106G 



than exceptional is shown by the historical evidence that Democedes 

 of Croton was the municipal doctor in Aegina and by the scholarly 

 judfifment of Dr. Henry E. Sigerist, an historian of medicine, that no 

 doubt most of the larger Greek cities had their publicly ai:)pointed doc- 

 tors from the sixth century B.C.^^ 



From the fourth century B.C., Greek physicians began to immi- 

 grate into Rome. Most were adventurers, and at first were strongly 

 resented by Romans. In Rome^ the first physicians were slaves and the 

 level of medical knowledge very primitive. The superior ability of the 

 Greeks was soon recognized. As the special needs of the empire 

 mounted, resentment softened and "pull" factors were created to in- 

 crease the inflow of Greek doctors. Rome's frequent wars created an 

 increasing demand for many army surgeons. Accordingly, the policy 

 towards foreign physicians was moderated and eventually changed 

 entirely. Special inducements were granted to attract as many Greek 

 physicians as possible. In 46 B.C., «Tulius Caesar extended the highly 

 valued right of Roman citizenship to all free-born Greek physicians 

 residing on Roman territory. Doctors were free from taxation, spared 

 the obligations of military service and public office, and were not re- 

 quired to accept lodgers. In brief, the Romans created powerful in- 

 centives to stimulate the immigration of doctors from Greece.^-^ 



ALEXANDRIA OF THE PTOLEMIES 



Around 300 B.C., the center of learning and scholarship shifted 

 from Athens to Alexandria. This transfer came about as the result 

 of conscious government polic,y. Aware of the pi-actical as well as 

 the esthetic vahie of learning, the first king of the Ptolemaic dynasty 

 and his successors determined to establish Hellenic culture in Egypt 

 to surpass Athens itself. This policy was to be maintained by successive 

 rulers for hundreds of years.'^^ 



As the location of this new center of learning the Ptolemies picked 

 Alexandria, then a newly built city on the site of an Egyptian fishing 

 village. Using the resources of tlie state, they set out to make Alexan- 

 dria the center of science, philosophy, scholarship, and art of the 

 known world. To accomplish this task, they used their great wealth 

 and exerted their powerful influence in transferring from Athens to 

 Alexandria everything that could advance their purposes: books, in- 

 struments, organizational and institutional patterns, and above all 

 manpower.*^* 



As brain drainers of the ancient world, the Ptolemies seemed to have 

 outdistanced even the Greeks of Athens. Manpower problems for the 

 new center were solved in the course of time by importing hundreds 

 of scholars from abroad : philosophers, mathematicians, physicians, 

 botanists, zoologists, astronomers, astrologers, philologists, historians 

 of literature, geographers, artists, and poets. And these "in-house schol- 

 ars" were supplemented by a constant stream of visiting scientists 



io«i?*'I!'"^ ^- ^o?,^i*S*V,^*'^- ^ Ifi^iory of Medicine. (New York: Oxford University Press. 



lyt*!), V. J, pp. oun— oil. 



vA^*xt^^^k'^""^^*'"^',HP,- ^^ ^^"'^ ^- Sigerist an the History of. Medicine. (New 

 York : MD publications. 1960), p 7. v i . y 



«3 Dedljer, op. cit., p. 14. 



«* Ibid. 



