{"id":3685,"date":"2018-06-30T07:32:20","date_gmt":"2018-06-30T07:32:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/schoolshistory.org.uk\/topics\/?page_id=3685"},"modified":"2026-06-21T11:00:34","modified_gmt":"2026-06-21T11:00:34","slug":"medicine-in-the-roman-army","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/schoolshistory.org.uk\/topics\/medicine-through-time\/medicine-in-ancient-rome\/medicine-in-the-roman-army\/","title":{"rendered":"Medicine in the Roman Army"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Roman Army was responsible for many of the great developments of medicine in the Roman era. Care and attention for the army was of vital importance and it was the army that, more often than not, was responsible for implementation of the great Public Health developments around the empire.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Medicine and the Roman Army<\/h3>\n

The need to have a fit and healthy armed force may at first seem both obvious and easy to ensure. In the modern world selection is largely of the fittest and training techniques can be utilised to make sure that they stay this way. In Roman Times the onus was largely upon the military to ensure that recruits had the means to get fit enough prior to enrollment and a large degree of effort was put into providing for the soldiers health once he was enlisted.<\/p>\n

\"Roman<\/a><\/p>\n

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The Military would often be entering and controlling lands with little if any idea of public health or of the need for personal hygiene. Take Britain at the time of the invasion for example. Evidence from the invading Romans suggests that the land was marshy and forever foggy. The Britons had built no public baths, aqueducts or sewage systems. To the conquering Roman Army this was a potentially dangerous situation.<\/p>\n

The evidence of the Army’s importance with regards public health and preventative medicine is clear upon examination of the remains of Hadrian’s Wall and the surrounding areas. Forts along the wall often had baths, there are remains of aqueducts around many Roman sites in Britain and sewage works were common place alongside ‘flushing’ toilets within fort complexes.<\/p>\n

Roman Medicine<\/a> – Medicine and the Roman Army<\/a> – Galen<\/a> – Roman Public Health<\/a> – Revision Game: Medicine in the Ancient World<\/a><\/p>\n

Medicine Through time<\/a>\u00a0\u2013\u00a0Resources for Medicine Through Time<\/a>\u00a0\u2013\u00a0Prehistoric Medicine<\/a>\u00a0\u2013\u00a0Ancient Egyptian Medicine<\/a>\u00a0\u2013\u00a0Ancient Greek Medicine<\/a>\u00a0\u2013\u00a0Medicine in the Roman Empire<\/a>\u00a0\u2013\u00a0Medieval Medicine<\/a>\u00a0\u2013\u00a0Renaissance Medicine<\/a>\u00a0\u2013\u00a0Public Health in the Industrial Revolution<\/a>\u00a0\u2013\u00a0Fight against infectious disease<\/a>\u00a0\u2013\u00a0Modern Medicine<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Roman Army was responsible for many of the great developments of medicine in the Roman era. Care and attention for the army was of vital importance and it was the army that, more often than not, was responsible for implementation of the great Public Health developments around the empire. Medicine and the Roman Army… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":3681,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"neve_meta_sidebar":"","neve_meta_container":"","neve_meta_enable_content_width":"off","neve_meta_content_width":100,"neve_meta_title_alignment":"","neve_meta_author_avatar":"","neve_post_elements_order":"","neve_meta_disable_header":"","neve_meta_disable_footer":"","neve_meta_disable_title":"","footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-3685","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t