A revolution in Roman surgery
PRESENT STATUS
ROBOTS BECOME SURGEONS
The methods of the Roman Empire laid the foundations of modern medicine, but in recent years, robots have entered operating rooms. The American STAR robot is already more accurate than human surgeons. In 2016, it stitched up pig intestinal tissue much more efficiently than doctors could, and it is only a question of time before robotic surgeons carry out the first surgery on a human being.
It is 157 AD, and a large audience is cheering in the amphitheatre of Pergamon, a Roman city in what is now Turkey. The highlight of the day–gladiator battling–has just ended, and the spectators are thrilled with the exciting and bloody spectacle. The winner is being celebrated at the centre of the arena, while severely wounded gladiators are taken to the sick quarters of the amphitheatre to be stitched up.
One of the doctors there is a young Greek by the name of Claudius Galen. He has just returned to the city after medical studies in Alexandria in Egypt, where he had been supervised by the best doctors of the time. Back in Pergamon he has already won a reputation among gladiator owners, who like their expensive investments to survive and
