The Latin translator of a work by Soranus of Ephesus on this subject purposefully shortened and simplified it so that it could be understood when read aloud to the “ill educated.” For 10 points each:
[10h] Name this field of study, also the subject of works by Metrodora and the author of the Cosmetics and the Pessaria.
ANSWER: gynecology [accept obstetrics; accept midwifery; accept any answer specifying medicine dealing with women’s health; prompt on medicine]
[10e] A misinterpreted passage from Pliny the Elder describes an ancestor of this Roman dictator as having been cut from his mother’s womb during childbirth, giving rise to a myth attributing that procedure’s name to this man.
ANSWER: Gaius Julius Caesar [accept Caesarian section; accept C-section]
[10m] Greek and Latin gynecological texts described a number of means of birth control, including the use of this plant with heart-shaped seeds or fruit. Excessive demand for this plant led to its extinction in antiquity.
ANSWER: silphium [accept laserwort]
<CJ, Other History>