The were hospitals in Babylon, Egypt, and Greece before Rome even existed.
What tribes ate people? From what I've studied, this was actually just a myth that spread by missionaries.
Better read some new books.
BBC - h2g2 - The Last Act of Cannibalism in Fiji
Fiji Islands, Cannibal Utensil, 1917, Photo of the Day, Picture, Photography, Wallpapers - National Geographic
christianity stopped that and made thier lives better I have been there myself and seen it first hand. i heard it from the Fijians themselves.
Re hospitals I was thinking more the impact of Christianity post Rome and yeah your right there was a type of hospital but modern hospitals were founded by Christians. Romans focused hospitals on infantry a lot. before Christ life was cheap.
History of Hospitals (from Encyc Britannica online)
As early as 4000 BC religions identified certain of their deities with healing. The temples of Saturn, and later of Asclepius in Asia Minor, were recognized as healing centres. Brahmanic hospitals were established in Sri Lanka as early as 431 BC, and King Asoka established a chain of hospitals in Hindustan about 230 BC. Around 100 BC the Romans established hospitals (valetudinaria) for the treatment of their sick and injured soldiers; their care was important because it was upon the integrity of the legions that the power of Rome was based.
It can be said, however, that the modern concept of a hospital dates from AD 331 when Constantine , having been converted to Christianity , abolished all pagan hospitals and thus created the opportunity for a new start. Until that time disease had isolated the sufferer from the community. The Christian tradition emphasized the close relationship of the sufferer to his fellow man, upon whom rested the obligation for care. Illness thus became a matter for the Christian church.
Around AD 370 St. Basil of Caesarea established a religious foundation in Cappadocia that included a hospital, an isolation unit for those suffering from leprosy, and buildings to house the poor, the elderly, and the sick. Following this example similar hospitals were later built in the eastern part of the Roman Empire. Another notable foundation was that of St. Benedict at Monte Cassino, founded early in the 6th century, where the care of the sick was placed above and before every other Christian duty. It was from this beginning that one of the first medical schools in Europe ultimately grew at Salerno and was of high repute by the 11th century. This example led to the establishment of similar monastic infirmaries in the western part of the empire.
The Hôtel-Dieu of Lyon was opened in 542 and the Hôtel-Dieu of Paris in 660. In these hospitals more attention was given to the well-being of the patient's soul than to curing bodily ailments. The manner in which monks cared for their own sick became a model for the laity. The monasteries had an infirmitorium, a place to which their sick were taken for treatment. The monasteries had a pharmacy and frequently a garden with medicinal plants. In addition to caring for sick monks, the monasteries opened their doors to pilgrims and to other travelers.
Religion continued to be the dominant influence in the establishment of hospitals during the Middle Ages . The growth of hospitals accelerated during the Crusades , which began at the end of the 11th century. Pestilence and disease were more potent enemies than the Saracens in defeating the crusaders. Military hospitals came into being along the traveled routes; the Knights Hospitalers of the Order of St. John in 1099 established in the Holy Land a hospital that could care for some 2,000 patients. It is said to have been especially concerned with eye disease, and may have been the first of the specialized hospitals. This order has survived through the centuries as the St. John's Ambulance Corps.
Throughout the Middle Ages, but notably in the 12th century, the number of hospitals grew rapidly in Europe. The Arabs established hospitals in Baghdad and Damascus and in Córdoba in Spain. Arab hospitals were notable for the fact that they admitted patients regardless of religious belief, race, or social order. The Hospital of the Holy Ghost, founded in 1145 at Montpellier in France, established a high reputation and later became one of the most important centres in Europe for the training of doctors. By far the greater number of hospitals established during the Middle Ages, however, were monastic institutions under the Benedictines, who are credited with having founded more than 2,000.
The funny thing- I never knew about this until an Atheist showed me that we owe the benefit of our modern hospitals origins to Christians and jesus teaching. Lol next time you check in make sure you thank God for Jesus!
