On the Natural Faculties

The Ancient Greeks and Romans were among the first civilizations to show sophistication in the science of medicine, and Galen of Pergamon (129-199/219 A.D.) was the most knowledgeable physician of antiquity. A Greek born in modern day Turkey at the height of the Roman Empire, Galen was a physician, surgeon, and philosopher, writing at length about anatomy, physiology, pathology, pharmacology and neurology, centuries before those scientific fields existed in practice. Galen’s writings were gospel in the West until the Renaissance.

In On The Natural Faculties, Galen provides a compendium of the medical knowledge of the ancient world.