Medicine and Hygiene @museum.de

In terms of hygiene, baths and latrines have been preserved as structures that can be interpreted as safe, while in terms of medicine, military hospitals (VALETUDINARIA) have been preserved in forts. As far as personal hygiene and medicine are concerned, almost only devices and instruments have been found. Organic substances such as ointments, makeup, oils, essences, perfumes, and medicines have mostly decayed.

In Rottenburg, only a few cosmetic items and medical instruments have been recovered so far. A jug filled with wild mallow seeds points to medicinal herbs and medicines: the components of wild mallow are considered anti-inflammatory.

Despite their scientific training, doctors in Roman times usually ranked among the craftsmen in terms of their social status. However, the medical devices and preserved textbooks prove that a wide variety of operations were already being performed in ancient times. Surgical procedures in the fields of neurology, ear, nose, and throat medicine, urology, gynecology, and ophthalmology are known to have been performed. At that time, anesthesia as we know it today did not yet exist.