Popular or folk medicine For most of history, ordinary people
could not afford the services of a university-trained physician
when they became ill. Their first port of call would have been
local healers. These were not elite doctors, but claimed medical
expertise nonetheless. These healers came from many different
backgrounds: in Rome, for example, they were often slaves, ex-
slaves or wise women. Historians call this once thriving and
influential tradition ‘popular’ or ‘folk’ medicine. Across
different times and places, these popular healers tended to
believe that the body existed in a delicate balance with nature,
the heavens and the spirits. Their advice and remedies reflected
this. They often gave ill people an amulet in order to ward off
evil spirits. These could be employed along with natural
remedies derived from plants that were physically similar to the
affected part of the body, a theory known as the doctrine of
signatures. Just as often though, a popular healer may well
recommend a remedy based on t