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  • Caesarean Section

Roman Caesarean Section

The Caesarean Section in Ancient Roman Times

One form of surgery in ancient Rome was the Caesarean section childbirth procedure. A common misconception is that Gaius Julius Caesar himself was born under this procedure, but that is completely without merit.

A Caesarean Section in the ancient world was a last resort operation to comply with Roman ritual and religious custom and had little to do with saving either mother or child.

Roman, or Caesarean Law, demanded that when a pregnant woman died she could not be buried until the child had been delivered. Thus the procedure was developed to remove the infant prior to the burial. It later became more customary as a last ditch effort to save the child, depending on circumstances.

The law stated that a living, pregnant woman could not give birth under Caesarean section until she was into her 10th month of pregnancy (also indicating a fine knowledge of the reproductive cycle). As the mother assuredly wouldn't survive, the procedure was delayed as long as possible to give her a chance, before the baby might be in trouble. Knowing that Caesar's mother, Aurelia, survived well into Julius' adult life proves that he was not born of this procedure, or she would've died at his birth.

Did you know...
In the 8th Century BC, the Roman ruler Numa Pompillus passed a law requiring all women who died in labour to have a post-mortem delivery. This law continued throughout the reign of the Roman Emperors, and was known as Lex Caesarea - caesus being the Latin for 'cut' or 'incision'; a more likely root for the term.

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A Roman doctor carrying out minor surgery on a patient
Roman Doctors

The majority of Roman doctors, at least early on, were self-taught or apprenticed practitioners who simply claimed to be healers, with little basis in real medical knowledge.

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An illustration of an ancient Roman hospital
Roman Hospitals

Hospitals as we know them today simply didn't exist in the Roman world. Romans generally regarded disease as an affliction of the gods requiring prayer, sacrifice and pagan rites to alleviate.

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An illustration of the Roman physician Claudius Galen
Claudius Galen

Galen (129 - 199 AD), after Hippocrates, may be the most prominent physician of the ancient world, and certainly of the Roman era. He had an exhaustive education and undertook in-depth research to advance medical knowledge of the time.

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A stone carving of a possible cosmetic surgery procedure in ancient Rome
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Plastic surgery was said to first be preformed in ancient Roman times. They preformed minor procedures such as Otoplasty, which is the repairing of damaged ears, and more complicated procedures like scar removal.

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Roman Medicine by Audrey Cruse
Roman Medicine
by Audrey Cruse

This comprehensive book looks at the many different aspects of medicine and health in the Roman Empire, especially with regard to doctors, their drugs and their surgical equipment.

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The Prince of Medicine: Galen in the Roman Empire by Susan P. Mattern
The Prince of Medicine: Galen in the Roman Empire
by Susan P. Mattern

The Prince of Medicine gives us Galen as he lived his life, in the city of Rome at its apex of power and decadence, among his friends, his rivals, and his patients. It offers a deeply human and long-overdue portrait of one of ancient history's most significant and engaging figures.

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Greek and Roman Medicine by Helen King
Greek and Roman Medicine
by Helen King

What happened if you fell sick in the classical world? This book looks at beliefs about the inside of the body and its functioning held in Greek and Roman society.

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Roman Military Medicine by V.J. Belfiglio and S.I. Sullivant
Roman Military Medicine
by V.J. Belfiglio and S.I. Sullivant

This book sheds light on the mostly obscure topic of medicine and its use in the Roman military. It explores the workings of the ancient healthcare system, the methods of care by physicians, and the treatments for different ailments and injuries.

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Power and Knowledge: Astrology, Physiognomics, and Medicine under the Roman Empire by Tamsyn Barton
Power and Knowledge: Astrology, Physiognomics, and Medicine under the Roman Empire
by Tamsyn Barton

Power and Knowledge charts a history of three ancient scientiae in the Roman Empire--astrology, medical prognosis, and physiognomy (the art of discerning character or destiny from a person's physique).

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Medicine and the Making of Roman Women: Gender, Nature, and Authority from Celsus to Galen by Rebecca Flemming
Medicine and the Making of Roman Women: Gender, Nature, and Authority from Celsus to Galen
by Rebecca Flemming

In this book, Dr Flemming includes new translations of some of the works of medical practitioners from Celsus, writing during the reign of Tiberius, to Galen, whose career ended under the Severans, and puts their ideas about women's bodies in their social and philosophical contexts.

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Army Medical Practices
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Human Dissection in Ancient Medicine
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Trying to Understand Galen's view on Medicine
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Egyptians, not Greeks were true fathers of medicine
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Advances In Medicine
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Evidence for Medics Amongst the Milites
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Roman Toilets Spread Parasites
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