Hippocrates Hippocratic Medicine c 450 370

Hippocrates

Hippocratic Medicine c. 450 – 370 BCE Hippocratic Corpus – 60 or so texts attributed to him – Range of subjects – He didn’t write all of them

– Written over ~70 years by several individuals – Collected in Alexandria, Egypt around 420 – 350 BCE Hippocrates more of a legend – “malleable cultural artifact”

Corpus does provide insights into Greek medicine Hippocratic Oath – Insights into two aspects of Hippocratic medicine Social context Medical science

Social context – Plurality of healers – Social status

Scientific basis – Not anatomical – Highly speculative Based on humoural theory

Disease In an imbalance community: epidemic – Environmental In humans – internal

Imbalance humours related to one of the 4 – Blood – Phlegm – Yellow bile – Black bile

Social Context 4 th century BCE Alexander empire Rise the Great & the Greek of philosophy, reason, science

Plato Socrates Aristotle Linkages between 4 elements theory & four humours theory

Plato, Aristotle & The Body Plato (427 -347 BCE) Brain: Reason Heart: Spirit Liver: Appetite Based on speculation Aristotle (384 -322 BCE) Brain: giant cooling system Heart: seat of all vital functions 2 types of blood vessels Based on dissection of animals

Alexander the Great (d. 323 BCE) & His Empire

Hippocratic Medicine Hippocratic medicine did not believe that it was important to know about anatomy Structure had little to do with theories of health & illness Physiology more important

Herophilus (ca. 330– 260 BCE) Delineation of nerves Realization they were connected to the brain Brain responsible for transmission of information to the body Brain replaced heart as centre of body functioning

Distinguished between arteries & veins Arteries originated in heart Distributed blood and pneuma

Veins arose from liver Distributed nutrients to the body

Responding to anatomical findings on dissection – Liver (large organ) – Connected to heart by inferior vena cava – Heart (large organ) – Aorta leaves heart, all other arteries traceable to it – Brain (large organ) – All nerves traceable to it

Continuities from Plato Brain: Reason Heart: Spirit Liver: Appetite Herophilus Brain: Body Reg. Heart: Pneuma Liver: Nutrition

Erasistratus (ca. 330 -255 BCE) Arteries blood only contained pneuma; no

Learned Medicine in the Roman Empire Greek empire fragmented after death of Alexander Coincided with Rome’s rise to power First Greek physicians arrived in Rome around 219 BCE Athens sacked by Roman Army around 80 BCE

Roman Empire

Roman Attitudes to Greek Medicine Ambivalence Roman culture more pragmatic Some believed doctors were harmful Low social status of the physician Roman citizenship

Roman Contributions to Public Health Acquaducts Sewage systems Public baths Architectural knowledge re: healthy locations Development of health care institutions (valetudinaria)