1. Roman doctors
Anyone could practise as a doctor without training or any regulation. Like the Greeks, however, many doctors were keen to find out more and trained by working for experienced doctors and/or by reading the Hippocratic Collection of books.
Others travelled to Alexandria, the capital of the medical world. Here, libraries built by the Greeks contained medical books and writings from Greece, China, Egypt and India. Doctors went to Alexandria to share ideas and to gain new medical knowledge. It was also the only place where they were allowed to dissect a human body.

2. Galen Rome’s most famous doctor was Galen. Name: Galen Born:
AD 129 in Greece
Occupation:
Doctor
Education:
Studied medicine from age 17; Later studied in Alexandria.
Career highlights:
Worked in an Asclepeia in Greece;
Surgeon at gladiators’ school;
Doctor to the Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius;
Teacher of doctors.

3. Galen’s four methods and his importance

4. The problem with Galen
The main reason that Galen is so important in the history of medicine is that his methods and ideas were followed for some 1,500 years. Throughout this time Galen’s theories remained unquestioned throughout Europe.
Why do you think that doctors’ acceptance of Galen’s ideas could be damaging to the progress of medicine?