Roman medicine: everything you wanted to know

Welcome. To the History Ekstra podcast. Fascinating historical conversations from the makers of BBC History Magazine. What were your chances of surviving an illness in ancient Rome? How did the Roman army deal with ailments and injuries on the go?

And in what way were the medical practitioners of this ancient civilization? Similar to the snake oil peddlers of the American Wild West. Well, Emily Briffitt spoke to Dr. Patty Baker, a specialist in Roman medicine, to get the answers to all of your questions about the treatments, cures, and surgical operations of ancient Rome. And please be aware, this episode does contain explicit medical details, including about fetal death. Hi Patty, welcome to the History Extra Podcast. Thank you so much for joining me today.

Thank you, Emily, and thank you so much for the invitation. I'm really looking forward to it. We are delving into the world of Roman medicine today. Now of course ask you. How did the Romans approach medicine? Were there any core beliefs behind it? There are multiple beliefs behind it and there are many ways I could answer this question, which could go on and on forever.

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