Greco-Roman Medical Equipment (Reproductions) Collection

Dr. Francis Rosenbaum, of the Milwaukee Academy of Medicine, donated a 36-piece collection of these reproductions to the MPM in 1954. This donation represents the majority of the collection – exceptions noted as appropriate. The original medical tools found in Pompeii are on display at the National Archaeological Museum in Naples.

The larger pieces – in particular the specula – are fascinating because they are so similar to tools used well into the 20th century. Anyone in the medical profession would easily recognize the function and purpose of the specula and many of the other tools.

Descriptions accompanying the photos are drawn primarily from J.S. Milne’s “Surgical Instruments in Greek and Roman Times” (1907).

Collection Items

Catalog Number : 15957 (formerly 3894)
Accession Number : 213
Greek needle with large eye and decorative tip.
Catalog Number : 2385
Accession Number : 17465

Anti-Adhesion Tube motos molubous (Greek); plumbea fistula (Latin) Milne tells us that: "After operations on the nose, rectum, vagina, etc., it was usual to insert a tube of lead or bronze to prevent contraction or adhesion and also to convey medicaments."

Catalog Number : 2385
Accession Number : 17465
Decorative medical spoon and knife set.
Catalog Number : 2385
Accession Number : 17465

Shears, Scissors psalis (Greek); forfex (Latin) These were usually used to cut hair, what Oribasius and Celsus call a "therapeutic procedure". It seems that the blades could not be sharpened to use for cutting tissue, although they would have been used to remove hair around a surgical site prior to surgery.

Catalog Number : 2385
Accession Number : 17465

Hooks, Blunt and Sharp agkistron (Greek); hamus, acutus (Latin) Both sharp and blunt hook types are still in use by doctors today. Blunt hooks were primarily used as probes for dissection and for raising blood vessels. Sharp hooks were used to retract the edges of wounds and to hold and lift small pieces of tissue so that they could be extracted.

Catalog Number : 2385
Accession Number : 17465

Clysters klyster or metregchutes (Greek); clyster (Latin) A clyster is a syringe-like tool intended for pushing fluids into the body or pulling them from the body. Milne tells us: "The ancients made frequent use of injections into the various orifices of the body." While some sources identify these as enema clysters, Milne refers to these as cannulae for draining abnormal accumulations of abdominal fluid (Ascites).

Catalog Number : 2385
Accession Number : 17465
Large needle-like tool This large tool has a needle-like tip with eye and a half-ball head. The specific purpose of this tool is currently unidentified. Milne does not include this item in his 1907 text, nor does it appear in descriptions of the other larger collections of Pompeii surgical/medical tools.1907 text, nor does it appear in descriptions of the other larger collections of Pompeii surgical/medical tools.
Catalog Number : 2385
Accession Number : 17465

Spatula Probes spathumeles (Greek); spathomeles (Latin) Spathomeles were a combination of spatula and probe, one of the most commonly encountered ancient Greco-Roman pharmaceutical tools. These tools are so commonly found archaeologically that it is likely they served multiple uses beyond the medicinal. Probes and spatulas may have been used as surgical probes, medicament preparation tools, or simply as makeup applicators.

Catalog Number : 2385
Accession Number : 17465

Tile Cautery kauterion (Greek); ferrum candens (Latin) Cauteries were heated and used to burn tissue for multiple purposes. Milne refers to texts by Galen, Hippocrates, Paul, and others to list just some of the uses including: ?as a ?counter-irritant?, as a haemostatic, as a bloodless knife, as a means of destroying tumours, etc.? Most cauteries were made of iron and therefore did not survive from antiquity.

Catalog Number : 2385
Accession Number : 17465

Bone Levers mochliskos (Greek); osteotomes (Latin) Milne references Galen, Hippocrates, and Paul to suggest that bone levers were used to lift fractured bones into position. These tools may also have been used for levering out teeth.