Greek and Roman Medicine at the British Museum

"One of the latest in the elegantly produced series of Research Publications of the British Museum, Greek and Roman Medicine at the British Museum is the first full account of the museum’s extensive and important collections of objects related to ancient medicine and healing... this volume is destined to become a most useful reference for all those studying ancient surgical instruments and ancient medicine in general." – Journal of Anthropological Research

Strategies for the preservation of health and for the prevention and treatment of illness and disease have been discerned in the surviving written records and material remains of most societies since earliest times. Compared to the prehistoric past the evidence for the ancient Greek and Roman periods is comparatively full, though still sparse or lacking in some key areas. Most accounts of the history of Greek and Roman medicine are based on ancient medical texts. As a study of the subject through its material remains, this book will be a unique and major contribution to the understanding of ancient medical implements and surgical instruments, of surgery, and of the history of medicine.

In addition to medical instruments, the British Museum collection also includes an important range of objects which help to illustrate the multi-faceted approach to healing in antiquity. They include one of the largest holdings of collyrium-stamps − small inscribed stone tablets which were used to mark sticks of eye medicine; Greek inscriptions honoring public physicians; stone statues, bronze figurines and engraved gemstones depicting the principal healer deities; and marble and terracotta models of body parts (‘anatomical votives’) dedicated to the healer deities by those seeking divine cures. Together with the instrumentation, the publication will show how they encompass most aspects of ancient medicine and represent starting points from which to develop discussions of strategies for health and healing.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1: Introduction: the British Museum Greek and Roman Medical Collections
Chapter 2: Greek and Roman Surgical and Medical Instruments
Chapter 3: Catalogue of Greek and Roman Surgical and Medical Instruments in the British Museum
Chapter 4: Scientific Examination and Element Analysis of the Metal Medical Instruments (Susan La Niece and Duncan Hook)
Chapter 5: Chemical Analysis of Medicinal Residues: Ingredients, Properties and Purpose (Rebecca Stacey)
Chapter 6: Selected Greek and Roman Objects in the British Museum Related to Medicine and Health
Appendix 1: An Important Group of Roman Surgical Instruments from Italy in the City of Bristol Museum and Art Gallery
Appendix 2: A Unique Roman Plunger Forceps in the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford
Bibliography
Concordance
Index

Ralph Jackson is a former senior curator at the British Museum. For many decades his research has been focused upon the history and archaeology of Greek and Roman medicine. His previous publications include Doctors and Diseases in the Roman Empire; Cosmetic Sets of Late Iron Age and Roman Britain; Camerton: A Catalogue of Late Iron Age and Early Roman Metalwork; (with Tim Potter) Excavations at Stonea, Cambridgeshire 1980–85; (with Gilbert Burleigh) Dea Senuna: Treasure, Cult and Ritual at Ashwell, Hertfordshire; and (with Richard Hobbs) Roman Britain.