CLAUDIUS GALEN AND HIS INFLUENCE ON ANATOMY 53 



seem odd that Galen's career was determined on the basis of a 

 nighttime phantasy of his father, but phenomena of that sort had 

 much more significance in the lives of the people in those days. 

 Also, it seemed to the youth that there was more certainty in study- 

 ing nature, and in particular anatomical dissections, rather than 

 the conflicting opinions existing in rhetoric and dialectics. He 

 may have been influenced in this decision by the presence of 

 Satyros, a famous anatomist, who was on an extended visit to 

 Pergamon. Anatomy seemed to bring him back to reality and 

 reach parts of the truth. He felt that in spite of the accomplish- 

 ments of many brave investigators, the field was still largely virgin, 

 that much needed to be done and that honest labor would be 

 amply re^varded with new discoveries. Galen studied under Satyros 

 for four years and made many private dissections of animals on 

 his father's farm. 



He then left his native city and worked with Pelops in 

 Smyrna, now Izmir, Turkey, a harbor of the Roman East, and 

 finally with Numisianos in Corinth, Greece and Alexandria, 

 Egypt. By this time, he was a full-fledged comparative anatomist. 

 Galen reached Alexandria, probably toward the end of A.D. 152 

 at the age of twenty-two, and remained there for five years. It 

 should be mentioned that he had no recourse to human subjects 

 while at the last city, although it was the main, scientific center 

 of the Roman Empire. The most he saw there in the way of 

 human structure were two skeletons. From these, he probably 

 learned much of his osteology. Later, he advised students to go 

 to Alexandria, to see these two rare specimens, which may have 

 been the only assembled ones existing in the world. The anato- 

 mists he mentioned as being present at Alexandira were, Herac- 

 leianos, Lycos and Julianos, the last being a very fluent though 

 superficial teacher; Galen classified him with the herd of Thes- 

 salian asses. 



By the time Galen had reached the age of twenty-eight, he 

 had devoted twelve of them to the study of medicine, chiefly anat- 

 omy; he already had written a number of medical treatises. 

 On returning to his native city of Pergamon, he was welcomed 

 and glorified. Between A.D. 158-161, he served as a physician to 

 gladiators, being appointed by the chief priest of the Asklepieion, 



