A Father’s Dream
Pergamon
A Temple of Healing
Asclepius
Galen’s Medical Education
Ancient Understandings of the Body
Hippocrates & the Humors
Bedside Showdowns
Attracting an Audience
Gladiators
Gladiatorial Medicine
Dissections & Vivisections
Therapeutics
How to Choose a Doctor
Patient Portal
Pharmacology
Surgery
Regimen
Diet
Activity
Aging
Veiled Problems
Women Healers
Midwifery
A Woman’s Body
Prognosis
Medicine & Magic
The Cost of Treatment
Range of Patients
Empire & City
The Plague
The Fire
Galen’s Legacy
Imagining Galen
A Father’s Dream
Pergamon
A Temple of Healing
Asclepius
Galen’s Medical Education
Ancient Understandings of the Body
Hippocrates & the Humors
Bedside Showdowns
Attracting an Audience
Gladiators
Gladiatorial Medicine
Dissections & Vivisections
Therapeutics
How to Choose a Doctor
Patient Portal
Pharmacology
Surgery
Regimen
Diet
Activity
Aging
Veiled Problems
Women Healers
Midwifery
A Woman’s Body
Prognosis
Medicine & Magic
The Cost of Treatment
Range of Patients
Empire & City
The Plague
The Fire
Galen’s Legacy
Imagining Galen
PATIENT PORTAL
What kind of healer would you choose?
Learn more about the methods of ancient healers.
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Votive relief depicting Asclepius healing a patient in her sleep, with Hygieia standing behind the god. Greek, ca. 400–350 BCE. Marble. Temple of Asclepius (Asclepieion), Piraeus, near Athens. H. 42 cm; W. 79 cm. Archaeological Museum of Piraeus: MP 405. Photo: Sites & Photos / Art Resource, NY.
How much attention do you pay to your dreams?
I live by dreams
I pay attention and think about my dreams fairly regularly
I only remember the weird dreams
What dreams? I don’t remember them.
Hippocrates shown as a medieval university physician administering medication from a sponge or dish to a bedridden patient, attended by a student or an assistant. From De regimine acutorum, in medical texts known as the Articella (Paris, 1st quarter of 14th century), folio 39r. British Library: MS Harley 3140. Photo: British Library.
When you are down with the flu, what do you do?
Pray
I eat my grandma’s chicken soup
I call my doctor and take an extra vitamin
I reach straight for the antibiotics
Reduction of the spine, with an assistant sitting on the patient’s back. From Apollonius of Citium, Treatise on Joint Dislocations (10th century CE), fol. 202v. Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana: Plut. 74.7. Photo: Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana digital repository.
You have extreme back pain. What do you do?
I think good thoughts and rest
I google remedies for back pain
I see my chiropractor or physical therapist and do the prescribed exercises
I take the newest drug that all my friends are talking about
Detail from a mosaic depicting women engaged in sports. Roman, early 4th century CE. Room of the Ten Girls, Villa Romana del Casale, near Piazza Armerina, Sicily, Italy. Photo: SuperStock / Alamy Stock Photo.
What best describes your exercise routine?
Mostly I like to sleep, but I’ll exercise when the spirit moves me
I’m too exhausted at the end of the workday for exercise
I have a well-rounded exercise routine, but I’m not a fitness fanatic
I’m a sucker for the latest designer workout
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