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They carried a tool kit containing arrow extractors, catheters, scalpels, and forceps. Most Roman surgeons got their practical experience on the battlefield. Share on Pinterest Romans on the battlefield used surgical tools to remove arrowheads and carry out other procedures. They contained many learning centers and places for research as well as a wealth of documented knowledge of medicine. On conquering Alexandria, the Romans found various libraries and universities that the Greeks had set up. People would come to this place in search of healing. It escaped but reappeared on the Tiber Island, where the Romans built a sanctuary for it. The Romans also took a sacred snake from the Greeks. When plagues occurred in Italy in 431 B.C.E, the Romans built a temple to the Greek god Apollo, who they believed had healing powers. Initially, they built shrines, but these expanded in time to include spas and thermal baths with doctors in attendance. The spiritual beliefs surrounding medicine in Greece were also common in Rome.īy the 3rd century B.C.E., the Romans had adopted a religious healing system called the cult of Aesculapius, which took its name from a Greek god of healing.
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However, unlike the Greeks, the Romans did not like the idea of dissecting corpses, so they did not discover much about human anatomy. The Romans allowed them to carry on their research and adopted many of their ideas. They continued researching Greek theories on disease and physical and mental disorders. Other scientists and doctors came from Greece, first as prisoners of war and later because they could earn more money in Rome. The Romans had their first introduction to Greek medicine when Archagathus of Sparta, a medical practitioner, arrived in Rome in 219 B.C.E. The original is now long gone, but this Renaissance-era replica may bear some resemblance to it. Share on Pinterest The temple of Aesculapius stood on the Tiber Island.
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