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History of medicine
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450 BC to 300 AD: Greeks and Romans
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Greece was home to one of the earliest civilisations. Writing, mathematics, philosophy and the arts all flourished. The Greeks believed in many different gods but they also tried to understand their world in a much more scientific way.
Picture 6. Hippocrates – famed for the Hippocratic oath.
Hippocrates

Possibly the most famous name in medicine belongs to the Greek philosopher Hippocrates. He is seen as the father of modern medicine and gives his name to the Hippocratic oath that doctors take.

At this time, most people believed that diseases were sent as a punishment from the gods. Treatments were aimed at pleasing the gods so that the disease would be cured.

Hippocrates went against this conventional thinking and looked on the body as having a balance between four humors: blood, phlegm, black bile, and yellow bile. If a person was ill, it meant that there was an imbalance in their humors and so they would take a treatment to return the balance back to normal. This often included bleeding or induced vomiting. This radical approach took medicine out of the spiritual world and the four humors formed the basis of medical treatments well into medieval times.
Four humors

Roll over each humor to find out what it represented.

Blood
Phlegm
Black bile
Yellow bile
Picture 7. Galen. One of the first physicians to use dissections to understand how the body works.

Courtesy of the Blocker History of Medicine Collections, University of Texas, USA.
It is unusual to think of doctors working like this but in Greek times, the workings of the body remained very much undiscovered. We no longer believe in the four humors but many Greek practices still remain today. Greek physicians would talk to their patients to take careful case histories and find out as much from the patient as possible about their disorder. They would then examine them carefully to make a considered diagnosis of the problem before recommending a course of treatment. This method of examination and diagnosis is the basis of modern treatments.

Galen

The Romans conquered the Greeks and this brought a lot of their ideas about healthcare into use across the Roman empire. Galen was a Greek physician who emigrated to Rome and became the principal doctor for many of the professional gladiators. At that time, it was illegal to dissect human bodies and so he dissected animals to find out how their bodies worked. This knowledge helped Roman doctors to improve their techniques in surgery. They developed new instruments and much of their knowledge was gained treating casualties in the many wars of conquest that the Romans fought. Military settlements had hospitals to treat soldiers and army surgeons became proficient in removing arrows and they could stitch wounds. Records also show that they were able to treat bladder stones, hernias, and cataracts.
Picture 8. Aqueducts brought clean water for drinking and bathing.

Hygiene

The Romans realised that there was a link between dirt and disease. To improve public health, they built aqueducts to supply clean drinking water and sewers to remove wastes safely. Improved personal hygiene helped to reduce disease and Roman baths were places to socialise as well as stay clean.
Question 3

Imagine that you are a Greek doctor. For each of these people, decide of the humours are not in balance. Click in the appropriate box.

 Patient symptoms phlegm black bile yellow bile
Suffering from depression.
Really tired and slow all the time
Disruptive and always getting into fights.
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Hippocratic Oath Close
I swear by Apollo the physician, and Asclepius, and Hygieia and Panacea and all the gods and goddesses as my witnesses, that, according to my ability and judgement, I will keep this Oath and this contract:

To hold him who taught me this art equally dear to me as my parents, to be a partner in life with him, and to fulfill his needs when required; to look upon his offspring as equals to my own siblings, and to teach them this art, if they shall wish to learn it, without fee or contract; and that by the set rules, lectures, and every other mode of instruction, I will impart a knowledge of the art to my own sons, and those of my teachers, and to students bound by this contract and having sworn this Oath to the law of medicine, but to no others.

I will use those dietary regimens which will benefit my patients according to my greatest ability and judgement, and I will do no harm or injustice to them.

I will not give a lethal drug to anyone if I am asked, nor will I advise such a plan; and similarly I will not give a woman a pessary to cause an abortion.

In purity and according to divine law will I carry out my life and my art.

I will not use the knife, even upon those suffering from stones, but I will leave this to those who are trained in this craft.

Into whatever homes I go, I will enter them for the benefit of the sick, avoiding any voluntary act of impropriety or corruption, including the seduction of women or men, whether they are free men or slaves.

Whatever I see or hear in the lives of my patients, whether in connection with my professional practice or not, which ought not to be spoken of outside, I will keep secret, as considering all such things to be private.

So long as I maintain this Oath faithfully and without corruption, may it be granted to me to partake of life fully and the practice of my art, gaining the respect of all men for all time. However, should I transgress this Oath and violate it, may the opposite be my fate.
Translated by Michael North, U.S. National Library of Medicine, 2002