The third edition of this magisterial account of medicine in the Greek and Roman worlds, written by the foremost expert on the subject, has been updated to incorporate the many new discoveries made in the field over the past decade.
This revised volume includes discussions of several new or forgotten works by Galen and his contemporaries, as well as of new archaeological material. RNA analysis has expanded our understanding of disease in the ancient world; the book explores the consequences of this for sufferers, for example in creating disability. Nutton also expands upon the treatment of pre-Galenic medicine in Greece and Rome. In addition, subtitles and a chronology will make for easier student consultation, and the bibliography is substantially revised and updated, providing avenues for future student research.
This third edition of Ancient Medicine will remain the definitive textbook on the subject for students of medicine in the classical world, and the history of medicine and science more broadly, with much to interest scholars in the field as well.
1 Sources and scope; 2 Patterns of disease; 3 Before Hippocrates; 4 Hippocrates, the Hippocratic Corpus and the defining of medicine; 5 `Hippocratic` theories; 6 `Hippocratic` practices; 7 Religion and medicine in fifth- and fourth-century Greece; 8 From Plato to Praxagoras; 9 Alexandria, anatomy and experimentation; 10 Hellenistic medicine; 11 Rome and the transplantation of Greek medicine; 12 The consequences of empire: pharmacology, surgery and the Roman army; 13 The rise of Methodism; 14 Humoral alternatives; 15 The life and career of Galen; 16 Galenic medicine; 17 All sorts and conditions of (mainly) men; 18 Medicine and the religions of the Roman Empire; 19 Medicine in the Later Roman Empire; 20 Conclusion; Appendix 1 Editions and Translations of Ancient Medical Text; Appendix 2 Chronological Table.
Biography
Vivian Nutton, FBA, is Professor Emeritus of the History of Medicine at University College London. He has published extensively on all aspects of medicine before the seventeenth century. His most recent books include Galen: A Thinking Doctor in Imperial Rome (Routledge, 2020) and Renaissance Medicine (Routledge, 2022).
