scholarly journals Miraculous fish therapy for leprosy (‘elephant disease’) and other skin diseases in Byzantium

2016 ◽  
Vol 40 (1) ◽  
pp. 170-175
Author(s):  
Petros Bouras-Vallianatos

This article discusses a unique case of a miraculous fish therapy used for a variety of skin diseases, which seems to have been practised in the mid-fifth century at the shrine of St. Michael in the city of Germia (mod. Gümüşkonak). It aims to enhance our knowledge of Byzantine therapeutic approaches to ‘elephant disease’ and contribute to debates on modern fish spa therapy.

Author(s):  
Cinzia Arruzza

A Wolf in the City is a study of tyranny and of the tyrant’s soul in Plato’s Republic. It argues that Plato’s critique of tyranny is an intervention in an ancient debate concerning the sources of the crisis of Athenian democracy and the relation between political leaders and the demos in the last decades of the fifth century BCE. The book shows that Plato’s critique of tyranny should not be taken as a veiled critique of the Syracusan tyrannical regime but, rather, as an integral part of his critique of Athenian democracy. The book also offers an in-depth and detailed analysis of all three parts of the tyrant’s soul, and contends that this approach is necessary to both fully appraise the complex psychic dynamics taking place in the description of the tyrannical man and shed light on Plato’s moral psychology and its relation with his political theory.


2016 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 150250 ◽  
Author(s):  
Claudio Ottoni ◽  
Rita Rasteiro ◽  
Rinse Willet ◽  
Johan Claeys ◽  
Peter Talloen ◽  
...  

More than two decades of archaeological research at the site of Sagalassos, in southwest Turkey, resulted in the study of the former urban settlement in all its features. Originally settled in late Classical/early Hellenistic times, possibly from the later fifth century BCE onwards, the city of Sagalassos and its surrounding territory saw empires come and go. The Plague of Justinian in the sixth century CE, which is considered to have caused the death of up to a third of the population in Anatolia, and an earthquake in the seventh century CE, which is attested to have devastated many monuments in the city, may have severely affected the contemporary Sagalassos community. Human occupation continued, however, and Byzantine Sagalassos was eventually abandoned around 1200 CE. In order to investigate whether these historical events resulted in demographic changes across time, we compared the mitochondrial DNA variation of two population samples from Sagalassos (Roman and Middle Byzantine) and a modern sample from the nearby town of Ağlasun. Our analyses revealed no genetic discontinuity across two millennia in the region and Bayesian coalescence-based simulations indicated that a major population decline in the area coincided with the final abandonment of Sagalassos, rather than with the Plague of Justinian or the mentioned earthquake.


2018 ◽  
Vol 2 (4) ◽  
pp. 542-566
Author(s):  
Jessica Wright

In late antique theological texts, metaphors of the brain were useful tools for talking about forms of governance: cosmic, political, and domestic; failed and successful; interior discipline and social control. These metaphors were grounded in a common philosophical analogy between the body and the city, and were also supported by the ancient medical concept of the brain as the source of the sensory and motor nerves. Often the brain was imagined as a monarch or civic official, governing the body from the head as from an acropolis or royal house. This article examines two unconventional metaphors of the brain in the work of the fifth-century Greco-Syrian bishop Theodoret of Cyrrhus—the brain as a treasure within the acropolis, and the brain as a node in an urban aqueduct—both of which adapt the structural metaphor of governance to reflect the changing political and economic circumstances of imperial Christianity. Drawing upon medical theories of the brain, Theodoret expands upon the conventional governance metaphor of brain function to encompass the economic and the spiritual responsibilities of the bishop-administrator. Just as architectural structures (acropolis, aqueduct) contain and distribute valuable resources (treasure, water) within the city, so the brain accumulates and redistributes nourishing substances (marrow, blood, pneuma) within the body; and just as the brain functions as a site for the transformation of material resources (body) into spiritual goods (mind), so the bishop stands as a point of mediation between earthly wealth and the treasures of heaven.


2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 101-107
Author(s):  
O. I. Matsyura ◽  
◽  

Food hypersensitivity is a reaction to the food consumed, regardless of the pathogenetic mechanisms that cause the symptoms. It is an actual and controversial problem in pediatric practice. Nowadays there is an active search for the causes of disease progression, a large role is given to the study of genetic and external factors (food, environmental, social). This disease arises many questions due to the similarity of the clinical representation in different kinds of food hypersensitivity and in different pathogenetic mechanisms, which are involved. The purpose of the study is to perform the analysis of factors, which cause appearance of food hypersensitivity in toddlers. Materials and methods. A study of the number of children with food intolerance was conducted using a specially compiled questionnaire. Thus, 4,500 questionnaires were distributed in pre-school and medical establishments to question parents. Results and discussion. Analysis of 3,214 questionnaires was conducted, which enabled to obtain information from parents on anamnesis and living conditions of toddlers. Values of 56 factors were analyzed, calculating correlation coefficients with a formation of food hypersensitivity for each of them. Statistical analysis allowed distinguishing 15 signs among these factors, which significantly correlated with the formation of food hypersensitivity in young children. The investigation enabled not only to detect factors that affect formation of food hypersensitivity in young children, but also to suggest a mathematical model of individual calculation of risk factors for this pathology. Data of conducted mathematical analysis can be used for elaboration of a complex of prophylaxis measures on development of food hypersensitivity in toddlers. Conclusion. The formation of hypersensitivity to cow's milk in children is provoked by the presence of contact reactions in the child, adverse reactions after medication, positive family history (bronchial asthma in relatives, skin diseases in parents (father and / or mother)), smoking in the family, living in the city; at the same time, preventive factors are living in an apartment, in a new building, in a dry apartment. The formation of food hypersensitivity in young children is generally provoked by a positive family history (bronchial asthma, hay fever, urticaria, diseases of the stomach and duodenum in relatives, skin diseases in parents), smoking in the family; frequent consumption of food in a mass catering points; living in the city plays a preventive role


2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (12) ◽  
pp. 100484
Author(s):  
Elizabeth García ◽  
Evelyne Halpert ◽  
Elizabeth Borrero ◽  
Milciades Ibañez ◽  
Pablo Chaparro ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  

1970 ◽  
Vol 38 ◽  
pp. 183-187 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Vickers

In a recent important article on the mosaics of the basilica of St. Demetrius at Thessaloniki, R. S. Cormack proposes a list of churches in the city with mosaics ‘for which a late fifth century date must be considered.’ The list comprises the Acheiropoietos basilica, the first phase of the basilica of St. Demetrius, and Hosios David. The purpose of this article is to show that the mosaics of the second phase of the Rotunda (now known as the church of St. George) should be included in Cormack's list.The first thing to note about the Rotunda mosaics is that there has been less than unanimity concerning the date of their construction. Volbach, Lazarev and Cormack, amongst others, follow Dyggve and Torp in dating the mosaics to c. 400 or slightly earlier; Diehl and Dalton dated them to the fifth century, Weigand to the sixth and Holtzinger to the seventh or eighth century, all on largely stylistic grounds. What are obviously needed are some objective dating criteria, and these are to be found, not so much in the mosaics themselves, but rather in the building fabric and the furniture of the converted Rotunda. The conversion of the Rotunda, incidentally, consisted of the blocking of an opaion in the cupola and the addition of an ambulatory, a monumental entrance to the south, an apse to the east (Plate XXIII) and various subsidiary buildings to east and west. The mosaics were placed in the cupola and in the niches which connected the main body of the Rotunda with the ambulatory.


Arts ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 52
Author(s):  
Bennett

This paper analyzes the trends in depictions of women in Athenian vase-painting during the 5th century BCE through an examination of approximately 88,000 vases in the Beazley Archive Pottery Database. It found a 15% increase in depictions of women during the 5th century BCE and a diversification in subject matter in which women appear. By considering these trends within the historical context of the hegemonic position of Athens in the Delian League and its wars, this paper proposes that the changes in representations and subject matter denote an expanded marketability of vases to female viewers. As targeted imagery, the images give perceptible recognition to an increased valuation of women’s work and lives at a time when their roles in Athenian society were essential for the continued success of the city-state. This paper suggests that these changes also point to the fact that a greater share of the market was influenced by women, either directly or indirectly, and successful artists carefully crafted targeted advertisements on their wares to attract that group. This paper provides new insights into the relationships between vases and their intended audiences within the context of the cultural changes occurring in Athens itself.


2011 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 1934578X1100600 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amal Alachkar ◽  
Ahmad Jaddouh ◽  
Muhammad Salem Elsheikh ◽  
Anna Rita Bilia ◽  
Franco Francesco Vincieri

The use of Traditional Arabic Medicine (TAM) for various diseases has been popular but scarcely studied in Syria. In the present study, we carried out ethnobotanical and ethnopharmacological research on the plants traditionally used to cure various diseases in northern Syria. The information was collected from the city and villages of the Aleppo governorate “Mohaafazah” in the north of Syria, collecting data directly on the basis of a detailed survey of inhabitants and herbalists. In this survey, we found that hundreds of plant species are still in use in TAM for the treatment of various diseases. We selected the most common 100 species, used in the treatment of more than 25 diseases. Among these plants, 53 are used for treating gastrointestinal disorders, 38 for respiratory system diseases, including asthma, bronchitis and cough, 34 for skin diseases, 21 for diabetes, 17 for kidney and urinary disorders, 16 for cardiac disorders, 14 for infertility and sexual impotency, 13 for treating liver diseases, 13 for several types of cancer, 9 for enhancing breast milk excretion, 8 for weight loss, 5 for reducing cholesterol, and three for weight gain. Plants were collected and identified: scientific Latin names, local names, the used parts of the plant, the herbal preparations and the local medical uses are described. Scientific literature concerning the activity of the investigated species is also reported and discussed according to their traditional uses.


1971 ◽  
Vol 66 ◽  
pp. 369-371
Author(s):  
Michael Vickers

There are several buildings at Thessaloniki that can be dated to the middle or second half of the fifth century A.D. and which have one feature in common, namely, the characteristic brick stamps illustrated in Figs, 1a and b. Bricks bearing these stamps occur in the following buildings: Acheiropoietos, the first phase of St. Demetrius, the city walls, and the second phase of the Rotunda. The conventional date for the Acheiropoietos basilica is c. 470 and for the first phase of St. Demetrius some time between 450 and 500. The dates usually given to the walls and the Rotunda are c. 380/390, but I have recently shown that the walls ought to be dated to around the middle of the fifth century and that phase two of the Rotunda belongs with the fifth-century churches. I hope to demonstrate that the Byzantine palace was also built at about the same period.


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