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Article ID: CBB636462422

Asclepiades’ Therapeutics in the Elder Pliny (2019)

Technai, An International Journal for Ancient Science and Technology
Volume: 10
Pages: 69-89
Publication date: 2019
Language: English

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Medicine Therapeutics Physicians; doctors Ancient Pliny the Elder Asclepiades of Bithynia

Pliny the Elder’s evaluation of Asclepiades in his "Natural History" is one of the most commonly cited accounts of the Greek physician’s career and medical system. What Pliny says about Asclepiades’ approach to therapy in particular has had a huge impact on modern assessments, contributing directly to the picture of his pleasant forms of treatment, his use of five common remedies, as well as his alleged medical use of hypocaust-heated baths. Yet the evidence provided by more detailed and substantial accounts of Asclepiades’ therapeutics seems to contradict Pliny’s claims on numerous points. By comparing Celsus’ "De medicina," which Pliny used as a source, this paper argues that Pliny can be seen to be manipulating the information he read in highly misleading and selective ways, and accordingly that competing and contradictory accounts should be given more weight. This allows us to build up a much more accurate impression of Asclepiades’ therapeutics, which, we find, was not particularly pleasant at all, was not restricted in any meaningful way to five common remedies, and had no use for hypocaust-heated baths.

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