Hi Nick!
...while I remember this
Some time back I commented on reading that the life in the roman legions was remarkably healthy, due to the fact that the best physicians were those of the army. There was a comment of the legionaire living a longer life on the average (if not killed) than the civilians. I didn't remember the source, but promised you I'd look it up.
As it happens this comment was picked up from "GURPS Low Tech". Here's the quoute:
" These ideas influenced the Roman legions, which examined recruits for general health and tried to maintain that health through diet, exercise, and sanitation. The army trained wound dressers and surgeons. Surgical practice was fairly sophisticated, using such tools as a special spoon for extracting barbed arrowheads without inflicting further injury. Roman soldiers outlived civilians by an average of five years."
Incase you want to track down the authors and ask for references (GURPS books have a pretty good track record for the quality of their research), here's teh webpage of the book:
www.sjgames.com/gurps/books/low-tech/
Better late than never, I hope...
-Mikko, aka Adept
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