for Ancient Medicine and Pharmacology, said the findings demonstrate the porosity of cultural boundaries in the ancient world. “Medicine has long been one of the most active mediums of cross-cultural exchange,” he says. “And this finding certainly helps provide physical evidence for these dynamics.”
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The Romans had high expectations of medical professionals. The first-century Roman encyclopedia Aulus Cornelius Celsus, in his book On Medicine, or On Medicine, said: A strong, steady hand that never trembles, ready to use not only the right hand, but also the left hand. Provides a crisp and clear field of view. A surgeon should be unflinching and empathetic, but unfazed by a patient’s cries of pain. His greatest wish should be to make his patients better.
The majority of these unflinching Roman physicians were Greeks, or at least Greek speakers. Many are freemen or slaves, which may account for their low social status. A man buried in a Hungarian cemetery was 50 or 60 years old when he died. Researchers said it was unclear if he was actually a doctor, but he was probably not a local resident.
“At the time, studying medicine was only possible in the metropolitan centers of the empire,” said Dr Sam. Physicians were active frequently, and medical traditions varied from region to region. “Ancient medical writers like Galen advised that doctors should travel to learn about the diseases that are common in particular regions,” said Patti Baker, former head of the Department of Archeology and Classics at the University of Kent, UK. speaks.
Aspiring surgeons were encouraged to practice with eminent physicians, study in large libraries, and attend lectures in remote locations such as Athens and Alexandria, the center of anatomy studies. Medics frequently interned in military and gladiatorial schools to gain first-hand experience treating combat wounds, which may explain the presence of medical equipment in Barbaricum.
“There was no licensing board and no formal requirements for the profession,” said University of Washington archaeologist emeritus Lawrence Briquess. “Anyone can call himself a doctor.” As his method worked, more patients came. If not, he found another career.
Surgery included many operations performed at body orifices to treat polyps, inflamed tonsils, hemorrhoids, and fistulas. Besides trepanning, more radical surgeries included mastectomy, amputation, hernia reduction, and cataract couch surgery. “Surgery was a man’s domain,” said Dr. Briquez. “But there were certainly many female midwives, so who could say they knew nothing about surgery, especially regarding gynecology?”
Contrary to myth, Caesarean section did not enter into medical use until well after the birth of Julius Caesar in 100 BC. However, the Romans practiced fetotomy. This is an operation in which a knife is used to amputate an infant’s limbs when the baby becomes immobile during birth. canal. “The hook was used to pull it out of the birth canal after the limbs, torso and head were amputated,” Dr. Baker said. “It was a horrific procedure done to save the mother’s life.”
Surgery was often the last resort of any treatment. “Any of the tools found in Barbaricum’s tomb could have caused the death,” Dr. Baker said. “There was no knowledge of sterilization or germ theory. Patients were more likely to die of sepsis and shock.”
The tool-laden tomb was discovered last year at a site where remains from the Chalcolithic Age (4500-3500 BC) and the Avar Period (560-790 AD) were found on the ground. Subsequent magnetometric investigations identified the cemetery of the Avars, a nomadic people who were descendants of Attila’s Huns. Researchers uncovered a man’s grave among a row of tombs, revealing a skull, leg bones, and a chest with metal instruments at his feet. “The fact that the deceased was buried with his equipment is probably a sign of respect,” Dr Sam said.
The possibilities don’t end there. Dr. Baker said he often warned his students about the interpretation of ancient artifacts and asked them to consider alternative explanations. What she suggested was that the so-called doctor’s medical skills were so bad that her family and friends wanted to get rid of everything related to his poor medical skills, so the medical equipment was used by the doctor. What would happen if you were buried in “This was a joke,” Dr. Baker said. “But this was intended to make students think about how we can quickly jump to conclusions about objects found in burials.”
