greek physicians and medical

254 Pages·2009·0.87 MB·English

A DANGEROUS ART:
GREEK PHYSICIANS AND MEDICAL RISK IN IMPERIAL ROME
DISSERTATION
Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for
the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate
School of The Ohio State University
By
Molly Ayn Jones Lewis, B.A., M.A.
*********
The Ohio State University
May, 2009
Dissertation Committee:
Duane W. Roller, Advisor Approved by
Julia Nelson Hawkins
__________________________________
Frank Coulson Advisor
Greek and Latin Graduate Program
Fritz Graf
Copyright by
Molly Ayn Jones Lewis
2009
ABSTRACT
Recent scholarship of identity issues in Imperial Rome has focused on the
complicated intersections of “Greek” and “Roman” identity, a perfect microcosm in
which to examine the issue in the high-stakes world of medical practice where physicians
from competing Greek-speaking traditions interacted with wealthy Roman patients. I
argue that not only did Roman patients and politicians have a variety of methods at their
disposal for neutralizing the perceived threat of foreign physicians, but that the foreign
physicians also were given ways to mitigate the substantial dangers involved in treating
the Roman elite. I approach the issue from three standpoints: the political rhetoric
surrounding foreign medicines, the legislation in place to protect doctors and patients,
and the ethical issues debated by physicians and laypeople alike. I show that Roman
lawmakers, policy makers, and physicians had a variety of ways by which the physical,
political, and financial dangers of foreign doctors and Roman patients posed to one
another could be mitigated. The dissertation argues that despite barriers of xenophobia
and ethnic identity, physicians practicing in Greek traditions were fairly well integrated
into the cultural milieu of imperial Rome, and were accepted (if not always trusted)
members of society. Their inclusion into the fabric of Romanitas prefigures the later
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integration of Roman and Greek identity that was to culminate in the Greek-speaking
Romans of the Byzantine Empire.
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Dedication
To my parents, Drs. Jo and Mark Jones
whose lifelong dedication to their patients and their art
inspired and informed my own calling.
iv
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
So many people gave generously of their time, patience and knowledge to make
this project possible that, in a sense, this is partly their dissertation as well. First and
foremost, my advisor Duane W. Roller, whose patience, availability, and knowledge were
instrumental in getting this done on time, coherently, and properly spelled. Few students
have advisors who manage to comment on new drafts with a day's turnaround, and fewer
still are blessed with a mentor as gracious, demanding, and brilliant. Julia Nelson-
Hawkins's expertise in ancient medicine is a rare boon to a student completing a
dissertation in such a niche topic, and without her exacting standards and insistence on
flow and secondary sources, this would be a much weaker text. Frank Coulson is also
owed a great share of my thanks, since his suggestion that I study medieval herbals lead
me to the topic in the first place. To all three of my committee members, I can offer only
words of gratitude for the investment of time and energy you have made in my work; I
feel honored and blessed to have had the opportunity to work with a committee of such
fine people.
A separate thanks is owed to Fritz Graf, who generously offered to step in at the
last moment when the Graduate school told me I needed a fourth reader. There are not
words to express my appreciation for his help with this.
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A debt of gratitude is also owed to John Scarborough, whose generosity with
citations and articles were indispensable to the project. I am sure few students have
gotten such a warm and supportive welcome to their subfield as Prof. Scarborough has
given me. There are few senior scholars who would do so much for a graduate student in
their own department, let alone outside of their institution: John is, as Marcus Aurelius
said of Galenos, both a doctor and a gentleman.
Finally, thanks of a different sort are owed to my husband, Robert Lewis, who
patiently cooked and cleaned while I sat hunched over a pile of books and a laptop, and
who worked hard to support his classicist wife, never minding the difficulties and
uncertainties that the academic job market have imposed on our lives. Without his
patience and care, I would have starved to death somewhere in the middle of writing the
second chapter, and without his ability to find library books hiding in plain sight, I would
have lost what little sanity I had and gone bankrupt from library fines. Also my parents,
who gave me their enthusiastic support when I informed them I was going to make a
living off of dead languages, and who read through pages and pages of academic prose to
be sure my medical terminology was correct. And to my grandparents, Richard and Gene
Jones and Eleanor and Neal Allen, whose generosity enabled me to attend whatever
college I chose.
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Finally, to Susan and Hartley Shearer, who patiently drilled the principles of Latin
and Greek grammar into my scattered brain and began my love affair with the Classical
world. Not nearly enough praise is afforded the talented classicists who work in the
trenches of secondary education; were it not for the patience, dedication, and inspiration
of my beloved magistri, I would have ended up in a far less interesting line of work.
Everything I am as a scholar and teacher of Latin and Greek began with them. Magistra,
I apologize in advance for the inevitable comma errors. Please don't cut off my Asterix
privileges.
To all of you, my deepest gratitude and affection.
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VITA
January 21, 1981................................................... Born – Morgantown, West Virginia
2003....................................................................... B.A. with Honors, Swarthmore College
2006....................................................................... M.A., The Ohio State University
2003 – present ...................................................... Graduate Teaching Associate
The Ohio State University
FIELDS OF STUDY
Major Field: Greek and Latin
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Abstract....................................................................................................... ii
Dedication................................................................................................... iv
Acknowledgments....................................................................................... v
Vita.............................................................................................................. viii
Chapters:
Introduction................................................................................................ 1
1. Plinius's Poisoned Provinces.................................................................. 15
2. The Imperial Roman Doctor under the Law.......................................... 46
3. Self-Presentation, Patient Choice, and the Making
of the Greek Physician in the Roman marketplace............................ 81
4. Perfecting Practice:
Dissection, Vivisection, and Experimentation................................... 120
5. Making Romans:
The Physician's Role in Roman Reproduction.................................. 159
6. Unmaking Romans:
The Role of the Physician in Political Suicide and Euthanasia......... 207
Conclusion.................................................................................................. 235
Bibliography................................................................................................ 238
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