Ancient Medicine

‘Hermogenes of Smyrna (579)’

by Bogdan Burliga

Brill’s New Jacoby. General Editor Ian Worthington. Leiden 2010  [Brill Online: http://www.brillonline.nl

Revisión de la historia de clavícula

by Francisco Cortés Gabaudan

Antídoron. Homenaje a Juan José Moralejo
edd. MªJ. García Blanco et. al.
Santiago de Compostela, 2011
ISBN 978-84-9887-720-5

The history of clavícula must be reconsidered if one studies the use of the diminutive form κλειδίον (clīdion) in... more The history of clavícula must be reconsidered if one studies the use of the diminutive form κλειδίον (clīdion) in zoological and human anatomical context, in classical and late Latin or
Greek. The formal explanation of the metaphoric use of κλείς when it means the collar-bone is better than the functional one, if one considers the form of keys in Homeric times.
Key words: clavicle, anatomical terminology, etymology, metaphor.

‘Knowing the body: Renaissance medicine and the classics’ in Paula Olmos (ed.), Greek Science in the Long Run: Essays on the Greek Scientific Tradition (4th c. BCE – 16th c. CE), Newcastle: Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 281-300

by Helen King

http://www.c-s-p.org/Flyers/Greek-Science-in-the-Long-Run--Essays-on-Greek-Scientific-Tradition--4th-c--BCE-16th-c--CE-1-4438-3775-X.htm

Some prevalent pathologies in ancient Egypt

by Paula Veiga

This paper deals with some of the most prevalent pathologies in ancient Egypt; which were those and how were those... more This paper deals with some of the most prevalent pathologies in ancient Egypt; which were those and how were those prevented. They were mainly caused by diet and hygiene care, or the lack of it, plagues and infestations, and how the ancient Egyptian peoples dealt with them.

Unofficial Call For Papers: Geography, Ethnicity, and Medicine

by Molly Jones-Lewis

I couldn't fit this whole thing on my status update, so I'm posting it sneakily as a paper.  See the 'abstract' for more details.

Unofficial Call For Papers: Geography, Ethnicity, and Medicine

This is a preliminary call for papers to... more Unofficial Call For Papers: Geography, Ethnicity, and Medicine

This is a preliminary call for papers to form a panel proposal for the CAMWS 2013 meeting in Iowa City. Submission to this panel do not guarantee that the panel will be accepted to CAMWS, but those selected will be part of the proposal. We are trying to find individuals we don't already know who work in this area.

Within the emerging and dynamic field of ancient technical literature there is a wealth of information addressing the way ancients viewed the nature of race and ethnicity through emerging sciences like geography and medicine in the diverse cultures of the ancient Mediterranean. This panel seeks to provide scholars working in this area with a forum to explore the exciting possibilities of this new direction in ancient ethnicity studies as well as an opportunity to collaborate towards further work. We are especially interested in papers that show the interactions between one or more of the fields (geography, ethnicity, and medicine--think Airs, Waters, Places or Pliny the Elder type stuff, maybe), and welcome contributions from any time period, so long as the focus is on the ancient Mediterranean.

Abstracts ca. 100-200 words should be submitted to Rebecca Kennedy (kennedyr@denison.edu) and Molly Jones-Lewis (mollyayn@gmail.com) by July 6, 2013.

Tribal Identity in the Roman World: The Case of the Psylloi

by Molly Jones-Lewis

Presented at CAMWS 2011 and currently under conversion to book chapter format for a larger collection of essays exploring intersections of geography, ethnicity, and medicine in antiquity.

This paper presents and examines the testimonia about the Psylloi, a North African tribe known for their... more This paper presents and examines the testimonia about the Psylloi, a North African tribe known for their quasi-magical abilities in curing and, at times, using poison.  First mentioned in Herodotus as a extinct tribe, the name emerges once more in Pliny, Plutarch, Strabo, Lucan, and Aelian connected to a contemporary group that was often employed in the Roman military specifically for their reputed ability to cure the bites of snakes and scorpions.

The paper considers the question of whether this ethnic group was consciously reviving Herodotus' lost Psylloi in an effort to  further their reputation with a name familiar to Greek-speaking intellectuals.  An alternate version of their story is preserved in Pliny the Elder in which they were not destroyed by a sandstorm (as Herodotus claims), but were instead driven from their lands to take up settlement elsewhere.  It is likely that this alternate story was produced by the (new?) Psylloi in order to bolster their reputation among their Greek-speaking clientele.

The paper also addresses the ways in which Roman authors in particular classified them as a incompletely conquered people.  For instance, Pliny the Elder (the author who provides the most information about this group) portrays them plotting to import scorpions into Italy in order to boost their poison-curing business (N. H. 11.89), holding demonstrations in which they display their ability to withstand the poisons of toads (25.123), and ritually expose their children to snake-bite in order to prove paternity (N. H. 7.14).  In other authors, the Psylloi are far more helpful, though no less formidable.  In Lucan's Pharsalia  9.907 they aid Cato's Romans against snakebite, and in Greek-speaking authors their powers likewise serve Roman interests (c.f.  Strabo 13.1, Suetonius Aug.  17.4, and Plutarch Cato 57).  I argue that the dangerous aspect of their reputation was central to the success of the Psylloi in promoting themselves (as they seem to have done); a power that is dangerous is likewise a power that is effective, and for this reason it was in this group's best interest to appear both dangerous and amenable to serving their Roman masters.

Finally, the paper will discuss the other groups who were similarly identified with poison and antidotes: the Ophiogenes and the Marsi.  The Marsi in particular presented a challenge to the Psylli inasmuch as they represented an Italian alternative to these North African poison specialists, and it is possible that there was some competition between the two in self-presentation as the superior poison curers. 

An examination of the Psylloi presents a strategy used by an ancient group in order to build a cohesive identity in the pluralistic environment of the late Republic and Empire.  The surviving testimonia provide a tantalizing glimpse of the ways in which they built and used a one-dimensional image for gain within a system that comodified ethnic groups (i.e. Catullus' Bithyinian litter-bearers or Thracian gladiators) within its marketplace.

Poison: Nature's Argument for the Roman Empire in Pliny the Elder's Naturalis Historia

by Molly Jones-Lewis

Forthcoming in CW.  The contract is signed and I'm just waiting for the release date.

Abstract: In Pliny the Elder's Naturalis Historia poisonous plants and animals are intimately associated with their... more Abstract: In Pliny the Elder's Naturalis Historia poisonous plants and animals are intimately associated with their countries of origin.  Moreover, Pliny often focuses on those poisonous substances found in lands where Rome had carried out major campaigns, particularly Egypt and Pontus.  The power and influence of poisons in these locations is deliberately emphasized in order to justify Italy (and by implication Rome) as a natural physician of the world ideally suited to subdue untamed poisons and make them over as powerful and life-saving medicines.  In this way Pliny structures his view of natura to justify the existence and rule of the Roman Empire.

The Heterosexualized Eunuch in the Roman Empire

by Molly Jones-Lewis

Modified conference paper as presented at the APA Society of Ancient Medicine panel. Currently under revision for journal submission; feedback and suggestions are welcome.

The Googledocs link is the most up to date; I'm having issues with Academia.edu's system when I try to update papers.

When one thinks of “eunuchs”, one often imagines them as asexual beings whose reproductive capabilities and... more When one thinks of “eunuchs”, one often imagines them as asexual beings whose reproductive capabilities and masculinity have been sacrificed in order to attain personal bureaucratic goals, or in order to function as guards over other mens' wives and concubines.1 As scholars of antiquity, we often encounter religious eunuchs whose sacrifice is much more literal; whether their masculinity is offered up to Cybele or to the Judeo-Christian god, these eunuchs are also, generally speaking, asexual. Anyone who has read the Golden Ass of Apuleius is familiar with a second portrait of the eunuch in antiquity; this time a homoerotic, feminized eunuch. In this case, the secondary sexual characteristics resulting from castration and the loss of testosterone are interpreted sexually rather than asexually, but the alteration made to those male bodies results in a person whose sexual identity is to be penetrated; a virtual woman. In this paper, I will be discussing a third category of ancient eunuch whose very existence was taboo because of the use for which he was intended: the masculine, penetrating eunuch.

Les aiguilles à cataracte de Montbellet (Saône-et-Loire)

by Michel Feugère

M. Feugère, E. Künzl, U. Weisser - Les aiguilles à cataracte de Montbellet (Saône-et-Loire). Contribution à l'étude de l'ophtalmologie antique et islamique. Die Starnadeln von Montbellet (Saône-et-Loire). Ein Beitrag zur antiken und islamischen Augenheilkunde. Jb RGZM 32, 1985, 436-508, 19 fig., pl. 53-67.

Earthworms and honey - a trip to the classical chemist

by Helen King

Iris, the classical magazine for schools, has put online this paper I wrote for them. It was based on a talk I did for pupils at Kendrick School in Reading.

Hittite yaya- “to expectorate (phlegm)”

by Alexei Kassian

In: Ugarit-Forschungen. Internationales Jahrbuch für die Altertumskunde, Bd 40, 2009. P.471-476.

The author shows that the Hittite verb yaya-, attested in medical texts, does not mean ‘to defecate’, but rather ‘to... more The author shows that the Hittite verb yaya-, attested in medical texts, does not mean ‘to defecate’, but rather ‘to expectorate phlegm’. An external (Nostratic) etymology is proposed.

Ancient Greek Medicine as the Foundation of Contemporary Medicine

by Vasiliki Kanellou

Kanellou, V. 2004. 'Techniques in Coloproctology', Volume 8, Supplement 1, pages 3-4

‘triseudemon maximus noster sophista’. The evidence of one Syriac text for identification of a source used in John of Alexandria’s 'In Epid. VI'

by Grigory Kessel

The Syriac Epidemics and the Problem of Its Identification

by Grigory Kessel

in Peter E. Pormann (ed.), Epidemics in Context. Greek Commentaries on Hippocrates in the Arabic Tradition (Scientia Graeco-Arabica, 8). Berlin: De Gruyter, 2012, p. 93-124.

The Institute for the Preservation of Medical Traditions, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. (web review) – pp. 311-319

by Paula Veiga

Review of the Institute's website: http://medicaltraditions.org/

Seeing the body: The divergence of ancient Chinese and Western medical illustration

by Camillia Matuk

published 2006 in The Journal of Biocommunication 32(1): 1–8.

Poking into medicine in ancient Egypt

by Paula Veiga

General approach to the use of healthcare in ancient Egypt

Beyond the surviving medical and magical papyri and art depictions, we must pay attention to contemporary Egypt; going... more Beyond the surviving medical and magical papyri and art depictions, we must pay attention to contemporary Egypt; going there often enables an Egyptologist to see, to hear, to smell and to feel many of the habits Egyptians still have and perform towards any sign of disease or disruption of physical well-being.

Programme Workshop: "Childbirth and Women's Health in Pre-Modern Societies"

by Susanne Töpfer

Programme of the Workshop:
"Childbirth and Women's Health in Pre-Modern Societies"
November 4-5, 2011, University of Heidelberg


Karl Jaspers Centre for Advanced Transcultural Studies
69115 Heidelberg
Voßstraße 2, Building 4400
Conference Room 212


Convened by Anna Andreeva, M. Érica Couto-Ferreira and
Susanne Töpfer

Death in Babylon: Who killed Alexander the Great?

by D B Campbell

From: Ancient Warfare magazine, Vol. V, Issue 5, pp. 46-51.

Alexander the Great died unexpectedly on June 11, 323 BC, in the ancient Persian city of Babylon. The preceding eight... more Alexander the Great died unexpectedly on June 11, 323 BC, in the ancient Persian city of Babylon. The preceding eight years had seen him crush the Persian King Darius III at the Battle of Gaugamela, capture his capital city of Persepolis, and overrun his empire as far as the Punjab. Then, “just when he seemed to be at the peak of power and prosperity”, wrote the historian Diodorus Siculus, “Fate cut short the lifetime granted to him by nature”. Ancient writers were perplexed by his mysterious death, and scholars continue to offer various explanations without reaching much agreement. So, can we ever say, for certain, who or what killed Alexander the Great?

Natural Medicine for Common Ailments

by Poppy Valentine

This is a collection of non-synthetic health tips for common illnesses. This is a collection of non-synthetic health tips for common illnesses.