Galen was the son of an Architect. He received an excellent education in Greek literature and philosophy and in 145 started a medical career. he studied for 10 years and learned about anatomy, surgery, drugs. His first medical position was that of doctor to the gladiators at Pergamum but in 162 he moved to Rome where he became well established.
In 169 AD he was appointed doctor to the emperor Marcus Aurelius and stayed serving the court and emperors for the rest of his life. Galen was a prolifice writer of his time and his medical theories were unchallenged for 1700 years. He took research and theories from two great philosophers. Plato and Aristotle. From Plato he took the idea of the three bodily systems - heart, liver and brain. From Aristotle, an interest in practical investigation and in scientific logic.
During his years in Rome, Galen made the majority of his important anatomical discoveries. He furthered his knowledge by dissecting more animals in particular Barbary apes, which he believed to be built in much the same way as humans. One of his main achievements was to identify seven pairs of nerves originating in the brain, and he proved beyond doubt that the arteries contained blood, not air as had been thought for 400 years.
Galen used common sense and logic to create theories to cure many important people in highest society. His diagnostic methods included palpatation, pulse-taking and the inspection of urine.
Galen was also a leader in the investigation into stress-related illnesses. He would apply logic to diagnose the patient and then prescribe a cure or predict that the illness was incurable.
In order to increase his standing in Rome, Galen held public dissections. One of his demonstrations was to dissect the nerves in the neck of a live pig. As he sliced through the nerves one by one, the pig squealed loudly. However, when he severed the nerve running from the brain to the larynx, the animal fell silent, proving that the brain, not the heart, as Aristotle had claimed, governed the production of sound.
Galen was not always correct in assuming that discoveries made by dissecting animals could be applied to humans. He attributed an important function to the rete mirabilis, a network of veins at the base of the brain. he did not know that this organ, present in cattle, did not exist in humans.
Galen also failed to understand the function of the heart. He did not realise that blood circulated around the body. His entire view of medicine relied on the idea of the four humours, which had been conceived by the Ancient Greeks, even though some of his discoveries contradicted these views. Many people were convinced by Galen's proud contention that he always knew the answers. Galens medical theories were to o unchallenged until the 17-th century.
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