The educated midwife in the Roman Empire. An example of differential equations.

Abstract

This paper deals with both the reality and the idealization of training of midwives in the Roman Empire. It aims at a full survey of the existing source material (mainly literary and epigraphical sources, though iconographical and papyrological evidence has been included in the discussion). For the first time, a complete collection of the epigraphically attested Latin cases will be given. Moreover, I will deal with the apparent contradiction between the image of the educated midwife as it is exhibited mainly by Soranus, and the picture of midwives as low class women as it is revealed in other sources. In doing so, I will make use of the concept of differential equations, as applied by Joshel and Murnaghan concerning women and slaves in ancient society. As such, I will take issue with the Cilliers and Retief thesis about the social role of women in ancient medicine.