The Medicae in the Roman World

Abstract

Literary and epigraphic sources attest unequivocally that the medical profession in the Roman world was also accessible to women. Medicae and obstetrices were present in Rome as early as the late republican age, although their competences and the social role they played are not always clear; in particular, it is debated whether the two terms are to be considered synonymous, and therefore overlapping, or whether they indicate female professionals with a different degree of training and skill. Epigraphic discoveries, anthropological investigations and findings of medical instruments in women’s tombs show that the medicae were not limited to childbirth assistance and obstetrics, but practised medicine across the board: they treated women’s diseases and were also surgeons, dentists and ophthalmologists.