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(Θεόφιλος; Theóphilos). [German version] [1] Comic poet, 4th cent. BC Comic poet of the 4th cent. BC; victor at the Dionysia of 329 [1. test.2], fourth there in 311 with his Pankratiastḗs [2.190, 200]. T. was of the declining Middle and the incipient New Comedy [I G]. Of the nine known titles, two - Νεοπτόλεμος ( Neoptólemos, 'Neoptolemus'), Προιτίδες ( Proitídes, 'The daughters of Proitus') - are mythological plays, the others deal with everyday material. In the Ἐπίδημοι ( Epídēmoi, 'The Pilgrims'), a slave considers whether to run away from his kind master (fr. 1); in the Φίλαυλος ( Phílaul…

Touwaide, Alain (Madrid) I. Europe (CT) [German version] A. Early Middle Ages (CT) The practice of post-Classical curative art is characterised by six tendencies that complement or follow upon one another: 1. The fundamental texts survived in their original Greek version at least until the 5th-6th cent. (Dioscurides). Some were presumably translated into Latin during the same period at Rome or Ravenna (Hippocrates, Peri diaites, Oribasius, Synopsis and Euporista) or else in North Africa (Dioscurides). There were also new Greek texts from Constantinople (Dioscu…

[German version] I Greek (Φίλων/ Phíl ōn). [German version] [I 1] Athenian politician Athenian from Acharnae who was exiled by the Oligarchic regime in 404 BC (Triakonta). During the civil war, he lived as a metoikos (resident without Attic citizenship) in Oropos awaiting the outcome of events. Following his return, when he applied to join the boulḗ he was accused of cowardice and other misdemeanours at a dokimasia investigation (Dokimasia) (Lys. 31; possibly 398 BC). Walter, Uwe (Cologne) Bibliography Blass, vol.1, 480f.  Th.Lenschau, A. Raubitschek, s.v. P. (2), RE 19, 2526f. …

(Ἱεροκλῆς; Hieroklês). [German version] [1] Carian mercenary leader of the 3rd cent. BC Carian mercenary leader of the 3rd cent. BC. In 287/6 together with Heraclides he foiled the attempt of Athenian democrats to take the Piraeus and the Munychia (Polyaenus, Strat. 5,17). Under  Antigonus [2] Gonatas, H. held the position of a Macedonian phroúrarchos (‘commandant of a garrison’) in Piraeus and repeatedly was host to the king. He was a friend of the leader of the Academy, Arcesilaus [5] (Diog. Laert. 4,39f.) and acquainted with Menedemus (Diog. Laert. 2,127).  Demetrius [2] Engels, Joh…

(Τρύφων/ Trýphōn). [German version] [1] The usurper Diodotus of Casiane, 2nd cent. BC Name assumed by the usurper Diodotus from Casiane near Apamea [3] (Str. 16,2,10). As strategos of Demetrius [7] I, D./T. went over to the pretender to the throne Alexander [II 13] Balas, betrayed Antioch [1] on the Orontes to Ptolemaeus [9] VI, occupied Apamea [3] and Chalcis, but then did not switch over to Demetrius [8] II, instead raising Alexander's [13] son to king as Antiochus [8] VI in 145 BC. He defeated Demetrius and allied with…

(Λύκος; Lýkos). Mythology and religion: L. [1-9], historical persons: L. [10-13], rivers: L. [14-19]. [German version] [1] Son of Poseidon and the Pleiad Celaeno Son of Poseidon and the Pleiad Celaeno [1] (Ps.-Eratosth. Katasterismoi 23), only Apollod. 3,111 mentions his translation to the Islands of the Blessed, possibly to differentiate him from L. [6], with whom he is connected by Hyg. Fab. 31, 76 and 157 in spite of the descent from Poseidon. Scherf, Johannes (Tübingen) [German version] [2] Son of Prometheus and Celaeno Son of Prometheus and Celaeno [1], on whose tomb in th…

[German version] Therapeutic intervention in human and veterinary medicine, consisting of the causing of a ‘burn’ on the surface of the body using two different techniques with their respective indications: a burn in the actual sense by means of an iron made red-hot on coals, then by means of a lamp-wick ( mýkēs, e.g. Hippoc. De internis affectionibus 212,14 L.); it was used to make the tissue contract. In this way it was said that a mechanical repair of fractures was achieved [3. 164-165], or in the case of a poisonous bite or sting, the poison …

[German version] (φυσιογνωμονία/ physiognōmonía, Lat. physiognomia). Within ancient psychology, physiognomy represented a set of techniques, assessing a person's personality and character through the observation of physical characteristics and behaviour (Ps.-Aristot. Physiognom. 6-7). Extant sources: the treatise Physiognōmoniká, attributed to Aristotle [6], but probably originating from the Peripatos and the 3rd cent. BC; based on this, Polemon's [6] treatise, written between AD 133 and 136, of which a fragment and an Arabic tran…

[German version] Helvius V., 4th-century AD physician, of African origin, teacher of Theodorus [3] Priscianus. V. had - probably in 382 - contacts with Augustinus. He concluded his political career with a proconsulship in Africa, where, after being comes archiatrorum presumably in 379, he worked as a physician. V. is mentioned in the Codex Theodosianus (Cod. Theod. 10,19,9: AD 378; 13,3,12: 379). V. wrote several treatises influenced by Greek medicine, today lost apart from forewords ( praefationes) or fragments: (1) a collection of recipes, of which only the Epistula ad Valentinia…

CH Greek Latin name Main areas of use in antiquity Modern medical Identification Common Diosc. Plin. HN (*1) (*2) name (*3) (selection) (*4) properties (*5) (*6) name (*7) (*8) 1 87 smýrna balsamum, myrrha 69 + 18 (ophthalmology , wound treatment) ? Commiphora abyssinica Engl. Myrrh 1,64 12,66-71 2 72 kýminon cuminum 51 + 21 (stomach complaints , fever) adstringent, peptogenic, emmenagogic, lactogenic, stomachic Cuminum cyminum L. Cumin 3,59 20,159-162 3 63 helléboros elleborum, elleborus 16 + 47 (consumption , purification , hydropsy , rheumatism) Veratrum album: antirheumatic, H.…

I. The Ancient Orient [German version] A. Sources Indirect: The Akkadian collection of Ḫammurapi’s laws (18th cent. BC) mentions the treatment of oxen (Cattle) and donkeys [1. 70, § 224 f.]. Direct: we know of ten remedies in Ugaritic, and six confirmed as such in Accadian; they confine themselves to the treatment of diseases in horses [2]. Böck, Barbara (Madrid) [German version] B. Specialists As far as can be ascertained from the sources, a distinction was made between veterinarians for bovines and for equines [1. 70, § 224, 18; 4]. The profession of donke…

[German version] (ἰός/ iós and φάρμακον/ phármakon sc. δηλητήριον/ dēlētḗrion, lat. virus and venenum). Poisons were not distinguished according to their origin (animal or plant), but according to the manner in which they were introduced to the body: inoculation (sting: πληγή/ plēgḗ, ictus; bite: δάκος/ dákos, morsus) or oral absorption (πόσις/ pósis, potus); common to all is the definition of a substance affecting the organism. Starting with the Epic Cycle, there is documentary evidence of animal and plant poisons as well as plants with magical or respectively h…

[German version] (Φιλούμενος; Philoúmenos). Author of a treatise on poisonings (Περὶ ἰοβόλων ζῴων καὶ τῶν ἐν αὐτοῖς βοηθημάτων, 'On poisonous animals and medicines extracted from them') that has only been passed down to us in the MS Vat. Gr. 284 (10th cent. AD). P.'s period of writing in any case later than Galenus - the work is structured following the model of the latter's treatise on toxicology - and it must have appeared before that of Oribasius who quotes him, i.e. it must be dated to the 2nd …

[German version] (Ὀρειβάσιος/ Oreibásios or Oribasios/Ὀριβάσιος). Greek doctor and author of medical treatises, b. around AD 320 in Pergamum, d. around AD 390/400 in an unknown location. After studying in Alexandria, O., who was not a Christian, returned to Pergamum. Once there, he practised medicine and gained an outstanding reputation as a doctor as well as a highly cultured man. He was a friend of the future emperor Iulianus [11], whom he had got to know possibly during Julian’s stay in Pergamum…

[German version] I Greek (Θεόδωρος; Theódōros). [German version] [I 1] Of Samos, Greek architect, bronze sculptor and inventor, Archaic period Multitalented Greek inventor, architect, bronze sculptor and metal worker ( toreutḗs; Toreutics) of the Archaic period from Samos (for the occupational image cf. architect). His father was Telecles (Hdt. 3,41; Paus. 8,14,8; 10,38,6) or according to other sources (Diog. Laert. 2,103; Diod. Sic. 1,98) Rhoecus [3]; his name is so frequently mentioned in conjunction with the latter that …

[German version] (Πετρωνᾶς, Petronâs often abbrev. to: Πέτρων, Pétrōn). Greek physician from Aegina, datable by the information that Ariston was his pupil (Anth. Pal. 546F); this Ariston is regarded as the author of the Hippocratic treatise Perì diaítēs ( De diaeta acutorum) dated to c. 400 BC, and Galen calls him παλαιός ('ancient') (CMG 9,1, 135,4). Although Celsus [7] places P. between Hippocrates and the Hellenistic physicians (3,9,2), P.'s medical views, which according to the Anonymus Londinensis (20,1) place him partly in associati…

[German version] [1] From Megara, teacher in Selymbria, 5th cent. BC Paidotribḗs from Megara who settled in Selymbria, contemporary of Protagoras. His birth was estimated to around 500 BC [2. 200f.] and his death in old age to around 430-420 [5. 53]. After Plato had attributed to him the development of a new form of therapy, he was regarded as the author of a small work [1. 979, l. 21f.] despite the absence of any evidence that he had written anything at all or even, despite Anon. Londiniensis IX, 20-36, that he had an explicit, elabo…

[German version] The term malaria covers a polymorphous complex of feverous diseases whose origin can be traced back to the parasite plasmodium carried by the anopheles mosquito. In antiquity, malaria could be distinguished by some of its symptoms: recurrent attacks of fever, particularly of three and four-day duration, swelling of the spleen (splenomegalia) or black urine. Aetiologially the feverous diseases were related to swampy regions, especially within the framework of climatic medicine. Treatment was symptom-…

[German version] ( klystḗr/ klystḗrion, Lat. clyster/ clysterium; also klŷsma/ klysmós and éngklysma, derived from klýzein/ engklýzein, Lat. inicere: to pour, to rinse, and enetḗr/ énema, from: eniénai: to inject) or clyster: pharmaceutical substance of, and device for, administering parenteral (in this case, often in combination with the adverb kátō or the verb hypoklýzein) or (in gynaecological treatises) vaginal injections of therapeutic solutions. The instrument consisted of a flexible and compressible container (animal skin or bladder) with two opening…

(Ξενοκράτης/ Xenokrátēs). [German version] [1] X. of Acragas, mentioned by Pindar, c. 500 BC Brother of the tyrant Theron of Acragas. Pind. Pyth. 6 refers to X.' victory in chariot-racing at the Pythian Games (Pythia [2]) in 490 BC, and Pind. Isthm. 2 to his charioteering victory at the Isthmian Games (Isthmia) in c. 470 BC. The latter ode was written after X.' death. Meister, Klaus (Berlin) Bibliography H. Berve, Die Tyrannis bei den Griechen, 1967, 133; 135. [German version] [2] X. of Chalcedon Academic philosopher, 4th cent. BC Academic philosopher (Academy), 4th cent. BC. Stanzel, Ka…

[German version] Medical analysis of the urine (οὖρον/ oû ron, Latin urina) of a sick person for diagnosis (or  prognosis). Ancient sources: the Corpus Hippocraticum (Hippocrates [6]; Hippoc. Aphorismi 4,69-73; Hippoc. Prognosticon 12; also the comm. by Galen 17,2,750-763 and 18,2,146-165), Rufus [5] of Ephesus ( De renum et vesicae affectionibus) respectively, Galen (De crisibus 9,594-607), the Corpus Galenicum (De urinis 19,574-601; De urinis compendium 19,602-608; De urinis ex Hippocrate et Galeno 19,609-628; De signis ex urinis [1]) and the encyclo…

[German version] Greek doctor from Cappadocia who practiced in Rome. He explained his medication-based therapy, dated to between 100 BC and AD 40, in a treatise that has been dated [1. 242-246] to between 20 BC and AD 20. The recipes, which characteristically tend to be composite, indicate a late date. H.'s origin and the classicism of his medical material suggest an association with the ‘School of Tarsus’ [2], as it may be called, or at least permit classification with the current that it represents. Apart from a papyrus fragment [3], we have 25 quotes in Galen, of which 20 ap…

(Ἡρόφιλος; Hēróphilos) [1] From Chalcedon, Greek physician and medical author, approx. 330/20-260/50 BC [German version] A. Life Greek physician from Chalcedon, about 330/320 to 260/250 BC [5. 43-50]. Apart from his training with Praxagoras, with a Hippocratic orientation, he spent the majority of his active career under Ptolemy I and II in Alexandria. However, he does not appear to have worked in the  Mouseion, nor was he a court physician [5. 26f.]. Touwaide, Alain (Madrid) [German version] B. Work Of the eleven works attributed to H. six are almost certainly genuine: …

[German version] (κράσις/ krásis, Latin mixtio, 'mixture'; complexio, temperatio, temperamentum). Medical term (in physiology, pathology and pharmacology). Continuing the theories of the first Greek philosophers concerning nature (Natural philosophy), especially on the four elements (Elements, theories of) together with their qualities, krásis describes the 'mixture' of materials and thus of specific characteristics which are individually constitutive for the psychology of every subject (e.g. Emp. 31 B 6,96 DK). In the ancient humoral …

[German version] I. Greek (Γρηγόριος; Grēgórios) [German version] [I 1] Thaumaturgus Lawyer and theologian, 3rd cent. AD G. was born between AD 210 and 213, as the son of a wealthy pagan family in Neocaesarea/ Pontus (modern Niksar), probably under the name of Theodorus. In 232/3 (or 239), after a thorough elementary education G. actually wanted to study law in  Berytus/Beirut but before this in  Caesarea [2] (Palestine) got to know  Origen who taught there and then studied under his supervision the ‘Christian s…

[German version] (Κρατεύας; Krateúas). Rhizotómos ‘root-cutter’, ‘herb man’; [6. test. 7 and 8]) of the 2nd/1st cent. BC. He was assumed to be the pharmacologist of  Mithridates VI Eupator simply because he is attributed with assigning the name of mithridátia (6. test. 2) to a plant, although there is no proof for it in the phytonymy. It was also assumed that he went to Thapsus [3. 1644], but this was a mistake since the fr. in question [6. test. 16] points to Sicily [1; 2. 206, 529 and appendix]. The portrait of the Codex Vindob. med. gr. 1, f. 3v has been regarded as authentic [5. 1139.6…

[German version] I. Etymology The Greek term for pharmacology (ὁ περὶ φαρμάκων λόγος/ ho perì pharmákōn lógos, Pedanius Dioscorides, De materia medica praef. 5) means 'science of remedies'. Originally, the term φάρμακον/ phármakon, whose etymology is not known, did not specifically refer to a medical drug, but to any substance introduced into the body with the ability of changing the body's structure or function. The Latin term medicamentum points to the aspect of assistance and support, as does βοήθημα/ boḗthēma. Specific medications were named after their principal proper…

(Ἡρόδοτος; Heródotos). [German version] [1] The historian Herodotus, approx. 485-424 BC The historian Herodotus. Meister, Klaus (Berlin) [German version] A. Life Sources on the life of H., the ‘father of history’ (Cic. Leg. 1,1,5), c. 485-424 BC (fundamental for all of the following: [1]) are, apart from the information he provided himself in particular, the Suda s.v. H. or s.v. Panyassis. H. came from Halicarnassus (modern Bodrum) in the south-west of Asia Minor. The names of his father, Lyxes, and his uncle, Panyassis, a famou…

[German version] [1] C.P. Africanus Senator Senator. In probably 67 he became a suffect consul. In 70 he was expelled from the Senate for being found guilty of informing on the Scribonii brothers under Nero [1] (Tac. Hist. 4,41,3). But he must have been readmitted soon after, because in 77/8 he served as proconsul of Africa; there are numerous testimonies to his activities there. PIR2 P 14. Eck, Werner (Cologne) Bibliography Thomasson, Fasti Africani, 44. [German version] [2] P. Antiochus Pharmacologist in Rome, 1st cent. Pharmacologist, active in Rome, who had great therapeutic…

[German version] (Μητροδῶρα; Mētrodôra). According to the manuscript Flor. Laur. 75,3 (12th cent. AD), the author of surviving extracts under the title ‘Diseases of the Womb (Περὶ γυναικείων παθῶν τῆς μήτρας). Although M. has been identified with various male or female physicians, his/her identity remains unknown, even enigmatic. It is possible that M. never existed, if the name ( mētròs dôra, ‘gifts of the mother’) really is only an erroneous interpretation of the title of a collection of advice given to young women of marriageable age by their mothers. The text, which is based on …

[German version] Alexandrian doctor, lived between the time of Herophilus (330/320-260/250 BC), whose successor he was, and Apollonius (1st cent. BC), by whom he is cited; generally he is placed in the 2nd cent. BC because of his polemics against the  Empiricists and their views on aetiology. Of his works only indirect citations are extant, of which three bear his name, and the last (Gal. Def. med. 220 = 19,448f. K.) was merely attributed to him [1. 73 n. 44; 137 n. 183; 2]. Fragment 3 comes from a work Perì aitíōn (‘On the causes’) in which H. refutes the aetiological nihilism of th…

(Διονύσιος; Dionýsios). Famous personalities: D. [1], the tyrant of Syracuse; the historian D. [18] of Halicarnassus. Dionysios (month),  Months, names of the. The chronicle of Ps.-D. by Tell Maḥre see D. [23]. I. Politically active personalities [German version] [1] D. I. Notorious tyrant in Syracuse c. 400 BC of Syracuse, son of Hermocritus, born in c. 430 BC, died in 367 BC. Founder of the ‘greatest and longest tyrannical rule in history’ (Diod. Sic. 13,96,4; appearance: Timaeus FGrH 566 F 29). Possessing a sophist education (Cic. Tusc. 5,63), D. had enormous ambitions a…