Torch: U.S. LXXVI Winter 2025 | Page 25

EXCAVATION OF ROMAN HOSPITAL · Winter 2025 · Torch: U.S.

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The Roman spatula probae, as its name suggests, is a tool with one end shaped like a spatula and the other shaped like a rounded probe. In surgery, it was used for probing wounds. Its usage, however, extended beyond strictly medical procedures. Spatula probae were often used in pharmaceutical contexts: the probe end mixed ointments and medications, while the spatula end applied these mixtures to patients. 

Obstetrical hooks, also known as sharp hooks, served the purpose of dissecting blood vessels and grasping tissue to fix the edges of wounds. Over time, this tool evolved into the many specialized surgical hooks used in modern medicine. 

The tile cautery was one of the most commonly used tools in Roman medicine. Doctors employed this tool for a wide range of purposes, such as stopping bleeding, destroying tumors, and removing diseased tissue. As a result, surgeons developed many forms of this tool to accommodate these varied uses.

Romans used bone forceps for the removal of small bone fragments, particularly in skull surgery. After battle injuries, surgeons also used this tool to pull out bone shards and debris. Bone forceps are widely considered a precursor to bone rongeurs, a modern surgical tool used for removing bone.

Two types of tile cautery exhibited at Historical Collections & Services of the Health Sciences Library, Virginia.

Spatula probae exhibited at Historical Collections & Services of the Health Sciences Library, Virginia.

An obstetrical hook exhibited at Historical Collections & Services of the Health Sciences Library, Virginia.

A bone forcep exhibited at Historical Collections & Services of the Health Sciences Library, Virginia.

Tile Cautery

Spatula Probae

Obstetrical Hook

Bone Forcep