Roman Medicine and Medical Tools

During the Roman Empire, bronze was the most used material for daily life objects: Romans poured melted bronze in clay moulds in order to create little artefacts. A lot of items that we use nowadays were already used in Ancient Rome. This is the case for tweezers, which were mainly used, as today, to remove unwanted hair, but could have also served as surgical instrument.

Roman bronze scalpels

Scalpels

Scalpels were made of steel, bronze and iron, or a combination of either material, and were used to make incisions. Ancient scalpels had almost the same form and function as their modern counterparts

Hooks

These were long thin, metal instruments which were used as probes for manoeuvring small pieces of tissue more easily. Hooks were another common instrument used regularly by Greek and Roman doctors. The hooks the ancient doctors used came in two basic varieties: sharp and blunt.

Bone drills

Bone drills were used to remove diseased bone tissue from various bones, or to drill holes to allow access to blocked parts of the body.

Probes or Curettes

A popular medical tool, used to mix, measure and apply medicaments. Large numbers of cyathiscomeles survive, suggesting the tool was not only used for medical purposes but also by the general public.

roman bronze medical tool

Discover more Roman medical Tools…

By Virginia,

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