A possible uroscopy flask of Roman age
Abstract Research on human urine tests has resulted in a good knowledge of uroscopy flasks in the Middle Ages but has no parallels in Roman times. Although classical authors mention the existence of such tests in Antiquity, only few studies have focused on this theme. During the study of Roman necropolises in the Algarve (Portugal), a glass vessel probably picked from a medical doctor’s grave has been identified. Its unprecedent shape, comparable to medieval uroscopy flasks, and its context can be related with that function. An identical object was documented at Emerita, the capital of Lusitania, also in a Roman doctor’s grave. We have found statements of ancient authors that prove the existence of urine tests in Roman times.The following study requires further back-up, but it strongly suggests that this glass flask was used for medical purposes. Even though this is a new piece, the two only specimens were found in possible medical practitioners’ graves in Lusitanian cities. This is a preliminary study, but we hope that new findings can be documented and published.
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Celsus: De Medicina. Translation by Spencer, W. (1935). Col. Loeb Classical Library. London: William Heinemann. - https://doi.org/10.4159/DLCL.celsus-medicine.1935
Columella: On Agriculture, Books 10-12 On threes. Translated by Forster, E. (1955). Col. Loeb Classical Library. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, vol. iii.
Galen: On the natural faculties. Translated by Brock, A. (1916). Col. Loeb Classical Library. London-New York: William Heinemann. - https://doi.org/10.4159/DLCL.galen-natural_faculties.1916
Hippocrates: The genuine works of Hippocrates. Translated from Greek with a preliminary discourse and annotations. Translated by Adams, F. (1886). New York: William Wood and Company.
Horace: Satires, Epistles and Ars Poetica. Translated by Fairclough, H. (1929). Col. Loeb Classical Library. London-Cambridge-Massachusetts: William Heinemann, Harvard University Press.
Plautus: Mostellaria or The Haunted House. Translated by Riley, H. (1912): The Comedies of Plautus. London: George Bell and Sons.
Plinius: The Natural History, vol. v. Translated by Bostock, J. and Riley, H. (1856). London: Henry G. Bohn.
Plinius: The Natural History, vol. ii. Translated by Bostock, J. and Riley, H. (1890). London: George Bell and Sons.
Suetonius: The Lives of the Caesars - Julius. Augustus. Tiberius. Gaius. Caligula, vol. i. Translated by Rolfe, J. (1914). Col. Loeb Classical Library. Harvard: hup. - https://doi.org/10.4159/DLCL.suetonius-lives_caesars_book_iv_gaius_caligula.1914
Varron: De Lingua Latina. Lib. v. Translated by Kent, R. (1938). Col. Loeb Classical Library. London: William Heinemann.
Vitruvius: The ten books on Architecture. Translated by Morgan, M. (1914). London: Humphrey Milford. oup.
Bourdichon, J. (1508): Grandes Heures d'Anne de Bretagne. Paris.
Pinder, U. (1506): Epiphanie Medicorum. Speculum vivendi urinas horninum. Clauis aperiendi port as pulsuum. Berillus discernendi causas et differentias febrium. Nuremberg.
Resende, A. (1593): De Antiquitatibus Lusitaniae caeteraque histórica, quae extant. Excudebat Martinus Burgensis. Coimbra, 2 vols.
Ayerbe, R. (2001): "Excavación en un espacio funerario de Mérida. Intervención arqueológica realizada en la Avda. Vía de la Plata, s/n", Mérida. Excavaciones Arqueológicas. Memoria, 5, pp. 21-48.
Baker, P. (2009): Archaeological remains as a source of evidence for Roman Medicine in Medicina Antiqua. Univ. of Kent (http://www.ucl.ac.uk/~ucgajpd/medicina%20antiqua/mm_essays.html [accessed 01/08/2018]).
Bejarano, A. (2016): La medicina en la Colonia Augusta Emerita. Col. Ataecina. Mérida: csic-iam.
Blanco, F. and Peral, D. (2005): "Las pinzas quirúrgicas del instrumental médico de Augusta Emerita", Revista de Estudios Extremeños, 61, pp. 45-68.
Caldera de Castro, M.ª P. (1983): "El vidrio romano emeritense". En Augusta Emerita 1. Excavaciones Arqueológicas en España, 126. Madrid, pp. 1-80.
Corbacho, M.ª J. (2005): "El vidrio en el mundo funerario romano emeritense: ungüentaria", Mérida, Excavaciones Arqueológicas 2002, 8, pp. 487-512.
Cybulska, M.; Jesman, C.; Mludzik, A. and Kula, A. (2012): "On Roman military doctors and their medical instruments", Military Pharmacy and Medicine, 2, pp. 1-8.
Dimopoulos, C.; Gialas, A.; Likourinas, M.; Androutsos, G. and Kostakopoulos, A.: "Hippocrates, founder and pioneer of urology", British Journal of Urology, 52 (2), pp. 73-74. - https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1464-410X.1980.tb02931.x
Eknoyan, G. (1989): "The origins of nephrology. Galen, the founding father of experimental renal physiology", American Journal of Nephrology, 9, pp. 66-82. - https://doi.org/10.1159/000167939
Eknoyan, G. (2007): "Looking at the Urine: the Renaissance of an Unbroken Tradition", American Journal of Kidney Diseases, 49 (6), pp. 865-872. - https://doi.org/10.1053/j.ajkd.2007.04.003
Fine, L. (1986): "Circle of urine glasses: art of uroscopy", American Journal of Nephrology, 6 (4), pp. 307-311. - https://doi.org/10.1159/000167180
Jackson, R. (1990): "Roman doctors and their instruments: recent research into ancient practice", Journal of Roman Archaeology, 3, pp. 5-15. - https://doi.org/10.1017/S1047759400010813
Johnson, A. (1983): Roman Forts. London: Adam and Charles Black.
Jouanna, J. (1996): "Le vin et la médicine dans la Grèce ancienne", Revue de Études Grèques, 109, pp. 410-434. - https://doi.org/10.3406/reg.1996.2691
Koenen, C. (1904): "Beschreibung von Novaesium", Bonner Jahrbucher, 111/112, pp. 97-242.
Kouba, E.; Wallen, E. and Pruthi, R. (2007): "Uroscopy by Hippocrates and Theophilus: Prognosis Versus Diagnosis", The Journal of Urology, 177, pp. 50-52. - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.juro.2006.08.111
Magiorkinis, E. and Diamantis, A. (2015): "The Fascinating Story of Urine Examination: from Uroscopy to the Era of Microscopy and Beyond", Diagnostic Cytopathology, 43 (12), pp. 1020-1036. - https://doi.org/10.1002/dc.23370
Maiuri, A. (1973): Alla ricerca di Pompei preromana. Napoli: Societá Editrice Napoletana.
Mattelaer, J. (1999): "Some historical aspects of urinals and urine receptacles", World Journal of Urology, 17, pp. 145-150. - https://doi.org/10.1007/s003450050122
Mazzini, J. (2000): "L'uso dell'olio d'oliva nella medicina del mondo antico", Medizinbistorisebes Journal, 35 (2), pp. 105-126.
Milne, J. (1907): Surgical instruments in Greek and Roman times. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
Monteagudo, L. (2000): "La cirugía en el Imperio Romano", Anuario Brigantino, 23, pp. 85-150.
Moulinier-Brogi, L. (2012): L'uroscopie au Moyen Âge. Lire dans un verre la nature de l'homme. Paris: Honoré Champion.
Ortalli, J. (1997): "Gli scavi della domus 'del Chirurgo' di Rimini". In Scagliarini Corlaita, D. (eds.): I temi figurativi nella pittura parietale antica: iv sec. a.C.-iv sec. d. C. (Atti vi Convegno Internazionale sulla Pittura Parietale Antica). Imola: University Press, pp. 263-265.
Pereira, C. (2012): "Vidro: breve análise temporal e técnica", Al-Madan, 17, pp. 61-67. (http://repositorio.ul.pt/bitstream/10451/10175/1/Pereira%202012a.pdf [accessed 15 November 2017]).
Pereira, C. (2018): As necrópoles romanas do Algarve. Acerca dos espaços da morte no extremo Sul da Lusitânia. Lisboa: Museu Nacional de Arqueologia-Imprensa Nacional.
Ramírez Sádaba, J. (2002): "O homem e a morte na Lusitânia". In Ribeiro, J. (coord.): Religiões da Lusitânia, Loquuntur saxa. Lisboa: mna, pp. 301-306.
Robin, L. (2012): "Le mobilier en verre de la tombe de Saint-Médard-des-Près (Vendée)", Corpus des marques et signatures sur verres antiques, 3, pp. 139-148.
Rodríguez Martín, F. (1984): "Algunos aspectos de la medicina emeritense". En Actas ii Jornadas de Metodo-logía y Didáctica de la Historia. Cáceres, pp. 126-133.
Santrot, J. and Corson, S. (2012): "Pigments, cosmétiques ou médicaments? Dans la tombe gallo-romaine de Saint-Médard-des-Prés (Vendée)". In Frère, D. and Hugot, L. (dirs.): Les huiles parfumées en Méditerranée occidentale et en Gaule, viiie siècle av. - viiie siècle apr. J.-C. Rennes, pp. 191-220.
Schultze, R. (1934): "Die römischen Legionslazarette in Vetera und anderen Legionslagern", Bonner Jahrbücher, 139, pp. 54-63.
Silva, M. (2002): "História e Desenvolvimento da Urologia. Visão sintética", Acta Urológica Portuguesa, 19 (1), pp. 25-30.
Tabanelli, M. (1960): "Gli ospedali delle legioni romane, lungo 'limes' germanico ed orientale". In Atti del Primo Congresso Europeo di Storia Ospitaliera. Roma, pp. 1258-1260.
Tyson, R. (2000): "Medieval glass vessels found in Englad c. ad 1200-1500", cba Research Reports, 121, pp. 149-156.
Wallis, F. (2000): "Signs and senses: diagnosis and prognosis in early medieval pulse and urine texts", Social History of Medicine, 13, pp. 265-278. - https://doi.org/10.1093/shm/13.2.265
Walters, H. (1899): Catalogue of the bronzes Greek, Roman, and Etruscan, in the department of Greek and Roman Antiquities, British Museum. London: Order of the Trustees.
Wellcome, H. (1911): The evolution of urine analysis, an historical sketch of the clinical examination of urine. London: Burroughs Wellcome.
Columella: On Agriculture, Books 10-12 On threes. Translated by Forster, E. (1955). Col. Loeb Classical Library. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, vol. iii.
Galen: On the natural faculties. Translated by Brock, A. (1916). Col. Loeb Classical Library. London-New York: William Heinemann. - https://doi.org/10.4159/DLCL.galen-natural_faculties.1916
Hippocrates: The genuine works of Hippocrates. Translated from Greek with a preliminary discourse and annotations. Translated by Adams, F. (1886). New York: William Wood and Company.
Horace: Satires, Epistles and Ars Poetica. Translated by Fairclough, H. (1929). Col. Loeb Classical Library. London-Cambridge-Massachusetts: William Heinemann, Harvard University Press.
Plautus: Mostellaria or The Haunted House. Translated by Riley, H. (1912): The Comedies of Plautus. London: George Bell and Sons.
Plinius: The Natural History, vol. v. Translated by Bostock, J. and Riley, H. (1856). London: Henry G. Bohn.
Plinius: The Natural History, vol. ii. Translated by Bostock, J. and Riley, H. (1890). London: George Bell and Sons.
Suetonius: The Lives of the Caesars - Julius. Augustus. Tiberius. Gaius. Caligula, vol. i. Translated by Rolfe, J. (1914). Col. Loeb Classical Library. Harvard: hup. - https://doi.org/10.4159/DLCL.suetonius-lives_caesars_book_iv_gaius_caligula.1914
Varron: De Lingua Latina. Lib. v. Translated by Kent, R. (1938). Col. Loeb Classical Library. London: William Heinemann.
Vitruvius: The ten books on Architecture. Translated by Morgan, M. (1914). London: Humphrey Milford. oup.
Bourdichon, J. (1508): Grandes Heures d'Anne de Bretagne. Paris.
Pinder, U. (1506): Epiphanie Medicorum. Speculum vivendi urinas horninum. Clauis aperiendi port as pulsuum. Berillus discernendi causas et differentias febrium. Nuremberg.
Resende, A. (1593): De Antiquitatibus Lusitaniae caeteraque histórica, quae extant. Excudebat Martinus Burgensis. Coimbra, 2 vols.
Ayerbe, R. (2001): "Excavación en un espacio funerario de Mérida. Intervención arqueológica realizada en la Avda. Vía de la Plata, s/n", Mérida. Excavaciones Arqueológicas. Memoria, 5, pp. 21-48.
Baker, P. (2009): Archaeological remains as a source of evidence for Roman Medicine in Medicina Antiqua. Univ. of Kent (http://www.ucl.ac.uk/~ucgajpd/medicina%20antiqua/mm_essays.html [accessed 01/08/2018]).
Bejarano, A. (2016): La medicina en la Colonia Augusta Emerita. Col. Ataecina. Mérida: csic-iam.
Blanco, F. and Peral, D. (2005): "Las pinzas quirúrgicas del instrumental médico de Augusta Emerita", Revista de Estudios Extremeños, 61, pp. 45-68.
Caldera de Castro, M.ª P. (1983): "El vidrio romano emeritense". En Augusta Emerita 1. Excavaciones Arqueológicas en España, 126. Madrid, pp. 1-80.
Corbacho, M.ª J. (2005): "El vidrio en el mundo funerario romano emeritense: ungüentaria", Mérida, Excavaciones Arqueológicas 2002, 8, pp. 487-512.
Cybulska, M.; Jesman, C.; Mludzik, A. and Kula, A. (2012): "On Roman military doctors and their medical instruments", Military Pharmacy and Medicine, 2, pp. 1-8.
Dimopoulos, C.; Gialas, A.; Likourinas, M.; Androutsos, G. and Kostakopoulos, A.: "Hippocrates, founder and pioneer of urology", British Journal of Urology, 52 (2), pp. 73-74. - https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1464-410X.1980.tb02931.x
Eknoyan, G. (1989): "The origins of nephrology. Galen, the founding father of experimental renal physiology", American Journal of Nephrology, 9, pp. 66-82. - https://doi.org/10.1159/000167939
Eknoyan, G. (2007): "Looking at the Urine: the Renaissance of an Unbroken Tradition", American Journal of Kidney Diseases, 49 (6), pp. 865-872. - https://doi.org/10.1053/j.ajkd.2007.04.003
Fine, L. (1986): "Circle of urine glasses: art of uroscopy", American Journal of Nephrology, 6 (4), pp. 307-311. - https://doi.org/10.1159/000167180
Jackson, R. (1990): "Roman doctors and their instruments: recent research into ancient practice", Journal of Roman Archaeology, 3, pp. 5-15. - https://doi.org/10.1017/S1047759400010813
Johnson, A. (1983): Roman Forts. London: Adam and Charles Black.
Jouanna, J. (1996): "Le vin et la médicine dans la Grèce ancienne", Revue de Études Grèques, 109, pp. 410-434. - https://doi.org/10.3406/reg.1996.2691
Koenen, C. (1904): "Beschreibung von Novaesium", Bonner Jahrbucher, 111/112, pp. 97-242.
Kouba, E.; Wallen, E. and Pruthi, R. (2007): "Uroscopy by Hippocrates and Theophilus: Prognosis Versus Diagnosis", The Journal of Urology, 177, pp. 50-52. - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.juro.2006.08.111
Magiorkinis, E. and Diamantis, A. (2015): "The Fascinating Story of Urine Examination: from Uroscopy to the Era of Microscopy and Beyond", Diagnostic Cytopathology, 43 (12), pp. 1020-1036. - https://doi.org/10.1002/dc.23370
Maiuri, A. (1973): Alla ricerca di Pompei preromana. Napoli: Societá Editrice Napoletana.
Mattelaer, J. (1999): "Some historical aspects of urinals and urine receptacles", World Journal of Urology, 17, pp. 145-150. - https://doi.org/10.1007/s003450050122
Mazzini, J. (2000): "L'uso dell'olio d'oliva nella medicina del mondo antico", Medizinbistorisebes Journal, 35 (2), pp. 105-126.
Milne, J. (1907): Surgical instruments in Greek and Roman times. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
Monteagudo, L. (2000): "La cirugía en el Imperio Romano", Anuario Brigantino, 23, pp. 85-150.
Moulinier-Brogi, L. (2012): L'uroscopie au Moyen Âge. Lire dans un verre la nature de l'homme. Paris: Honoré Champion.
Ortalli, J. (1997): "Gli scavi della domus 'del Chirurgo' di Rimini". In Scagliarini Corlaita, D. (eds.): I temi figurativi nella pittura parietale antica: iv sec. a.C.-iv sec. d. C. (Atti vi Convegno Internazionale sulla Pittura Parietale Antica). Imola: University Press, pp. 263-265.
Pereira, C. (2012): "Vidro: breve análise temporal e técnica", Al-Madan, 17, pp. 61-67. (http://repositorio.ul.pt/bitstream/10451/10175/1/Pereira%202012a.pdf [accessed 15 November 2017]).
Pereira, C. (2018): As necrópoles romanas do Algarve. Acerca dos espaços da morte no extremo Sul da Lusitânia. Lisboa: Museu Nacional de Arqueologia-Imprensa Nacional.
Ramírez Sádaba, J. (2002): "O homem e a morte na Lusitânia". In Ribeiro, J. (coord.): Religiões da Lusitânia, Loquuntur saxa. Lisboa: mna, pp. 301-306.
Robin, L. (2012): "Le mobilier en verre de la tombe de Saint-Médard-des-Près (Vendée)", Corpus des marques et signatures sur verres antiques, 3, pp. 139-148.
Rodríguez Martín, F. (1984): "Algunos aspectos de la medicina emeritense". En Actas ii Jornadas de Metodo-logía y Didáctica de la Historia. Cáceres, pp. 126-133.
Santrot, J. and Corson, S. (2012): "Pigments, cosmétiques ou médicaments? Dans la tombe gallo-romaine de Saint-Médard-des-Prés (Vendée)". In Frère, D. and Hugot, L. (dirs.): Les huiles parfumées en Méditerranée occidentale et en Gaule, viiie siècle av. - viiie siècle apr. J.-C. Rennes, pp. 191-220.
Schultze, R. (1934): "Die römischen Legionslazarette in Vetera und anderen Legionslagern", Bonner Jahrbücher, 139, pp. 54-63.
Silva, M. (2002): "História e Desenvolvimento da Urologia. Visão sintética", Acta Urológica Portuguesa, 19 (1), pp. 25-30.
Tabanelli, M. (1960): "Gli ospedali delle legioni romane, lungo 'limes' germanico ed orientale". In Atti del Primo Congresso Europeo di Storia Ospitaliera. Roma, pp. 1258-1260.
Tyson, R. (2000): "Medieval glass vessels found in Englad c. ad 1200-1500", cba Research Reports, 121, pp. 149-156.
Wallis, F. (2000): "Signs and senses: diagnosis and prognosis in early medieval pulse and urine texts", Social History of Medicine, 13, pp. 265-278. - https://doi.org/10.1093/shm/13.2.265
Walters, H. (1899): Catalogue of the bronzes Greek, Roman, and Etruscan, in the department of Greek and Roman Antiquities, British Museum. London: Order of the Trustees.
Wellcome, H. (1911): The evolution of urine analysis, an historical sketch of the clinical examination of urine. London: Burroughs Wellcome.
P. Pereira, C. S. (2019). A possible uroscopy flask of Roman age. Zephyrvs, 83, 201–212. https://doi.org/10.14201/zephyrus201983201212
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