Medicine in Rome was based around humors, which were believed were four forces in the body. A healthy body would have balanced humors.
The four humors were hot, cold, warm, and dry. The ideal balance had more hot and dry, while cold and wet were considered hazardous. Since men were considered superior, women were usually composed of cold and wet humors. Doctors were largely considered useless, since ones health was thought to be in direct correlation with their virtue.
Actual medicine and physicians was never very popular with many Romans, and the field was used mainly by Greeks. A good deal of Romans used folk remedies. Well known men, such as Pliny the Elder and Cato the Elder suggested that cabbage had a variety of uses in the medicine.
Every roman legion had at least one doctor attached to it, called the medicus. The medicus performed more surgeries than any other type of doctor, as fighting frequently wounded the soldiers.
Questions
How many humors are there?
What humors were considered to be better?
Name one of the two listed men who believed cabbage to be a near universal cure.
Where did the medicus work?
Why did the medicus perform so many surgeries?
Answers
There are four humours
Hot and dry humors
Cato the Elder or Pliny the Elder
A medicus would have worked on the battlefield
The medicus would have had to perform so many surgeries since the soldiers would be wounded in battle
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Works Cited
Aldrete, Gregory S. “Health and Medicine in Rome: Ancient World.” Daily Life through History, ABC-CLIO, 2017, dailylife.abc-clio.com/Search/Display/1455165. Accessed 30 Jan. 2017.
Credits:
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