Exactitude in Ancient Pharmacological Theory and Practice, with Cases from the Greek Medical Papyri

The chapter explores the ancient concepts of exactitude with reference to ancient medicine and medical dosage. After a general introduction about the ancient ideas of proportional and balanced exactitude, it discusses the dichotomy and the overlapping between standard or theoretical measures and material containers, used in medical practice — beside the indications of approximate quantities — as expressions of a practical know-how that adapted the ingredients to modify the efficacy of the medicament or in accordance to the patient’s individual needs. The Greek medical papyri particularly help us in this effort because they mostly belong to the everyday practice. The difference between indications of numbers in figures and in words will be discussed too, along with case-specific quantity variations that point to a medical exactitude which in fact was — as we would say in modern terms — patient-oriented.