Ancient Roman Medicine
Medicine has been around for a long time. Many procedures and tools used today came from ancient Rome. Perhaps we do not even realize the many medical ideas that arose from ancient civilizations. It is hard to believe the Romans of the first century B.C. had the knowledge we still use today in hospitals and every day illnesses. Most early Romans relied on a combination of magic and folklore to fight disease. Each home had its own special shrine and stock of herbal remedies (Magner 82). The Romans inherited folk medicine from the Etruscans and other aborigines of prehistoric Italy. The healing profession was in the hands of priests, magicians, and elders of the family (Gordon 619). At first it was just the herbs that Romans used to cure their illnesses. However, herbs alone cannot cure the many illnesses of the world. I am sure that many of the diseases we encounter today were around back then. Obviously they did not have the technology to provide the care we can today.
The Romans were still very smart on the issue of medicine. They even had a procedure of removing the fetus from the uterus. This procedure is known as abortion now. There was a medical procedure to remove a fetus from the womb by unnatural means. Highly unethical, as abortions are in many opinions, but nonetheless, they still practiced this procedure, which I will talk about later. Doctors were not always a part of the roman culture. Hygiene, however, was very important to the Romans before doctors were. The good habits are what kept the Romans healthy for many centuries. Romans are credited with the first pay toilet after they devised a system of public baths (Magner 86). They were very concerned with being clean. In the early years of Rome, personal hygiene and using herbs were about the only thing they relied on to keep away the illnesses. The herbs they used, are common spices used today for many cooking purposes. Cinnamon was believed to be valuable in...
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