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Medicus between Perception and Reality as Portrayed in Some Non-legal Sources

A reflection of Roman society’s attitude towards the medical profession can be explored through numerous non-legal sources (e.g. Plutarch - Cato Maior 23, 3 ; Plinii Secundi Iunioris - Medicina pr 1-2 ; Martialis - Epigrammata 1, 47 ; 5, 9 ; 8, 74 ; Anthologia Graeca XI, 122), the majority of which portray a physician who misuses his position of trust and authority and acts contrary to the Hippocratic ideal. One of the most severe criticisms of doctors is expressed by Pliny the Elder in his encyclopedic work Naturalis Historiae, where he identifies a doctor as the only person who can deprive someone of existence without being punished (Nat. His. 29, 18: medicoque tantum hominem occidisse inpunitas summa est). Pliny’s stereotype of doctors, who encouraged diseases by causing fear and psychological instability of their patients in order to enrich themselves pertained and was centuries later metamorphosed in numerous literary works. The purpose of this contribution is to evaluate the quoted statements found in literary sources and to investigate whether doctors deserved the bad reputation that they were associated with. By reconstructing the legal framework and liability of the Roman medicus, the focus will be placed on the analysis of the available legal sources in order to clarify what is behind the label ascribed to physicians that “the doctor is worse than the disease itself” (Medicina Plinii pr 1).

medicus ; liability ; literary sources ; perception ; Roman law

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