Medicina nei Secoli: Journal of History of Medicine and Medical Humanities

Headache in Ancient Greek Medicine from Hippocrates to Galen

Stefania Fortuna — 2026-08-05

Ancient Greek culture – albeit dominated by cardiocentrism that attributed all vital and mental functions to the heart – recognized early the prominent role played by head and brain in individual identity and its preservation, as Homeric poems and Greek mythology show. Ancient Greek medicine, too, focused on the head as a relevant part of the body and dealt thoroughly with head pain. The present article provides the first review of ancient medical sources concerning headaches, from Hippocrates (5^th century BC) to Galen (2^nd century AD), passing through Aretaeus, the Anonymus Parisinus, Caelius Aurelianus and Scribonius Largus. It also reconstructs the evolution of the vocabulary, from the earliest attestations of the term indicating headache as a disease (κεφαλαλγίη) in the most advanced texts of the Hippocratic Corpus, to the introduction of new and more specialized terms (κεφαλαία and ἡμικρανία) in the Imperial age, up to the most complete exposition on the head, brain and nervous system by Galen, who possessed impressive anatomical knowledge.

A Singular Perspective on Certain Pharmaceutical Practices in Early 18th-century Italy: the Travel Accounts of Jean-Baptiste Labat

Paulina Oszajca — 2026-08-05

This article explores Jean-Baptiste Labat’s distinctive perspective on pharmaceutical and therapeutic practices in early 18th-century Italy. Drawing upon Labat’s detailed travel accounts, the authors examine his critical observations of medical and therapeutic customs, highlighting his encounters with unusual remedies rooted in local traditions. Attention is given to Labat’s descriptions of tarantism and the tarantella, a phenomenon prevalent in southern Italy, where music and pharmacological remedies were employed to treat symptoms following the bite of the Lycosa tarantula spider. The study also highlights Labat’s account of an unconventional treatment for severe skin diseases involving the use of snakes and opium-induced anesthesia. By situating Labat’s writings within the broader framework of contemporary travel literature and medical anthropology, this study sheds light on the cultural and scientific milieu of the Italian peninsula during Labat’s journeys.

“I am Happy to have Found a New Reaction”: a Century After the Death of Camillo Golgi, the Letter Announcing the Development of the “Black Reaction”

Paolo Mazzarello — 2026-08-05

A century after the death of Camillo Golgi, we publish the transcription and a critical commentary of a letter he wrote in February 1873 to his friend Nicolò Manfredi. In this letter, he announced for the first time the development of the reazione nera (black reaction), the histological staining technique that allowed for the observation of the nerve cells’ silhouette and had a revolutionary impact on the development of neuroscience. The adoption of this technique by illustrious scientists such as Albert von Kölliker and Santiago Ramón y Cajal marked the beginning of a new era in neuroanatomical research, culminating in Golgi being awarded the Nobel Prize in 1906.

Toward a Revision of Metrodora’s Treatise: Evidence from Newly Examined Manuscripts

Elias Valiakos — 2026-08-05

The work attributed to Metrodora, known until now from the manuscript Laur. Plut. 75.3 under the title: From the Works of Metrodora: On the Female Diseases of the Womb (Ἐκ τῶν Μητροδώρας· περὶ τῶν γυναικείων παθῶν τῆς μήτρας), must now be re-evaluated. After many years of research, it has been established that the manuscript Vat. gr. 299, together with its copy Ambr. Mss. S 3 sup., as well as Voss. gr. F 25 along with its copy in Vat. gr. 1902, preserve a significantly more extensive version of the text, which includes a much larger number of chapters. Moreover, Vat. gr. 299 preserves for the first time the title of the work: Metrodora, female physician, On Women’s (Μητροδώρας ἰατρίνας, Γυναικείων). These manuscripts introduce an entirely new dimension to the study of the treatise. On Women’s appears, on the basis of an indirect reference in Vat. gr. 299, to belong chronologically to the early Byzantine period (4th–5th centuries AD). The text fits within a broader tradition of gynecological treatises with similar titles, shared vocabulary, recipes, and therapeutic instructions, indicating that these texts functioned as medical and pharmaceutical manuals, which were often assembled into collections, sometimes extensive and sometimes concise.

Traumatic Injuries, Death, and Funeral Treatment of Andrea Fortebracci da Montone (1368-1424) in the Writings of Ancient Chroniclers

Luca Ventura — 2026-08-05

Braccio da Montone, a celebrated mercenary leader, died on June 5, 1424, after being wounded in a battle near Aquila. Born in 1368, Braccio’s early military career began when his family was exiled from Perugia. He served under notable leaders, seizing key cities including Rome and Bologna. After death, Braccio's remains were disposed of in Rome and transferred to Perugia in 1432. Historical accounts of his injuries vary. A biography describes multiple wounds, and the captain’s eventual refusal of medical care. Other chronicles provide additional details about his final moments and the funeral treatment of his body. Recent examinations of Braccio’s bones revealed traumatic injuries consistent with these historical accounts. Despite discrepancies between historical records, these findings confirm that Braccio’s injuries were severe and likely led to paralysis before death. A skull wound likely caused by a war hammer may have contributed to his death.

The investigation on the remains of Christina of Sweden (1626-1689): rereading the report of the Swedish anthropologist Carl Herman Hjortsjö (1914-1978) for a new perspective in the Queen’s historiography

Fabiola Zurlini — 2026-08-05

The tomb of Queen Christina of Sweden (1626-1689), buried among the Popes at the Vatican Basilica, was reopened in 1965. Her remains were examined by the Swedish anatomist and anthropologist Carl Herman Hjortsjö (1914-1978) from the University of Lund. In 1966 he published a detailed report on the medical-anthropological investigation where he denied the question of the Queen’s intersexuality, improperly theorised by the gynaecologist Elis Essen-Moller and the literary critic Sven Stolpe, with the objective results of his investigations: the Queen’s remains were typically female in structure, features and size. The aim of this article is to restore the scientific value of Hjortsjö’s study, rarely cited in the historiography about the Queen, despite its importance. The report re-establishes her female gender as an indisputable organic fact and suggests the formulation of other hypothesis on the Queen’s male behaviour as a modern attitude to managing power in a world dominated by males.

Hands Over Handbooks: The Making of Medical Expertise in Antiquity

Gabriele Torcoletti — 2026-08-05

This article examines how ancient Greek medical and philosophical authors understood the relation between written instruction and practical expertise in the training of physicians. Focusing on Plato, Aristotle, Diocles, selected Hippocratic treatises, and Galen, it argues that books were valued for preserving, organising, and transmitting medical knowledge, but were not considered sufficient to produce expertise on their own. Ancient authors consistently present medical mastery as dependent on apprenticeship, repeated observation, sensory training, and practice under guidance. The Hippocratic Corpus treats writing as an open and revisable repository of clinical knowledge, while Galen insists that texts function chiefly as aids to memory for those already trained. Ancient medical education thus emerges as a model in which theory and writing remain essential, but only in combination with demonstration, experience, and the disciplined formation of judgement.

“Health versus Economy”: the Recurrence of a False Dilemma in Times of Crisis. The Case of the 1991 Cholera Epidemic in Peru

Ernesto Ortiz — 2026-08-05

This article examines the 1991 cholera epidemic in Peru through the lens of a discursive construction of the so-called health-versus-economy dilemma. It contends that government officials and certain political sectors shaped this narrative of public health protection as a menace and incompatible with economic development in times of epidemics to shift attention away from structural responsibilities and legitimize the privileges of certain economic sectors. On the other hand, the poor urban household were charged with the responsibilities of assuming the costPublic healths of the epidemic. In doing so, the study positions the cholera epidemic as a key case for understanding how this discursive shift was produced and how it was able to function in an epidemic crisis.

Violence, Survival, and Infection: A Paleopathological Case Study from the Roman Necropolis of Marinelle Vecchie (2nd–3rd Century CE)

Sandra Guglielmi — 2026-08-05

This study presents the paleopathological analysis of human remains from the Roman necropolis of Marinelle Vecchie (Molise, Italy), dated to the 2nd–3rd centuries CE. Among the examined burials, the individual from tomb T8 shows multiple healed fractures of the forearm, hand, and leg, along with a proximal tibiofibular synostosis, suggestive of survival after high-energy trauma possibly related to interpersonal violence. In addition, destructive lytic lesions on thoracic vertebrae D7 and D8 raise a differential diagnosis between early-stage spinal tuberculosis and brucellar spondylitis, both endemic in the Mediterranean basin during the Classical and Imperial periods.

The Collections of historical and pedagogical ethno-anthropological busts of the University Museum of Chieti

Jacopo Cilli — 2026-08-05

At the University Museum of Chieti, two distinct series of ethnographic busts are preserved for educational purposes, dating back to the early 20^th century. These collections originate from materials provided respectively by the F. Masci State Scientific High School and the S. Pio X Pontifical Regional Seminary of Chieti to the Museum, in 2018 and 2013. The aim is to investigate the provenience of the series and their original pedagogical function within the context of early 20^th-century school collections. The models in both series are made of plaster. The museum also houses an ancient print on human populations, used for educational purposes. These collections played an innovative educational role in early 20^th-century Italian high schools, offering a novel approach to teaching human biological diversity through busts and accompanying posters. The teaching of Ethno-Anthropological Sciences even to students who were not yet at university was the result of a cultural movement born with the continental travels of explorers and scholars in the second half of the 19^th century.

Fortification Spectra in Migraine Aura: Historical Origins of the Vauban Eponym

Francesco Brigo — 2026-08-05

The fortification spectra—zigzag visual patterns often preceding migraine attacks—have long intrigued both patients and physicians. Popularized by English astronomer Hubert Airy (1838-1903) in 1870, these luminous phenomena were likened to a “fortified town,” a metaphor that entered medical parlance. While British neurologist William Gowers (1845-1915) is frequently credited with associating these visual auras with the angular bastions of the fortress designs by Sébastien Le Prestre de Vauban (1633-1707), historical evidence suggests the eponym originated earlier in French medical literature. Jean-Martin Charcot (1825-1893), in a series of lectures from 1887 to 1888, vividly described his own and his patients’ experiences of scintillating scotomas as resembling Vauban-style fortifications, complete with projecting and re-entrant angles. His assistant, Charles Féré (1852-1907), further reinforced the analogy in 1892, describing migraine-induced visual phenomena as luminous discs evolving into toothed wheels or semi-crowns of fortifications. The metaphor gained broader recognition through its inclusion in the 1890 edition of Pierre Larousse’s Grand Dictionnaire Universel. This historical article clarifies the origins of the Vauban eponym in migraine aura, highlighting its French roots and the rich interplay between neurology, metaphor, and military architecture.

Fashion survivors or survivors through fashion? How infectious diseases shaped fashion through the ages

Omar Simonetti — 2026-08-05

Throughout history, infectious diseases have influenced fashion trends by altering clothing styles, promoting safety measures, and shaping cultural norms regarding personal protective equipment and hygiene practices. In Venice, ceremonial masks were adapted in response to plague outbreaks. Men's fashion underwent significant changes due to syphilis in European courts during the Renaissance, leading to the introduction of wigs and facial patches for the same reason. In the Victorian era, the concept of “consumptive chic” emerged, romanticising tubercular beauty. Practices such as beard shaving and wearing face veils became common as measures to combat the threat of lice and influenza. Finally, the human immunodeficiency virus influenced the “heroin chic” trend in the late 1990s, before the recent pandemic had a massive impact on fashion. There is a recurring pattern in the history of medicine regarding the influence of infectious diseases on fashion. The imitation of certain responses to pathogens and the adaptation of fashion to mitigate the risk of infection persistently recur.