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Well we don't know how Galen operated but let's be honest - if you knew enough to wash your hands, boil your surgical equipment and not to bleed your patient to death - you would have been a better surgeon than most over the past 3000 years. Perhaps this was Galen's secret.

Agreed. He was a brilliant man in truth. An egotist apparently, but brilliant nonetheless. I would imagine being a physician to gladiators would teach you a thing or two quite quickly.