16.3 Europe: a.d. 101 to 200  (Page 2/3)

Hadrian (117 - 138) was the most brilliant of the Roman emperors and his reign the most prosperous. Under him the Pantheon, which had previously burned, was reconstructed.

Later in the century (A.D. 161) Marcus Aurelius came to power and brought thousands of Germans into the empire, both as settlers and as soldiers. The ultimate effect was that the "barbarians" gradually began to dominate Rome. Marcus was one of the greatest exponents of the Stoic philosophy and a good public servant and administrator. It was during his administration that a great plague was apparently brought back by armies from the East. Although Rome had epidemics as far back as 387 B.C. the one of A.D. 165 was the worst. The disease, perhaps small-pox, remained epidemic in various cities for fifteen years and in some areas 25 to 35% of the people died. The population of all Mediterranean lands subsequently decreased overall for the next 500 years. Following Marcus' death, Rome began to visibly decay. At the last of the century the barbarian tribes began to attack again in various parts of the empire, with the Chatti, Chauci and Lombards raiding Italy from Germany and other Germanic tribes raiding through the Balkans into Greece. (Ref. 48 , 136 , 185 , 140 )

Overall there were some 54,000 miles of Roman roads, making a network for communications throughout the empire. The middle of each road was raised and covered with gravel to allow drainage. There were post stations every 10 to 12 miles on main roads and each station had horses, veterinarians, surgeons, cartwrights, carriages and wagons. In the outer empire donkeys and camels were available. Still, the bulk of internal trade went by water. (Ref. 213 )

On the medical scene, Galen, born in Pergamum, Asia Minor practiced medicine in Rome and was physician to Emperor Marcus. He dissected the Barbary Ape and left some good anatomical and physiological knowledge for posterity. His works were considered as an unimpeachable authority for nearly 1,500 years even though much was in error.

Galen used an old Asia Minor combination of medicinals called "theriac"(FOREIGN) (related to Greek word for "wild beast") and he increased the number of ingredients to over 70. This also persisted as a treatment well into the Middle Ages, but at least some of its popularity may have been due to the presence of opium among its ingredients. Other 2nd century contributors to medicine included Soranus, writing especially on diseases of women, and Rufus, also from Ephesus, who made important anatomical observations while in Rome particularly about the eye and brain. Celsus, a Roman, wrote De Medicina which actually codified Greek medicine of the previous century. (Ref. 125 )

Additional Notes

Central europe

Northern Germany seethed with a multitude of Germanic tribes. Bordering on the Baltic were the Gepids and farther west the Goths, while just south of them were the Burgundians, bordered on the east by the encroaching Slavs. On the North Sea coast were Frisians, then Sennones, Hermanduri, Marcomanni and Quadi, in turn going east. The last two named tribes were actually in the region of Bohemia. An Iranian tribe, a branch of the Sarmatians, now occupied most of present day Hungary. The Romans had their farthest advance against the Germanic tribes in A.D. 110, under Trajan, when they fortified boundaries from Holland down the Rhine to near Mainz and then east to near Frank-on-Main, and then down the Danube. All areas south of this line were dominated by the Romans for four centuries, and were eventually filled with cities and roads. After Christianity dominated the area, the few regions of Germany and Austria below the above mentioned line later remained Catholic, while north of this line civilization developed much slower and Christianity appeared much later and then of the Arian variety from the East. These northern areas are now essentially Protestant. To return to the 2nd century, however, the Franks, as a loose confederacy of Germanic tribes, developed up to A.D. 200 between the Weser and the Rhine. (Ref. 136 , 45 )