Synopses & Reviews
Galen, as gladiator doctor in Pergamum, friend of several members of the Roman upper class, and family physician of the emperors in Rome, was well acquainted with the living conditions of all strata of Roman society of the second century A.D. For the first time, in this book all of Galen's writings are analyzed as a contribution to the social history of the Roman Empire. The author considers the special perspective offered by Galen's background, career, and motives for writing. The material is presented first following Galen's biography; the study then branches out to chapters on slavery and other overarching aspects of the world Galen knew.
Synopsis
Galen is today primarily known as one of the fathers of modern medicine yet, as this study shows, his writings are also important for the information they contain about Roman society during the 2nd century AD. Schlange-Schoningen's thesis presents a biography of Galen, discussing his family, his training in Alexandria, his career as a gladiatorial doctor in Pergamon and his life in Rome. Sections also examine Galen's relations with a succession of emperors and his attitudes towards Judaism, Christianity and slavery. This specialist study is heavily annotated, particularly with lengthy extracts from Galen's works in the original Greek.
Synopsis
Galen hat als Gladiatorenarzt in Pergamon, als Freund etlicher Mitglieder der romischen Oberschicht und als Hausarzt der Kaiser in Rom die Lebensbedingungen aller Schichten der romischen Gesellschaft des 2. Jahrhunderts n. Chr. kennen gelernt. Die vorliegende Arbeit unternimmt erstmals eine Auswertung des gesamten Corpus Galenicum fur die Sozialgeschichte der romischen Kaiserzeit. Dabei wird die besondere Perspektive berucksichtigt, die sich aus Galens Herkunft und Laufbahn sowie der Motivation seiner Schriften ergibt. Die Darstellung folgt zunachst der Biographie Galens, bietet aber auch ubergreifende Kapitel, z. B. zur Sklaverei.