Ancient Greek thinkers tried to explain every natural phenomenon in human terms, without reference to magic or gods. That was a major intellectual revolution. Greek doctors’ contribution was to invent what has been called ‘rational’ medicine, embedding a principle of the highest importance, however hopeless its premise: which was that the health of the human body depended on the proper mixture inside it of four ‘elements’: earth, air, fire (i.e. heat) and water and their associated properties (heat, cold, wetness, dryness and so on).
Further, since dissection was mostly forbidden, they knew little about how the body actually worked (they did not know what the heart was for). But because Aristotle (incomprehensibly) supported the whole package – and though doctors like Hippocrates (5th century bc) and Galen (3rd century ad) made many brilliant observations – the Greek theory of disease, embraced, with caveats, by the Romans, remained at the heart of much medicine until the early 19th century, when powerful microscopes allowed doctors for the first time ever actually to see and so discriminate between healthy and diseased cells, enabling real cures.
But at least for visible problems, doctors had practical solutions. This is how they dealt with haemorrhoids: ‘Have the person lie on his back and place a pillow under the lower part of it. Force the anus out as far as you can with the fingers, heat up the irons till they glow and burn the haemorrhoids until you dry them off completely. Leave nothing uncauterised… your assistants must hold the man down by his head and arms so that he stays still, but otherwise let him scream during the process, since that makes the anus stick out more.’
Magazine articles are subscriber-only. Keep reading for just £1 a month
SUBSCRIBE TODAY- Free delivery of the magazine
- Unlimited website and app access
- Subscriber-only newsletters
Comments
Join the debate for just $5 for 3 months
Be part of the conversation with other Spectator readers by getting your first three months for $5.
UNLOCK ACCESS Just $5 for 3 monthsAlready a subscriber? Log in