Galen was a Greek who became the Roman Empire’s greatest physician, authoring more books still in existence than any other Ancient Greek: about 20,000 pages of his work survive. He was the personal physician to Rome’s Emperors for decades.
He consolidated the work of previous Greek medical researchers, adding the results of his own research to create an incredibly long-lasting medical doctrine.
Galen had great expertise in anatomy, surgery, pharmacology, and therapeutic methods. He is famous for bringing philosophy into medicine – although most of his philosophical works have been lost.
The citizens of 1930s Germany and 1970s Cambodia dealt with ruthless dictators and corrupt, vicious governments. The Nazis and the Khmer Rouge turned their countries into police states, with frequent arrests and violence.
