"It is difficult to find a scholar with more expertise in Greco-Roman medical texts than Nutton, or as much historical breadth and range. Indeed, this is the only book available in English that offers a comprehensive survey of the long and complex tradition of Greek medicine from its earliest periods to the end of the Roman empire... Nutton masterfully guides the reader through the massive amount of literary, scientific, philosophical and material evidence, constructing a coherent and compelling narrative of the often heroic attempts of ancient doctors to understand and treat disease. The new edition will be essential as a starting point for all serious students of Greek and Roman medicine." - Ralph M. Rosen, University of Pennsylvania, USA.
"The first edition of Vivian Nutton's Ancient Medicine (2004) is already established as the most authoritative, and expansive, synthetic treatment of the subject available... This new edition is motivated by the recent discovery, and/or publication, of new evidence to add to this rich picture, as well as the continued development of the scholarly field more broadly. All of this is encompassed in Nutton's new edition, from the items that have made a big splash, to those that have more stealthily crept up on us... None of this changes the basic pattern which Nutton outlines, all can be incorporated into his basic narrative, but this is still an even richer, and more complex, version of that story: the new edition is even more authoritative as a result." - Rebecca Flemming, University of Cambridge, UK.
Praise for the first edition (2004):
'A worthy enterprise ... The result is a masterful evaluation of health and disease ... Galen would have been pleased.' - W.F Bynum, The Times Higher Education Supplement
'[A] near-masterpiece, Ancient Medicine is a huge quarry, fit for mining and exploitation by those who have the proper equipment.' - BMCR
'This is an impressive piece of research. It will . . . serve both as introduction and as comprehensive guide for generations of scholars interested in the development of medical ideas from early Greece to late antiquity . . . This book is an essential tool for anyone interested in the history of Western medicine.' - Biblical Theology Bulletin
