A very important book that will be consulted by students and scholars in diverse aspects of medicine... Guaranteed to excite controversy... [and] engender a long overdue interest in the medical procedures of one of the great world civilizations. Isis Dr. Miller is a learned and enterprising historian with a fascinating theme. He shows beyond a doubt that the Western hospital tradition goes back to the early Byzantine Empire in the fourth century. Medical History Those who look into Byzantine health care with Professor Miller as their guide will gain a much more favorable impression of the subject than now prevails. En route they will learn in this readable book a great deal about other aspects of Byzantine society and much about classical and medieval medicine in general. Bulletin of the History of Medicine When this book was originally published in 1985, it marked the first comprehensive treatment of the history of the Byzantine hospital... In a new introduction to his text Miller defends his earlier line of argument in detail.
Lawrence I. Conrad Social History of Medicine