GALEN: ON THE DETECTION OF FEIGNED ILLNESSES

Ed. Chartier Vol. VIII [917.]

Ed. Basel Vol. III (369.)

...what should be done and said. It must be remembered, as was stated before, that medical experience combined with social resourcefulness can identify those who invent various excuses. It also identifies those who pretend to be in intense pain.

For example, a man recently claimed to be suffering from the most severe pain in his knee. This man was a slave, one of those who run along the road beside their masters. I detected that his pain was a pretense. I first formed a suspicion because his master was preparing to set out on a journey that day. I also considered the character of the young man. He was the sort of person who was prone to lying about such matters.

I then questioned one of his fellow slaves who was a friend of his. I asked if the youth had a romantic relationship with any woman. I thought it likely that he wanted to stay behind while his master went on a long journey into the countryside. This turned out to be the case.

These were the external facts I discovered through inquiry. Regarding the knee itself, there was a very large swelling. This might have terrified a layman original: "idiotēn" in Greek, "idiotam" in Latin. In this context, it refers to a person lacking professional medical training or specialized knowledge.. However, to one experienced in such matters, the swelling clearly appeared to be...