Amtlich angeordnete ärztliche Untersuchungen im römischen Ägypten

Abstract

In Roman Egypt, after violent altercations, but also accidents and even certain cases of suspicious death an official examination of the injured persons or a prefunerary autopsy of the deceased, conducted by a ‹public doctor› or, in exceptional cases, by other seemingly qualified persons, could be requested. Applications for such a procedure were generally directed to the strategos of the nome or, from the 4^th century onwards, to a logistes (curator civitatis) or other high-ranking official. Based on the documents available from the late 1^st to the mid 5^th century the procedure is, as far as possible, reconstructed. After the examination had been performed in the presence of an official attendant, the demosios iatros assembled a written report (προσφώνησις) of the victims’ injuries, which was then signed by both men, creating a legally sound document. Only then were the injuries seen to. The conclusion makes note of further open questions relating to the frequency and the practical use of the procedure in claims for the compensation of damages. The paper closes by discussing the applicability of the term ‹forensic medicine›.