Past, Present, and Future in Galen's Pharmacology

Manuela Marai

Galen of Pergamon (129-216 AD) is a pivotal figure in the history of medicine and pharmacology, and his influence extended to the Renaissance and beyond. He collected, reinterpreted, expanded, and rationalized previous medical and philosophical doctrines, concepts, and notions as well as pharmacological formulations.

Ancient medicine and pharmacologyhave been looked at with a certain scepticism in the pastand dismissed as unscientific and ineffectivedue to the limited knowledge of the texts and of plant pharmacological properties. However, alongside the development ofethnopharmacology, which studies the properties of natural substances in traditional medicines, a recent reassessment of ancient pharmacology suggested its use as sources for drug discovery as well, even though many historians are still suspicious because of the risk of anachronistic interpretations, and scientists interested in the efficacy of Graeco-Roman remedies appear uninterested in the ancient theories.

This talk will explore Galen’s relationship with his own past and our relationship with ancient medicine, suggesting the importance of a different approach that could offer pathways for modern physicians to learn from historical methods of healing and shed light on the rationale of ancient medicine.