Featured Life in the Byzantine empire

That is a wonderful gesture ....

 

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The book arrived today. It is a most generous prize and looks deep enough that I will take months to read it even in a cursory manner. It starts c,300AD using the 'inclusive' definition of Byzantine. I hope to post a review but it probably will be 2022 before I have digested those 773 pages!

 

A new coin arrived today, so it is a good opportunity to add the second chapter to this Byzantine presentation. The coin itself is a lovely example of a Theophilos follis. Big and irregular flan, and with lots of details surviving on the obverse. This chapter will be all about Byzantine healthcare.



Life in the so called middle-ages wasn't easy, and the prospect of getting seriously ill must have been quite dreadful. That was definitely true for Western Europe, but as evidence suggests it wasn't quite a death sentence if you were a citizen of the Byzantine empire. In fact, the public health services seemed quite advanced even by today's standards. Especially if you happen to live in a country where the idea of free government-based healthcare is generally frowned upon. Obviously we are not going to compare the medical knowledge of then with the scientific advances of today, that would be plain silly. But as far as good intentions go, the Byzantines get full marks!

Most of the medical science and organisation was inherited by the Greeks and Romans. The key thing was that medical research was still ongoing, to a much larger degree compared to the Latin world. Existing books on medicine were copied and re-written and new authors popped up all the time. One of the most prominent ones was Paul of Aegina who is responsible for the "Medical Compendium in Seven Books" which became such a best seller that it was also very popular in the Islamic world and its influence lasted for many centuries. Medieval medicine is often proven wrong (no surprise there) and there seems to be a strange obsession with blood-letting (an episode of Black-Adder with leeches comes to mind). But Paul's work is very detailed and far from comedic. Here is a sample from "On Fracture and Contusion of The Thigh and The Nose":

Many other distinguished Byzantine scholars remained relevant for centuries after Constantinople fell. The writings of Nicholas Myrepsos for example were part of the Parisian medical faculty until the mid-17th century. The Byzantines were very interested in areas such as what causes old age and morbidity, and what is the optimal diet and lifestyle for a long and healthy life. They weren't only about theory though. They were keen to put all this medical knowledge into practice and thus the hospital system was born. This was based to some degree to the Roman predecessor, but it quickly became a Byzantine invention that was not too far apart from what modern hospitals look like.

Most of them started out as church-sponsored institutions for the poor and dying. In early days they were mostly there to shelter the ones in need and provide comfort to the dying rather than focus on trying to cure them. It wasn't long before they evolved into rather large establishments with different departments and sectors where the medical knowledge where put into good use. There where wings focusing on surgery and trauma, while others were focused on ophthalmology, maternity and other areas. What might come as a surprise to a modern audience, is that you were guaranteed a private bed, and hospitals provided clean clothes and sheets for its inhabitants. The importance of cleanliness was known to the Byzantines as the doctors were obliged by the rules to wash their hands and hospitals even employed staff called "akonetes" that their job was to maintain hospital tools and keep surgical instruments clean. They weren't shy about performing complex procedures. The first recorded attempt of separating conjoined twins took place in the 10th century. One of the conjoined twins had already died and surgeons attempted to separate it from the surviving one. Such a procedure was not repeated until 1689 in Germany.

It wasn't all about the chop though. The Byzantines had an extensive arsenal of medicines at their disposal. Alexander of Tralles in his writings mentions over six hundred drugs used for various illnesses. Some of these are still used to this day.

Hospitals were quite common throughout the empire and the bigger cities had several of them. They were mostly used by the common people, while the upper classes had either personal physicians or the doctors came to them in case of need. What is plain obvious is that it wasn't a dog eat dog society. Philanthropy played a very important role and public services were an expected part of daily life.

Feel free to add any coins or info you think may be relevant.