This Bible History Daily feature was originally published on June 19, 2014.
Doctors, Diseases and Deities: Epidemic Crises and Medicine in Ancient Rome by Sarah Yeomans | Biblical Archaeology | Published on June 5, 2015
Posted on 04/08/2019 12:33:51 PM PDT by SunkenCiv
There's no question that today's modern culture is very different from that of ancient Rome, but certain human realities remain consistent across time. The challenges of illness and injury were as prevalent in the Roman Empire as they are in today's society, and the concern with medicine and health is something modern people have in common with ancient Romans. BAS Director of Educational Programs Sarah Yeomans's doctoral research is concerned with Roman medical technology, medical cult and the impact of plague on Roman society. Recently, she gave a lecture on these subjects at the prestigious Explorers Club in New York City. In her presentation, Yeomans surveys some of the remarkable discoveries made at a site in Italy that has yielded an extraordinary amount of information about the surgical technology available in ancient Rome. The "House of the Surgeon," located in Rimini, is a treasure trove of artifacts that tells us a great deal about the practice of medicine almost 2,000 years ago.
Yeomans then goes on to discuss the Antonine Plague of the second century, one of the worst epidemics the Roman world ever confronted. Through a combination of primary sources, archaeological discoveries and modern science, she examines the pathology of the plague as well as its impact on the economic, political and religious life of the Roman Empire. What exactly was the "Antonine Plague"? Was it a factor in the destabilization of the Empire in the third century? And, most importantly, what lessons can we learn about how to react to population-impacting medical crises today?
(Excerpt) Read more at biblicalarchaeology.org ...
This Bible History Daily feature was originally published on June 19, 2014.
Doctors, Diseases and Deities: Epidemic Crises and Medicine in Ancient Rome by Sarah Yeomans | Biblical Archaeology | Published on June 5, 2015
Sarah Yeomans site:freerepublic.com
No, I question it.
Obamacare is older than I thought................
Ancient Rome was not established based on faith in the one true God. The difference is incalculable.
LOL
Still no $2500 even after all these centuries.
The deductible was three sheep and a male calf....................
Great lecture! Thanks for posting. “The Explorer’s Club” sounds like a great and fun thing to join and attend. Too bad NYC I saw so far away from me.
“Sarah Yeomans is an archaeologist specializing in the Imperial period of the Roman Empire with a particular emphasis on ancient science and religion.”
During plagues, many Romans would flee the cities if they could. It was "every man for himself". Many could survive the plague with only minimal care, such as providing water and a little food.
I highly recommend The Rise of Christianity by Rodney Stark. It is a sociological book that examines how Christianity won over the Roman Empire.
Post to me or FReep mail to be on/off the Bring Out Your Dead ping list.
The purpose of the “Bring Out Your Dead” ping list (formerly the “Ebola” ping list) is very early warning of emerging pandemics, as such it has a high false positive rate.
So far the false positive rate is 100%.
At some point we may well have a high mortality pandemic, and likely as not the “Bring Out Your Dead” threads will miss the beginning entirely.
*sigh* Such is life, and death...
If a quarantine saves just one child's life, it's worth it.
The muslim "aid" workers would sit on stores of food and watch infidels starve all around them, unless they converted to islam, only then would they get any food or other aid.
Off hand I'd say it was at least as effective a conversion tool as the Christians in plague ridden Rome.
Today Indonesia is the world's largest islamic country, after all...
That presupposes that no one had previously had willingness to care for others, and that's nonsense.
One reason epidemics are so devastating is that not enough people flee.
False positives are my favorite kind of positives, at least when it comes to contagious diseases. :^)
It does nothing of the sort.
Rodney Stark uses all the original sources that were available to show there was a significant difference in how Christians treated others vs the Pagans around them.
It is a matter of percentages. Christian doctrine to love your neighbor as yourself, the example of the good Samaritan, and the exhortation to "love your enemies" are all unusual.
Stoic Philosophers pushed for the brotherhood of man. There is a melding of Stoic and Christian doctrine.
There is no question, however, that Christians taught their adherents to care for and value those outside of Christianity.
That was a very unusual concept in pagan Rome.
It does nothing of the sort.
Since it is exactly what you said, of course it does.
Plagues with massive rates of mortality are rare. In ancient times, and until just the past few hundred years, no one had any real idea about methods of transmissions, and obviously no access to the kinds of modern medicines and vaccinations which we know work.
Caring for someone had very little, if any, impact on mortality, other than exposing the caregiver to the contagions. People did care for one another anyway, and did so even when the only known Europeans were Neandertals.
Stark shows that a small amount of care could make a significant difference in mortality rates.
In Roman cities, as in many urban areas, there is more anonymity, less of extended families and coherent tribes.
People inside their extended families and tribes tend to care for one another much more than outside of their insiders.
People outside their families and tribes are most commonly only seen as enemies and/or prey.
Maybe Stark is wrong. He looked at it statistically and concluded a rise in percentages of Christians after epidemics.
Of course, evidence is sparse from 1900 years ago.
Stark was trying to answer the question: How did Christianity take over the Roman Empire.
This was one of several mechanisms he found plausible.
He also presented evidence that Christianity was the religion of middle and upper class Romans more than of the lower classes, at least early on.
It does nothing of the sort.
Since it is exactly what you said, of course it does.It is not exactly what I wrote, as you can see.
It only supposes that Christians were *more* willing to care for others.
That is built into Christianity, and it is considerably different than most other religions at the time.
It was almost the opposite of the major Roman ethos, which, I have read, feared becoming "weak" or "sentimental".
Sorry, I do not remember the source for that.
You’ve been busy today.
Thank you. Enjoyed it, got me interested and learned a lot about several medieval plagues.
Sounds like the first few were smallpox or maybe another virus especially later. Justinian was the same bacteria as the Black Death
Gonna now read about wineries read in Egypt.
Your work is appreciated.
Yersinia Pestis keyword, chrono sorted:
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