The Romans brought to Britain new foods and a different approach to health from the continent. They excelled in public health, demonstrated by their gymnasiums and public baths. Public hospitals were established and attended by public doctors who treated the poor, although most people were treated at home by friends or relatives. Still, medical knowledge of how the body worked and how disease spread, was still primitive.
Prevention was placed in the hands of individuals through personal hygiene. Think about your characters. Did they attend the public baths, or were they affluent enough to have luxurious bathing at home? How might their everyday, personal actions show their personality or add authenticity to your story?
What ails you? Medical treatment through time – The History Quill
Click through for a look at how both prevention and cures were managed in different time periods.
Sharon E. Cathcart 