When Greece was absorbed into the Roman Empire,
the Greeks’ political freedom came to an end.
But Roman domination did not prevent them
from continuing to achieve great heights in culture
and science. Indeed, some of the greatest Greek
thinkers and writers produced their work after
Greece had become part of the empire. One of the
most important of these men was the brilliant
physician and philosopher Galen.
The son of wealthy parents, Galen was born in
the influential Greek city of Pergamon, in what is
today Turkey.His family’s status gave him the ability
to study medicine in various Greek cities and
undertake a serious study of physiology and
anatomy. He dissected corpses to better understand
the human body and became a highly skilled
physician. He eventually won the favor of the
Roman government and became the court physician
to both Emperor Marcus AURELIUS and Emperor
Commodus. In addition to his standard
duties, he prepared a potion for Marcus Aurelius as
a protection against assassination by poison. For
unknown reasons, he left Rome for a time but
eventually returned and resumed his place.
Fortunately for scholars, about 500 of Galen’s
works have survived.Many of them are in the original
Greek or Latin, while others are translations
made by later Arabic scholars. Galen wrote extensively
on a multitude of medical topics. In his treatise
On the Uses of the Parts of the Body of Man, he
pays particular attention to questions regarding
the circulation of the blood (describing how blood
flows through arteries) and the functions of organs
(describing the functions of the kidney and bladder).
He also discusses the methods and treatments
doctors should use with their patients.
Medicine was not very advanced in ancient
times and Galen’s writings were, in many cases,
breakthroughs of medical knowledge. However,
his writings still reflect the lack of scientific knowledge
at the time. For instance, he believed in the
then-traditional concept of the “four humors” as
the basis of his medical theories, which has long
since been proven false.Nevertheless, when viewed
in the context of his time, Galen’s work was astonishing,
and he is considered one of the two greatest
medical thinkers of the ancient world, the other
being HIPPOCRATES.
In addition to his vast contributions to medicine,
Galen was also a philosopher of considerable
importance. He accepted many of Aristotle’s ideas
and expounded greatly on the need for direct observation
as a basis for scientific knowledge. Galen
also wrote on the subjects of history, linguistics,
and philology, and social commentaries occasionally
found their way into his writings.
In terms of his influence on later writers and
thinkers, Galen must be ranked among the most
important of classical figures. His emphasis on
direct observation and experiment as the foundation
of medical knowledge was critically important
to the physicians who came after him, and
his writings on medicine formed the basis of
Western medical science for a millennium after
his death.
An English Version of a Work by Galen
Galen on Food and Diet. Translated by Mark Grant.
New York: Routledge, 2000.
Works about Galen
Bendick, Jeanne. Galen and the Gateway to Medicine.
Bathgate, N.Dak.: Bethlehem Books, 2002.
Sarton, George. Galen of Pergamon. Lawrence: University
of Kansas Press, 1954.