Trivia Question 12 Answer
The correct answer is A, physician to the gladiators. Aelius Galenus was a Greek physician and philosopher who travelled to Rome. He was a highly influential physician of his time and did eventually serve as the physician to Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius and his son Commodus (who was notoriously lazy, but later emperor as well). He gained knowledge of anatomy through dissection of animals such as Monkeys and pigs and through his work on his patients, but he did no rob graves and human cadaver dissection was illegal in Rome in his time.
In a broader sense in ancient Greece and Rome, medicine and athleticism (and warrior training) were already deeply and mutually intertwined. For example, the mathematician and philosopher Pythagoras founded a sect that valued hygiene and exercise in the 6th century BC. Milo of Croton, who ate 'meat' to develop strength, was a member of this sect. Pythagoras and meat-eating Milo are believed to be a substantial influence on the training methods of later Olympians (first written down by an Olympic champion named Iccus) for centuries to come.
Many areas of ancient Greek scientific and medical beliefs and texts had an impact on athletic training. Topics included muscular strength, diet, effects of heat and cold on the body. It is intriguing to note that the very same topics explored millennia ago are still at the forefront of current exercise research. For instance, these topics overlap greatly with the chapters in the recent book about the limits of human endurance 'Endure' by Alex Hutchinson. One difference however is that modern exercise science debates the role of the mind and brain as potential limiting factors in human performance in addition to other physical factors.
References
Ustun C. Galen and his anatomic eponym: vein of Galen. Clin Anat 2004
Finley MI, Pleket HW. The Olympic games: the first 1000 years. The Viking Press. New York. Copyright 1976
Hutchinson A. Endure: mind, body, and the curiously elastic limits of human performance. Copyright 2018