First Aid in the Roman Army

[richard robinson]

of related interest:
Transdermal opioid patches for pain treatment in ancient Greece.
Harrison AP, Hansen SH, Bartels EM.
Source
Department of Animal and Veterinary Basic Sciences (IBHV), Faculty of Health Sciences, Copenhagen University, Copenhagen, Denmark. [email protected]
Abstract
Pain treatment in ancient Greece, and through the middle ages in Europe, was to a great extent based on the expertise of the Greek physician Galen (c. 129-200 A.D.). Galen makes particular reference to "Olympic Victor's Dark Ointment" (OVDO), which is listed with a number of collyria. Galen states that OVDO can be useful for treating extreme pain and swellings, forming one of the best eye salves. Olympic Victor's Dark Ointment, an opium-based treatment, forms a "patch" when applied externally as an ointment, because it quickly dries to cover a localized region but still retains its elastic properties. This study has recreated OVDO and applied the ointment to abdominal mouse skin, in vitro. To assess the efficacy of OVDO, the transdermal transfer of morphine was measured when given as OVDO and compared to morphine administered in the form of a solution of Opium + PBS (ringer). Olympic Victor's Dark Ointment showed a transdermal transfer of morphine over time comparable to 25% of the most efficient modern transdermal opioid patches, while hardly any morphine was able to penetrate the skin when applied mixed in PBS. We conclude that OVDO is very efficient in its composition and may carry some forgotten abilities in terms of drug delivery, which could be transferred to modern medicine. Indeed, this may lead to a better choice of morphine use and controlled management in individual patient cases, taking both pain relief and anti-inflammatory aspects into account.
© 2012 The Authors. Pain Practice © 2012 World Institute of Pain.
further detail here http://culturemedicine.com/?p=109 and http://rbedrosian.com/Gardens/Scarboroug...g_Lore.pdf
regards
Richard

[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.

[Caratacus]

Someone mentioned the use of honey to sterilise wounds. When you think about it, this is quite logical. Bacteria cannot survive in high concentrations of dissolved solutes. In honey this would be sugar (although salt would work just as well). Do we not preserve fruits by boiling them in sugar, when jam is made? We also preserve vegetables or meat in salt. I think I read somewhere that this is due to the phenomenon of osmosis - as the solution outside the cell is much stronger than that inside the cell membrane, so water passes from inside the cell to the outside, which results in the bacterium shrivelling up and dying. Well, that's my story anyway. It's the sort of simple observation that people could have made, even if they don't know about the reason behind why it works.

Mike Thomas
(Caratacus)