Field Surgery

Although medical treatment still relied on a certain amount of mysticism, the Romans and Greeks made many great discoveries thanks, in part, to the large number of injured men on hand as experimental subjects. Wine was used as an antiseptic, the alcohol content helping to clean the wound and keep infection at bay. Opium poppies and henbane seeds were used as painkillers, and surgeons could even lave spilled innards with a concoction of oil and water before packing them back into the owner's abdomen.