Illness, cult and healing: medicine in ancient Carnuntum

In ancient times, Carnuntum was much more than the capital of a Roman province on the border of the empire - with its infrastructure, hospitals and healing springs, it was also a medical center. As the location of legionary and auxiliary units with around 7,000 soldiers, Roman military medicine was particularly important. Archaeological finds and inscriptions bear witness to the central role of healthcare, both in the military and civilian sectors.

Bad Deutsch-Altenburg, known to this day for its iodine-sulphur springs, has particularly favorable natural conditions for health cures, which were already used in Roman times. However, the frequently expressed assumption that a Roman thermal spring was located under today's Kurhaus has not yet been confirmed archaeologically. However, remains of walls and dedicatory inscriptions by curatores thermarum, i.e. administrators of the thermal baths, have been discovered.

Head of a statuette of Aesculap. - © Lower Austrian Provincial Collections

The military presence in Carnuntum required a well-organized medical infrastructure. Two military hospitals (so-called valetudinaria) were available to the troops: one in the auxiliary fort and one in the legionary camp. The military hospital of the legionary camp, excavated in 1904, was over 6,000 m² in size and follows the typical layout of such buildings with infirmaries and an inner courtyard. A small sanctuary in the courtyard also indicates ritual practices to promote recovery. Special finds, such as the statue head of the god of healing Asclepius and a probable snake staff fragment (still present today as the Asclepius staff at the pharmacy sign), point to a healing cult.

Eucratus tombstone. - © Lower Austrian Provincial Collections

Inscriptions document the work of military doctors, paramedics and civilian physicians. The names of two doctors who worked in Carnuntum are exceptional: Lucius Iulius Optatus and Lucius Iulius Euthemus. Another doctor, the slave Eucratus, is honored on a gravestone that his master Lucius Iulius Euthemus had placed for him. The inscription emphasizes the merits of the young physician, who died at the age of 25:

There is even epigraphic evidence of a legionary veterinarian. Doctors, some of whom were much lower socially than today, were often paid by the city and sometimes even enjoyed tax and duty exemptions. However, they often also charged patients fees. Their medical instruments were extensive and adapted to the respective practice, but there was no degree course as there is today - in the end, anyone could work as a doctor, quite to the detriment of the patients. The military medics, the so-called capsarii, are also documented epigraphically in Carnuntum and played a central role in the care of the soldiers.

Hygiene in Carnuntum was advanced, but not universal. Water pipes, sewers and public latrines are evidence of Roman efforts to ensure cleanliness and health. Nevertheless, many households were not connected to this infrastructure, so solutions such as special chamber pots were widespread. Bioarchaeological investigations of feces in sewers prove the infestation of the population with parasites such as roundworms. Paleopathological examinations of skeletons from Carnuntum also provide valuable insights into the state of health of the population.

Reconstruction of a Roman doctor's instrument chest. Medicines, ointments and herbs as well as medical equipment were kept here. Reconstruction based on an original find from the grave of a doctor in Wehringen, district of Augsburg. - © Lower Austrian Provincial Collections

Healing gods and magical practices also played an important role in conventional medicine in ancient Rome. One particularly interesting find is a magic tablet from a tomb that was used to treat migraines. The text describes the supernatural being Antaura, which is said to cause migraines: the goddess Artemis (Ephesia) is invoked to protect against it. This also underlines the existence of beliefs in ghostly causes of illness and divine protection.

From healing springs and camp hospitals to magical amulets and traditional doctors, Carnuntum provides a comprehensive insight into ancient healthcare. Archaeological finds, inscriptions, medical infrastructure and bioarchaeological findings sketch a picture of the closely interwoven interplay between the military, medical services and religious beliefs in ancient society.

Further Reading:

E. Hauff, Die medizinische Versorgung von Carnuntum, CarnuntumJb 1993/94 (1995) 89ff.

R. Breitwieser – F. Humer – E. Pollhammer – R. Arnott (Hrsg.), Medizin und Militär – Soldiers and Surgeons. Beiträge zur Wundversorgung und Verwundetenfürsorge im Altertum. Akten des IV. Internationalen Kolloquiums, Hainburg, 17.-19. September 2015, Archäologischer Park Carnuntum – Neue Forschungen 15 (St. Pölten 2018).