Medical Writing in the Late Roman West

After Galen, the Latin literary output of the medical sciences in the Latin West consisted of translations of earlier Greek works; new books based on Greek texts, and a large group of anonymous or pseudonymous texts. Elite western Roman society was essentially bilingual through ca 200 ce. The two chief translation centers of the era were North Africa and Ravenna. The most important authors in this period are Vindicianus, around 400 ce, his student Theodorus Priscianus, and Caelius Aurelianus, around 425 ce, who composed works largely based on Soranus the Methodist: each wrote works of recipes for general use, or specifically for female ailments. Cassius Felix, around 450 ce, wrote his Latin treatise for the use of medical students. The author Mustio composed a work of gynecology around 550 ce, for midwives, based on Soranus. Other regions produced writers, such as Marcellus of Bordeaux and Agnellus of Ravenna.

Hippocrates and Early Greek Medicine

The chapter surveys early Greek medicine, primarily the works attributed to Hippocrates, but also evidence for other medical writing, such as that in the Anonymus Londinensis papyrus, and in the fragments of the pre-Socratics. It is noted that the fragments of Alcmaeon indicate experience in dissection of animals, that Diogenes of Apollonia gives a detailed account of the vascular system, and that Plato has an extensive biomedical section in Timaeus. In general, early medical writers show concern with the relation of microcosm to macrocosm and of human life to the universe; also, with opposing principles (hot and cold, wet and dry, thick and thin, rare and dense) such that health is commonly seen in terms of bodily balance and avoidance of excess. The seventy or so works of the Hippocratic corpus cover a wide range of subjects, notably prognostic signs, surgery, gynecology, case histories and aphoristics lore.

Astrology

In its original Babylonian and Egyptian contexts, astrology was the interpretation of celestial signs and omens sent by the gods as warnings to rulers and the elite. Roman fondness for Stoicism fertilized the growth of astrology in the Greco-Roman world, which developed into a natural science, fully integrated with the prevailing cosmology. Astrology became popularized, and anyone who could afford some level of the service knew basic features of his natal chart. The chapter explains the various forms and purposes of judicial or divinatory astrology: “mundane” (heavenly effects on regions), “genethlialogical” (heavenly effects on a life from its birth or conception), “horary” (heavenly effects on the present moment), and “catarchic” (heavenly effects on the future). The chapter also provides an historical sketch of classical astrology, from Babylonian origins through the major surviving handbooks, and an elaborated ancient example of a natal chart (of the emperor Hadrian), its methods, and interpretation.

Greco-Roman Surgical Instruments

The chapter looks at Greek and Roman surgical instruments. The survival of Greco-Roman surgical instruments falls into two divisions: tools available in Hippocratic times (fifth to fourth century bce), and instruments at the disposal of surgeons, mostly Greek, from the late Republic through the Empire (first century bce to fifth century ce). From the former, most survivals are cupping vessels from graves. The texts suggest the Hippocratic physician often created his tool on the spot or had a tool prepared for an immediate need, whereas most of an Imperial surgeon’s repertoire consisted of instruments professionally made and sold by smiths. The various kinds of instruments are described, explained, and illustrated: cupping vessels, scalpels, phlebotomes (for phlebotomy), lithotomes (for bladder stones), needles, probes, cauteries, hooks, forceps, saws, drills, chisels, files, levers, tubes, douches, specula, and abortives.

Traditionalism and Originality in Roman Science

This chapter characterizes an important feature of Roman scientific discourse that sets it apart from the Greek tradition. Valorization of the mos maiorum (custom of the ancestors) spawned a conviction among Roman intellectuals that voices from the past possess more authority than those of the present. Those who wrote about natural philosophy thus tended to idealize tradition in ways that ended up effacing their own contributions. This habit did not preclude innovation and debate, but did serve to obscure the sources of ideas, with figures from the remote past such as Pythagoras often given credit for lore of much more recent vintage. Illustrations of this phenomenon are drawn from a wide range of authors including Cato, Fuluius Nobilior, Varro, Ovid, and Moderatus of Gades.

Astral Sciences in Ancient China

The chapter studies ancient Chinese astronomy, which focused on computing and predicting the movements of the heavens (天 tian), the sun, moon, stars, and asterisms, which was the duty of the rulers, in order that the people be well-regulated. Heavenly bodies were allocated to terrestrial zones, especially 28 constellations roughly along the equator or the ecliptic, the seven stars of the Big Dipper (regarded as the carriage of heaven), and the five planets. Unusual celestial phenomena were recorded, such as solar eclipses, comets, and meteorites. The 盖天 gai tian theory (celestial dome theory), the 浑天 hun tian Theory (celestial sphere theory) and the 宣夜 xuan ye theory (infinite empty space theory) were the three primary theories of the structure of the heaven and the earth, in the Han dynasty (202 bce—220 ce). The earliest extant Chinese star catalogue of the whole sky was composed in the 1st century bce, and the definitive constellation system of 283 constellations, 1464 or 1465 stars was composed in the 3rd century ce.

Ancient Chinese Mathematics

The chapter studies nine long-known extant Chinese mathematical texts, and three recently excavated texts, all composed prior to the beginning of the Sui 隋 dynasty (581–618 ce). Most of these were compiled for use as school texts. They include problems on fractions, on proportions and extraction of square and cube roots, on simultaneous linear equations and computations of areas and volumes. Among the more advanced techniques deployed in these texts are computing the area of a circle, that is, obtaining certain approximate values of π; computing the volume of a pyramid; and computing the volume of a sphere.

Paradoxography

The chapter explores the ancient Greek and Roman literature on wonders, “paradoxical” objects and events in the natural (and human) worlds, things that are strange but true. The main source for this literature was not observation or experience, but other literature. The chapter describes the genesis and development of the genre and defines its common characteristics; introduces its main authors; and explains its importance for the history of ancient science. Paradoxographical texts have been characterized variously as: (1) lists of facts which are considered wondrous, or (2) a sensationalist and consumer-oriented type of writing, or (3) the second-rate extracts from proper historical and scientific authors. Paradoxography was a thriving literary field from Early Hellenistic times, throughout the Greco-Roman era, and into Byzantine times.

Aristotle, the Inventor of Natural Science

The chapter surveys the contributions of Aristotle to the development of ancient Greek science. Aristotle sought the stable element and reliable truth within changes. Aristotle develops a three-fold system of scientific disciplines: practical, productive, and theoretic (including mathematics and natural philosophy). The primary natural kinds are the four elements, earth, water, air, and fire, composed of the fundamental qualities of hot/cold and wet/dry. Each has a natural place, earth in a sphere at the center of the cosmos, and the others in spherical shells around that. The eternal circular heavenly motions are due to the fifth element, “aithēr.” Aristotle’s scala naturae classifies all life: plants are capable of nutrition and reproduction, animals can also perceive and move, and humans can reason. Aristotle also studied the transformation of substances, but mainly focusses on the generation, the parts, and the functions of animals. Aristotle’s chief explanatory tool is the “final” cause, the purpose for which a thing occurs.

The Greek Neoplatonist Commentators on Aristotle

Greek Neoplatonist commentators on Aristotle practiced philosophy and science in the third through seventh centuries ce by performing innovative exegesis of Aristotle’s works. To investigate nature is, for the commentators, to read with understanding Aristotle’s treatises in a set curriculum, with a commentary and teacher. Therefore, a mature philosopher would often prove to be a capable commentator, or interpreter, who could foster the reading of the primary texts with charity and objectivity, eliciting the author’s meaning through paraphrase, lemmatized discussion, and a critically evaluated doxography of the puzzles presented by the text. On the Neoplatonist account, the system expounded in Aristotle’s treatises is uniform and consistent, and is harmonious with the philosophy expounded in Plato’s dialogues. This chapter surveys concepts in the commentators including nature (phusis), biological reproduction, the five or four elements, dynamics and Philoponus’ impetus, natural place and three-dimensional space, modes of causation, teleology, time, cosmogony, and cosmology.