Ancient Medicine

by Vivian Nutton

Available for the first time in paperback, this first large-scale, sole-authored history of ancient medicine for almost 100 years uses both archaeological and written evidence to survey the development of medical ideas from early Greece to late Antiquity. Vivian Nutton pays particular attention to the life and work of doctors in the communities, links between medicine and magic, and examines the different approaches to medicine across the ancient world. With many texts made accessible for the first time, and providing new evidence, this broad exploration challenges usual perspectives, and proves an invaluable resource for students of both classics and the history of medicine.

Genres: History, Ancient History, Nonfiction, Science

504 pages, Hardcover

First published March 1, 2004

Reviews

[Alan]

I felt too daunted to read this for years, and now I regret not committing to it sooner. To have condensed a millennium of history and hundreds of Greek and Latin writers into 324 pages of nuanced discussion and usually engaging prose.... it is a mind-boggling achievement. I’d highly recommend this to anyone interested in moving beyond the standard narrative of Western medicine or who wants to understand the internal coherence of alternative approaches to the body in sickness and health. And certainly to anyone at all interested in medieval Arab medicine. The book is organized chronologically and each chapter builds on the preceding ones, so it is hard to skim or to start in the middle.

[Ronan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Being an academic book, it is evidently a commitment to read. It covers a wide time period under the label "ancient" and many aspects not otherwise given in this level of detail. A good overview of the topic and an interesting read on its own, the page count is far less daunting as it seems.

It took a lot of my time, but I don't regret it. It's clear why Nutton is brought in as the ancient medicine expert in other works just from reading this. Also includes good maps, photos of objects and illustrations to keep the reader from montony.

[Aithne · Rating 3 out of 5]

'History of Ancient Medicine' would be a more fitting title. I learned a lot about the development of medical thought in ancient Greece and Rome, about different 'schools' and their most famous representatives, and for sure now I know way more about the topic than I did before (which was pretty much nothing, I'm afraid - seriously, I didn't even know who Galen was 🙈), even if I probably managed to retain only some 10% of all the information... But as for practical questions - i.e. 'what would be recommended to a Roman suffering from X?' - I'm just as dumb as before*.

One example which stuck with me was Dioscorides' herbal. 700 plants! Yet not a single one of them was named. One could argue, of course, that if I'm curious about the details, I can look for them in the books listed in the bibliography - the book is meticulously footnoted, the sources are rich, I have zero complaints here; it's clear that the author put lots of effort and expertise into this work and in general, for what it is, the book does its job very well. It's just that I'd hoped it'd be something different. That I wouldn't have to browse the bibliography and pick up yet another book on this topic to get to the gist of what I'm after. That, of course, is not the author's fault. But it made reading this book much less exciting than I'd originally anticipated.

As a side note, this book also cured me of any illusions that I may have a moderately decent grasp of English. Turns out my language skills disappear the moment medal topics are being discussed. That probably didn't help ;)

* Alright, almost. I'm probably going to somehow utilise the concept of healing migraines with electric eels. It's too good to pass on it.

[Nelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fascinating historical look at medicine. Heavy going at times, but extremely interesting. A must read for those interested in history, medicine, or human progress.