Galen, the physician

Khaírete, welcome. I am Greek you know. I was born in Greece just one hundred and twenty nine years after the death of Christ. I began my study of medicine at the age of sixteen and spent the next twelve years of my life travelling to different countries to improve my knowledge of medicine. I spent some time in the city of Alexandria in Egypt, a marvellous city which I consider to be the centre of all medical knowledge. The Ancient Greeks built a university and library there, which houses a collection of writings not only from Greek writers such as Hippocrates but from doctors around the world, from India, China, Egypt and even Mesopotamia. Some estimate, there are over seven hundred thousand different items within the Alexandria library. Thankfully in Alexandria dissection of human bodies is well practiced whereas in Greece and Rome it is forbidden, so, in order to study anatomy, I encourage my students to travel Alexandria to practice dissection on human bodies. It really is the best way to learn.