“Knife is good if medicine doesn’t work, fire is good if the knife doesn’t.”
Roman saying
Surgery in ancient Turkey was done by ordinary doctors with simple bronze and iron tools. They set broken bones, drilled into skulls, opened abscesses and burned wounds shut. Sick people also went to the healing temples of Asclepius, and some doctors from here, like Galen of Pergamon, became famous across the Roman Empire.
Although the history of surgery is as old as humanity, the development of modern surgery has only been in the last 120 years. In ancient times, surgery was not a separate specialty in the science of medicine. Surgery was performed by doctors in these ages. he would try to heal wounds and stop bleeding, pierce the skull (trepanation) to treat head injuries, or cut off the injured limb.
Since medicine was born out of necessity, its record goes as far back as the history of humanity. Therefore, the first examples of tools to be used for the treatment of diseases date back earlier than ancient times, to prehistoric times. The Romans produced many surgical instruments and spread their knowledge of surgical procedures. Many of these medical discoveries, not so surprisingly, took place on the battlefield.
Some of the Greco-Roman tools that have helped shape modern surgery include the bone drill and forceps (a device for pulling the unborn child out of the womb). Bone drills were used to cut out diseased bone and were similar in appearance to today’s corkscrews. Forceps were among the most common surgical instruments of the Roman period. Forcep was used to remove small pieces of bone from the body. In addition, there are some records of the earliest use of the syringe in Ancient Roman literature. These syringes were used to apply medicinal ointments.
In ancient Rome, there was a written rule that when a woman died in childbirth, the child had to be removed from the woman’s body. This rule paved the way for the first form of cesarean section surgery. In those years, Rome was not much cleaner than a pigsty. Therefore, skin diseases and sexual diseases were seen very frequently. Diseases of old age were rare because the average life expectancy was on 37 years. So there was no prostate problem.
To open an abscess, drain urine, clean the wounds in the ear, drain the water of the lungs, to treat the tumors outside they had several surgeries. When treating bleeding patients and breast cancer, they heated an iron bar and cauterized the cancerous area.
Greek Surgeons and Their Schools
During the Greek period in Anatolia surgery became a specialty. Greek surgeons were trained in semi-official schools called Askleia. This training was the beginning of today’s modern medicine education that continues centuries later. Hippocrates, who lived between 460-370 BC, was the greatest physician and surgeon of the Antiquity. In his book “On Surgery”, he gives extensive information about the characteristics of the surgeon, what he should know, and the treatment phases. In his works, he talked about surgeries for fractures, wounds, ulcers, and hemorrhoids.
Surgery was more or less separated from medicine during the reign of Galen of Pergamon (129-216 AD). For a long time (until the 13th and 14th centuries), doctors avoided surgery. Therefore, surgery fell into the hands of illiterate, ignorant, low-class people. They learned their craft not from books, but from their masters. With the exclusion of surgery from medicine, medicine actually lost an important branch. The second reason for the lag of surgery is the neglect of anatomy.
Medical Sites of Ancient Turkey You Can Visit
The best place to see ancient medicine in Turkey is the Asclepion nearby Pergamon, in the town of Bergama. Patients bathed in its sacred spring and hoped that Asclepius would tell them the cure in a dream. Most of the buildings you see today are Roman.
A long colonnaded sacred way leads in, and a vaulted underground passage runs through the sanctuary. Galen studied here as a young man. You can read more about the city in my post on Pergamon Ancient City.
For the tools themselves, visit Ephesus Museum in Selçuk. Its small finds include ancient medical instruments.
Frequently Asked Questions
Did ancient doctors use anesthesia?
Not like today. They gave wine, opium or mandrake to dull the pain. Dioscorides, a doctor born in Anazarbus in Cilicia, today in southern Turkey, wrote about mandrake wine given before cutting or burning.
Which famous doctors came from ancient Turkey?
Galen of Pergamon is the best known. Rufus and Soranus were both doctors of Ephesus, and Soranus later worked in Rome. I wrote about Rufus and Soranus too.
What tools did Roman surgeons use?
The bone drill and the forceps were the most common, together with knives, probes and hooks of bronze. They also used a simple syringe to put ointments on wounds.
