로마 군대 내에서의 의료

Abstract

Nations has been always interested in disease control and health of its members. However, unlike in modern times, it is difficult to find traces of departments in charge of public health management in ancient society, including ancient Rome. The Roman administrative system had a character quite different from that of modern times. In ancient Rome, it can be said that the Roman army has the most traces of the nation's interest in the health of its members. This study attempts to focus on medicine in the Army of ancient Rome. Roman army played a key role in the expansion of ancient Rome's territory. In the early days of Rome when the war broke out not far from the city of Rome, injured soldiers were carried to the houses of aristocrats in the city of Rome for treatment. In the 3rd century B.C.E., a Greek surgeon called Archagathus appeared in Roman society and Greek medical technology was introduced into Rome. As long-distance expeditions became more common, surgical treatment in the battlefield would have also become common. Although Cicero was the first to use the word medicus in the late Republican period, until the early days of the Empire, the commanders, including the imperial figures, showed a compassionate attitude of distributing their equipment or drugs to patient treatment on the battlefield. This shows the situation in which the organized medical system within the Roman army has not yet been fully established. Archaeological materials such as tablets of Vindolanda and papyrus of Oxyrhynchus from the imperial period confirm the existence of professional medical personnel in the army. In particular, in the inscriptions of medici, various epithets of medicus, the person's career, medical-related deity, and phrases wishing for the health of the unit to which they belong are identified. Medical professionals such as Cribonius Largus and Pedanius Dioscorides, who wrote outstanding writings during imperial period, also served in the army. For doctors, Roman army was a stable place for employment where they could meet various patients and they often had the advantage such as tax exemption for serving the country. During the imperial period, when it became common for large-scale legions to be stationed in marginal areas for a long time, the Roman army built military hospitals(valetudinaria) in these areas. The remains of military hospitals excavated from Neuss, Inchtuthil, Vindolanda, Novae and Xanten (Vetera) were almost equipped with lighting, water supply and sewage treatment facilities. They had an aisle ward structure to accommodate a large number of convalescent patients, similar to the modern hospitals. In some cases, such as in Baden, public baths were built with military hospitals and used to recover and treat sick soldiers. Depending on what archaeological results are added from the remains of a military hospital that are still being excavated, research in this field will become more active in the future. The medical care in the Roman army was gradually developed according to the necessity as the characteristics of the Roman army changed. There is still little evidence we have to answer what kind of intended direction or contemplated structural plan was underlying. However, it is clear that the existence of this medical system has made serving in the Roman army more attractive. In particular, valentudinaria were mainly built for legion soldiers stationed near the Roman border which was the periphery less influenced by Roman civilization. Compared to the situation of locals, these benefits could have sufficiently boosted the morale and pride of Roman soldiers. Given medici with sufficient medical experience would have worked as medical personnel in the civil society after being discharged, the medical system within the Roman army is thought to have also contributed to improving the medical level of Roman society as a whole.