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[German version] The papyrus inventory no. 137 of the British Library in London is the most important surviving medical papyrus. It was written towards the turn of the 1st to the 2nd cent. and is divided into three parts: columns 1-4,17 contain a list of definitions that concern the páthē of body and soul (cf. the discussion in Gal. Meth. med. 1); columns 4,21-20,50, present different views about the causes of diseases; columns 21,1-39,32 deal with physiology. The text as well as many internal characteristics indicate that these chapters, thou…

[German version] (Πλειστόνικος; Pleistónikos). Doctor fl. c. 270 BC; he was a pupil of Praxagoras of Cos (Celsus, De medicina, proem. 20) and one of the 'classics' of Greek medicine in the so-called Dogmatic tradition (Dogmatists [2]; Gal. Methodus medendi 2,5; Gal. De examinando medico 5,2). It is difficult to assess his individuality, as, according to tradition- i.e. fundamentally in Galen - his views are transmitted as being in agreement with those of Praxagoras or other Dogmatists. Like his master…

[German version] Iatrosophist and commentator of medical texts around AD 600, Milan. Ambr. G 108 f. contains his commentaries on Galen's De sectis, Ars medica, De pulsibus ad Teuthram and Ad Glauconem, just as they were recorded by Simplicius (not the famous Aristotle commentator!). The first mentioned is in many places in agreement with a commentary which is ascribed to Iohannes Alexandrinus or Gesius, as well as Greek passages of text, which are associated with Iohannes and Archonides (?). As controversial as the question …

[German version] (Χάρμις; Chármis) Greek physician from Massilia, who went to Rome c. AD 55. Thanks to his cold-water cures he soon made a name there, and gained many wealthy patients (Plin. HN 29,10). For one treatment he invoiced a patient from the provinces for HS 200,000 (Plin. HN 29, 22), and demanded a similarly exorbitant price of 1,000 Attic drachmas for a single dose of an antidote (Gal. 14,114,127). During his lifetime C. invested HS 20 million in public construction projects in Massilia, and at h…

[German version] Even though the analysis of skeletons has shown that lead played a larger role in the classical period than in prehistoric times, the measured values are lower than expected in view of the considerable rise in lead production between 600 BC and AD 500 and its use in the manufacture of household goods and water pipes [1; 2; 3]. As the symptoms of lead poisoning (LP) are very similar to other diseases, there are hardly any descriptions which can be taken as referring to it unambiguo…

[German version] (Ἀρεταῖος; Aretaîos) of Cappadocia. Greek Hippocratic physician who was influenced by Pneumatic theory. [13] therefore assigned him to the middle of the 1st cent. AD. A.'s name was first mentioned in the late 2nd. cent as the author of a text about prophylactics in Ps.-Alex. Aphr. De febribus 1, 92, 97, 105. However, Galen repeats A.'s story of a leper that appeared in Morb. chron. 4,13,20 without any reference to the source in Subfig. emp. 10 = Deichgräber 75-9. Thirty years later…

(Γαλήνος; Galḗnos) [German version] A. Life AD 129 to c. 216, Greek doctor and philosopher. As the son of a prosperous architect named Aelius or Iulius Nicon (not Claudius, as older accounts have it), G. enjoyed a wide education, especially in philosophy. When he was 17, Asclepius appeared to Nicon in a dream which turned G. towards a medical career. After studying with Satyrus, Aiphicianus and Stratonicus in Pergamum, G. went to Smyrna c. 149 to learn from Pelops, a pupil of the Hippocratic Quintus. From there he journeyed to Corinth to find Numisianus, another pupi…

[German version] (Θεοδᾶς; Theodâs) from Laodicea. Greek physician c. 125 AD; he and Menodotus [2] were pupils of the sceptic Antiochus [20]; he was a leading representative of the School of the Empiricists. He wrote (1.) Chief points (Κεφάλαια), which Galenus and a later (otherwise unknown) Theodosius commented on; (2.) On the parts of medicine (Περὶ τῶν τῆς ἰατρικῆς μερῶν), in which he emphasised the significance of autopsy, historíē ('research') and analogy; (3.) an Introduction to medicine (Εἰσαγώγη). His works were  still being copied in the 3rd cent. in Egypt. Only…

[German version] Although most healers in Antiquity learned their trade from their fathers or as autodidacts, some also went to study with a master (e.g. Pap. Lond. 43, 2nd cent. BC), or travelled to medical strongholds to receive training. Remains of these teaching centres are to be found in Babylonia [1] and in Egypt, where the ‘House of Life’ in Sais, rebuilt by Darius c. 510 BC, may have served as such a centre and scriptorium [2]. If, in the Greek world, the Hippocratic tradition (Hippocrates) emphasized the superiority of healers trained at Cos, Cnidus …

[German version] A. Egyptian The high prestige widely accorded to Egyptian medical practitioners for their surgical skills (Hdt. 3,129), was well-earned. Skeletal finds show the successful treatment of bone fractures, esp. in the arms, and rare cases of trepanation. However, there is no reliable indication of surgical intervention in body cavities [1; 2]. The great diversity of knives, spoons, saws and needles reflects a highly-developed specialism, rooted in wide-ranging medical practice. Early pap…

[German version] (‘birth-helper’, ‘midwife’). Midwifery was usually practiced by women but was not exclusively in their hands. A Parian inscription, for example, records two male birth-helpers (IG 12,5,199) and the preserved treatises on midwifery address a male readership. Iatromaia as an occupational name appears in two Roman inscriptions of the 3rd and 4th cents. AD (CIL 6,9477f.); in one, a Valeria Verecunda is named as the ‘first iatromaia in her region’, an epithet that seems to refer to the quality of her work rather than a position in a collegium.  Midwife Nutton, Vivian (Lon…

[German version] A. Definition Hospital in the sense of public institutions for the medical care of exclusively sick people are not encountered before the 4th cent. AD, and even then the majority of terms used (Greek xenṓn, xenodocheîon, ptōcheîon, gerontokomeíon, Latin xenon, xenodochium, ptochium, gerontocomium, valetudinarium; ‘guesthouse’, ‘pilgrims' hostel’, ‘poorhouse’, ‘old people's home’, ‘hospital’) point to a diversity of functions, target groups and services that partly overlap with each other. Private houses for sick members o…

[German version] or Gessios, from Petra (Steph. Byz. s.v. Γέα/ Géa), physician and teacher, end of the 5th/early 6th cent. AD, close friend of Aeneas [3] (Epist. 19; 20) and Procopius of Gaza (Epist. 38; 58; 123; 134). He studied medicine under the Jew Domnos (Suda s.v. Γέσιος/ Gésios) in Alexandria, where he practised as   iatrosophistḗs (teacher of medicine). Although opposed to Christianity, he was baptized at the instigation of the emperor Zeno but retained a cynically negative attitude towards his new religion. He protected th…

[English version] Griech. Arzt und Philosoph, Lehrer des Galenos, lebte um 150 n. Chr. in Kleinasien (Gal. 19,58, CMG V 10,2,2, 287). Als langjähriger Schüler des Quintus (Gal. 18A, 575) und Anhänger des Hippokrates interpretierte er zumindest einige ihrer Lehren in stoischerem Sinne, z. B. aus dem Bereich der Psychologie, in der er dem Stoiker Simias folgte (Gal. 19,58; 18b, 654]. Die Hippokratesdeutung, die ihm in der Galenausgabe von Kühn bei Gal. 16,484 zugeschrieben wird, ist eine Renaissancefälschung. Nutton, Vivian (London)

[English version] A. Geschichte Die E. sind eine griech. Ärzteschule, gegr. um 250 v.Chr. von Philinos von Kos, einem Schüler des Herophilos (Ps.-Galen Introductio; Gal. 14,683). Nach Celsus (De med. pr. 10) wurde sie hingegen etwas später von Serapion von Alexandria begründet. Nach einigen Doxographen war der Gründer Akron von Akragas (um 430 v.Chr.; fr. 5-7 Deichgräber). In den medizinischen Doxographien wird sie als eine der drei Hauptströmungen in der griech. Medizin noch zur Zeit des Isidorus v…

[English version] (πυρετός, febris) bezeichnet eigentlich ein Symptom, eine erhöhte Körpertemperatur, doch wird der Begriff von allen ant. medizinischen Autoren häufig zur Bezeichnung einer Krankheit oder einer Krankheitsklasse verwendet. Im mod. diagnostischen Sprachgebrauch deckt der Begriff eine Reihe von Zuständen ab, so daß die Identifizierung jedes antiken “F.” ohne weitere Untergliederung von F.-Arten oder ohne sonstige Symptombeschreibung zum Scheitern verurteilt ist. Solche Identifizierung…

[English version] (Φυλότιμος) von Kos. Arzt und Jahresbeamter ( mónarchos) von Kos in der ersten H. des 3. Jh. v.Chr.; zusammen mit Herophilos [1] war er Schüler des Praxagoras und wurde eine der klass. Autoritäten der griech. Medizin (vgl. Gal. de examinando medico 5,2), auch wenn seine Schriften h. nur noch in Fr. greifbar sind. Er verfolgte anatomische Interessen, legte den Sitz der Seele in das Herz und hielt das Gehirn für eine bloße und überflüssige Ausdehnung des Rückenmarks (Gal. de usu partium 8…

[English version] (“Geburtshelferin”, “Hebamme”). Geburtshilfe wurde gewöhnlich von Frauen geleistet, lag jedoch nicht ausschließlich in ihren Händen. So berichtet eine parische Inschr. von zwei männlichen Geburtshelfern (IG 12,5,199), außerdem richten sich die erh. geburtshilflichen Schriften an ein männliches Publikum. I. als Berufsbezeichnung taucht auf zwei röm. Inschr. aus dem 3. bzw. 4. Jh. n.Chr. auf (CIL 6,9477f.); in ersterer wird Valeria Verecunda die ‘erste i. in ihrer Gegend’ gen., ein Epitheton, das eher auf die Qualität ihrer Arbeit als auf ei…

[English version] (lat. contagio, “Ansteckung”). Krankheitsübertragung von einer Person auf eine andere auf direktem oder indirektem Wege. Mit K. verbindet sich die Vorstellung der Befleckung; im Judentum z.B. gilt, daß Menschen, die an bestimmten Krankheiten (wie Lepra) leiden, oder etwa menstruierende Frauen gemieden werden müssen (Kathartik). Die angeführten Gründe lassen sich entweder in hygienischem oder rel. Sinne verstehen. Ähnliche Empfehlungen sind auch aus dem alten Babylonien und Grieche…

[German version] (Μνησίθεος; Mnēsítheos). Athenian doctor, fl. 350 BC. His tomb was seen by Paus. (1,37,4). He was wealthy enough to erect statues and was one of the dedicators of the beautiful ex-voto inscription to Asclepius IG II2 1449. He is frequently associated with Dieuches [1]; he wrote extensively about dietetics including diets for children, and is counted amongst the more important Dogmatic physicians (Dogmatists) [1]. Galen ascribes to him a logical classification of illnesses that follows Plato's method (fr. 10,11 Bert…