Surgical Instruments in Greek and Roman Times

A systematic study reconstructs the instruments used by Greek and Roman surgeons by combining careful readings of classical medical texts with archaeological finds and museum specimens. The work catalogs and classifies implements, extracts and interprets textual descriptions, proposes shapes and uses, and illustrates items when examples survive; where originals are lacking, medieval or Arabic sources are used for comparison. It also provides a bibliography and a museum inventory, and explicitly omits extensive discussion of splints, bandages, and mechanical reduction devices which are reserved for separate treatment.