PHYSICIAN

Life
Galen is indisputably the most famous physician of the ancient world, after Hippocrates. He studied at the finest medical schools of the period, first in Asia Minor and then in Alexandria. At the age of 28 he returned to his native Pergamum to practise medicine; five years later he went to Rome, where he acquired a considerable reputation as a surgeon, having had ample experience treating the wounds of gladiators. After a further period at Pergamum (driven out of Rome by the jealousy of local practitioners) he returned to Rome, where he became physician to the emperors Marcus Aurelius, Commodus and Severus.


Work
Galen made a thorough and systematic study of comparative anatomy, and described in full detail many complaints, including pleuritis, peripneumonia, tuberculosis, lung cancer, lithiasis, and the diseases of the liver and the spleen. In the course of his work on herbal remedies, he studied more than 600 species of plants with healing properties, from which he prepared infusions, extracts, tinctures and other preparations, using his own special methods. He published more than 350 books on medicine, natural science and philosophy, which together constitute a complete system of medical philosophy and a compendium of medical knowledge.