We find then that much about the time of Hippocrates, the Gymnastick Method began to be introduc’d into the Art of Physick; whether it was brought up by the School of the Cnidians, or any other Society of Physicians, or whether Herodicus first joyn’d it to the Dietetick, and so brought it into Request, I shall not undertake to determine; but we find by Hippocrates, in his third Book, de DietÂ, Sect. 12. That with some sort of Glory he assumes to himself the Honour of bringing that Method to a Perfection, so as to be able to distinguish ??te??? t? s?t??? ??at?e? t??? p?????, ? ?? p???? t? s?t?a, ? et???? ??e? p??? ?????a. Utrum cibus superat labores, aut labores cibos, aut moderatÈ inter se habeant; as he expresses it. Pursuant to this, we find him in several places of his Works, recommending several Sorts of Exercises upon proper Occasions; as first, Friction or Chafing, the Effects of which he explains in his Second Book, de DiÆta, Sect. 42. And tells us, that as in some Cases it will bring down the Bloatedness of the Solid Parts, in other Cases it will incarn and cause an Increase of Flesh, and make the part Thrive; for, says he, Carnes CalefactÆ ac siccatÆ alimentum in seipsas per venas trahunt, deinde augescunt. He advises Walking, of which they had two Sorts, their round and streight Courses. He gives his Opinion of the ??a????ata or Preparatory Exercises, which serv’d to warm and fit the Wrestlers for the more vehement ones. In some Cases he advises, the ?a??, or common Wrestling, and the ?????e???s??, or Wrestling by the Hands only, without coming close. The ?????a??a, or the Exercise of the Corycus, or the hanging Ball. The ?e???????, a Sort of dextrous and regular Motion of the Hands, and upper parts of the Body, something after a Military manner. The ????d?s??, or rowling in Sand; and once we find mention’d with some Approbation the ?pe???? ?pp??, Equi Indefiniti, by which I suppose he means Galloping, long Courses in the open Field. These various Exercises are more amply describ’d by several Authors, and Mercurialis has Collected a very good account of ’em; they may seem strange to those who don’t consider what great Expences the Ancients were at in Building Academies, or Places every way convenient for these purposes; and as odd as some of these may be thought by us now, they were as commonly practis’d in those days, as Cupping is now in our Bagnio’s. And tho’ Hippocrates gives his Direction concerning these things, after his usual manner, in short Terms, yet ’tis plain he depended much on ’em, because he so frequently inculcates the Distinction of this or that sort of Exercise, to such and such a Distemper; and the People of those Times might find greater Benefit from those Exercises, than we do now from some of ours, which I doubt not are altogether as good; because they apply’d the Exercise to such or such a Medicine as the Physician thought fit, which gave it a greater Energy; and after its Operation had recourse to another milder Method, to take off the Heat or Disorder which might have been caus’d by the Medicine. In these Practices they were so dexterous and successful, that tho’ their Ætiology strictly taken, was wrong, yet if a Man diligently attends to their Reasoning from Effects, he may be satisfi’d, that they were able by these Methods to do some wonderful Cures; and indeed they sometimes had such surprizing Success, that the abovemention’d Herodicus, an Eminent Master of Exercises, thought he could Cure all Distempers by those Means, and went Empirically to work upon the Bodies of those who put themselves under his Care, and was so extravagant, as to attempt to Cure Fevers by such Methods, for which he is ridicul’d by Hippocrates, in the Sixth Book of his Epidemicks, and the Third Section.

As for Galen, he follows Hippocrates in this, as close as in other things, and declares his Opinion of the Benefit of Exercises in several places; his Second Book, de Sanitate TuendÂ, is wholly upon the Use of the Strigil, or the Advantage of Regular Chafing; he has wrote a little Tract, de Parv PilÂ, wherein he recommends an Exercise, by which the Body and Mind are both at the same time affected. In his Discourse to Thrasibulus, which is a Dispute, whether the Preservation of the Health properly belongs to the Art of Physick, or to the Gymnastick Art, he inveighs against the Athletick, and other violent Practices of the Gymnasium, but approves of the more moderate Exercises, as subservient to the Ends of a Physician, and consequently part of that Art.

The other Greek Writers speak much the same thing, and the Sense of most of ’em in this matter is contracted in Oribasius’s Collections. I shall only take Notice that they rely’d much on Exercise in the Cure of the Dropsie, wherein we almost totally neglect it; PorrÒ motus, si quid aliud (says Trallian, one of the latest of ’em) Hydropicis conducit, prÆcipuÈ qui fit per Mare, Equum, & Lecticam iis autem qui viribus constant, etiam Itio est utilissima; which is no more than what Hippocrates has advis’d before, in his de internis Affection. Sect. 28. He orders for one that has a Dropsie ta?a?p??e?t? pe???d??s? p????s? d?’ ?????, Laboret circuitus multos de die. And he makes use of the same Word in his Epidemicks, and almost always when he speaks of the Regimen of a Dropical Person, implying that tho’ it be a labour for such People to move, yet they must undergo it; and this is so much the Sense of Hippocrates, that Mons. Spon has Collected it into one of the New Aphorisms, which he has drawn out of his Works. Celsus says of this Case, Concutiendum mult Gestatione Corpus est; and in another place, Facilius in Servis quÀm in Liberis tollitur, quia cum desideret famem, sitim, mille alia tÆdia, longamq; patientiam, promptius his succurritur, qui facilÈ coguntur, quam quibus inutilis libertas est. I have made choice of these Citations, that I may not be thought to have apply’d the Use of Exercise to the Cure of the Dropsie, without Precedent; and if the Ancients in their Practice found the good Effects of it, we have much more reason to expect greater Advantage from such Measures, since we have a Medicine we use in this Case, which seems particularly to demand it; I mean the Chalybeate, of which I have already spoke elsewhere.

But to return to my former Design; not only the Greeks but the Latin Writers also, are full of these Methods. The Romans rather exceeded, than came short of the Greeks, in the Prosecution of Gymnastick Courses; and Asclepiades, who liv’d in the Time of Pompey the Great, was the Man who brought them into the most Universal Request. He call’d Exercises the common Aids of Physick, and wrote a Treatise, de Frictione, & Gestatione, which is mention’d by Celsus, in his Chapter de Frictione, but the Book is lost. He carry’d these Notions so far, that he invented the Lecti Pensiles, or Hanging Beds, that the Sick might be rock’d to sleep; which took so much at that time, that they came afterwards to make these Beds of Silver, and they were a great part of the Luxury of that People; he had so many particular ways to make Physick agreeable, understood so well the ?? ???p?? of his Profession, was so exquisite in the invention of Exercises to supply the Place of much Physick, that perhaps no Man in any Age ever had the happiness to obtain so general an Applause; and Pliny says, he by these means made himself the Delight of Mankind.

About his Time the Roman Physicians sent their Consumptive Patients to Alexandria in Ægypt, and with very good Success, as we find by both the Pliny’s; this was done partly for the Change of Air, but chiefly for the Sake of the Exercise by the Motion of the Ship, and therefore Celsus says, Si vera a Phthisis est, opus est long Navigatione; and a little after he makes Vehiculum & Navis to be two of the chiefest Remedies; and I am apt to believe they were the more inclin’d to make use of the Sea-Carriage, as an Exercise, for the sake of the Vomiting, which happens at the Beginning of it, that they might thereby supply their Want of gentle Emeticks, which at times are so beneficial in that Distemper, in which scarce any of the Emeticks which they then knew, can be us’d with Safety, and it was a great part of their Industry and Sagacity to make good what they wanted in Pharmacy by other Means. As for the other more common Exercises, that were daily practis’d, as it is very manifest from Celsus, CÆlius Aurelianus, Theodorus Priscianus, and the rest of the Latin Physicians. And we don’t want Instances of the Cures wrought by these means. Suetonius tells us, that Germanicus was Cur’d of a Crurum Gracilitas, as he expresses it, I suppose he means an Atrophy, by Riding; and Plutarch in the Life of Tully gives us an account of his Infirmness, and that he recovered a great Measure of Health by Travelling, and excessive Diligence in Rubbing and Chafing his Body; and he himself in his Brutus, seu de claris Oratioribus, relates his Case, That he was so weak, that his Friends and Physicians advis’d him to leave off Pleading, which struck him so, that he thought he would undergo any Fatigue, rather than lose the Glory of his Profession, and so betook himself to Travelling, which with other regular Courses brought him to his Health again. Pliny, lib. 31. Cap. 6. tells us AnnÆas Gallio, who had been Consul, was Cured of a Consumption by a Sea Voyage; and Galen gives us such Accounts of the good Effects of particular Exercises, and all People so unanimously apply’d themselves with Patience and Resolution to these Practices, that it cannot be suppos’d, but they must have been able to produce great and good Effects.

If any one should ask me how it comes to pass that Riding, which I have substituted as equivalent to any or all the Exercises of the Ancients, in the Case of Sickness, was so little regarded by their Physicians, but other less valuable Exercises insisted on; it may be reply’d, that the Ancients could not recommend Riding to weak People, because of their manner of Riding; they had not the same convenience, as we have; for in those days they rode without Stirrups, which must needs be tiresome to weak Persons. We find by comparing of Medals, that the Stirrup was an Invention of a much later date, than any of the Authors I have quoted, I think by about Seven Hundred Years; so that Riding was only an Exercise for Healthy and strong Men; besides Horses were not so common in the Levant, or in Italy, as they are with us; they were reserv’d for Military Men, or at least for Men of Plentiful Fortunes, and the Ass and the Mule serv’d for common Carriage; the Horse was a formidable Creature to People that were not accustom’d to him, and especially to weak Persons. We see such a Jolly Fellow as Martial, could advise his Friend Priscus, to have a Care how he hunted, Lib. 12. Epig. 14.

And in the Close of the Epigram,

And that this Humour still remains in those Countries, tho’ we have a better way of Riding, is evident from Dr. Baglivi, who tells us in the Corollaries of the 8th Chapter of his first Book, de Fib. Motrice, That he Cur’d two Hypochondriacal Persons, Hominem Nobilem ac alium Divitem, a Gentleman and another rich Man, that he says were desperately Ill, by Riding on Asses in the Country Air; and I believe all will agree to think they were desperately Ill, who could despense with the Ass-trot, when their Circumstances would have afforded them the Carriage of a better Creature. The Italians plainly discover likewise, how little they are addicted to Horsemanship, in that Proverb of theirs which says, That a Galloping Horse is an open Sepulchre; and according to this Opinion, they manage their Horse-Races at Florence, for they make their Horses run without Riders upon ’em, something after the manner of a Paddock-Course; and to make ’em run the faster, they clap a Saddle upon ’em, cover’d with a Sort of Tinsey Stuff, that may make a fluttering with the Motion of the Horse, and fright him that he may run the faster; and instead of Stirrups, there hangs down Straps from the Saddle, at the end of which, there are Balls full of sharp Spikes, which leap up and down, and prick the Horse as he runs. This ridiculous way of Running their Horses, shews how great is the Prevalence of that habitual Timorousness, which keeps ’em from the Enjoyment of the best and most useful sort of Riding, as the Ancients could distinguish very well, as we find by Oribasius, in his Chapter de Equitatione, who after he has said, that Riding slowly was tiresome, (which was for want of Stirrups) he goes on to tell you, Si vehementer impellatur (viz. Equus) quamvis totum corpus laboriosÈ concutiat, tamen aliquid utilitatis affert, siquidem magis quam omnes aliÆ Exercitationes, Corpus et prÆsertim Stomachum firmat, et sensuum instrumenta purgat, eaque reddit acutiora. This is a sufficient Encomium of Riding, coming from the Mouth of one of the Ancients, who relied so much upon other Exercises, tho’ we in these Northern Parts want no Recommendation from them, of a thing so much experienc’d by our selves; only we slight and neglect this Advantage, as we do many others, because it is common.

I have now with sufficient Brevity, consider’d how much the Ancients depended on the Assistance of Exercises in their Practice; and I leave it to any one, that is not prejudic’d, to judge whether this may not pass for one Reason, why they cur’d so well with so bad a Theory, and such indifferent Materials; when we, with our Circulation and Splendid Pharmacy, are not perhaps able to outdo ’em proportionably to our larger Acquisition of Knowledge; I say, I think this may be one Reason, for I know there is another may be alledg’d likewise, and I think I speak without any undue Aggravation.

The Power of Exercises us’d at proper Seasons, and with great and exact Patience, must needs be very great; and if it be true, that in the Roman Common Wealth there was no profess’d Physician for the first Five Hundred Years, there is no way to account for it but by their incredible Temperance, and Variety of Exercises; the few Chronical Distempers they had among ’em, were in all likelyhood, for the most part subsequent to Acute Distempers, which no Temperance can always prevent, and the little vegetable Physick, which they could not but know, with their resolute and indefatigable Application to some of their Exercises, might suffice to help ’em to get clear of ’em. This may perhaps by some be thought rather a Gloss than an Argument, who do no duly consider their wonderful Patience in this respect; the Pletherismus, and Pitylismus, two odd uncouth Exercises mention’d by Galen, are sufficient to convince any Man, that they that would heartily drudge at them in the middle of the Stadium, would do any thing that was possible to recover their Health, and might expect the very utmost Benefit that could be obtain’d from the various Motion of the whole, or any part of the Body.

I will grant, that they carried these things too far, the whole Education of the AthletÆ was blameable; I will grant likewise that they were too Nice in the Exercises for the Preservation of Health; I can’t admire Pliny’s Course of Life, which he gives us an Account of in the Thirty sixth Epistle of his Ninth Book. Ubi hora quarta vel quinta (neque enim certum dimensumq; tempus) ut dies suasit, in Xystum me, vel Cryptoporticum confero, reliqua meditor & dicto, vehiculum ascendo, ibi quoque idem quÒd ambulans, aut jacens, durat intensio, mutatione ipsa refecta paulum redormio, deinde ambulo, mox orationem GrÆcam LatinÁmve clarÈ & intentÈ; non tam vocis causa, quam Stomachi lego, pariter tamen & illa firmatur iterum Ambulo, ungor, exerceor, Lavor. Nor can I approve of Spurinnas abundant Regularity, as Pliny relates it in his first Epistle of his third Book, he tells us, thus Spurinna manag’d himself, Ut manÈ lectulo contineretur, hora secunda indueretur, ambularetque millia passuum tria, mox legeret, vel colloqueretur, deinde consideret, tum vehiculum ascenderet, peractisq; ita septem millibus passuum, iterum ambularet mille, iterum resideret, vel se Cubiculo aut Stylo redderet; ubi hora balnei nunciata foret, (quÆ erat byeme nona, Æstate octava) in sole, si caruisset vento, ambularet nudus, dein pila moveretur vehementer, & diu; postmodÙm lotus accumberet, & paulisper cibum differret. This is a great deal too much, this is over-doing, Life is not worth such anxious Regularity, a generous Negligence is much more preferable in a State of Health; but if a Man happens to be seiz’d with a Distemper of such a Nature, that Exercise is absolutely necessary to the Removal of it, he would be wanting to himself, and very much to be blam’d, if he should think any Fatigue too great to be undergone for the sake of a Recovery; and I fansie there is scarce any Man in this Case, but would take Pains enough, provided he thought they would not be in Vain, which most People are now apt to suppose, because the World has lost the Sense of the Efficacy of Exercises, since the Goths over-run the Southern Nations of Europe, and abolish’d and suppress’d many of their Customs, that they might the easier introduce their own; so that in this respect we are in opposite Extreams, if they prosecuted these Measures too much, we do too little; and I am very sensible how difficult a thing it is, with the best of Arguments, to influence those who are propense to the contrary of what you propose. And we are so habituated to other Methods and other Expectations, have so many Conveniences for Support and Palliation under a Sickness, that most People are supinely content rather to rub on in a Sickly Condition, that does not carry the greatest Danger with it, than resolutely endeavour by vigorous Means to be quite deliver’d from it. And if it be a Distemper that threatens immediate Peril, these Means are presently thought too trivial to have any Weight in the Cure, and People can with more Ease despair of Help, than struggle with Pain in hope of an uncertain Cure; so that in some Cases, it may be very well said of the Wise, the Rich, the Valiant, and the Mighty, as was formerly said of one of King David’s Generals; who, because he was kill’d upon a Surprize, (which yet no Humane Precaution can always prevent,) was lamented with that severe Epicedium, Died ABNER as a Fool dieth?