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Mental illness

(976 words)

Author(s): Nutton, Vivian (London)
[German version] A. Near Eastern Mental illnesses (MI) are described in both Jewish and Babylonian texts. Sometimes physical signs are indicated, as in epilepsy, sometimes behaviours are described as in 1 Sam 16:14-16; 21:13-15, but all MI are ascribed to the intervention of God, or, in texts from 500 BC onwards, of a variety of demons [1]. Treatment might be limited to confinement (Jer 29:26-8) or exorcism, including music, but the Jewish ‘Therapeutae’ took an approach that involved the entire lifes…

Iulianus

(4,648 words)

Author(s): Giaro, Tomasz (Frankfurt/Main) | Nutton, Vivian (London) | Franke, Thomas (Bochum) | Johnston, Sarah Iles (Princeton) | Montanari, Franco (Pisa) | Et al.
Epithet of many gentilicia [1]. Famous persons: the jurist Salvius I. [1]; the doctor I. [2]; the emperor I. [11], called ‘Apostata’; the bishops I. [16] of Aeclanum and I. [21] of Toledo. [German version] [1] L. Octavius Cornelius P. Salvius I. Aemilianus Roman jurist, 2nd cent. AD Jurist, born about AD 100 in North Africa, died about AD 170; he was a student of  Iavolenus [2] Priscus (Dig. 40,2,5) and the last head of the Sabinian law school (Dig. 1,2,2,53). I., whose succession of offices is preserved in the inscription from Pupput, provi…

Andreas

(442 words)

Author(s): Nutton, Vivian (London) | Savvidis, Kyriakos (Bochum)
(Ἀνδρέας; Andréas). [German version] [1] Personal physician of Ptolemaeus Philopator Originally from Carystus. Personal physician of Ptolemaeus Philopator, was murdered before the battle of Raphia in the year 215 BC (Pol. 5,81). The son of Chrysareus, he was a Herophilean ( Herophilus), who wrote about medicaments (this was especially so in his writing Narthex), midwifery, poisons, doxography and the history of medicine. He commented on Hippocrates, even if he did not write any actual commentaries. Eratosthenes (EM s. v. Bibliaegisthus) accused h…

Evenor

(217 words)

Author(s): Neudecker, Richard (Rome) | Nutton, Vivian (London)
[German version] [1] Athenian sculptor, c. 490-470 BC (Eύήνωρ; Euḗnōr). Athenian sculptor. Three bases on the Acropolis bear his signature, dating from around 490-470 BC. One of these is linked, not without controversy, to the so-called Angelitus' Athena (Athens, AM Inv. no. 140). Neudecker, Richard (Rome) Bibliography A. E. Raubitschek, Dedications from the Athenian Akropolis, 1949, no. 14, 22, 23. B. S. Ridgway, The Severe Style in Greek Sculpture, 1970, 29-30, fig. 39. [German version] [2] Greek physician Greek physician from Argos in Acarnania; he lived in Athens, a…

Transmission of disease

(307 words)

Author(s): Nutton, Vivian (London)
[German version] Latin contagio, ‘infection’, refers to the transmission of disease (TD) from person to person, directly or through an intermediary. TD is associated with the idea of pollution: Judaism, for instance, holds that people suffering from certain diseases (such as leprosy) or menstruating women must be avoided (Purification). The stated reasons were either hygienic or religious. Similar precepts are known from ancient Babylon and Greece as well. The observation that those in close contac…

Aelius Promotus

(91 words)

Author(s): Nutton, Vivian (London)
[German version] A., of Alexandria, worked during the first half of the second cent. as doctor and writer. He wrote about medicines and sympathetic remedies [1; 2]. The manuscripts also count among the writings of A. a treatise about toxicology [3], the core of which originated in A.'s time and which was apparently one of the main sources for  Aetius [3] of Amida, even if it shows signs of revisions in the meantime. Nutton, Vivian (London) Bibliography 1 E. Rohde, KS vol.1, 1901, 380-410 2 M. Wellmann, in: SBAW 1908, 772-777 3 S. Ihm, 1995.

Nicias

(1,775 words)

Author(s): Stein-Hölkeskamp, Elke (Cologne) | Hoesch, Nicola (Munich) | Albiani, Maria Grazia (Bologna) | Bäbler, Balbina (Göttingen) | Nutton, Vivian (London) | Et al.
(Νικίας; Nikías). [German version] [1] Important commander in the Peloponnesian War, c.470-413 BC Son of Niceratus of Athens, born c.470 BC, died 413; one of the most important commanders in the Peloponnesian War. After the death of Pericles, N. competed with Cleon [1] for influence in the popular assembly and the assignment of military commands. His policy was directed towards ending the aggressive Athenian politics of expansion and towards reconciliation with Sparta. From 427, N. was regularly elected stratēgós . He led expeditions against Minoa [4…

Artemidorus

(1,271 words)

Author(s): Karttunen, Klaus (Helsinki) | Di Marco, Massimo (Fondi Latina) | Brodersen, Kai (Mannheim) | Montanari, Franco (Pisa) | Weißenberger, Michael (Greifswald) | Et al.
(Ἀρτεμίδωρος; Artemídōros). [German version] [1] Indo-Greek King in 1st cent. BC. Coins are the only evidence of his existence, middle Indian Artemitora. Karttunen, Klaus (Helsinki) Bibliography Bopearachchi, 110, 316-318. [German version] [2] Elegiac poet Writer of elegies Περὶ Ἔρωτος in which, among others, the katasterismós of the dolphin was narrated. He had helped Poseidon win Amphitrite as his wife (Ps.-Eratosth. Catasterismus 31 S. 158 Robert, cf. schol. ad Germanicus, Aratea, S. 92,2ff. Breysig = SH 214). Even if this is only a hy…

Erasistratus

(1,039 words)

Author(s): Nutton, Vivian (London)
(Ερασίστρατος; Erasístratos) [German version] A. Life Physician, born in the 4th-3rd cent. BC at Iulis on Ceos; the son of Cleombrotus, physician to Seleucus I, and Cretoxene; brother and nephew to other physicians (fr. 1-8 Garofalo). Information on his education is contradictory, but, if we ignore Eusebius when he tells us that E. attained the zenith of his career in 258 BC, a link with Theophrastus and the Peripatos appears possible [7]. The professional practice of his father and E.'s own associati…

Heraclides

(4,218 words)

Author(s): Högemann, Peter (Tübingen) | Meister, Klaus (Berlin) | Engels, Johannes (Cologne) | Badian, Ernst (Cambridge, MA) | Günther, Linda-Marie (Munich) | Et al.
(Ἡρακλείδης; Hērakleídēs). Famous persons: the politician and writer H. [19] Lembus, the philosopher H. [16] Ponticus the Younger, the doctor H. [27] of Tarentum. I. Political figures [German version] [1] Spokesman on behalf of Athens at the Persian court, end of 5th cent. BC H. of Clazomenae (cf. Pl. Ion 541d) was in the service of the Persians and probably called basileús for that reason. Thus, he was able to perform valuable services for Athens at the Persian court in 423 BC for which he received Attic citizenship soon after moving there (after 400, Syll.3 118). To move the Athenians …

Asclepiades

(2,568 words)

Author(s): Degani, Enzo (Bologna) | Döring, Klaus (Bamberg) | Pressler, Frank (Heidelberg) | Nutton, Vivian (London) | Montanari, Franco (Pisa)
(Ἀσκληπιάδης; Asklēpiádēs) [German version] [1] of Samos Epigrammatic poet Epigrammatic poet of the ‘Garland’ of Meleager, who addresses him in the preface by the dark pseudonym Σικελίδης (Anth. Pal. 4,1,46; cf. Hedylus, GA I 1, 101 6, 4; Theoc. 7,40); an outstanding representative of the Ionian-Alexandrianschool, he lived around the turn of the 4th/3rd cent. BC. A. was highly praised by Theocritus (7,39-41), but attacked by Callimachus (schol. Flor. Callim. Fr.1,1). From the latter he differed, among other things, through a diametrically opposed appraisal of the Lyde of Antimach…

Ionicus

(90 words)

Author(s): Nutton, Vivian (London)
[German version] of Sardis. Teacher and physician, who worked around AD 390. The son of a physician and a pupil of Zeno of Cyprus, he was well respected, particularly regarding his services to practical therapy, pharmacology, the art of bandaging, and surgery. In addition, he was a philosopher with particular gifts in medical prognostication as well as in fortunetelling (Eunapius, Vitae Philosophorum 499). Furthermore, he is reported to have distinguished himself as a well-known orator and poet, even though none of his works have survived. Nutton, Vivian (London)

Epilepsy

(357 words)

Author(s): Nutton, Vivian (London)
[German version] From 1050 BC onwards we find careful descriptions of epilepsy and its various manifestations in Babylonian texts [1]. There, epilepsy is linked to gods, spirits, or demons. The belief in a religious cause of epilepsy and the corresponding treatment of it through religious, magical, and folk-medicinal methods can be traced throughout all of antiquity and across cultural borders. In c. 400 BC, the Hippocratic author of De morbo sacro propagated a purely somatic interpretation of epilepsy , wherein he suspected that changes in the balance of bodily fluids we…

Arsenius

(207 words)

Author(s): Montanari, Franco (Pisa) | Nutton, Vivian (London)
(Ἀρσένιος; Arsénios). [German version] [1] Saint Saint, from a noble family, born AD 354 in Rome, died 445 in Troy near Memphis in Egypt. Emperor  Theodosius I invited him to Constantinople to bring up his children  Arcadius and  Honorius. After many years in the imperial palace A. returned to Egypt and lived as a hermit. A biographic legend is to be found in Simeon Metaphrastes. The teachings for monks and apophthegmata ascribed to him are of very doubtful authenticity. Montanari, Franco (Pisa) Bibliography A. Jülicher, RE 2, 1273 ODB I 187-188. [German version] [2] Fictitious author …

Satyrus

(1,465 words)

Author(s): von Bredow, Iris (Bietigheim-Bissingen) | Knell, Heiner (Darmstadt) | Schmitz, Winfried (Bielefeld) | Blume, Horst-Dieter (Münster) | Ameling, Walter (Jena) | Et al.
(Σάτυρος/ Sátyros). [German version] [1] S. I King of the regnum Bosporanum from 433/2 to 389/8 BC. Son of Spartocus I. S.' co-regent may have been (until 393/2) his brother Seleucus [1]. S. directed his attention at the Asiatic coast of the Cimmerian Bosporus (Bosporus [2]). He restored the Sindian King Hecataeus following a revolt, and allied with him through a dynastic marriage. S.'s divorced wife then sent the King of the Ixomates against him (Polyaenus, Strat. 8,55). S. died during the siege of Theodosia. von Bredow, Iris (Bietigheim-Bissingen) Bibliography V. F. Gajdukevič, Da…

Venereal diseases

(398 words)

Author(s): Nutton, Vivian (London)
[German version] In the absence of unambiguous diagnostic evidence it is difficult to reconstruct the ancient history of VD. Less harmful infections such as herpes genitalis (Hippocr. De mulierum affectibus 1,90 = 8,214-8 L.) and chlamydia [2. 220] are well attested, the two major VD of modern times, gonorrhoea and syphilis, can be detected in surviving material only with difficulty. Gonorrhoea, a Greek word coinage presumably from the Hellenistic period, describes any form of excessive production of fluid in a man. It…

Philaretus

(367 words)

Author(s): Nutton, Vivian (London) | Savvidis, Kyriakos (Bochum)
(Φιλάρετος; Philáretos). [German version] [1] Greek writer on medicine Greek writer on medicine. A text which bears P.’s name and ultimately goes back to Galen’s theories about the pulse, is a Byzantine revision (from the 9th cent.?) of the text De pulsibus ad Antonium (= Gal. 19,629-642 K.) which was influenced by pneumat (Pneumatists). Whether or not P. was the author of the original text or the revised version, is a matter of controversy. A connection with Philagrius cannot be ruled out as his name is occasionally misrepresented in P.…

Artorius, M.

(136 words)

Author(s): Nutton, Vivian (London)
[German version] Doctor, and follower of Asclepiades of Bithynia (Caelius Aurelianus Morb. acut. 3,113), was in Philippi with Octavian where a dream saved the life of the future emperor (Plut. Antonius 22; Brutus 47; Val. Max. 1,7,2; Vell. Pat. 2,70,1). He was honoured by the Athenians (IG II/III2 4116), probably on the occasion of a journey to Delos (IDélos 4116), and died around 27 BC in a shipwreck (Hieron. Chron. Olymp. 127). A. believed that rabies first attacked the brain and that it spread to the stomach and caused hiccups, unquenchab…

Philippus

(7,662 words)

Author(s): Welwei, Karl-Wilhelm (Bochum) | Beck, Hans (Cologne) | Badian, Ernst (Cambridge, MA) | Ameling, Walter (Jena) | Mehl, Andreas (Halle/Saale) | Et al.
[German version] I Greek (Φίλιππος/ Phílippos). Macedonian kings P. [3-7], including P. [4] II, P. [7] V; the apostle and evangelist P. [28]; philosophers and poets P. [29-32]. [German version] [I 1] Spartan naval leader in 411 BC Spartiate, commander at Miletus in 412 BC (Thuc. 8,28,5), sent in 411 with two triremes to Aspendus to move, with the support of Tissaphernes, the Phoenician fleet to fight Athens (Thuc. 8,87), but soon told the naúarchos Mindarus that his mission would be unsuccessful (Thuc. 8,99; [1. 244]). Peloponnesian War Welwei, Karl-Wilhelm (Bochum) Bibliography 1 B. …

Gaius

(1,171 words)

Author(s): Elvers, Karl-Ludwig (Bochum) | Nutton, Vivian (London) | Giaro, Tomasz (Frankfurt/Main) | Fröhlich, Roland (Tübingen)
[II] Widespread Roman praenomen (probably connected with the Latin family name Gavius, but not related to gaudere), abbreviated as C., more rarely G.; in late Greek inscriptions also Γα ( Ga). Elvers, Karl-Ludwig (Bochum) [German version] [1] Physician of the school of Herophilus Physician of the school of Herophilus, probably 1st cent. BC or AD, wrote about hydrophobia (Caelius Aurelianus morb. ac. 3,113-4). He explained that this disease affected the brain as well as the meninges, because the nerves surrounding the stomach and responsi…

Hicesius

(109 words)

Author(s): Nutton, Vivian (London)
[German version] Greek physician, head of an Erasistratean school in Smyrna, early 1st cent. BC (Str. 12,8,20); he wrote on  dietetics (Plin. HN 14,130; 20,35; 27,31), embryology (Tert. De anima 25) and toothache (Plin. HN 12,40). He was the inventor of a famous black plaster that ‘helped with all types of wounds’ (Gal. 13,787). Galen, who recorded four different recipes for this medication (13,780; 787; 810; 812) and cites the four authors ( Andromachus [5] the Younger,  Heras,  Heraclides [27] a…

Ne(i)leus

(207 words)

Author(s): Käppel, Lutz (Kiel) | Nutton, Vivian (London)
[German version] [1] Founder of Miletos (Νειλεύς/ Neileús; Νηλεύς/ Nēleús; Νείλεως/ Neíleōs). Mythical founder of the city of Miletus [2]; from Pylos; son of the Attic king Codrus, brother of Medon [5]; since he is second to his brother in the succession, he leaves Attica with a group of Athenians und Ionians from Pylos, settles the Ionian cities in Asia Minor, founds Miletus and the Milesian dynasty of rulers. His son Aepytus founds Priene (Hellanicus FGrH 125 F 10; Hdt. 9,97; Callim. Iambi fr. 191,76; Str. 14,1,3; Paus. 7,2,1ff). Käppel, Lutz (Kiel) [German version] [2] Greek surgeon a…

Acumenus [of Athens]

(72 words)

Author(s): Nutton, Vivian (London)
[German version] (Ἀκουμενός; Akoumenós) [of Athens] Doctor from the late 5th cent. BC. As father of the doctor  Eryximachus, who was a friend of Socrates and Phaedrus, A. emerges briefly as a fictitious dialogue partner in Pl. Phdr. 268a and 269a, in order to emphasize the thesis that the art of medicine comprises more than merely knowledge, which has been gleaned from books and teachers. Nutton, Vivian (London)

Straton

(1,134 words)

Author(s): Bäbler, Balbina (Göttingen) | Wildberg, Christian (Princeton) | Ameling, Walter (Jena) | Nutton, Vivian (London) | Karttunen, Klaus (Helsinki) | Et al.
(Στράτων; Strátōn). [German version] [1] Attic comedy writer, 4th cent. BC Attic comedy writer of the 4th cent. BC, according to the Suda belonging to the Middle Comedy [1. test. 1], but on the basis of fr. 1,43 (mentioning Philitas [1] of Cos) certainly to the New Comedy [2.62 f.]. At the Dionysia of 302, S. attained the fourth place [1. test. 2]. Of the comedy Phoinikídes (fr. 1 PCG) a rhesis survives on papyrus (fr. 1,4-8; 11; 13-15; 17-21; 23-25; 34-50; cf. [3]) and in a divergent version in Athenaeus (fr. 1,1-47; cf. [1.621 f.]); the spe…

Dioscorides

(1,511 words)

Author(s): Badian, Ernst (Cambridge, MA) | Weißenberger, Michael (Greifswald) | Degani, Enzo (Bologna) | Bäbler, Balbina (Göttingen) | Nutton, Vivian (London) | Et al.
(Διοσκουρίδης; Dioskourídēs). [German version] [1] Son of Polemaeus, naval commander in 314-313 BC Son of Polemaeus, nephew of  Antigonus [1] Monophthalmus. Led the fleet to a few victories as naval commander in 314-13 BC. Nothing further is known about his life. Badian, Ernst (Cambridge, MA) Bibliography R. A. Billows, Antigonus the One-Eyed, 1990, 381f. [German version] [2] Polyhistor of the 4th and 3rd cents. BC Polyhistor of the 4th and 3rd cents. BC, pupil of Isocrates (Ath. 1,18,11 A). Of his works, the following titles are known (cf. FGrH 3 B 594): 1. Apomnēmoneúmata (‘Memorabil…

Antonius

(5,913 words)

Author(s): Degani, Enzo (Bologna) | Fusillo, Massimo (L'Aquila) | Savvidis, Kyriakos (Bochum) | Berschin, Walter (Heidelberg) | Elvers, Karl-Ludwig (Bochum) | Et al.
[German version] A. Greek (Ἀντώνιος; Antṓnios). [German version] [1] Thallus Epigrammatic poet, 2nd half of the 1st cent. BC Epigrammatic poet from Miletus (according to [2] he had received Roman citizenship, through the patronage of Antonia Minor) lived in the 2nd half of the 1st cent. BC (in Anth. Pal. 6,235 the birth of a Καῖσαρ [ Kaîsar] is celebrated, who is to be equated with either C. Julius Caesar, the grandson of Augustus, or with Germanicus). His five epigrams, which derive from the ‘Garland’ of Philippus, are certainly conventional in their…

Phylotimus

(248 words)

Author(s): Nutton, Vivian (London)
[German version] (Φυλότιμος; Phylótimos) of Cos. Physician and chief magistrate ( mónarchos) of Cos in the first half of the 3rd cent. BC; along with Herophilus [1], he was a pupil of Praxagoras and became one of the classic authorities of Greek medicine (cf. Gal. De examinando medico 5,2), although only fragments of his writings now survive. He pursued anatomical interests, placed the seat of the soul in the heart and held that the brain was merely a useless extension of the spinal medulla (Gal. De usu pa…

Stertinius

(262 words)

Author(s): Schmitt, Tassilo (Bielefeld) | Nutton, Vivian (London)
Three bearers  of the Italic gens name S. are known from the late Republic. [German version] [1] S., L. Held a pro-consular imperium over Hispania Ulterior By popular vote a pro-consular imperium over Hispania Ulterior was transferred to him for 199 BC (Liv. 31,50,10-11 and [1]), and he returned in 196 with such great booty that he was able to have three arches built in Rome (Liv. 33,27,3-4); In 196 he was a member of a commission to re-organize Greece (Pol. 18,48,2 and [2]). Schmitt, Tassilo (Bielefeld) [German version] [2] S., C. Praetor of Sardinia in 188 BC Praetor of Sardinia in 188 BC …

Glycon

(378 words)

Author(s): Robbins, Emmet (Toronto) | Bowie, Ewen (Oxford) | Nutton, Vivian (London) | Neudecker, Richard (Rome)
(Γλύκων; Glýkōn). [German version] [1] Poet Named by Heph. 10,2 Consbruch as the inventor of Glyconic verse ( Metre). His existence is disputed and the three verses ascribed to him (= 1029 PMG) are generally viewed as alexandrine in terms of metre: G. could hardly have lived before Sappho (late 7th cent. BC), who used this meter. Choeroboscus names G. (in his Comm. on St. In Heph. Consbruch) as a comedic poet, but probably mistook him for Leucon (PCG V 612). Anth. Pal. 10,124, a two-liner on the futil…

Humoral theory

(722 words)

Author(s): Nutton, Vivian (London)
[German version] The idea that physical health was connected with bodily fluids was widespread. Mucus is already mentioned in ancient Egyptian medicine, and also in Babylonian medicine particular attention was paid to the quantity and colour of bodily fluids. The Greeks regarded   ichṓr of the gods, blood (α(̃ιμα; haîma) in humans and sap (χυμός; chymós) in plants as the bearers of life. These fluids (χυμοί/ chymoí, Latin humores) could also become dangerous in excess. Two humours, phlegm (φλέγμα; phlégma) and bile (χόλος; chólos or χολή; cholḗ), are already represented as hazard…

Eustochius

(53 words)

Author(s): Nutton, Vivian (London)
[German version] Evodus (Εὐστόχιος; Eustóchios) from Alexandria. He encountered  Plotinus towards the end of the latter's life ( c. AD 269), who converted him to philosophy. E. also acted as Plotinus' physician, accompanied him on his last journey, and was with him when he died (Porphyrius V. Plot. 7). Nutton, Vivian (London)

Hippocratic Oath

(704 words)

Author(s): Nutton, Vivian (London)
[English version] Documentary evidence for a use of the HO in Late Antiquity is ambiguous. Gregory of Nazianzus (Greg. Naz. Or. 7,10) reported that his brother Caesarius did not have to swear the oath as a medical student in Alexandria, thus implying that others probably had to. However, there is no record for the Byzantine or Muslim world to confirm any official obligation to swear this oath, even though it was evidently well-known. In practice, it was superseded by the Galenic concept equating e…

Leprosy

(396 words)

Author(s): Nutton, Vivian (London)
[German version] also ‘Hansen's Disease’. A chronic disease caused by Mycobacterium leprae affecting the peripheral nerves, and often also the skin. Palaeopathological finds prove its existence in the Mediterranean area only for the Hellenistic period [1], but texts from Babylon, Egypt and Israel from c. 800 BC onwards describe disfiguring skin diseases, among which could be included leprosy, even though the descriptions probably refer to psoriasis. The biblical name of the disease ṣaraʿat, in the Middle Ages wrongly translated as leprosy, referred to a disease whic…

Dietetics

(1,163 words)

Author(s): Nutton, Vivian (London)
[German version] I. Greece Greek medicine is fundamentally different from Egyptian and Babylonian medicine because it allots dietetics in the broader sense of a regime of eating, drinking, exercise and bathing, a key role within therapeutics [2. 395-402; 3]. Originally, dietetics referred to the administering of balanced foods in liquid, pasty or solid form, depending on the degree of illness (Hippocr. De medicina vetere 5 [4. 241-257]). However, about the mid 5th cent. BC it expanded well beyond a …

Anonymus de herbis

(74 words)

Author(s): Nutton, Vivian (London)
[German version] Several MSS of Dioscorides contain an anonymous poem of 215 hexameter verses about the qualities of herbs, which was written probably in the 3rd cent. in highly stylized Greek. It refers back to Nicander, Dioscorides and Andromachus [4, the Elder] According to [1], the poetic language shows similarities with the Orphica (newest edition: [1; cf. 2]). Nutton, Vivian (London) Bibliography 1 E. Heitsch, in: AAWG 1964, 23-38 2 NGAW 1963, 2, 44-49.

Olympus

(2,377 words)

Author(s): Kramolisch, Herwig (Eppelheim) | Meyer, Ernst (Zürich) | Scherf, Johannes (Tübingen) | Lohmann, Hans (Bochum) | Lafond, Yves (Bochum) | Et al.
(Ὄλυμπος/Ólympos). Geography: [1-13]. People: [14-15]. [German version] [1] Home of the ›Olympian‹ gods, highest mountain in Greece (Latin Olympus) (Latin Olympus). Kramolisch, Herwig (Eppelheim) Meyer, Ernst (Zürich) [German version] I. Geography The highest mountain in Greece, regarded as the home of the 'Olympian' gods (twelve (Olympian) gods). Its altitude, overlooking all of its surroundings, creates a powerful impression, as do its massive size and density and its dramatic ascent, especially at the east and west, which …

Largius Designatianus

(98 words)

Author(s): Nutton, Vivian (London)
[German version] Medical writer, 4th cent. AD, author of a Latin paraphrase of a Greek letter to (an undefined) king Antigonus that is passed down under the name of Hippocrates [6] and that contained a dietetic plan and advice on treating diseases of the head, chest, belly and kidneys. This paraphrase is extant in the introduction to a medical treatise of Marcellus Empiricus, where it is preceded by a letter of L. to his sons. Both texts probably belonged to the introduction to a medical work by L. that is lost today. Nutton, Vivian (London)

Heraclitus I (Gk)

(1,845 words)

Author(s): Betegh, Gábor (Budapest) | Robbins, Emmet (Toronto) | Albiani, Maria Grazia (Bologna) | Bäbler, Balbina (Göttingen) | Fornaro, Sotera (Sassari) | Et al.
(Ἡράκλειτος; Hērákleitos). [German version] [1] H. of Ephesus Ionian philosopher, c. 500 BC Son of Bloson, outstanding personality within Ionian philosophy. Betegh, Gábor (Budapest) [German version] A. The person H.'s main period of activity is estimated to have been about 503-500 BC (Diog. Laert. 9,1). He belonged to a leading family in the public life of Ephesus. The doxographic tradition records several anecdotes of H.'s arrogance and contempt for his fellow citizens and humanity in general, which are mostly based on fragments of H. Betegh, Gábor (Budapest) [German version] B. La…

Claudius

(10,704 words)

Author(s): Elvers, Karl-Ludwig (Bochum) | Will, Wolfgang (Bonn) | Kierdorf, Wilhelm (Cologne) | Eck, Werner (Cologne) | Birley, A. R. (Düsseldorf) | Et al.
Name of a Roman lineage (Sabine Clausus, with the vernacular variant of   Clodius , esp. in the 1st cent. BC). The Claudii supposedly immigrated to Rome from the Sabine city of Regillum at the beginning of the republic in 504 BC under their ancestor Att(i)us Clausus ( Appius) and were immediately accepted into the circle of patrician families (Liv. 2,16,4-6), which explains why the early members received the invented epithets of Inregillensis C. [I 5-6] and Sabinus C. [I 31-32], [1. 155f.]. The praenomen Appius came to signify the family. Named after them was the Tribus Claudi…

Iacobus Psychrestus

(108 words)

Author(s): Nutton, Vivian (London)
[German version] Physician, the son of Hesychius of Damascus, changed his residence in the early 6th cent. AD in order to join his father's medical practice in Constantinople. He treated emperor Leo, whereupon he became a   comes and   archiatros (Chron. pasch. 8254a; Malalas, Chronographia 370 Dindorf; Photius, Bibliotheca 344A). As a pagan philosopher who was honoured in Athens and Constantinople with statues, he ordered the rich to help the poor. The latter he incidentally treated without charging a fee. His nic…

Galenism

(389 words)

Author(s): Nutton, Vivian (London)
[English version] Whereas between about AD 500 and 1100,  Galen was almost unknown in Western Europe, the orthodox  medicine of the Byzantine and Muslim world was substantially based on his concepts that were increasingly systemized and put into a logical order, with a particular focus on their theoretical content.  Galen's monotheism and teleology commended his works also to an environment dominated by religion. From the 12th cent. on, Galenism reached Western Europe in an Arabic guise where it s…

Salpe

(75 words)

Author(s): Nutton, Vivian (London)
[German version] (Σάλπη/ Sálpē). Midwife of the Hellenistic era, whose medical and cosmetic recipes were quoted by Plinius [1] in his Historia naturalis (Plin. HN 28,38; 28,66; 28,82; 28,262; 32,135; 32,140). Athenaeus [3] (Ath. 322a) knows a S. as the author of παίγνια/ paígnia (‘light poems’), but it is problematic to consider the two identical [1]. Nutton, Vivian (London) Bibliography 1 D. Bain, Salpe's ΠΑΙΓΝΙΑ; Athenaeus 322a and Plin. H. N. 28,38, in: CQ 48, 1998, 262-268.

Leonides

(479 words)

Author(s): Ameling, Walter (Jena) | Nutton, Vivian (London) | Albiani, Maria Grazia (Bologna)
(Λεωνίδης; Leōnídēs). Cf. also Leonidas. [German version] [1] General Ptolemy I, c. 300 BC General of Ptolemy I, stratēgós in Cilicia in 310/309 BC (Diod. Sic. 20,19,4). L. probably consecrated a helmet at Delos in 309/308 (IG XI 2, 161 B 77), and in 308 he was appointed by Ptolemy as commander of his Greek possessions. In 307/306, L. fulfilled the function of stratēgós in Sicyon and Corinth; after 301, together with Philocles (?), he commanded Ptolemaic mercenaries in Pamphylia (SEG 17, 639; Aspendus). It is unclear whether he can be identified with Berve, vol. 2, no. 470. Ameling, Walter (…

Marcellinus

(1,752 words)

Author(s): Nutton, Vivian (London) | Damschen, Gregor (Halle/Saale) | Baumbach, Manuel (Zürich) | Wermelinger, Otto (Fribourg) | Bleckmann, Bruno (Strasbourg) | Et al.
[German version] I. Greek (Μαρκελλῖνος; Markellînos). [German version] [I 1] Greek author of a treatise on pulses, 2nd cent. AD?, [1] Greek author of a treatise on pulses. His reference to followers of Archigenes suggests the late 1st or 2nd cent. AD as the earliest date of its composition. A more precise dating would be possible if he were the author of a recipe quoted by Galen (De compositione medicamentorum secundum locos 7,5 = 13,90 K.) from Andromachus [5] the Younger, but the identification is uncertain. M.'s …

Apollophanes

(252 words)

Author(s): Hidber, Thomas (Berne) | Nutton, Vivian (London) | Karttunen, Klaus (Helsinki)
[German version] [1] Attic poet of the Old Comedy Attic poet of the Old Comedy, who according to the witness of Suda wrote five pieces (Δαλίς, Δανάη, Ἰφιγέπων, Κένταυροι, Κρῆτες; Dalís, Danáē, Iphigépōn, Kéntauroi, Krêtes; 1. test. 1), all of which are lost, except for a few remnants. On the inscription list of the Lenaean victors A. figures between Nicophon and Amipsias [1. test. 3]. Hidber, Thomas (Berne) Bibliography 1 PCG II, 1991, 518-523. [German version] [2] Personal physician of Antiochos III Son of A. of Seleucia, personal physician ( archiatros) and tropheus of Antiochus III;…

Iustus

(481 words)

Author(s): Bringmann, Klaus (Frankfurt/Main) | Johne, Klaus-Peter (Berlin) | Nutton, Vivian (London)
[German version] [1] Imperator Caesar C.P. Niger Iustus Augustus, Roman emperor 193-194 AD, see Pescennius see  Pescennius Bringmann, Klaus (Frankfurt/Main) [German version] [2] I. of Tiberias Jew. historian, 1st cent. AD Jewish historian of the 1st cent. AD, wrote a ‘Jewish War’ (66-70/74), in which he dealt critically with the work of the same name by  Josephus [4] Flavius (this made Josephus write a retort in his autobiography: Vita 65), and a chronological-genealogical work on Jewish kings from Moses to  Iulius [II 5] Agrippa II. This work, which appears to…

Iatrosophistes

(216 words)

Author(s): Nutton, Vivian (London)
[German version] Originally meaning a teacher of medicine (esp. in Alexandria), iatrosophistes could later refer to any experienced practitioner ( medicus sapientissimus, Corpus Glossatorum Latinorum 3,600,32 Goetz), either in orthodox medicine (e.g.  Agnellus, In Galeni De sectis commentarium 33) or in the magical arts of healing (Ps.-Callisthenes, Vita Alexandri 1,3) [1]. Contrary to the emendation by von Arnim in Dion. Chrys. 33,6, the term was probably not coined before the late 4th cent. AD (Epiphanius, Adversu…

Phanostrate

(79 words)

Author(s): Nutton, Vivian (London)
[German version] (Φανοστράτη; Phanostrátē). Greek-Athenian midwife and doctor, depicted on Attic grave stelae from the end of the 4th cent. BC (IG II/III2 6873; Clairmont, 2. 890). The inclusion of the professional title midwife suggests a certain degree of specialisation in medicine and shows at the same time that women were able to work as doctors and earn a considerable income, as is suggested by the quality and individual designs of the stone mason’s craftsmanship. Nutton, Vivian (London)

Melancholy

(534 words)

Author(s): Nutton, Vivian (London)
[German version] (μέλαινα χολή/ mélaina cholḗ, ‘black bile’). The fourth humour in the tradition of Hippocratic medicine represented by De natura hominis, ch. 4, and later by Rufus of Ephesus and Galen. It was predominant in autumn, associated with the element earth, and cold and dry. It was viewed as the antithesis of blood, having many deadly properties [1]. According to Galen (De atra bile 5,104-148 K.) in its purest form it was highly destructive to everything it touched, and had its origin in the spleen. Not ev…

Phlebotomy

(371 words)

Author(s): Nutton, Vivian (London)
[German version] In Babylonian, Egyptian and also Greek medicine, blood-letting was part of standard medical practice. This procedure was carried out either by directly opening a vein, by scarification or by using a cupping vessel. Considering how often the latter are depicted on monuments connected with physicians, cupping may have been the most common method [1]. Two notions seem to have favoured phlebotomy: on the one hand, it supposedly prevented the stagnating of the blood and its transformat…
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