New Light on Medicine in Ancient Macedonia and Northern Greece
Katherine Petrasek
PhD student, CAHRT, University of Exeter
A recent workshop at Exeter University put the spotlight on the significance of northern Greece, Macedonia and Thrace in the development of medicine in the classical Greek world. Often overlooked in studies which focus on the eastern Mediterranean and southern Greece, archaeological discoveries over the last decades provide material support for the geographical focus on this more northerly region in the Hippocratic Epidemics and legends of Hippocrates’ life, for example, as well as revealing intriguing information about medical practitioners and their practices. And what happened in the Hellenistic period? Is it possible to speak about ‘Antigonid medicine’ in the same terms as ‘Ptolemaic’ or ‘Attalid medicine’, as continuing earlier traditions and strengths?
Modern statue of Hippocrates in Larissa, Thessaly. Courtesy of Dr Despina Ignatiadou.
After welcomes from the organisers—Emma Nicholson and Annelies Cazemier from the Antigonid Network and Rebecca Flemming from the Centre for the Study of Technology, Ancient Medicine and Philosophy (STAMP)—the workshop began with a paper presented by Dr. Despina Ignatiadou (Athens), titled ‘Doctors’ Burials in Ancient Macedonia’. Dr. Ignatiadou discussed the iconography of funerary steles and grave goods belonging to the medical practitioners of northern Greece, Macedonia and Thrace from the Archaic period (6th century BCE) to the late Hellenistic period (1st century BCE). She also mentioned that some tombs, which were previously thought not to belong to medical practitioners, might indeed belong to them. This is because certain grave goods, such as board games and strigils, were used both in non-medical and medical contexts, as also items described as ‘cosmetic’.
Above. Detail of the small containers—bronze pyxides—which still hold medical substances. Courtesy of Dr Despina Ignatiadou.
Right: Burial goods, including medical instruments and containers, from a 4th century grave of a doctor, Pydna (Macedonia) - Courtesy of Pieria Ephorate of Antiquities / O. Kourakis.
Next, Dr. Effie Photos-Jones (Glasgow) presented her paper titled ‘Exploring bio technically generated mineral therapeutics from Macedonia and Northern Greece’. This paper focused on a collaborative project, which aims to study the nature and efficacy of ancient plasters (for treating wounds). These plasters can be found both in archaeological contexts and in the literary record. The team are analysing both samples from bronze pyxis containers in medicine boxes which were found in cemeteries in Macedonia or northern Greece (dating to the 4th century BCE and the 2nd century CE) and surviving ancient medical recipes for emplastra such as found in Scribonius Largus’ Compounding of Drugs. These are complex medicaments containing biological and metallic ingredients and which require considerable skill, knowledge and finesse in their production, around the use of ‘oxus’, for instance, a poorly understood but vital wine derivative. Properly manufactured, the applications were found to have significant antibacterial properties, and research into these intriguing ancient pharmaceuticals is ongoing.
In a turn to ancient literature, Dr. David Leith (Exeter) presented a paper titled “Legends of Hippocrates, in Macedonia and Thrace.” He explored how the northern localities which feature in the Hippocratic Epidemics, and the journeys between them, shape the geography of stories about Hippocrates and his imagined family which were told after he became the founding figure for learned Greek medicine in biographies, letters and speeches. The connections with tales about the philosopher Democritus of Abdera, who shares the same dates and lifespan seem to have been particularly productive in this mythmaking.
Map showing the cities and locations named in Epidemics 2,4,5,6 and 7. The northern emphasis is clear. (Map adapted from Ian Mladjov’s resources).
The participants in the workshop were then treated to a tour of Exeter’s Science Heritage and Digital 3D Laboratory (SHArD). They were able to view demonstrations of and ask questions about the technology in the lab which allow researchers to make detailed 3D scans of archaeological artefacts without any damage to the objects themselves.
Exeter’s shiny new heritage Laboratory. Courtesy of the SHArD 3D Lab.
After viewing some interesting demonstrations in the lab, the group reconvened for Professor Rebecca Flemming’s paper titled “Antigonid Medicine?”. While much scholarly attention has been focused on medicine in the Ptolemaic and other Hellenistic kingdoms, there has been less interest in the Antigonids. There were significant medical figures at the Antigonid court, however, who made more substantial contributions to the learned medical tradition than the court doctors of the Ptolemies, though the wider cultural prestige of Alexandria was unrivalled. Each kingdom did royal patronage for science differently, but medicine, medical practitioners were always part of the package.
The famous picture of Alexander the Great demonstrating his trust in his physician Philip of Acarnania by drinking a medicinal draught prepared by him despite allegations that it was a poison. Oil painting by Benjamin West, ca. 1771. (Wellcome Images). Stories from the Antigonid court have more medical content.
The workshop brought together an interdisciplinary group of scholars to discuss a topic which had not been the focus of previous scholarship on ancient medicine. The workshop was also a wonderful collaborative event for STAMP and the Antigonid Network, bringing together different expertise to address issues of shared interest. The papers presented and ideas discussed will certainly inspire the workshop’s participants to delve deeper into the aspects of ancient medicine in Macedonia and northern Greece.
‘Ancient Medicine in Macedonia and Northern Greece’, hosted by the Centre for the study of Science, Technology and Ancient Medicine (STAMP) and the Antigonid Network , was held at the University of Exeter and online on 8th April 2025. This workshop was organized by Professor Rebecca Flemming (STAMP), Dr. Emma Nicholson and Dr. Annelies Cazemier (Antigonid Network).
