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National Geographic

This is what a surgical clinic looked like in ancient Rome

Doctor in the house What caught the attention of archaeologists most was the first of these houses, which had been rebuilt several times over the years. The last reconstruction took place during the second half of the second century A,D., when the main rooms were remodeled to include rich mosaics and paintings and new rooms were added. Archaeologists were able to identify the areas of a typical Roman mansion: the vestibule; the triclinium (where banquets, receptions, and social gatherings were held); several cubicula (rooms usually identified as bedrooms that also served as reading or meeting rooms); and a latrine. They also found remains of a richly decorated upper floor comprising several rooms, including a kitchen. Heat therapy Archaeologists believe that this life-size, foot-shaped terra-cotta vessel found in the Surgeon's House was either used as a flask for storing ointments or medicines or for performing therapeutic heat treatments. It is one of only two such objects found in the Roman world. Ministero Della Cultura. Soprintendenza Archeologia, Belle Arti e Paesaggio per le Province di Ravenna But what made this particular Roman house so special were the belongings of the person who lived there in the early third century. A spectacular array of some 150 surgical instruments, made of bronze and iron and manufactured between the first and third centuries A.D., were found among the remains. This was clearly the home of a Roman surgeon. The tools, which would once have been stored in cases and boxes, form the most complete set of surgical instruments ever found from the ancient Roman world. The archaeologists also found mortars that must have been used in the preparation and storing of drugs. The evidence suggests that the house functioned as a private clinic, or taberna medica, of the early third century, containing both study space and a medical consulting room. They dubbed it the Domus del Chirurgo—the Surgeon's House. (How ancient remedies are changing modern medicine.) Tools of the trade These hooks and scalpels were among some 150 instruments found at the Surgeon's House. Ministero Della Cultura. Soprintendenza Archeologia, Belle Arti e Paesaggio per le Province di Ravenna One-third of the instruments found in the Surgeon's House were intended for bone surgery. Others were used for operating on hernias, eyes, and tonsils. They range from hooks and scalpels to instruments for specialized interventions, such as cranial trepanations where part of the skull was removed. The latter instrument is of special interest to historians of medicine, as its design conforms with the written description of an object left by the medical writer Galen, who died in the early third century. None of the Rimini instruments were for gynecological use, strengthening the theory that the surgeon learned his trade on the battlefield. A good man At the heart of this taberna medica was a room paved with a mosaic depicting the mythical Greek hero Orpheus. In this room archaeologists discovered most of the surgical instruments. They also found medical paraphernalia in the cubiculum next to the Orpheus room and in the entranceway. And it was there, on a wall, that archaeologists found an intriguing graffito. The inscription in Latin read: Eutyches homo bonus hic habitat. Hic sunt miseri. This translates as: 'Eutyches, a good man, lives here. Here are the miserable ones.' It seems reasonable to hypothesize that the text was scratched onto the wall by a sick person being treated by a doctor called Eutyches. Researchers believe that the doctor trained in Greece and Asia Minor where, in addition to gaining medical knowledge, he acquired cultural artifacts that he took with him to his residence in Ariminum. This would explain the presence of objects outside the city's typical trading circles. These include a panel of fish in glass paste thought to be from what is now Turkey, a bronze votive hand associated with the cult of Jupiter Dolichenus, and a statue of Hermarchus, a Greek Epicurean philosopher. Objects from places outside Rimini's trading circles suggest the surgeon had traveled widely, like this glass-paste panel with three fish. It likely came from what is now Turkey. Ministero Della Cultura. Soprintendenza Archeologia, Belle Arti e Paesaggio per le Province di Ravenna The sophisticated surgical instruments found in the house suggest that Eutyches, if that was indeed his name, had specialized in treating trauma wounds and performing surgery. It is therefore likely that he acquired at least part of his training as a military doctor in the camps, and on the battlefields, of the Roman Empire.