Themison

• a celebrated physician of Laodicea in Syria, Juv. 10, 221; Cels. Praef. al.; Plin. 29, 1, 5, § 6; Sen. Ep. 95, 9.

(Θεμίσων).

1. A merchant of the island of Thera, who, according to the Cyrenaean accounts of the foundation of their city, was the instrument made use of by Etearchus, king of Axus, for the destruction of his daughter Phronime. [Etearchus.] Themison, however, evaded the fulfilment of the oath by which he had involuntarily bound himself to drown Phronime, and carried her in safety to Thera. (Hdt. 4.154.)

2. A tyrant of Eretria who in B. C. 366 assisted the exiles of Oropus in recovering possession of their native city. They succeeded in occupying it by surprise, but the Athenians having marched against them with their whole force, Themison was unable to cope with their power, and called in the Thebans to his assistance, who received possession of the city as a deposit, but afterwards refused to give it up. (Diod. 15.76; Xen. Hell. 7.4.1 ; Dem. de Cor. p. 259.)

3. Of Samos, a naval officer in the service of Antigonus, king of Asia. In B. C. 315 we find him joining that chief in Phoenicia, with a fleet of forty ships from the Hellespont, and again in 306 he is mentioned as commanding a part of the fleet of Demetrius, in the great sea-fight off Salamis in Cyprus. (Diod. 19.62, 20.50.)

4. A Cyprian, who enjoyed a high place in the favour of Antiochus II. king of Syria, which he had earned by the basest means as the minister and companion of his abandoned pleasures. The king is said to have committed to him and his brother Aristus, the whole administration of affairs, and not only presented Themison to the people on public occasions in the garb of Heracles, but caused sacrifices to be offered to him under that title. (Athen. 7.289, x. p. 438c; Aelian. V. H 2.41.)

5. An officer in the service of Antiochus the Great, who commanded the cavalry which formed the left wing of his army at the battle of Raphia, B. C. 217. (Plb. 5.79, 82.) [E.H.B]

(Θεμίσων), the name of probably three physicians.

1. The founder of the ancient medical sect of the Methodici, and one of the most eminent physicians of his time, was a native of Laodiceia in Syria (Pseudo-Gal. Introd. 100.4. vol. xiv. p. 684). He was a pupil of Asclepiades of Bithynia (Pliny, Plin. Nat. 29.5), and must have lived, therefore, in the first century B. C. Augustin, in his Gesch. der Med. in tabellarischer Form, says he was born B. C. 123, and died B. C. 43, which may possibly be quite correct, though he has not stated his reasons for giving such exact dates. Nothing more is known of the events of his life, except that he seems to have travelled a good deal; as he mentions Crete and Milan, apparently as an eye-witness (ap. Cael. Aurel. De Morb. Acut. 3.18, p. 252). Neither is it certain whether he ever visited Rome, though it is perhaps more probable that he did so. He differed from his tutor on several points in his old age, and became the founder of a new sect called the "Methodici," which long exercised an extensive influence on medical science. (Cels. De Med. i. praef. p. 5 ; Galen, De Meth. Med. 1.4, 7. vol. x. pp. 35, 52 ; Cramer's Anecd. Graeca Paris. vol. i. p. 395, where he is called by an obvious mistake Μεθήσων). Works

He wrote several medical works, but in what language is not mentioned; of these only the titles and a few fragments remain, preserved principally by Caelius Aurelianus : e. g.-- 1. Libri Periodici. 2. Epistolae, in at least nine books.The passage quoted by Paulus Aegineta (3.15. p. 426), from Epist. lib. x. is quoted by Caelius Aurelianus (De Morb. Chron. 1.3. p. 288), from lib. ii. 3. Celeres Passiones, in at least two books 4. Tardae Passiones, in at least two books. 5. Liber Salutaris. 6. De Plantagine. (Plin. Nat. 25.39; Macer Flor. De Vir. Herb. 100.6. 5.265.) To these works Fabricius adds one, De Elephantiasi (Bibl. Gr. vol. xiii. p. 432, ed. vet.), but this is probably a mistake (see Cael. Aurel. De Morb. Chron. 4.1. p. 493). An account of the doctrines of the Methodici is given in the Dictionary of Antiquities, and his medical opinions on different subjects (so far as they can be ascertained) may be found in Haller's Biblioth. Medic. Pract. vol. i., or in Sprengel's Hist. de la Méd. vol. ii. The only points worth noticing here, are, that he is perhaps the first physician who made use of leeches (Cael. Aurel. De Morb. Chron. 1.1. p. 286); and that he is said to have been himself attacked with hydrophobia, and to have recovered (id. De Morb. Acut. 3.16. p. 232; Dioscor. De Venen. Animal. 100.1. vol. ii. p. 59). Eudemus and Proculus are said to have been followers (" sectatores") of Themison, but this probably only means that they belonged to the sect of the Methodici (Cael. Aurel. De Morb. Acut. 2.38, De Morb. Chron. 3.8. pp. 171, 469). Besides the passages in ancient authors relating to Themison that are referred to by Haller, Sprengel, and Fabricius (Bibl. Gr. vol. xiii. p. 431, ed. vet.), the is also quoted by Soranus (De Arte Obstetr. pp. 12, 21,210, 212, 240, 290.)

2. The physician mentioned by Juvenal in his well-known line

" Quot Themison aegros autumno occiderit uno."

(Sat. 10.221.)

is by many commentators (perhaps by most) considered to be the same person as the founder of the Methodici. However, it seems hardly probable that Juvenal would have cared for satyrizing a physician who was not a contemporary; and therefore perhaps the old scholiast on Juvenal is right in saying that he was " archiater illius temporis," i. e. in the first century after Christ.

3. A slave of Appuleins, the author of the " Golden Ass," who lived in the second century after Christ. (Appul. Apol. pp. 39, 46, 55, ed. 1635)

Haller mentions in his list of physicians " Themison Macedo, Antiocho carus," and refers to Athen. vii. [§ 35. p. 289], but this appears to be a mistake. [W.A.G]

(Θεμίσων) the author of a work entitled Παλληνίς, which is cited by Athenaeus (vi. p. 235a).

(Θεμίσων). A Greek physician, the founder of the school of the Methodici.

• his bargain with Etearchus of Crete: Hdt. 4.154