La Trobe Classics in the City: First Do No Harm?

Held in the Melbourne City Library, this public lecture is part of the La Trobe Classics in the City series.

In this talk Leanne will explore the murky world of lies, scams and fakes in ancient Graeco-Roman medicine.

One of the principles of ancient medical ethics was to first do no harm. Yet accusations of deception and fraud were rife in ancient medicine and pharmacology.

It seems that the ancient ‘wellness industry’ was populated with quack doctors, bogus miracle cures, adulterated medicines, dangerous cosmetics and hazardous health foods.

Pliny went so far as to call all of medicine fraudes hominum, the deceptions of men. In this talk Leanne will explore the murky world of lies, scams and fakes in ancient Graeco-Roman medicine.

Free, bookings essential