ABSTRACT
Another, quite different, reason for study of the history of disease and medicine is to pick up background information on why there is such a huge disparity in the health status of different human groupings in the world today. As the World Health Organization and other authorities assure us, at the present time the standard of living and health status of one fifth of humanity is no better than it was 2,000 years ago during the long era when Roman Imperial agents held most of the Western world in thrall. As mention of these disparities reminds us, throughout history the exercise of power over the many by the few (through the use of soldiers, the use of distributors of doctrine and information, and the use of tax collectors) has commonly been found in socially-stratified societies. It was not, however, much found among groupings consisting solely of hunter-gatherers and nomads.
