The 1500activeanatomicalanimalasklepionblood lettingbookschangesclinicaldissectiondownEgyptEmperorEmpirefatherfeverFourgladiatorGreekhateHippocraticmedicinemistakesnatureoneoppositesoriginalPaterpepperpigsplausiblePlinypublicrichRomanRomanssocietysoultheoryVesaliusweakwoolwound did not come up with many new ideas in 1500activeanatomicalanimalasklepionblood lettingbookschangesclinicaldissectiondownEgyptEmperorEmpirefatherfeverFourgladiatorGreekhateHippocraticmedicinemistakesnatureoneoppositesoriginalPaterpepperpigsplausiblePlinypublicrichRomanRomanssocietysoultheoryVesaliusweakwoolwound apart from the progress with 1500activeanatomicalanimalasklepionblood lettingbookschangesclinicaldissectiondownEgyptEmperorEmpirefatherfeverFourgladiatorGreekhateHippocraticmedicinemistakesnatureoneoppositesoriginalPaterpepperpigsplausiblePlinypublicrichRomanRomanssocietysoultheoryVesaliusweakwoolwound[?] health. They used many Greek ideas as they were not really 1500activeanatomicalanimalasklepionblood lettingbookschangesclinicaldissectiondownEgyptEmperorEmpirefatherfeverFourgladiatorGreekhateHippocraticmedicinemistakesnatureoneoppositesoriginalPaterpepperpigsplausiblePlinypublicrichRomanRomanssocietysoultheoryVesaliusweakwoolwound thinkers and were better with practical projects. They had a typical love-1500activeanatomicalanimalasklepionblood lettingbookschangesclinicaldissectiondownEgyptEmperorEmpirefatherfeverFourgladiatorGreekhateHippocraticmedicinemistakesnatureoneoppositesoriginalPaterpepperpigsplausiblePlinypublicrichRomanRomanssocietysoultheoryVesaliusweakwoolwound relationship with Greeks as although they used their ideas and their doctors they also looked 1500activeanatomicalanimalasklepionblood lettingbookschangesclinicaldissectiondownEgyptEmperorEmpirefatherfeverFourgladiatorGreekhateHippocraticmedicinemistakesnatureoneoppositesoriginalPaterpepperpigsplausiblePlinypublicrichRomanRomanssocietysoultheoryVesaliusweakwoolwound[?] on them. This was because they had conquered their empire and were not seen as tough enough. The Romans used 1500activeanatomicalanimalasklepionblood lettingbookschangesclinicaldissectiondownEgyptEmperorEmpirefatherfeverFourgladiatorGreekhateHippocraticmedicinemistakesnatureoneoppositesoriginalPaterpepperpigsplausiblePlinypublicrichRomanRomanssocietysoultheoryVesaliusweakwoolwound doctors because they had some respect for their ideas and had some 1500activeanatomicalanimalasklepionblood lettingbookschangesclinicaldissectiondownEgyptEmperorEmpirefatherfeverFourgladiatorGreekhateHippocraticmedicinemistakesnatureoneoppositesoriginalPaterpepperpigsplausiblePlinypublicrichRomanRomanssocietysoultheoryVesaliusweakwoolwound explanation for illnesses. However they did not fully trust them and many remained slaves.

Before the Romans used Greek doctors they used the idea that families look after their medical problems with the 1500activeanatomicalanimalasklepionblood lettingbookschangesclinicaldissectiondownEgyptEmperorEmpirefatherfeverFourgladiatorGreekhateHippocraticmedicinemistakesnatureoneoppositesoriginalPaterpepperpigsplausiblePlinypublicrichRomanRomanssocietysoultheoryVesaliusweakwoolwound at the head of this treatment. (1500activeanatomicalanimalasklepionblood lettingbookschangesclinicaldissectiondownEgyptEmperorEmpirefatherfeverFourgladiatorGreekhateHippocraticmedicinemistakesnatureoneoppositesoriginalPaterpepperpigsplausiblePlinypublicrichRomanRomanssocietysoultheoryVesaliusweakwoolwound familias). Medicine was very simple such substance like 1500activeanatomicalanimalasklepionblood lettingbookschangesclinicaldissectiondownEgyptEmperorEmpirefatherfeverFourgladiatorGreekhateHippocraticmedicinemistakesnatureoneoppositesoriginalPaterpepperpigsplausiblePlinypublicrichRomanRomanssocietysoultheoryVesaliusweakwoolwound[?], cabbage, herbs and 1500activeanatomicalanimalasklepionblood lettingbookschangesclinicaldissectiondownEgyptEmperorEmpirefatherfeverFourgladiatorGreekhateHippocraticmedicinemistakesnatureoneoppositesoriginalPaterpepperpigsplausiblePlinypublicrichRomanRomanssocietysoultheoryVesaliusweakwoolwound fat.

From about 200BC full time Greek doctors appeared in parts of the Roman 1500activeanatomicalanimalasklepionblood lettingbookschangesclinicaldissectiondownEgyptEmperorEmpirefatherfeverFourgladiatorGreekhateHippocraticmedicinemistakesnatureoneoppositesoriginalPaterpepperpigsplausiblePlinypublicrichRomanRomanssocietysoultheoryVesaliusweakwoolwound. They were greeted with hostility at first as Romans like 1500activeanatomicalanimalasklepionblood lettingbookschangesclinicaldissectiondownEgyptEmperorEmpirefatherfeverFourgladiatorGreekhateHippocraticmedicinemistakesnatureoneoppositesoriginalPaterpepperpigsplausiblePlinypublicrichRomanRomanssocietysoultheoryVesaliusweakwoolwound said “any man can call himself a doctor…they risk our lives while they are earning…there is no penalty for a doctor for killing a man”.
Eventually Greek doctors became an accepted part of 1500activeanatomicalanimalasklepionblood lettingbookschangesclinicaldissectiondownEgyptEmperorEmpirefatherfeverFourgladiatorGreekhateHippocraticmedicinemistakesnatureoneoppositesoriginalPaterpepperpigsplausiblePlinypublicrichRomanRomanssocietysoultheoryVesaliusweakwoolwound . They were followers of the 1500activeanatomicalanimalasklepionblood lettingbookschangesclinicaldissectiondownEgyptEmperorEmpirefatherfeverFourgladiatorGreekhateHippocraticmedicinemistakesnatureoneoppositesoriginalPaterpepperpigsplausiblePlinypublicrichRomanRomanssocietysoultheoryVesaliusweakwoolwound tradition and gave advice based on belief in the 1500activeanatomicalanimalasklepionblood lettingbookschangesclinicaldissectiondownEgyptEmperorEmpirefatherfeverFourgladiatorGreekhateHippocraticmedicinemistakesnatureoneoppositesoriginalPaterpepperpigsplausiblePlinypublicrichRomanRomanssocietysoultheoryVesaliusweakwoolwound Humours. Claudius Galen is considered the most important doctor of this time.

However the Romans also used the Greek ideas of religion and adopted the cult of Asklepios building many temples to the god at this time.

Why was Galen important?

Galen was born in Pergamum in approximately 129 AD. He came from a 1500activeanatomicalanimalasklepionblood lettingbookschangesclinicaldissectiondownEgyptEmperorEmpirefatherfeverFourgladiatorGreekhateHippocraticmedicinemistakesnatureoneoppositesoriginalPaterpepperpigsplausiblePlinypublicrichRomanRomanssocietysoultheoryVesaliusweakwoolwound family and trained at an 1500activeanatomicalanimalasklepionblood lettingbookschangesclinicaldissectiondownEgyptEmperorEmpirefatherfeverFourgladiatorGreekhateHippocraticmedicinemistakesnatureoneoppositesoriginalPaterpepperpigsplausiblePlinypublicrichRomanRomanssocietysoultheoryVesaliusweakwoolwound followed by more training at Alexandria in 1500activeanatomicalanimalasklepionblood lettingbookschangesclinicaldissectiondownEgyptEmperorEmpirefatherfeverFourgladiatorGreekhateHippocraticmedicinemistakesnatureoneoppositesoriginalPaterpepperpigsplausiblePlinypublicrichRomanRomanssocietysoultheoryVesaliusweakwoolwound where he witnessed human 1500activeanatomicalanimalasklepionblood lettingbookschangesclinicaldissectiondownEgyptEmperorEmpirefatherfeverFourgladiatorGreekhateHippocraticmedicinemistakesnatureoneoppositesoriginalPaterpepperpigsplausiblePlinypublicrichRomanRomanssocietysoultheoryVesaliusweakwoolwound and vivisection. He returned to Greece and worked at a 1500activeanatomicalanimalasklepionblood lettingbookschangesclinicaldissectiondownEgyptEmperorEmpirefatherfeverFourgladiatorGreekhateHippocraticmedicinemistakesnatureoneoppositesoriginalPaterpepperpigsplausiblePlinypublicrichRomanRomanssocietysoultheoryVesaliusweakwoolwound school which developed his surgical and 1500activeanatomicalanimalasklepionblood lettingbookschangesclinicaldissectiondownEgyptEmperorEmpirefatherfeverFourgladiatorGreekhateHippocraticmedicinemistakesnatureoneoppositesoriginalPaterpepperpigsplausiblePlinypublicrichRomanRomanssocietysoultheoryVesaliusweakwoolwound knowledge. .His famous public experiments brought him to the attention of the 1500activeanatomicalanimalasklepionblood lettingbookschangesclinicaldissectiondownEgyptEmperorEmpirefatherfeverFourgladiatorGreekhateHippocraticmedicinemistakesnatureoneoppositesoriginalPaterpepperpigsplausiblePlinypublicrichRomanRomanssocietysoultheoryVesaliusweakwoolwound and he became doctor to several including Marcus Aurelius, Commodus and Septimius.
He is famous for developing anatomy and physiology although he made very many 1500activeanatomicalanimalasklepionblood lettingbookschangesclinicaldissectiondownEgyptEmperorEmpirefatherfeverFourgladiatorGreekhateHippocraticmedicinemistakesnatureoneoppositesoriginalPaterpepperpigsplausiblePlinypublicrichRomanRomanssocietysoultheoryVesaliusweakwoolwound[?] as he used animals such as apes, 1500activeanatomicalanimalasklepionblood lettingbookschangesclinicaldissectiondownEgyptEmperorEmpirefatherfeverFourgladiatorGreekhateHippocraticmedicinemistakesnatureoneoppositesoriginalPaterpepperpigsplausiblePlinypublicrichRomanRomanssocietysoultheoryVesaliusweakwoolwound and dogs for dissection.

Galen was influential in communicating Hippocratic ideas throughout the 1500activeanatomicalanimalasklepionblood lettingbookschangesclinicaldissectiondownEgyptEmperorEmpirefatherfeverFourgladiatorGreekhateHippocraticmedicinemistakesnatureoneoppositesoriginalPaterpepperpigsplausiblePlinypublicrichRomanRomanssocietysoultheoryVesaliusweakwoolwound Empire. He developed his own 1500activeanatomicalanimalasklepionblood lettingbookschangesclinicaldissectiondownEgyptEmperorEmpirefatherfeverFourgladiatorGreekhateHippocraticmedicinemistakesnatureoneoppositesoriginalPaterpepperpigsplausiblePlinypublicrichRomanRomanssocietysoultheoryVesaliusweakwoolwound from the Four Humours called the theory of 1500activeanatomicalanimalasklepionblood lettingbookschangesclinicaldissectiondownEgyptEmperorEmpirefatherfeverFourgladiatorGreekhateHippocraticmedicinemistakesnatureoneoppositesoriginalPaterpepperpigsplausiblePlinypublicrichRomanRomanssocietysoultheoryVesaliusweakwoolwound. Like Hippocratic doctors, he carried out careful 1500activeanatomicalanimalasklepionblood lettingbookschangesclinicaldissectiondownEgyptEmperorEmpirefatherfeverFourgladiatorGreekhateHippocraticmedicinemistakesnatureoneoppositesoriginalPaterpepperpigsplausiblePlinypublicrichRomanRomanssocietysoultheoryVesaliusweakwoolwound observations but he was willing to make 1500activeanatomicalanimalasklepionblood lettingbookschangesclinicaldissectiondownEgyptEmperorEmpirefatherfeverFourgladiatorGreekhateHippocraticmedicinemistakesnatureoneoppositesoriginalPaterpepperpigsplausiblePlinypublicrichRomanRomanssocietysoultheoryVesaliusweakwoolwound to Hippocratic teaching.

Hippocrates had said to rely on nature and let 1500activeanatomicalanimalasklepionblood lettingbookschangesclinicaldissectiondownEgyptEmperorEmpirefatherfeverFourgladiatorGreekhateHippocraticmedicinemistakesnatureoneoppositesoriginalPaterpepperpigsplausiblePlinypublicrichRomanRomanssocietysoultheoryVesaliusweakwoolwound take its course - he often said that humours out of balance may rectify themselves without invasive treatment. However Galen developed more 1500activeanatomicalanimalasklepionblood lettingbookschangesclinicaldissectiondownEgyptEmperorEmpirefatherfeverFourgladiatorGreekhateHippocraticmedicinemistakesnatureoneoppositesoriginalPaterpepperpigsplausiblePlinypublicrichRomanRomanssocietysoultheoryVesaliusweakwoolwound[?] treatments and he called for the use of ‘opposites’. This meant to treat symptoms using the opposite substance e.g. giving 1500activeanatomicalanimalasklepionblood lettingbookschangesclinicaldissectiondownEgyptEmperorEmpirefatherfeverFourgladiatorGreekhateHippocraticmedicinemistakesnatureoneoppositesoriginalPaterpepperpigsplausiblePlinypublicrichRomanRomanssocietysoultheoryVesaliusweakwoolwound to patients who were too cold and cucumber to those with a 1500activeanatomicalanimalasklepionblood lettingbookschangesclinicaldissectiondownEgyptEmperorEmpirefatherfeverFourgladiatorGreekhateHippocraticmedicinemistakesnatureoneoppositesoriginalPaterpepperpigsplausiblePlinypublicrichRomanRomanssocietysoultheoryVesaliusweakwoolwound. He suggested hard physical exercise for 1500activeanatomicalanimalasklepionblood lettingbookschangesclinicaldissectiondownEgyptEmperorEmpirefatherfeverFourgladiatorGreekhateHippocraticmedicinemistakesnatureoneoppositesoriginalPaterpepperpigsplausiblePlinypublicrichRomanRomanssocietysoultheoryVesaliusweakwoolwound people and singing for chest complaints.

However he emphasised the use of 1500activeanatomicalanimalasklepionblood lettingbookschangesclinicaldissectiondownEgyptEmperorEmpirefatherfeverFourgladiatorGreekhateHippocraticmedicinemistakesnatureoneoppositesoriginalPaterpepperpigsplausiblePlinypublicrichRomanRomanssocietysoultheoryVesaliusweakwoolwound much more than Hippocratic doctors. He believed in this for fevers, imbalance of blood and other illnesses, even if a patient had lost blood through a 1500activeanatomicalanimalasklepionblood lettingbookschangesclinicaldissectiondownEgyptEmperorEmpirefatherfeverFourgladiatorGreekhateHippocraticmedicinemistakesnatureoneoppositesoriginalPaterpepperpigsplausiblePlinypublicrichRomanRomanssocietysoultheoryVesaliusweakwoolwound or illness.

Galen took the Greek ideas on observation and case notes to record and report on all of his medical procedures. He wrote over one hundred 1500activeanatomicalanimalasklepionblood lettingbookschangesclinicaldissectiondownEgyptEmperorEmpirefatherfeverFourgladiatorGreekhateHippocraticmedicinemistakesnatureoneoppositesoriginalPaterpepperpigsplausiblePlinypublicrichRomanRomanssocietysoultheoryVesaliusweakwoolwound which were used by Western and Eastern medicine for the next 1500activeanatomicalanimalasklepionblood lettingbookschangesclinicaldissectiondownEgyptEmperorEmpirefatherfeverFourgladiatorGreekhateHippocraticmedicinemistakesnatureoneoppositesoriginalPaterpepperpigsplausiblePlinypublicrichRomanRomanssocietysoultheoryVesaliusweakwoolwound years. The Christian and Islamic religions adopted his ideas as they believed he was supporting their religions. This was because his writing reflects a belief in only 1500activeanatomicalanimalasklepionblood lettingbookschangesclinicaldissectiondownEgyptEmperorEmpirefatherfeverFourgladiatorGreekhateHippocraticmedicinemistakesnatureoneoppositesoriginalPaterpepperpigsplausiblePlinypublicrichRomanRomanssocietysoultheoryVesaliusweakwoolwound god and he said the body was an instrument of the 1500activeanatomicalanimalasklepionblood lettingbookschangesclinicaldissectiondownEgyptEmperorEmpirefatherfeverFourgladiatorGreekhateHippocraticmedicinemistakesnatureoneoppositesoriginalPaterpepperpigsplausiblePlinypublicrichRomanRomanssocietysoultheoryVesaliusweakwoolwound. Therefore in the Middle Ages challenging Galen became a sin.
It was not until the work of Andreas 1500activeanatomicalanimalasklepionblood lettingbookschangesclinicaldissectiondownEgyptEmperorEmpirefatherfeverFourgladiatorGreekhateHippocraticmedicinemistakesnatureoneoppositesoriginalPaterpepperpigsplausiblePlinypublicrichRomanRomanssocietysoultheoryVesaliusweakwoolwound in the sixteenth century that medicine in Europe began to recognise the mistakes of Galen.