Explorations into Roman surgery

I'm researching and comparing the finds made in other houses in Pompeii designated as houses of physicians with the finds made in the House of the Prince of Naples since scattered surgical instruments were found there and came across an interesting observation in an Italian research paper describing the use of surgical instruments found in Pompeii. Michele di Gerio, in her article entitled "Study on surgical instruments of the National Archaeological Museum of Naples" published in the Rivista di Studi Pompeiani Vol. 25 (2014), pp. 93-110, observes that although cauterization was advantageous for the treatment of abscesses after the infection was drained and was sometimes applied to the bites of rabid dogs, it was rarely used in non-military settings and only if the patient was well fed and in otherwise good physical condition to limit the damage of stress. Pythagoreans, although they frequently used ointments and poultices for wound care, did not practice cauterization.

I also learned that late 19th century archaeologists divided scalpels into two categories, the flat type and the type shaped like an olive leaf. When I translated the Italian find summaries for the House of the Prince of Naples,I thought the reference to the olive leaf in regards to the scalpel found in the kitchen was a literal description of the handle and thought it may have been repurposed for use in the kitchen to disarticulate meat because I had never seen any surgical instruments in Pompeii exhibits that had olive leaves depicted on the handle. But in fact it was a common description for scalpel types used by late 19th century archaeologists. It may have ended up in the kitchen for cleaning since there was a water channel found running between the kitchen and cistern in the garden or the instrument may have fallen from the upper story where the inhabitants of the house had private rooms.

Image: Ancient Roman Surgeon's tools recovered from Pompeii at "Pompeii the Exhibit" at the Pacific Science Center in Seattle, Washington.

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Roman surgical instruments focus of new show

One of the most complete sets of surgical instruments from the ancient world has gone on show in the Italian city of Rimini.

Archaeologists there have been excavating the house of a surgeon who operated nearly 2,000 years ago.

They found more than 150 different surgical instruments, like scalpels, scissors, weighing scales, and forceps.

The house was built in the 2nd Century AD and destroyed by fire in the barbarian invasions a century later.

Painstakingly, for 17 years archaeologists have been digging away in the centre of Rimini, a city on the Adriatic sea, laying bare the ruins of one of the world's oldest doctor's surgeries.

Greek inscriptions

One unique tool, unknown to archaeologists until now, was a device apparently designed to extract arrowheads from wounded soldiers.

They also found a pestle and mortar in which the surgeon most likely mixed compounds of herbal anaesthetics to relieve pain.

A ceramic hot water bottle in the shape of a foot is believed to have been used for treating foot pains.

The consulting rooms included a high backed chair for the doctor, who may have been a Greek, to judge from the Greek language inscriptions found.

An operating room has a bed along one wall and the name Eutyches, which may have been the doctor's name, was scratched upon the wall.

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