2. Galen's Later Career, c. 168-217

About this Lecture

Lecture

In this module, we look at Galen’s later career. We see how Galen became the doctor to the Roman emperors and how he developed his thinking. We examine closely the connection between Galen and the early Greek doctor Hippocrates.

Course

In this course, Professor Vivian Nutton (University College London) looks at the life of the ancient doctor Galen of Pergamon. We start by looking at the early career of Galen. We then examine his later career when he served as physician to the emperors of Rome. We then turn to look at his medical theories and practice. After this we move on to discuss Galen’s anatomy. Finally, we examine Galen’s legacy on medicine from antiquity to the present day.

Lecturer

Vivian Nutton is Emeritus Professor at the UCL Centre for the History of Medicine and current President of the Centre for the Study of Medicine and the Body in the Renaissance (CSMBR). He has written extensively on Galen (129-216 C.E.) and the Galenic tradition, and has also written more generally on medicine in classical antiquity. His recent work has centred on the Renaissance anatomist, Andreas Vesalius.