Galen
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[[Image:Galen.jpg|thumb|right|Galen.]]
'''Galen''' ([[Greek language|Greek]]: Γαληνός, ''Galēnos''; [[Latin language|Latin]]: ''Claudius Galenus''; AD [[129]]<ref name=EB>{{cite encyclopedia
| title = Galen
| encyclopedia = Encyclopædia Britannica
| volume = IV
| pages = p. 385
| publisher = Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
| date = 1984 }} </ref> –ca. [[200]] or [[216]]) of [[Pergamon]] was a prominent ancient [[Greece|Greek]]<ref>[http://www.britannica.com/eb/topic-223895/Galen-of-Pergamum Galen of Pergamum]</ref> [[physician]], whose theories dominated [[Western culture|Western]] [[medical science]] for well over a millennium. The forename "Claudius", absent in Greek texts, was first documented in texts from the [[Renaissance]] and was probably an erroneous interpretation of "Cl." which stood for "clarissimus".
==Life==
Galen was born in the ancient [[Ancient Greece|Greek]] city [[Pergamon]], [[Mysia]] - then part of the [[Roman Empire]] - now [[Bergama]], [[Turkey]].<ref name=EB/> The son of the wealthy [[architecture|architect]] [[Aeulius Nicon|Nicon]], he had eclectic interests — [[agriculture]], [[architecture]], [[astronomy]], [[astrology]], [[philosophy]] — before finally concentrating on medicine.
By the age of 20, he had served for four years in the local temple as a ''therapeutes'' ("attendant" or "associate") of the [[Greek pantheon|god]] [[Asclepius]]. Although Galen studied the human body, dissection of human corpses was against [[Roman law]], so instead he used [[pig]]s, [[ape]]s, and other animals. The legal limitations forced on him led to quite a number of mistaken ideas about the body. For instance, he thought a group of [[blood vessel]]s near the back of the [[brain]], the [[rete mirabile]], was common in humans, but it is only in animals. After his father's death in 148/149, he left Pergamon to study in [[Smyrna]], [[Corinth]], and [[Alexandria]] for the next 12 years. In 157, Galen returned to his native city, where he worked for three or four years as a physician in a [[gladiator]] school. During this time he gained much experience with treating [[Physical trauma|trauma]] and especially [[wounds]], which he later called "windows into the body".
Galen performed many audacious operations — including brain and [[eye]] surgeries — that were not tried again for almost two millennia. To perform [[cataract]] surgery, he would insert a long needle-like instrument into the eye behind the [[lens (anatomy)|lens]]; He would then pull the instrument back slightly to remove the cataract. The slightest slip could have caused permanent [[blindness]].
Galen moved to [[Rome]] in 162. There he lectured, wrote extensively, and performed public demonstrations of his [[anatomy|anatomical]] knowledge. He soon gained a reputation as an experienced physician, attracting to his practice a large number of clients. Among them was the [[consul]] [[Flavius Boethius]], who introduced him to the imperial court, where he became a physician to Emperor [[Marcus Aurelius]]. Despite being a member of the court, Galen reputedly shunned [[Latin]], preferring to speak and write in his native [[Greek language|Greek]], a tongue that was actually quite popular in [[Rome]]. He would go on to treat Roman luminaries such as [[Lucius Verus]], [[Commodus]], and [[Septimius Severus]]. However, in 166 Galen returned to Pergamon again, where he lived until he went back to Rome for good in 169.
Galen spent the rest of his life at the Roman imperial court, where he was given leave to write and experiment. He performed [[Animal testing|vivisections]] of numerous animals to study the function of the [[kidneys]] and the [[spinal cord]]. His favorite animal subject was the [[Barbary Macaque]].
Galen identified [[vein]]s (dark red) and [[artery|arterial]] (brighter and thinner) blood, each with distinct and separate functions. Venous blood was thought to originate in the liver and arterial blood in the heart; the blood flowed from those organs to all parts of the body where it was consumed.
It has been reported that Galen employed 20 scribes to write down his words.{{Fact|date=May 2007}} In 191, a fire in the Temple of Peace destroyed some of his records.
Because of a reference in the [[10th century]] ''[[Suda]]'' lexicon, the year of Galen's death has traditionally been placed at around 200. However, since some scholars argue that textual evidence shows Galen writing as late as 207, they contend that he lived longer, the latest year proposed being 216.<ref>{{Cite journal
| issn = 00098388
| volume = 23
| issue = 1
| pages = 169
| last = Nutton
| first = Vivian
| title = The Chronology of Galen's Early Career
| journal = The Classical Quarterly
| series = 2
| accessdate = 2007-07-02
| date = 1973-05
| url = http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0009-8388%28197305%292%3A23%3A1%3C158%3ATCOGEC%3E2.0.CO%3B2-S
}}</ref>
==Legacy==
Of Galen’s 600 books, just 20 survive. They were lost in the destruction of the [[library at Alexandria]] and in the general chaos associated with the collapse of the [[Roman empire]]. The Arabs captured and preserved some ancient medical texts during the golden age and expansion of the [[Arab Empire]] - only those works exist today.<ref>[http://www.channel4.com/history/microsites/H/history/a-b/ancientsurgery7.html Channel 4 - History - Ancient surgery<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>
[[Hunayn ibn Ishaq]]'s translation (c.830-870) of 129 of Galen's works into [[Arabic language|Arabic]], in particular Galen's insistence on a rational systematic approach to medicine, set the template for [[Islamic medicine]], which rapidly spread throughout the [[Arab Empire]]. The Arabs held Galen in highest regard.<ref>[http://www.aina.org/aol/peter/greek.htm How Greek Science Passed to the Arabs]</ref> As the title "''Doubts on Galen''" of a book by [[Muhammad ibn Zakarīya Rāzi]] (Rhazes) (d. 925) makes clear, as well as the writings of [[Ibn al-Nafis]], the works of Galen were not taken on unquestioningly, but as a challengeable basis for further [[scientific method|enquiry]]. A strong emphasis on experimentation and [[empiricism]] led to new results and new observations, which were contrasted and combined with those of Galen by writers such as Razi, [[Ali ibn Abbas al-Majusi]] (Haly Abbas), [[Abu al-Qasim al-Zahrawi]] (Abulasis), [[Avicenna|Ibn Sina]] (Avicenna), [[Ibn Zuhr]] (Avenzoar) and Ibn al-Nafis.
[[Constantine the African]] helped reintroduce [[Medicine in ancient Greece|Greek medicine]] to Europe. His translations of Arabic versions of [[Hippocrates]] and Galen first gave the [[Western world|West]] a view of Greek medicine as a whole.<ref>[http://www.uh.edu/engines/epi2097.htm Constantine the African]</ref>
Later, in medieval Europe, Galen's writings on anatomy became the mainstay of the medieval physician's university curriculum. Unlike pagan Rome, Christian Europe did not forbid the dissection and autopsy of the human body and such examinations were carried out regularly from at least the 14th century. However, Galen's influence, as in the Arab world, was so great that when dissections discovered anomalies in Galen's anatomy, the physicians often tried to fit these into the Galenic system. An example of this is [[Mondino de Liuzzi]], who describes rudimentary blood circulation in his writings but still asserts that the left ventricle should contain air.
In the 1530s, Belgian anatomist and physician [[Andreas Vesalius]] took on a project to translate many of Galen's Greek texts into Latin. Vesalius' most famous work, ''[[De humani corporis fabrica]]'', was greatly influenced by Galenic writing and form. Seeking to examine critically Galen's methods and outlook, Vesalius turned to human cadaver dissection as a means of verification. Galen's writings were frequently disproved by Vesalius, who demonstrated Galen's errors through books and hands-on demonstrations. The examinations of Vesalius also disproved medical theories of [[Aristotle]] and [[Mondino de Liuzzi]].
Since some of Galen's writings were translated into [[Arabic]], the [[Middle East]] knows and reveres him as "Jalinos".<ref>''Revolutionizing the Sciences: European Knowledge and Its Ambitions, 1500-1700.'' Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press (2001), 37-39.</ref>
Galen's emphasis on [[bloodletting]] as a remedy for almost any ailment remained influential until well into the 1800s.
==Notes==
<div class="references-small">
<References/>
</div>
==See also==
*[[Aeschrion of Pergamon]]
*[[Antonine Plague]]
*[[Galenic formulation]]
*[[Timeline of medicine and medical technology]]
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==External links==
===Works===
*[http://www.medicinaantiqua.org.uk/tr_GalNatFac1.html Galen, ''On the Natural Faculties''] English translation
*[http://www.medicinaantiqua.org.uk/tr_GNatHom.html Galen, ''Commentary on Hippocrates "On the nature of man"'']
*[http://www.medicinaantiqua.org.uk/tr_GalExhort.html Galen, ''Exhortation to the Study of the Arts especially Medicine: To Menodotus'']
*[http://www.medicinaantiqua.org.uk/tr_GalDreams.html Galen, ''On diagnosis from dreams'']
===Other===
*[http://www.medicinaantiqua.org.uk/bio_gal.html Galen: A Biographical Sketch]
*[http://www.healthsystem.virginia.edu/internet/library/historical/artifacts/antiqua/galen.cfm Galen]
*[http://galen.edu.bz/about.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=17 Galen University]
*[http://www.ancientlibrary.com/medicine/index.html ''Greek Biology and Medicine'' by Henry Osborn Taylor (1922)]
*[http://www.ancientlibrary.com/medicine/0109.html ''Greek Biology and Medicine'' by Henry Osborn Taylor (1922): Chapter 5 - "The Final System: Galen"]
*[http://www.udayton.edu/~hume/Galen/galen.htm Galen, University of Dayton]
[[Category:129 births]]
[[Category:3rd century deaths]]
[[Category:Ancient Greek physicians]]
[[Category:Ancient Greek anatomists]]
[[Category:Ancient Greek science writers]]
[[Category:Ancient Roman physicians]]
[[Category:Herbalists]]
[[Category:History of anatomy]]
[[Category:Roman-era Greeks]]
[[Category:People from Pergamon]]
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