{"id":202,"date":"2020-01-07T20:31:55","date_gmt":"2020-01-07T20:31:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.greekmedicine.net\/blog\/?p=202"},"modified":"2021-12-21T07:02:30","modified_gmt":"2021-12-21T07:02:30","slug":"getting-to-know-galen","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.greekmedicine.net\/blog\/traditional-medicine\/getting-to-know-galen.html","title":{"rendered":"GETTING TO KNOW GALEN"},"content":{"rendered":"

This article is a review of Susan P. Mattern\u2019s excellent biography of Galen of Pergamum, entitled, The Prince of Medicine: Galen in the Roman Empire<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n


\n\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Galen was definitely one of the most colorful and interesting characters of history, aside from his central importance to the history of medicine for his many innovations and contributions to the art of healing.\u00a0 So, aside from studying Galen from a strictly medical viewpoint, it is equally important to get a clear and thorough understanding and appreciation of Galen the man as well.\u00a0 That is the aim and purpose of a book that I had the great pleasure of reading not too long ago, entitled The Prince of Medicine: Galen in the Roman Empire<\/u>, by Susan P. Mattern; it is published by Oxford University Press, and I highly recommend reading it.\u00a0 Although Ms. Mattern does not approach her subject, a great physician who was so central to the history of medicine and its propagation down through the ages, from a strictly medical viewpoint, but more from the perspective of a biographical understanding of the man and what made him tick, the book does indeed contain a lot of useful information on the medical aspect of Galen\u2019s life and work, and is meticulously researched and documented as well.\u00a0 For those who are interested in learning more about one of history\u2019s most interesting and intriguing characters, this book is quite a lively read.\u00a0 Galen the man really comes alive within its pages, and we just might be looking at the book that will become the <\/em>definitive biography of Galen for a long time to come.<\/p>\n

\u201cShameless self promoter,\u201d remarks Ms. Mattern on the back cover jacket of her book.\u00a0 Yes, that is one of the things that first strikes you when you start reading Galen\u2019s medical treatises; he spends an inordinate amount of time building himself up, often by destroying the theories and reasoning of rival physicians and their competing medical schools, and the pitiful results that they all too often yielded in the practical treatment of patients.\u00a0 One of the things I enjoyed the most about reading this book is the way Ms. Mattern really brought the competitive medical environment of ancient Rome to life.\u00a0 The capital of the empire, Rome, attracted the best and brightest, or at least the most bold and ambitious, minds in all fields, including medicine; they often competed for patients by conducting animal vivisection experiments and anatomical demonstrations on street corners in order to prove their medical and surgical skill.\u00a0 Galen\u2019s medical rivals were always putting him to the test by putting challenges before him that they were sure would stump him and cause him to fail \u2013 but Galen always managed to pull through and defy their expectations, to their great chagrin.\u00a0 The human drama is vivid and amazing.<\/p>\n

One reviewer of this book on Amazon.com wrote that it helped the reader to find Galen as the man beyond the image of him that has been portrayed down through the ages, whether that image was a positive one of reverence, or a negative one, being derived from his name being associated with stultified and outmoded theories that have been debunked or disproven.\u00a0 Galen, the book makes clear, was an insightful observer and student of Nature, as any good empiricist must be, and he was doing the absolute best he could with the tools and resources that were available to him at the time.\u00a0 Mattern spends a lot of time in the book, and devotes a lot of editorial space, to describing the physician Galen and his methods, and how he pursued medical excellence, in whatever branch of medicine that might be.\u00a0 Regarding drugs and pharmacology, for example, the book discusses Galen\u2019s many journeys to visit the sources for many of the herbal drugs he used, to learn as much about them as he could.\u00a0 Galen never lost sight of the fact that the art of medicine is all about treating patients, Ms. Mattern writes, and a whole chapter in her book deals with Galen and the various patients he treated in a very human manner, showing that, for all his bombastic braggadocio, Galen still had a heart.<\/p>\n

The chapters of this book deal with the major chapters in, and influences on, Galen\u2019s life.\u00a0 The first chapter, \u201cPergamum\u201d, provides an intimate, detailed look at Galen\u2019s hometown, and why he always considered himself to be a native of that city, a Pergamene.\u00a0 It sets the stage for all that is to follow.\u00a0 Mattern\u2019s narrative on the prophetic dream of Galen\u2019s father, Nikon, that he should study medicine, is probably the most detailed and vivid account of that decisive and fated event in the young Galen\u2019s life that I have seen anywhere.\u00a0 The chapter on Learning Medicine provides an in-depth look at Galen\u2019s many different teachers, and what he got from each of them \u2013 and why he considered himself to be an eclectic and a philosopher in all matters medical.\u00a0 Marcus Aurelius and the Plague goes into the complex relationship between Galen and his most famous imperial patron in considerable depth, and also gives interesting details on the making of Galen\u2019s most famous medicinal: the Theriac Electuary. The great fire in Rome, says Mattern, was probably one of the most important events in Galen\u2019s life, with far-reaching consequences.\u00a0 In short, if you want to take a fascinating intellectual journey back in time to the medical world of ancient Rome, I could recommend no better book than this.<\/p>\n

DISCLAIMER:\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong>The information in this article is for educational purposes only, for general health maintenance and prevention, and is not intended to diagnose or treat any medical disease or condition. The reader assumes all personal responsibility and liability for the application of the information contained in this article, and is advised to seek the services of a physician or licensed healthcare practitioner should his or her symptoms or condition persist or worsen.\u00a0<\/em><\/span>\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This article is a review of Susan P. 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