Medicine and the Law Under the Roman Empire

This book explores the relationship between medicine and law in the ancient Roman world, arguing that elite practitioners' literatures were not utilitarian but aesthetically inflected and carried socio-political competition. It suggests that high stakes agonism marked the quotidian practice of both fields, resulting in them functioning as forms of popular public entertainment. The effects of rhetoric and the rhetorical education of the elite were constantly apparent in both the literature on and the practice of medicine and law. The book argues that medicine and law were nested in a complex matrix of social, political, and intellectual crosscurrents, and that they differed fundamentally from their modern counterparts. It poses forward-looking questions about what ancient Roman medicine and law were meant or geared to accomplish and how the substance of these fields was crafted with an eye to fulfilling those peculiarly ancient needs and desires.

Format: Hardback
Length: 368 pages
Publication date: 01 June 2023
Publisher: Oxford University Press

This groundbreaking collection of scholarly research explores the intricate relationship between medicine and law in the ancient Roman world. It demonstrates how these two fields were shaped by the unique needs and desires of their practitioners and users, and it offers three compelling avenues for understanding their interconnection.

Firstly, the collection argues that the literatures produced by elite practitioners, such as Galen or Ulpian, were not merely utilitarian but were also aesthetically inflected works of literature. These texts carried with them all the disparate baggage associated with any form of literature in the Roman context, including socio-political competition and high stakes agonism. As a result, medicine and law became forms of popular public entertainment, with both fields functioning as vehicles for showcasing the skills and expertise of their practitioners.

Secondly, the collection suggests that the effects of rhetoric and the deeply rhetorical education of the elite were constantly apparent in both the literature on and the practice of medicine and law. The introduction to the volume emphasizes that medicine was not merely contrived to ensure healing of the infirm by doctors, and law did not single-mindedly aim to regulate society in a consistent, orderly, and binding fashion. Instead, both fields were nested in a complex matrix of social, political, and intellectual crosscurrents, all of which served to shape the very substances of these fields themselves.

Thirdly, the collection presents case studies in both fields and on each of these topics, accompanied by contextualizing essays. Through these case studies, the volume demonstrates that the blanket results of all this were profound. Medicine and law were not separate entities but were deeply intertwined, with each field influencing and shaping the other in significant ways. The volume raises forward-looking questions about the nature of these interconnections and their implications for our understanding of the ancient world.

In conclusion, this innovative collection of scholarly research provides a fresh and insightful perspective on the relationship between medicine and law in the ancient Roman world. It challenges traditional narratives and offers a more nuanced understanding of these two fields, highlighting their complex interconnections and their profound impact on the society of the time.

Weight: 678g
Dimension: 242 x 163 x 24 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780192898616