They’re known for their roads, military strategy and inventing the book
– but what advice might our Roman forebears issue on the subject of
staying healthy? Dr Nick Summerton shares six Roman medicine practices…
1
Take responsibility
The Romans attached great importance to preserving health
The second-century physician Galen emphasised that it was a person’s
responsibility to take care of their bodies, writing that people must
“take it upon [them]selves to preserve health” by following a particular
lifestyle (or `hygiene`). He highlighted the importance of taking fresh
air and getting enough sleep, in addition to carefully considering
diet, exercise and hydration. Galen certainly led by example, writing:
“After I reached the age of twenty-eight, having persuaded myself that
there is an art of hygiene, I followed its precepts for the rest of my
life and was never sick with any disease apart from the occasional
fever.”
It was seen as extremely important to tailor the ‘hygienic
approach’ to individuals, ensuring that a person was not under-or
over-emphasising any specific element as part of their health plan. As
Galen explained: “For just as it is impossible for cobblers to use one
last for all people, so too it is impossible for doctors to use one plan
of life that is beneficial to all. Because of this, then, they say it
is most healthy for some to exercise sufficiently every day, whereas for
others, there is nothing to prevent them passing their lives wholly in
idleness. Also, for some it seems to be most healthy to bathe, whereas
for others it does not.”
What were the four humours?
The Romans believed that all matter within the universe – including
human bodies – was made from four elemental substances (fire, air, water
and earth) and four elemental qualities associated with them (hot,
cold, wet and dry). It was thought that the human body contained four
corresponding humours – blood (hot and wet); yellow bile (hot and dry);
black bile (cold and dry); and phlegm (cold and wet). These four humours
needed to be in the correct amounts and strengths for a body to be
healthy. The proper blending and balance of the four humours was known
as ‘eukrasia’ – whereas imbalance of humours – or `dyskrasia` – led to
disease. Illness occurred when there was an imbalance of the four
humours in the body. ‘Hygiene’ (which was used in a slightly different
sense to its definition today) was about restoring the normal
equilibrium of humours and qualities – thereby preventing disease and
preserving health.
2
Eat a healthy diet
Food and fresh air were key to good health
Much like today, a healthy diet was considered part of a balanced
health plan. Recent evidence based on an examination of material from
several Roman sewers has shed some light on the foodstuffs being
consumed by the average Roman. By modern standards, the diet of the
population in Herculaneum at the time of the eruption of Vesuvius
was extremely healthy and mineral rich, containing high levels of
seafood and vegetable protein. (In fact, the residents of Herculaneum
probably ate considerably more fish than are consumed by the area’s
population today!)
Gardens were also popular with the Romans and, aside from
cultivating plants and vegetables, had a much broader role in enhancing
wellbeing. In one of his letters, Pliny the Younger described walks
along tree-lined pathways and avenues edged by box hedges at his villa
in Tuscany. He also commented on the wholesome air with splendid views,
cool breezes and sweet aromas.
3
Choose your doctor carefully
The Romans were wary of placing too much trust in physicians
The Roman historian Pliny the Elder cautioned his fellow citizens
about trusting the medical profession – especially the Greeks:
“Physicians acquire their knowledge from our dangers, making experiments
at the cost of our lives. Only a physician can commit homicide with
complete impunity.”
Despite numerous references to ‘physicians’ across the Roman empire,
it is often unclear what led to an individual acquiring the title
‘doctor’. There were no examinations, no diplomas, no degrees and no
professional licensing procedures in the Roman world; a doctor was
simply an individual who claimed the title and carried out treatment for
some type of remuneration.
Also, for the Romans, the concept of having a personal professional
physician was an anathema. It was at odds with the Roman values of
self-sufficiency and looking after your own. On Roman farms the head of
the household (pater familias) assumed the role of chief healer
with responsibility for the health of his family and any estate
workers. As the scholar and agriculturalist Varro explained: “There are
two divisions […] in the treatment of human beings: in the one case the
physician should be called in, while in the other even an attentive
herdsman is competent to give the treatment.”
An array of ancient Roman surgical instruments at the British Museum, c1910. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
The exact circumstances when the advice of a physician might be
sought are somewhat vague. However one of the writing tablets discovered
at Vindolanda, a Roman auxiliary fort just south of Hadrian’s Wall,
suggests that the women of military families were expected to deal with
the day-to-day health problems that arose in their households. They kept
a selection of medicines on hand for this purpose. Paterna, the wife of
the garrison prefect at Vindolanda, supplied medicine to her sister,
Lepidina: “I shall supply you with two remedies”, she wrote in a letter
to her – one of which was for fever.
Unfortunately, for the Roman patient, there were no lists of approved
practitioners that could be checked for those wishing to enlist the
help of a physician. To get an insight into a doctor’s abilities (and
perhaps for entertainment, too), it was not unusual to attend public
displays of anatomical skills or to watch medical competitions. In
addition, Roman medicine was often practised in public with many folk
clustering around the bed of a sick individual, critically scrutinising
the care being proffered. Galen outlined how strangers even joined in on
house visits: “Boethus seized me and took me along home to see the boy.
People who met us in the street, of whom you were one, also came.”
4
Look after your eyes
Eye problems were a particular concern for Romans
To the Romans the eyes were a privileged body part, and the
transition point between the soul and the outside world. Several
representations of eyes – in gold, bronze and plaster – have been found
at Wroxeter in Shropshire. Such religious votive objects were left in
anticipation of a cure or as an offering of gratitude.
Inadequate hygiene and dusty roads would have contributed to the
large numbers of individuals with eye problems. A military strength
report of the First Cohort of Tungrians from Vindolanda specifically
categorises the 31 soldiers signed off as unfit into three distinct
groups: aegri (sick – 15); volnerati (wounded – 6); and lippientes (eye troubles – 10).
Two dozen oculist (or collyrium) stamps have been discovered
in Britain – including two at Wroxeter. These small green stones were
used for impressing the name of the maker as well as the nature and
purpose of an eye treatment onto a hardened block of medication (collyrium).
The stamps usually consist of small thin square blocks, generally with
an inscription on each of the four edges. In a few instances the stone
is oblong with two inscribed sides and in one from Wroxeter, it is
circular. The letters are cut in intaglio form and written from right to
left so that when stamped on the collyrium they make an impression that
reads from left to right.
“Eye problems were a particular concern for Romans,” writes Nick
Summerton. This relief shows a Roman physician inspecting the eye of a
woman. (Photo by CM Dixon/Heritage Images/Getty Images)
In his De Medicina, the first-century writer Celsus devoted a whole chapter to eye care and provided a very clear description of cataract surgery:
“He is to be seated opposite the surgeon in a light room, facing
the light, while the surgeon sits on a slightly higher seat; the
assistant from behind holds the head so that the patient does not move:
for vision can be destroyed permanently by a slight movement…
“Thereupon a needle is to be taken pointed enough to penetrate,
yet not too fine, and this is to be inserted straight through the two
outer tunics at a spot intermediate between the pupil of the eye and the
angle adjacent to the temple, away from the middle of the cataract, in
such a way that no vein is wounded.
“The needle should not be, however, entered timidly… When the
[correct] spot is reached, the needle is to be sloped…..and should
gently rotate there and little by little guide it [ie, the lens with the
cataract] below the region of the pupil.”
Eye couching needles to undertake the procedure have been found at Carlisle and Piddington Roman Villa, Northamptonshire.
5
Secure expert wound care
The survival rate of Roman soldiers after battle was better than that of their opponents
Slashing and cutting wounds from long swords would have been
particularly common injuries for Roman soldiers battling across Britain.
Other weapons used by the local tribes included spears, knives, axes,
stone sling shot and, less commonly, arrows. The consequences for some
unfortunate Roman soldiers were fractures, head and eye injuries – in
addition to penetrating abdominal or chest wounds.
All cuts and abrasions needed cleaning and dressing: some others
required stitching too. Occasionally, more complicated surgery was
necessary to remove bone fragments, stop bleeding or to extract spear
points.
Traumatic wounds were at particular risk of getting infected and
honey dressings were frequently used by the Romans. The military
physician Dioscorides wrote that “honey is cleansing, opens pores, and
draws out fluids. Boiled and applied it heals flesh that stands
separated”.
First aid is given to a Roman soldier in this frieze. (Photo by SSPL/Getty Images)
A lot of basic wound care would have been provided by fellow soldiers, some of whom – the capsarii – were trained first aiders. The capsarii were under the control of a doctor with the rank of a centurion, such as Anicius Ingenuus, medicus ordinarius of the first cohort of Tungrians from Housesteads, on Hadrian’s Wall.
The repair of a simple flesh wound was the most performed surgical
procedure undertaken by individuals such as Anicius Ingenuus. Basic
surgical kits consisting of probes, hooks, forceps, needles, cautery
tools and scalpels were readily available, and many items have been
discovered in excavations at Roman sites across Britain.
Stitching cuts with a needle and thread was not dissimilar to the
approach used today, but if there were any concerns about infection or
inflammation the fibulae technique was often preferred. This entailed
passing copper-alloy skewers through the wound and then looping threads
around them in a figure-of-eight fashion. The Roman medical writer and
thinker Celsus wrote that “fibulae leave the wound wider open […] in
order that there may be an outlet for any humour collecting within”.
6
Focus on overall wellbeing
To the Romans, physical and mental health were closely linked
Looking after the psyche – or the soul – was viewed as
integral to the care of the body and it was a key element of keeping in
shape alongside exercise, fresh air, sleep and diet.
Many Romans citizens sought a philosophy of life and one approach
popularised by the likes of the emperor Marcus Aurelius was Stoicism.
The overriding aim was to replace negative emotions such as grief, anger
and anxiety with positive emotions such as joy.
Other individuals, such as the emperor Caracalla, frequented healing
sanctuaries. These focused on providing holistic care (including
psychological wellbeing) by offering a broad range of treatments, as
well as enlisting the assistance of healing deities including
Aesculapius.
Across Britain several inscriptions to Aesculapius have been
discovered in addition to two healing sanctuaries at Lydney, in
Gloucestershire, and Bath, dedicated to Nodens and Sulis Minerva
respectively. The site at Lydney has been comprehensively excavated
revealing a temple, a guest house, a well-equipped suite of baths and a
long narrow building containing many cubicles (abaton).
The abaton was where visitors would have been taken to experience
ritual temple sleep and dream healing – termed incubation. During this
process priests circulated among the sleepers with serpents or dogs, the
curative dreams being augmented by licks from the animals.
At Lydney numerous representations of sacred Irish wolfhounds
have been found, in addition to a mosaic decorated with fish and sea
monsters bearing the inscription: D M N T FLAVIUS SENILIS PR REL EX STIPIBUS POSSUIT O[PITU]LANTE VICTORINO INTERP[RE]TIANTE
(translated as “for the god Mars Nodens, Titus Flavius Senilis,
superintendent of the cult, from the offerings had this laid;
Victorinus, the interpreter (of dreams), gave his assistance”).
Individuals visiting healing sites would
have been subjected to a raft of psychological interventions designed to
restore their tranquillity: group therapy, talking therapy, various
arts therapies, dream healing; all combined with rest and relaxation.
There was also an emphasis on locotherapy – the psychological benefits
of locomotion as well as being in a specific place (location). There is
evidence for eye care and surgery being undertaken at Lydney too.
Water was also an extremely important element of many sanctuaries and
was drunk for its healing properties as well as being used for bathing,
hydrotherapy and ritual cleansing. Some sites, such as Bath, were
associated with hot springs or waters with specific mineral
constituents. At Lydney the iron-rich nature of the waters might have
encouraged individuals suffering from anaemia to visit, based on the
finding of a votive hand exhibiting koilonychia (spoon-shaped nails), a sign of iron-deficiency.
Nick Summerton is a medical doctor with a longstanding interest in Roman Britain. His fifth book Greco-Roman Medicine and What It Can Teach Us Today will be published later this year by Pen and Sword Books. You can find him on Twitter @YorkshireGP
