Antiqua Medicina: Surgery

Surgery and Surgical Instruments. Recovered surgical instruments used during the Roman Empire indicate that the art of surgery progressed and proliferated greatly during this time. Both Galen and Celsus emphasized the importance of surgery in the training of the conscientious physician, although they came from divergent medical traditions (Celsus, prooemium VII; Galen, II, 272). Technical competence in surgery became better as new medical tools were devised. New metals and alloys were found to provide sharper edges and cheaper equipment. Most instruments were made of bronze, or occasionally of silver. Iron was rarely used because, as in most ancient cultures, it was considered a religious taboo by both the Greeks and Romans. The full repertoire of Roman surgical equipment is still far from completely known.