Galen

Roman and Greek physician whose medical theories dominated for over 1,300 years.

His views on anatomy and medicine, based on the four humors theory, dominated Western medical science for over 1,300 years.^[1] Evidence indicates he was physician to gladiators and later to emperors Commodus and Septimius Severus.^[2][3]

Last updated 2026-09-30 from the source article.

Quick Facts

Born

129 CE

Birthplace

Pergamon, Roman Asia

Fields

Anatomy
Medicine
Philosophy

Facts from the source article.

Life and work

Galen's father, Aelius Nicon, was a wealthy patrician architect who exposed him to philosophy and literature.^[4][5] After his father died in 148, Galen traveled widely to study medicine, including to Alexandria.^[6] Only five gladiator deaths occurred during his four-year tenure, compared to sixty under his predecessor.^[2] He treated the Peripatetic philosopher Eudemus for quartan fever when other doctors had given up.^[7][8]

Galen left Rome after fearing he might be poisoned or exiled due to conflicts with other physicians.^[9] Galen continued writing in his final years, finishing treatises on drugs and a compendium of diagnostics.^[10] At age 28, in 157, Galen went back to Pergamon, taking up the role of physician to the gladiators employed by the High Priest of Asia.^[2] In 162, Galen traveled to Rome and established himself there as a practicing physician.^[7]

What the cited sources add

The BBC account states that Galen was the originator of the experimental method in medical investigation.^[11] Drizis's analysis notes that Galen's treatise "The Best Physician is Also a Philosopher" outlines medical ethics ideals that have remained valid.^[12] He switched to pigs for research after finding Barbary ape facial expressions too vivid, to avoid prosecution.^[13] His theory of the circulatory system remained unchallenged until Ibn al-Nafis published his discovery of pulmonary circulation in 1242.^[14]

Because human dissection was prohibited in the Roman Empire during his time, Galen's anatomical descriptions were primarily derived from dissecting Barbary apes.^[10] Galen advised his students to examine the bodies of dead gladiators or corpses that had washed ashore to improve their knowledge of human anatomy.^[13]

References

Wikipedia, "Galen" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Nutton, "The Fatal Embrace: Galen and the History of Ancient Medicine", Science in Context, 2005, p. 111–121 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
Wikipedia, "Galen" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Nutton Vivian, "The Chronology of Galen's Early Career", Classical Quarterly, 1973, p. 158–171; Ustun C. Galen and his anatomic eponym: Vein of Galen. Clinical Anatomy Volume 17 Issue 6 454–457, 2004; Galen, "Galen on Food and Diet", Psychology Press, 2018; Gleason, M. Making Men: Sophists and Self-Presentation in Ancient Rome. Princeton 1995 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
Wikipedia, "Galen" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: R. J. Littman and M. L. Littman, 1973 Galen and the Antonine Plague, The American Journal of Philology 94 no. 3, pp. 243–255 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
Wikipedia, "Galen" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Nutton Vivian, "The Chronology of Galen's Early Career", Classical Quarterly, 1973, p. 158–171 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
Wikipedia, "Galen" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Nutton Vivian, "The Chronology of Galen's Early Career", Classical Quarterly, 1973, p. 158–171; Hankinson, "The Cambridge Companion to Galen", Cambridge University Press, 2008, p. 1–33 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
Wikipedia, "Galen" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Hippocrates Collected Works I", daedalus.umkc.edu (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
Wikipedia, "Galen" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Hankinson, "The Cambridge Companion to Galen", Cambridge University Press, 2008, p. 1–33; Luis Garcia-Ballester, 2002, Galen and Galenism, Burlington: Ashgate-Variorum, p. 1641 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
Wikipedia, "Galen" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Arthur John Brock, 1929, Greek Medicine, London: J. M. Dent and Sons, Ltd., p. 207. (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
Wikipedia, "Galen" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Arthur John Brock, 1929, Greek Medicine, London: J. M. Dent and Sons, Ltd., p. 212.; D.E. Eichholz, 1951, Galen and His Environment, Greece & Rome 20 no. 59, Cambridge University Press, pp. 60–71 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
Wikipedia, "Galen" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Hankinson, "The Cambridge Companion to Galen", Cambridge University Press, 2008, p. 1–33 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
"BBC – History – Historic Figures: Galen (c. 130 – c. 210)", www.bbc.co.uk. facts only, no text reused. bbc.co.uk
Theodore J. Drizis, "Medical ethics in a writing of Galen", Acta Med Hist Adriat, Fall 2008, p. 333–336. facts only, no text reused. hrcak.srce.hr
Wikipedia, "Galen" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Dean-Jones, "At the Crossroads of Greco-Roman History, Culture, and Religion: Papers in Memory of Carin M. C. Green", Archaeopress Publishing, 2018, p. 229–248 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
Wikipedia, "Galen" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: West, "Ibn al-Nafis, the pulmonary circulation, and the Islamic Golden Age", Journal of Applied Physiology, 1985, p. 1877–1880; Andreas Vesalius, "De humani corporis Fabrica, Libri VII", Johannes Oporinus, 1543; O'Malley, C., Andreas Vesalius of Brussels, 1514–1564, Berkeley: University of California Press; Siraisi, Nancy G., (1991) Girolamo Cardano and the Art of Medical Narrative, Journal of the History of Ideas. pp. 587–88.; Bigotti, "Physiology of the Soul. Mind, Body and Matter in the Galenic Tradition of the Late Renaissance (1550-1630)", B en.wikipedia.org

Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Galen (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.