Before considering the state of the healing art throughout the period of the Roman Empire, it is necessary to devote the next chapters to a consideration of the rise and progress of medical science in Greece, for it cannot be too strongly emphasized that Roman philosophy and Roman medicine were borrowed from the Greeks, and it is certain also that the Greeks were indebted to the Egyptians for part of their medical knowledge. The Romans were distinguished for their genius for law-giving and government, the Greeks for philosophy, art, and mental culture generally. [Illustration: Plate I. BUST OF ÆSCULAPIUS.] CHAPTER II. EARLY GREEK MEDICINE. Apollo--Æsculapius--Temples--Serpents--Gods of Health--Melampus--Homer--Machaon--Podalarius--Temples of Æsculapius--Methods of Treatment--Gymnasia--Classification of Renouard--Pythagoras--Democedes--Greek Philosophers. The history of healing begins in the Hellenic mythology with Apollo, the god of light and the promoter of health. In the "Iliad" he is hailed as the disperser of epidemics, and, in this respect, the ancients were well informed in attributing destruction of infection to the sun's rays. Chiron, the Centaur, it was believed, was taught by Apollo and Artemis, and was the teacher, in turn, of Æsculapius, who probably lived in the thirteenth century before Christ and was ultimately deified as the Greek god of medicine. Pindar relates of him:-- "On some the force of charmèd strains he tried, To some the medicated draught applied; Some limbs he placed the amulets around, Some from the trunk he cut, and made the patient sound."[1] Æsculapius was too successful in his art, for his death was attributed to Zeus, who killed him by a flash of lightning, or to Pluto, both of whom were thought to have feared that Æsculapius might by his skill gain the mastery over death. Amid much that is mythological in the history of Æsculapius, there is a groundwork of facts. Splendid temples were built to him in lovely and healthy places, usually on a hill or near a spring; they were visited by the sick, and the priests of the temples not only attended to the worship of Æsculapius, but took pains to acquire knowledge of the healing art. The chief temple was at Epidaurus, and here the patients were well provided with amusements, for close to the temple was a theatre capable of seating 12,000 people, and a stadium built to accommodate 20,000 spectators.