Book cover of Doctors and Diseases in the Roman Empire

Book description

Topics include the effects of disease and medicine on people at different levels of Roman society, the role of the physician in the Roman army, contraception, drugs, surgery, and magic. Jackson (curator, Department of Pre-historic and Romano-British antiquities, British Museum) adds evidence from excavations, sculptures, reliefs, vases, and wall-paintings to…

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Why read it?

1 author picked Doctors and Diseases in the Roman Empire as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

A wonderful account of the sometimes counterintuitive world of Roman medicine. They could treat cataracts, for instance, but couldn’t recognize appendicitis because they weren’t allowed to conduct autopsies. The chapters on Roman army medicine are excellent. There is also an excellent chapter on women’s diseases, birth and contraception.

From Amanda's list on life in the Roman Empire.

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