On Roman military doctors and their medical instruments

The establishment of a standing Roman army during the reign of Augustus resulted in an increased demand for military doctors. The knowledge about the Roman military medicine comes primarily from the excavations at the valetudinaria. Medical instruments, medicine containers and remains of medicinal plants found there indicate that the Roman army strived to provide unwell legionaries with excellent care. Surgical instruments found in the grave of a Roman doctor from Bingen (2nd c. A.D.) and in the Surgeon’s House in Rimini (2nd c. A.D.) confirm the hypothesis that medicine in the Roman army was at a high level compared to the medical care in other ancient armies. Probes and scalpels are among the medical instruments found most frequently by archaeologists during excavation works. Roman military doctors also used specialized instruments for specific procedures; those included a trepan called modiolus and a tool used to remove arrowheads. Doctors serving in the army would perform many procedures intuitively, relying on their own experience. Roman military medicine had been heavily influenced by the Greek doctors’ views on health and diseases and also by Roman civil medicine.