Roman Medicine

Paper Summary:

This paper considers whether or not one can say that any kind of profession existed in the Roman world concerned with medicine. Areas considered are the social and legal status of the medicus, patient perceptions and training, as well as the philosophical basis of medicine and how these interacted with traditional Roman society.

From the Paper:

"One's conclusions as to what extent there was a Roman medical profession will vary greatly depending on which geographical half of the empire is studied. As early as the 1720's historians have observed a significant distinction between medicine in the Greek east and medicine in the Latin west. Conyers Middleton, responding to a publication by Richard Mead in which it was claimed that doctors in ancient Rome were educated men who held high social status, claimed that 'whatever the situation in Greek Smyrna, the Doctor in Rome and Italy was often a slave or ex-slave.' "

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