2nd century AD relief from Grand Gaul, depicting a Gallo-Roman pharmacist (a woman) brewing medicinal plants in a cauldron which she stirs with a ladle. She has a bowl in her right hand, and on her left knee she is holding a writing tablet which could be the recipe for her preparation. In the background is an assistant. Numerous herbs were used to treat disease and illness by Roman medical practitioners, and modern medicine has proved many remedies to be effective. The Romans were greatly influenced by the medical knowledge brought by the Greeks. Dioscorides, the Greek botanist, pharmacologist and physician who practiced in Rome in the time of Nero is considered the father of pharmacology with his 'De Materia Medica. The five volumes listed over 600 herbal cures and was used extensively by doctors for the next 1500 years.