Autopsies that opened the body to determine the cause of death were attested at least in the early third millennium BC , although they were opposed in many ancient societies where it was believed that the outward disfigurement of dead persons prevented them from entering the afterlife ( as with the Egyptians , who removed the organs through tiny slits in the body ) . Notable Greek autopsists were Galen ( AD 129 - c. 200 / 216 ) , Erasistratus and Herophilus of Chalcedon , who lived in 3rd century BCE Alexandria , but in general , autopsies were rare in ancient Greece . In 44 BC , Julius Caesar was the subject of an official autopsy after his murder by rival senators , the physician 's report noting that the second stab wound Caesar received was the fatal one . Julius Caesar had been stabbed a total of 23 times . By around 150 BC , ancient Roman legal practice had established clear parameters for autopsies
his murder
Assassination of Julius Caesar
Autopsy