Health, Wounds, and Medicine in the Late Roman Army (250–600 CE)

What is it about?

Although the medical services of the Roman army have long attracted scholarly interest, all previous studies terminate in the mid/late third century, partly owing to conventional periodizations of Roman military history, but primarily in response to a drastic diminution in the epigraphic and archaeological record. This chapter assembles the evidence relating to health and medicine in the late Roman army (AD 250-600) and identifies interpretive challenges posed by different categories of literary and documentary source material. Where possible, analysis extends beyond medical personnel, facilities and procedures to examine broader medico-historical perspectives, including vulnerability to disease, cultural attitudes to soldiers’ health, especially combat wounds, and arrangements for invalided servicemen. Contrary to traditional notions of ‘decline and fall’, the evidence points to substantial continuity in institutional approaches to safeguarding soldiers’ health and treating those who became sick, injured or wounded, despite changes in the nature and expectations of military service in Late Antiquity.

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