ABSTRACT
The word pathology, derived from the Greek roots pathos (suffering) and logos (word), means the study of disease. Pathology has therefore been a subject of great and widespread interest throughout history, though the professional pathologist has existed for little more than a century and a half. The natural philosophers of ancient Greece carried out human dissection and possibly human vivisection in Alexandria. In Roman times, the body was considered sacrosanct and human dissection was neither permitted nor carried out (despite the opportunities afforded by the mutilated remains of gladiatorial combat). Human dissection began again in the late Middle Ages at the University of Bologna. Dissection was eventually formalised into an annual ritual in Bologna, Padua and other universities in Italy and subsequently other European centres. The Renaissance was characterised by an intense interest in the ancient world, and scholars rediscovered the original Greek sources of Galen’s work.
