Antonius Musa | Photo: Wellcome Images / Library reference: ICV No 4389 / Photo number: V0004186 | Na licencji Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International
During the time of the first emperor – Octavian Augustus – Princeps himself was highly appreciated by a medic, a certain Antony Musa. He used, in 23 BCE, a revolutionary method of treatment – different from other doctors – namely cold compresses/baths, which healed a seriously ill emperor.
The emperor suffered from a liver abscess or typhoid fever. Since then, the medic has been extremely famous. Antony Musa was a Greek liberator with a botanical and medical specialization. Interestingly, his absence – Euphorbus – served as the court medic for the king of Numidia – Juba II.
Augustus, for his merits, classified Antony as equites, and the senate ordered him to be erected a monument. But that’s not all – all doctors have been exempt from paying taxes.
- Winniczuk Lidia, Ludzie, zwyczaje i obyczaje starożytnej Grecji i Rzymu, PWN, Warszawa 1983
