Molly Jones-Lewis
Lecturer, Ancient Studies, UMBC

Medicine and risk are inseparable companions. But in Ancient Rome, the social position of physicians created special challenges for patients and physicians. How do you judge competence and negligence when there is not yet consensus on how the human body works? How does a legal system that decides protections and penalties based on social and citizenship status function when both patients and physicians can be enslaved, immigrants, and citizens? Fortunately, a large body of literary and material evidence exists for both the medical and legal profession in ancient Rome, since Roman sources formed the basis of medical and legal education for years in both European and Arab universities. This talk will focus on the case of a Roman OB/GYN accused of murder preserved in the Digest of Roman Law compiled under Justinian.

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