Asclepiades

• Asclepiades (124-40 BCE) was a Greek Doctor who worked in Rome during the first century BCE.

Biography

• Asclepiades opposed Hippocrates in saying Doctors, not Nature, had the power to heal.
• The preferred preferred treatments of Asclepiades were Massage, Diet, Soothing Medications (including wine), and Singing.

The Principles of Asclepiades

• Solidism
  • The atomic theory advanced by Erasistratus in 3rd century BCE was that the human body consisted of solid particles (atoms) that flowed continually.
  • Sickness resulted when their smooth movement was hindered by the pores of the skin becoming constricted or too relaxed.
• Methodism
  • This was the formal name for these principles, developed by two pupils of Asclepiades, Themison and Thessalus.
  • Thessalus, however, claimed anyone could learn about medicine in six months without formal training and the profession continued to be full of charlatans.

The Theory of the Four Humours

• The Theory of The Four Humours was not only believed by the Ancient Greeks and Romans, but continued throughout the Medieval period and right up to the 1800’s when it was finally disproved.
• This Theory stated that Four bodily fluids (humours) controlled the physical and mental health of a person, giving the Four Temperaments.
• Diagnosis was done by defining which of the humours was producing the patient’s illness.

Doctors in Ancient Greece

• Empedocles of Akragas (c.492-432 BCE)
  • He originally put forward the Theory of The Four Humours
• Hippocrates (c.460-370 BCE)
  • He subsequently confirmed the Theory and is considered to be the Father of Western Medicine.

Doctors in Ancient Rome

• Archagathus (210 BCE)
  • He became in 210 BCE the first Greek Doctor to develop a reputation as a skilled surgeon in Rome.
  • But his success was short lived and he acquired the nickname ‘carnifex’, ‘the butcher’.
• Asclepiades (124-40 BCE)
  • He was more successful than Archagathus. He arrived in Rome in the 1st century BCE.
    He opposed Hippocrates and said Doctors, not Nature, had the power to heal.
  • The preferred  preferred treatments of Asclepiades were Massage, Diet, Soothing Medications (including wine), and Singing.
• Galen (129-210 CE)
  • In 161 CE Galen moved  to Rome, where his fame had preceded him.
  • Galen (c.129-210 CE) is considered to be the Father of Roman Medicine,
    and became Physician to three Emperors, Commodus, Marcus Aurelius and Septimius Severus.