INTRODUCTION
intro
Plutarch had more than a casual interest in medicine, for, besides this essay on keeping well, his other works abound in references to the behaviour of the sick and their treatment, and the medical practices of his day. Long before the time of Plutarch the art of medicine, always empirical, had been put on a solid foundation, and the acute observations of Hippocrates and his school had been set down in writing; and this body of Hippocratic medical writings, along with others, was in circulation, and had undoubtedly been read by Plutarch.
intro
That medicine has made very great advances since Plutarch’s time is, of course, self-evident; aseptic, antiseptic, and sterilize are now household words, and the germ theory of disease has, in recent times, shed light on much which before was dark. But Plutarch is not dealing with the technical side of medicine; he is only giving some common-sense advice on rational living, and much that he has to say in regard to rest, exercise, and diet is in accord with the best medical practice of the present day. In fact, it is doubtful if any physician would take exception to anything that Plutarch advises (his advice is meant for men whose work is done with their heads rather than their hands), and one might name men in public life to-day, well on in years, who have followed many of his suggestions, unwittingly, no doubt, but to their own advantage.
