---
title: "Medicine in Pompeii - Pompeii Online"
description: "Historical sources and archaeological findings reveal a complex medical system influenced by both the magico-religious tradition and Greek science."
url: "https://www.pompeionline.net/en/archaeological-park-of-pompeii/pompeian-curiosities/medicine-in-pompeii"
date: "2026-09-16T08:23:15+00:00"
language: "en-GB"
---

#  Medicine in Pompeii: Between Science and Superstition.

 ![Surgical and medical tools found in Pompeii](https://www.pompeionline.net/images/medicina.jpg "Surgical and medical tools found in Pompeii") *Surgical and medical tools found in Pompeii, currently on display at the Antiquarium of Boscoreale.* Medicine in ancient Pompeii belonged to a world in which **practical experience, Greek medical knowledge, traditional remedies, religion and protective beliefs** could coexist. The archaeological city preserves an exceptional quantity of medical instruments and other objects connected with healthcare, but the evidence must be interpreted cautiously. Pompeii did not possess a healthcare system comparable to a modern one, nor can every building containing medical objects automatically be identified as a clinic or pharmacy.

By the 1st century AD, Roman medicine had long been influenced by the Greek medical tradition. Physicians working throughout the Roman world drew on centuries of Greek thought concerning the body, disease, diet and treatment. Medical practice could include observation of symptoms, dietary prescriptions, pharmacological preparations and surgical intervention, while religious and protective practices continued to form part of people's responses to illness and physical danger.

One of the most important surviving ancient sources is **Aulus Cornelius Celsus**, author of *De Medicina*, composed during the early Roman Empire. Celsus should not simply be described as a practising Pompeian physician: he was a Roman encyclopaedic author whose medical books preserve exceptionally detailed information about dietetics, pharmacology and surgery. His work is particularly valuable for understanding the broader medical culture within which physicians of the Vesuvian area operated.

The archaeological evidence from Pompeii is especially important because it provides the material counterpart to these written sources. Surgical instruments found in houses, with victims and in other contexts demonstrate the use of specialised equipment including **scalpels, probes, forceps, needles and other bronze instruments**.

The best-known example is the **House of the Surgeon**, on Via Consolare. Excavated between 1770 and 1771 and during later campaigns, it is one of the oldest houses known at Pompeii. Its modern name derives from the discovery of **more than forty surgical instruments**, including probes and scalpels. The assemblage strongly associates the building with medical practice, although the archaeological evidence does not allow us to reconstruct with certainty how individual rooms were used or to identify the entire house as a clinic in the modern sense.

Another remarkable medical assemblage was discovered in **1936 near the Amphitheatre**. Beneath the remains of a male victim archaeologists found traces of a wooden box containing numerous surgical instruments together with a **coticula**, a small stone palette. This group is particularly important because the objects formed a portable medical kit carried by an individual during the eruption rather than equipment left inside a house.

The **coticula** is a small flat stone, generally of slate or another fine-grained material, on which substances could be ground or mixed. Such palettes occur in both cosmetic and medical contexts, so they cannot be identified automatically as medical instruments when found in isolation. When they occur together with scalpels, forceps, needles and probes, however, their medical function becomes much more convincing.

An extraordinary new example emerged from the re-examination of the victims of the **Garden of the Fugitives**. During restoration of cast **no. 46**, a small rectangular container made partly from organic material was identified beside the male victim, together with a textile purse containing coins. Inside the container was a stone coticula and several small bronze objects partly trapped within the plaster.

In **March 2026**, radiographic and CT investigations carried out for the Archaeological Park made it possible to examine the contents without damaging the object. The scans revealed approximately **six small objects concealed within the plaster**, as well as details of the case and its locking mechanism. The coticula measured about 67 by 42 millimetres and was housed inside a compact container approximately 12 centimetres long.

Comparison with other Roman medical sets is particularly significant. Coticulae are frequently associated with assemblages containing **scalpels, forceps, needles and probes**, and similar objects have been identified in medical contexts elsewhere in the Roman world. The Pompeian example found near the Amphitheatre in 1936 provides an especially close comparison.

For this reason, the researchers responsible for the E-Journal study consider the association of the Garden of the Fugitives victim with **medical practice** strongly supported by the archaeological evidence. The identification nevertheless derives from the objects found with him; we do not know his name or the exact nature of his professional activity.

The discovery is particularly valuable because medical instruments are usually recovered from buildings after the people who used them have disappeared. In the Garden of the Fugitives, by contrast, the objects remained physically associated with an individual who attempted to escape the eruption. They provide an unusually personal glimpse of someone who chose to take a small professional or personal kit with him during the final hours of Pompeii.

A comparable medical kit was found with a victim at **Herculaneum**, where a stone palette was preserved together with surgical equipment. The comparison between Pompeii and Herculaneum demonstrates that compact portable sets could accompany medical practitioners and were not necessarily confined to fixed working spaces.

Medical instruments from Pompeii also reveal considerable technical specialisation. Roman instruments could be designed for cutting, probing, cauterising, extracting or manipulating tissues. Some forms are immediately recognisable to modern observers, while the precise function of others remains debated.

This evidence should not, however, be used to claim that every surgical procedure described in ancient medical literature was demonstrably performed at Pompeii. Operations such as treatment of wounds, removal of foreign bodies and other surgical procedures are well documented in Roman medicine generally, but the discovery of instruments at Pompeii does not by itself prove that every procedure described by Celsus or other ancient authors was practised in the city.

The same caution is required when discussing **pharmacology**. Ancient medical authors describe extensive use of plants, minerals and substances of animal origin. Pompeian archaeology provides vessels, palettes, mortars and other equipment that could be used in preparing mixtures, but identifying the original contents or a specific prescription is often difficult unless direct residue analysis or other contextual evidence is available.

The distinction between medicine and cosmetics could also be fluid. Some tools and substances were suitable for both purposes. The **coticula**, for example, could be used to prepare medical or cosmetic powders, which is why its archaeological context and the other objects found with it are essential for interpretation.

Healing in Roman society was not based exclusively on what we would now call scientific medicine. Religious practices, amulets and appeals to divine protection existed alongside professional medical treatment. Pompeian houses and archaeological collections preserve numerous objects that had protective or apotropaic meanings, illustrating a society in which physical health, divine protection and the avoidance of misfortune could form part of the same cultural world.

This coexistence should not be understood simply as a conflict between “science” and “superstition”. A Pompeian could seek the assistance of a physician, use a medicinal preparation and at the same time wear a protective amulet or participate in religious rituals. Different approaches to illness were not necessarily considered mutually exclusive.

There is also no secure evidence that Pompeii possessed a network of **public hospitals, first-aid stations or pharmaceutical workshops** comparable to modern healthcare facilities. Earlier interpretations have sometimes identified particular buildings as clinics, pharmacies or medical posts on the basis of finds or architectural arrangements, but many such identifications remain hypotheses rather than demonstrated facts.

The presence of instruments in a house may indicate that a physician lived or worked there, but Roman professional activity often took place within domestic and commercial spaces. A residence could therefore combine family life, business and professional practice without constituting a specialised medical building in the modern sense.

The archaeological evidence nevertheless leaves little doubt that **physicians and other people possessing specialised medical knowledge were active in Pompeii**. The concentration and variety of instruments, the House of the Surgeon, portable medical kits and the new evidence from the Garden of the Fugitives demonstrate a sophisticated material culture associated with treatment and surgery.

The 2026 investigation is particularly important because it shows how modern archaeological science can change our understanding of objects excavated decades ago. The Garden of the Fugitives was explored in **1961**, while the small case associated with victim no. 46 was isolated during conservation work in 2016. Only later did advanced diagnostic imaging reveal the objects concealed within the plaster and strengthen the interpretation of the assemblage as a medical kit.

Medicine at Pompeii should therefore be reconstructed from the combination of **archaeological context, instruments, ancient texts and scientific analysis**, rather than from assumptions based on modern medical institutions. The evidence reveals a world of skilled practitioners equipped with specialised tools, but also one in which domestic remedies, religious belief and protective practices remained important.

The medical objects preserved by the eruption of **AD 79** are among the most intimate traces of Pompeian everyday life. From the instruments discovered in the House of the Surgeon to the portable kit carried by a man attempting to escape through the Garden of the Fugitives, they reveal both the technical development of Roman medicine and the individuals who practised it.

Sources and Essential Bibliography

Zuchtriegel G., Russo A., Amoretti V., Empireo L., Cirillo F., 2026, *Un medico nell’Orto dei Fuggiaschi a Pompei. Esami radiografici e ricostruzione archeologica*, E-Journal degli Scavi di Pompei, 2026.04.

D’Ambrosio A., Guzzo P.G., Mastroroberto M. (eds.), 2003, *Storie da un’eruzione. Pompei, Ercolano, Oplontis*, Milano.

Berg R., 2023, *Il Mundus Muliebris a Pompei. Specchi e oggetti da toletta in contesti domestici*, Studi e ricerche del Parco Archeologico di Pompei, 48, Roma.

Capasso L., *La medicina nell’antichità*, in “Archeo”, Dossier n. 13.

Capasso L., *I Romani in farmacia*, in “Archeo”, Dossier n. 57, Novara, 1989.

Della Corte M., 1953, *Case ed abitanti di Pompei*, Napoli.

*Ars medica. La medicina nell’antica Roma*, exhibition organised within Milanomedicina ’91, Milano, 1991.

Tergolina U., Gislanzoni, Brasco, 1939, *Civiltà romana: La farmacia*, in “Mostra della Romanità”, Roma.

Vulpes B., 1846, *Gli strumenti chirurgici in Ercolano e Pompei*, vol. XIV, fasc. I, Napoli.

Parco Archeologico di Pompei, *A Guide to the Pompeii Excavations*, entry on the House of the Surgeon.

![Medicine in Pompeii: Between Science and Superstition.](https://www.pompeionline.net/images/infografiche/Ancient_Roman_Medicine_in_Pompeii720.jpg "Medicine in Pompeii: Between Science and Superstition.")

   Details   Written by: Pompei Online   Also available: [![Italian](https://www.pompeionline.net/media/mod_languages/images/it.gif "Italian")](https://www.pompeionline.net/it/pompei-scavi/la-medicina-a-pompei)    Last Updated: 11 September 2026

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