Roman medicine in the legions

[theelichtje]

Hi,

I'm looking for information about Roman 'medics',
for example:
what value did the medicii have,
how did they work,
what kind of instruments,
the difference between urban and medicine in the army,
how did it evoluate and stuff.

I would be highly grateful because this will be used in my final paper for school

[sonic]

Hi,

I'm looking for information about Roman 'medics',
for example:
what value did the medicii have,
how did they work,
what kind of instruments,
the difference between urban and medicine in the army,
how did it evoluate and stuff.

I would be highly grateful because this will be used in my final paper for school

Have a look at Procopius' VI. ii. 13-27 for the remarkable accounts of the treatment of three injuries during the Gothic Wars in Italy.

[Martin Moser]

Hi,

the most recent post on this was this one I think.

There's more on medicine here on RAT, why not try and use the search? ;-) )

[D B Campbell]

I'm looking for information about Roman 'medics',

You need to get a hold of [amazon]Service in the Roman Army[/amazon] by Roy W. Davies (ed. D. Breeze & V. Maxfield, 1989) -- although it seems to command silly prices these days.

what value did the medicii have

By "value", do you mean "ranking"? Some appear to have had the standing of centurions (which was perhaps reflected in their pay and status rather than any military responsibility), but it's difficult to gauge what status the other medici had. Orderlies and the like were just ordinary joes who were given a job to do in return for not having to clean the latrines! :wink:

how did they work,

Imagine a Napoleonic hospital tent!

what kind of instruments,

Medical instruments have turned up at several military sites, notably the fortress at Neuss and the forts at Saalburg and Zugmantel. Some of the instruments look pretty scary.

the difference between urban and medicine in the army,

There's a feeling that medici with military experience were more highly valued, because they had wider practical experience. But I imagine there were doctors in the big cities who would charge a fee for their services.

Hope some of that helps.

(Oops -- just noticed Martin was posting at the same time.)