First Aid in the Roman Army

[M. Caecilius]

Thanks for all the replies and references.

The late-Roman examples are very interesting indeed. Do we know when these units were created - or whether they were similar to the earlier capsarii? The ST certainly looks like it could work for earlier times, considering the famous relaying system used by Roman armies (even if it is unclear how this was achieved whilst remaining in contact with the enemy, rather than profiting from rest periods). The bonus pay also sounds very interesting - I wonder whether, in earlier times, rescuing someone in this way may have been rewarded by the Corona Civica?

I don't know what kind of crossover there might be, but there may be some useful information in Pedanius Dioscorides's De Materia Medica. This book was largely herbal remedies and medicines, but since he was a legionary surgeon, it's possible there could have been practical application in first aid.

I've browsed through it, but have not found anything about this. It's certainly an interesting source, especially since it makes quite clear that the Romans did use anesthesia at times (confirmed by Pliny, who may, however, simply be copying Dioscorides here), if only with the mandragora. Nothing similar is mentioned for the more famous poppy tears, strangely enough.

Although not part of the Roman Army, steppe warriors must have known some basic first aid. Below is an illustration taken off an urn from a Scythian gravesite & thought it was worth posting regarding this topic.

One man is applying a bandage to his companion's leg while the other one seems to be doing a bit of dentistry . Don't know if these were battlefield injuries or the result of hunting accidents but some knowledge of setting bones & dealing with arrow wounds etc. would be necessary I think.

Nice! It's also interesting that someone in those times thought this important enough to represent in art. They certainly seem to be doing a better job of bone setting and bandaging than Cato's mystic formula for dislocations... even though the "dentist" seems a bit weird.

I'll have to check the OVDO article out. Thanks for the reference. Pain relief is another interesting topic, though the side-effects of opiates, not to mention the prices at which they were available at the time to normal soldiers (Pliny goes into some detail on how to tell if the opium was adulterated, so we may assume it was expensive enough). The idea that ancient medicine can still help us improve our own is another great one! The anti-inflammatory aspect is also something that bears investigating.

In connection with first aid, and the fact that vinegar was quite appreciated to clean wounds, perhaps some soldiers might also have taken the initiative to pour some posca over the wounds...

I found another interesting article, "Die Verwundetenfürsorge in Heeren des griechischen Altertums" by Ch. F. Salazar (Sudhoffs Archiv 82.1, 1998, pp.92-97), regarding Greek armies. It lists some public thanks put up by Greek cities for doctors who were brought in specifically during wars (not using their own medics) and a reference to the Anabasis of Xenophon (3.4.30), where it is unclear whether the doctors are locals, army doctors, or soldiers with basic knowledge. But also mentions than one author, Rufus of Ephesos (ca. 100 AD) who recommends that soldiers leave arrows in the wound until a specialist comes to remove them. Only the latter is a Roman source, but it's quite interesting, since it would mean that some soldiers tried to remove arrows (which had hit their friends, or themselves?), but also because it's something that First Aid courses teach you today. Don't remove anything from wounds; that's the doctor's job. Just make sure the victims survives long enough to see a doctor...

There's also an article y A. Roste ("Verwundet und Versorgt - Indizien für Sanitätswesen auf dem Schlachtfeld von Kalkriese", XB16, Akten der 16. Internationalen Roman Military Equipment Conference (ROMEC), pp. 99-106) who argues that the finds of full sets of hand bones (and others still in the right combination) amongst the mass graves of what has been interpreted as Germanicus' burial of the dead of the Varrian disaster some years before, indicates that these body parts were bandaged with materials strong enough not to decay while the dead lay unburied for years. Most other bones are far less grouped. Still, whether this indicates First Aid or simply having wounded along whilst marching through the transrhenane landscape into a Germanic ambush is not clear.