The ethical challenges of current medicine must be met against the background of the historical evolution of norms and in the awareness of their contextual dependency. So the beginnings are in ancient times and answer options are to be developed in a context-sensitive manner. In this collection of sources, testimonies relating to the history of ideas and everyday life are combined. On the one hand, the important lines of tradition are remembered, on the other hand, everyday practice should become visible. A chronological arc is drawn from the early high cultures to Byzantium in order to make the historical connections clear. Each chapter contains an introductory text to the epoch or subject area. Reference is made here to the underlying source texts. The sources are printed in the original language and in translation. Some illustrations are included to underscore the importance of material culture for a study of antiquity.

This book is included in DOAB.