Outlines of Greek and Roman Medicine (c. 1914) - James Sands Elliott

Before the physician's consulting room, there were sacred serpents, healing temples, whispered charms and remedies gathered beneath the moon.

First published in 1914, Outlines of Greek and Roman Medicine by James Sands Elliott is a captivating journey through the origins of Western medical thought—from the gods and healing sanctuaries of ancient Greece to the physicians, public baths and extraordinary medical customs of Rome.

Here, Asklepios presides over temples where the sick sought answers in dreams; Hippocrates transforms the study of illness; and Galen leaves an influence that echoes across centuries. Along the way, Elliott uncovers a world of sacred snakes, curious amulets, spoken incantations, ancient surgery, botanical treatments and the occasionally astonishing personalities who practised the healing arts.

Within these pages

• Gods, serpents and healing dreams: Apollo, Asklepios, Hygeia and the ritual life of ancient sanctuaries.
• The first physicians: Hippocrates, Aristotle, the Alexandrian schools, Celsus, Dioscorides and Galen.
• Medicine and magic: household cures, charms, amulets, astrology and the enduring influence of superstition.
• The stranger side of Roman medicine: notorious practitioners, imperial patients and extraordinary prescriptions.
• Ancient public health: baths, aqueducts, sewers, sanitation and the emergence of hospitals.
• Illustrations: historical depictions of healing deities and reconstructed Greek temples.

Written with the curiosity of a physician looking backwards through the centuries, this richly absorbing volume reveals that the history of medicine is not merely a story of scientific progress. It is also a story of belief, ritual, observation, ingenuity and the perennial human desire to be healed.

Book details

Author: James Sands Elliott, M.D.
Original publication: 1914
Original publisher: William Wood and Company, New York
Format: Downloadable PDF facsimile
Length: 191 scanned PDF pages, including preliminary matter and illustrations
Language: English
Collection: Hearthwise Historical Library