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[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 flexi…

(Ξενοκράτης/ Xenokrátēs). [German version] [1] X. of Acragas, mentioned by Pindar, c. 500 BC Brother of the tyrant Theron of Ac…

[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 appear to be direct [1. 184-185]. These are recipes of medications and their indications. Several …

(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: ‘Anatomy’, ‘On the Pulse’, ‘Obstetrics’, ‘Dietetics’, ‘Therapeutics’ and ‘Agains…

[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 …

[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, 5…

[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] 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; generall…

(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…

[German version] A. Definition Iatromathēmatiká (Herm. 1,387,1 Ideler) or nosoúntōn perignostiká ek tês mathēmatikês epistḗmēs (ibid. 1,430,2-3) etc. is the term for the medical implications of astrology, i.e. the recognition of a nosological predisposition of patients or a prognosis of current illnesses, connected with prevention or therapy, depending on the case. Touwaide, Alain (Madrid) [German version] B. Sources The books on which iatromathematics is based are the alleged revelations of  Hermes, who was possibly assisted by Asclepius. These revela…

[German version] [1] Pedanius Dioscorides Author on medicines, 1st cent. AD (Πεδάνιος Διοσκουρίδης; Pedánios Dioskourídēs). [German version] I. Life The author of the treatise Περὶ ὕλης ἰατρικῆς/ Perì hýlēs iatrikês ( De materia medica, 'On Materia Medica') hailed from Anazarbus (Cilicia) and dates to the 1st. cent. AD: in his preface (§ 4), he refers to a certain Laikanios Bassos, whom he describes as krátistos (‘the highest’), now assumed to be C. Laecanius Bassus, senator and consul of AD 64. Pliny makes no reference to this work in his Naturalis historia (completed in AD 77 acc…

[German version] I. Greek (Μαρκέλλος; Markéllos). …

(Ἡλιόδωρος; Heliódōros). [German version] [1] Chancellor under Seleucus IV, 2nd cent. BC Son of Aeschylus of Antioch on the Orontes, was educated with Seleucus IV and was a courtier (τῶν περὶ τὴν αὐλήν) and well-respected chancellor (ὁ ἐπὶ τῶν πραγμάτων τεταγμένος) under him in 187-175 BC (IG XI 4,1112-1114, or OGIS 247; App. Syr. 45). When financial difficulties after the defeat of Seleucus' father Antiochus III against the Romans (190/188), in conjunction with internal Jewish intrigues, had led to special tax demands on the Jews and H. had me…

(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 …

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…

[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…

(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, betray…

(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…

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CH Greek Latin name Main areas of use in antiquity Modern medical Identification Common Diosc. Plin. HN (*1) (*2) name (*3) …

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 donkey doctor was already known in the time before Sargon ( c. 2400 BC) [3]. The Akkadian technical term for a horse doctor (attested in the 1st millennium BC) was munaišu: ‘he who preserves life’. Böck, Barbara (Madrid) [German version] C. Diseases and treatment …

[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…

[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 fo…

[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…

[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 …

[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, elaborated theory. Plato attributes to him two types of treatment in contrast to each other: an aggressive treatment consisting of walks (Phdr. 227d 3-4) and a treatment involving waiting to see how things turn out (…

see Iulius [IV 15] (poet); see Iulius [IV 16] (jurist) [German version] I Greek …

[German version] 1st-century AD medical school. Its representatives explicitly defined themselves as Methodists (μεθοδικοί; methodikoí), as it was their goal to base the practice of medicine on a single simple method (μέθοδος; méthodos) that they could teach to anyone in just a few words. Extant are only the gynaecological treatise of Soranus,a Latin translation of his pathological writings by Caelius [II 11] Aurelianus and doxographic fragments, e.g. POxy. 3654 [1. 382-386, 388-390], probably a medical textbook from the ti…

[German version] Renaissance title of a Latin book of formulae, based largely on the Medicina Plinii and written in the 5th/6th cents. AD. There are three recensions: 1. Sangallensis (6th/7th cents.) in three books (not yet published; titles of …

[German version] (κολλύριον; kollýrion, Lat. collyrium and βάλανος/ bálanos: Caelius Aurelianus, De morbis acutis 2,83; De morbis chronicis 2,39). Pharmaceutical form for administering medicinal substances, in local applications. These were pulverished and made into a uniform paste with binders, as is evident from the etymology ( kollýra: small, round bread roll without yeast [2. 145], bread dough [1. 556]). The kollyrion's two main types of use determine its form and function: a small cone was formed for insertion into anatomical or pathological orifice…

Italic nomen gentile. I. Republican Period [German version] [I 1] A young friend of M. Porcius [I 7] Cato; in 46 BC he wanted to follow Cato into death, but allowed himself to be dissuaded by philosophical arguments (Plut. Cato Minor 65,10 f.; 66,6-8; 73,7). He then joined cause with M. Iunius [I 10] Brutus, who, because of S.' attitude towards tyrannicide, did not dare let him in on the plot against Caesar. S. was killed in 42 as a scout at Philippi (Plut. Brutus 51,6).…

Name of a Roman plebeian family, probably from Caudium (CIL I2 1744 f.) and attested from the time of the 2nd Punic War. The branch of the Libones (S. [I 5-7; II 4-7]) attained the consulship with S. [I 7] and was part of the Roman high nobility in the early Imperial period. The Curiones (S. [I 1-4]), prominent in the 2nd and 1st cents. BC, disappeared with the Republic. I. Republican period [German version] …

[German version] (κρίκωσις; kríkōsis, κρικοῦσθαι; krikoûsthai, infibulare). Placement of a ring (κρίκος; kríkos) or a fibula, minor surgery on the penis described by Celsus (7,25,2) and by Oribasius (50,11). The operation entailed tightening a thread through perforations in the foreskin until it would close no farther. A ring (or fibula) was then attached to prevent exposure of the glans. In some cases at least, it could be removed. Celsus considers the operation to be much more frequently useless than necessary and sees behind it …

[German version] (ἰχώρ; ichṓr). The word has been connected to the Aramaic or Hebrew root meaning ‘dignity’, ‘splendour’, with possible etymological overlap of the Sumerian root meaning ‘blood’ and the Akkadian root meaning ‘to pour’. In Homer (Il. 5,340; cf. 416), the word denotes the lifeblood of the gods as opposed to regular blood that is produced by eating bread and drinking wine. Ichor also appears in Aeschylus (Ag. 1479f., 458 BC), where the word denotes a fluid which is discharged from wounds that will not close. In the 4th cent., it is more common …

[German version] A. Terminology Νόσος/ nósos (Ionic νοῦσος/ noûsos, ‘D’.; etym.: ‘being weakened’) describes disease in an imagery of aggression, which remained in use for a long time [17], as a result of external (divine) or internal origin, which ‘ruled over people and struck them down’ (e.g.: ἱερὰ νόσος; hierà nósos, ‘the sacred disease’, epilepsy). From about the 5th cent. BC, the term was increasingly rivalled by the derivation nósēma [30], perhaps an expression coined by the Sophists; in any case, it rapidly spread through the medical world. It does not hav…

(Ζεῦξις/ Zeûxis). [German version] [1] Greek painter and sculptor, c. 435/25-390 BC Greek painter and sculptor, active be…

[German version] I Greek (Παλλάδιος; Palládios). [German version] [I 1] Greek rhetor, 4th cent. Greek rhetor of the first half of the 4th cent. AD (Suda s.v. P. gives his prime as under Constantinus [1] I) from Methone (probably the Messenian one). According to the Suda, in addition to declamations he wrote in all three rhetorical genres ( genera dicendi …

[German version] Compilation of medical texts written in Latin and attributed in the MSS to an otherwise unknown Plinius Secundus Iunior. Mentioned by Marcellus [8] Empiricus, it is generally accepted to date back to the early 4th cent. AD or even slightly before that. The compilation starts with the author's declaration of his intention to prevent the counterfeiting of medicinal products whose ingredients he then lists together with the relevant composition. The work consists of three books. Bk. 1-2: medicinal p…

[German version] [1] Quinctius S. Sammonicus Author of a collection of recipes (also Quintus Serenius). Author of the Liber Medicinalis, a collection of therapeutic recipes which can be neither dated nor identified; Q. has at times been identified with S. [2] Sammonicus or with his son (Septimius [II 6] S. Sammonicus; both died at the beginning of the 3rd cent. AD). The collection (dating between the 2nd and 4th cents. AD) cannot be chronologically ordered with any accuracy. It is written in hexameters and contain…

[German version] Name of the author to whom is ascribed the Liber medicinae ex animalibus from the corpus also containing Ps.-Musa, De herba vettonica, Ps.-Apuleius, Herbarius, the anonymous treatise De taxone and Ps.-Dioscorides, De …

[German version] (φίλτρον/ phíltron, Latin philtrum; also στέργηθρον/ stérgēthron and θέλκτρον ἔρωτος/ thélktron érōtos; Latin amatorium, pocula desiderii or amoris). Generally a love charm, more often instruments of such a charm (e.g. the tunic of Deianira, Soph. Trach. 584, 1144), usually made from plants, sometimes with mineral and animal substances. Phíltra were used in two ways: 1. The substances were burned in a magical ritual carried out by a professional sorcerer using additional materials (lead plates carrying magical formulae, a statuette embodying the object of the ritual). As in the case of religious offerings, smoke would be produced by this process, summoning a deity. The deity would then effect the spell (e.g. Ach. Tat. 5,22). 2. By being introduced into drinks consumed by the object of the spell or products placed on his body, such substances would arouse love (e.g. Heliodorus 3,16; Plin. HN 28,256). They may - according to modern scholars - have cont…