Medicine in Malta

Abstract

After expressing his appreciation and thanks for having been appointed the first St. Luke's lecturer and after a brief -allusion to what is known about St. Luke and his connection with Malta the lecturer embarked on his main theme - medicine in Malta. What the practice of medicine in Malta was like at the time of the visit of St. Luke, we can only surmise, as no records have been discovered so far. The population of Malta, then, was small and its needs were limited. Very likely the Praetor or Proconsul brought with him in his suite, his private physician, usually a Greek slave or freedman; the local inhabitants might have had recourse to the priests of the temples, but most, bore their illness with stoical fortitude of which we see many instances even today.