Asclepiades
- A distinguished physician of Prusa, in Bithynia, friend of Crassus, Cic. de Or. 1, 14, 62; Cels. 3, 4; Plin. 7, 37, 37, § 124; 26, 3, 8, § 15 sq.; Cael. Aur. Tard. 3, 8.—
- II A blind philosopher of Eretria, Cic. Tusc. 5, 39, 113.—
- III A Greek poet, inventor of the metre named after him metrum Asclepiadeum (e. g. Hor. C. 1, 1: Maecenas atavis edite regibus), Diom. p. 508 P.
(Ἀσκληπιάδης).
1. Of Alexandria, seems to have been a grammarian, as the Scholiast on Aristophanes (Aristoph. Cl. 37) quotes him as an authority on the meaning of the word δήμαρχος.
2. Of Anazarba in Cilicia, is mentioned by Stephanus of Byzantium (s. v. Ἀναζαρξά) as the author of many works, of which however only one on rivers (περὶ ποταμῶν), is specified.
3. A son of Areius, wrote a work on Demetrius Phalereus. (Athen. 13.567.) It is not quite certain whether he is not the same as Asclepiades of Myrleia, who is also called a native of Nicaea. (Steph. Byz. s. v. Νίκαια.)
4. A Cynic philosopher, a native of Phlius, and a contemporary of Crates of Thebes, who must consequently have lived about B. C. 330. (D. L. 6.91; Tertull.c. Nat. 2.14.) Whether he is the same as the one whom Cicero (Tusc. 5.39) states to have been blind, is uncertain.
5. A Cynic philosopher, who is mentioned along with Servianus and Chytton, and lived in the reign of Constantius and Julianus, about A. D. 360. (Julian, Orat. c. Heracl. Cyn. p. 224; Ammian. Marc. 22.13.)
6. Of Cyprus, wrote a work on the history of his native island and Phoenicia, of which a fragment is preserved in Porphyrius. (De Abstin. 4.15; comp. Hieronym. ad Jovin. 2.)
7. An Egyptian, possessed, according to Suidas (s. v. Ἡράϊσκος), a profound knowledge of Egyptian theology, and wrote hymns on his native gods. He also composed a work upon the agreement among the different religions, a second on the history of Egypt, and a third on Ogyges. Of the history of Egypt the sixtieth book is quoted by Athenaeus. (iii. p. 83.) There seems to be little doubt that this Asclepiades is the same as the one whom Suetonius (Suet. Aug. 94) calls the author of Θεολογούμενα, and of whom he quotes a fragment. This Θεολογούμενα, moreover, seems to be the same work as that on the agreement among the different religions. Suetonius calls him Asclepiades Mendes, seems to be derived from the name of a town in Egypt. (Comp. Schol. ad Hom. H. vii. p. 147; Casaub. ad Suet. l.c.; Vossius, de Hist. Graec. p. 406, ed. Westermann.)
8. The name of various Epigrammatic poets.
Under the name of Asclepiades the Greek Anthology contains upwards of forty epigrams; but it is more than probable they are not all the productions of the same poet. Asclepiades of Samos Works Epigrams
Some of them undoubtedly belong to Asclepiades of Samos, who is mentioned as a teacher of Theocritus. Bucolic Poetry
He is said to have written bucolic poetry. (Schol. ad Theocr. 7.21, 40; Meleager, 1.46; Theocrit. 7.40; Moschus, 3.96.) Asclepiades of Adramyttium Works Epigrams
Other epigrams under the name Aslepiades may be the productions of Asclepiades of Adramyttium, who lived at an earlier time. Further Information
Jacobs, ad Anthol. xiii. p. 864.
9. A Lyric poet, from whom a certain species of verse, resembling the choriambic, is said to have derived its name; but the ancients themselves were not agreed whether the Asclepiadic verse was invented by Asclepiades, or whether he used it only more frequently than others. He lived after the time of Alcaeus and Sappho. (Hephaest. Enchir. p. 34; Attilius Fortunatianus, p. 2700, ed. Putsch.)
10. Of Mende. See No. 7.
11. Of Myrleia in Bithynia, or of Nicaea, a son of Diotimus. He was a pupil of Apollonius Rhodius, and lived about the time of Pompey the Great. Suidas places him nearly a century earlier, from which some modern critics have inferred, there must have been two Asclepiades of Myrleia, the one of whom was perhaps a son or grandson of the other. The younger taught grammar at Rome, and is supposed to be the same as the one who for some time resided in Spain as a teacher of grammar, and wrote a description of the tribes of Spain (περιήγησις τῶνἐθνῶν), to which Strabo occasionally refers. (iii. p. 157, &c.) Asclepiades of Myrleia is also mentioned as the author of several other works, of which, however, we possess only a few fragments. 1. On grammarians or grammars (περὶ γραμματικῶν, Suidas, s. v. Ὀρφεύς; Anonym. Vit. Arati; S. Empiric. ad v. Grammat. 47, 72, 252). 2. A work on the poet Cratinus (περὶ Κρατίνου, Athen. 11.501). 3. A work called περὶ Νεστοπίδος. (Athen. xi. pp. 477, 488, &c., 498, 503.) 4. An ὑπόμνημα τῆς Ὀδυσσείας. (Etym. M. s. v. Ἀρναῖος; Schol. ad Hom. Od. 10.2, 11.269, 321, 326, 12.69, ed. Buttmann.) 5. A work on the history of Bithynia (Βιθυνικά), which consisted of at least ten books. (Parthen. Erot. 35; Schol. ad Apollon. Rhod. 2.722, 791; Athen. 2.50.) He is usually believed to be the author of a history of Alexander the Great mentioned by Arrian. (Anab. 7.15; comp. Vossius, de Hist. Graec. pp. 97, 158, 161, 187, ed. Westermann; F. X. Werfer, Acta Philol. Monac. 3.4. p. 551, where the fragments of Asclepiades are collected.)
12. Of Tragilus in Thrace, a contemporary and disciple of Isocrates. (Phot. Bibl. p. 486b. ed. Bekker.) He is called a tragic writer, but was more probably a sophist or a grammarian. Works τραγῳδούμενα
He was the author of a work called τραγῳδούμενα, in six books, which treated on the subjects used by the Greek tragic writers, and on the manner in which they had dealt with their mythuses. Further Information
Plut. Vit. X. Orat. p. 837; Steph. Byz. s. v. Τράγιλος; Athen. 10.456; Harpocrat. s. v. Δυσαύλης; Hesych. s. v. ὑησίαρχος. Edition
Comp. Werfer, l.c. p. 489, where the fragments of the tragw/dou/mena are collected.
13. A bishop of Tralles, who lived about A. D. 484. Works Letter and ten anathematismi Editions
Published letter and ten anathematismi against Fullo are printed with a Latin translation in Labbeus, Concil. vol. iv. p. 1120. Letter Extant in MSS
Another letter of his is still extant in the Vienna and Vatican libraries in MS. (Fabr. Bibl. Graec. xi. p. 583.) Confusion with another Asclepiades
This Asclepiades must be distinguished from an earlier Christian writer of the same name, who is mentioned by Lactantius. (7.4.) [L.S]
(Ἀσκληπιάδης), the name of several physicians, some of whom probably assumed this appellation either as a sort of honorary title in allusion to the ancient family of the Asciepiadae, or in order to signify that they themselves belonged to it. A list of the physicians who bore this name is given by Le Clerc, Hist de la Méd.; Fabricius, Bibl. Gr. vol. xiii. p. 87, &c. ed. vet.; C. G. Gumpert, Asclepiadis Bithyni Fragmenta, Vinar. 1794, 8vo., p. 3, &c.; C. F. Harless, De Medicis Veteribus "Asclepiades" Dictis,Bonn. 1828, 4to.
1. Asclepiades Bithynus, a very celebrated physician of Bithynia, who acquired a considerable degree of popularity at Rome at the beginning of the first century B. C., which he maintained through life, and in a certain degree transmitted to his successors. It is said that he first came to Rome as a teacher of rhetoric (Plin. Nat. 26.7), and that it was in consequence of iris not being successful in this profession, that he turned his attention to that the study of medicine. From what we learn of his history and of his practice, it would appear that he may be fairly characterized as a man of natural talents, acquainted with human nature (or rather with human weakness), possessed of considerable shrewdness and address, but with little science or professional skill. He began (upon the plan which is so generally found successful by those who are conscious of their own ignorance) by vilifying the principles and practice of his predecessors, and by asserting that he had discovered a more compendious and effective mode of treating diseases than had been before known to the world. As he was ignorant of anatomy and pathology, he decried the labours of those who sought to investigate the structure of the body, or to watch the phenomena of disease, and he is said to have directed his attacks more particularly against the writings of Hippocrates. It appears, however, that he had the discretion to refrain from the use of very active and powerful remedies, and to trust principally to the efficacy of diet, exercise, bathing, and other circumstances of this nature. A part of the great popularity which he enjoyed depended upon his prescribing the liberal use of wine to his patients (Plin. Nat. 7.37, 23.22), and upon his not only attending in all cases, with great assiduity, to everything which contributed to their comfort, but also upon his flattering their prejudices and indulging their inclinations. By the due application of these means, and from the state of the people among whom he practised, we may, without much difficulty, account for the great eminence at which he arrived, and we cannot fail to recognise in Asclepiades the prototype of more than one popular physician of modern times. Justice, however, obliges us to admit, that he seems to have possessed a considerable share of acuteness and discernment, which on some occasions he employed with advantage. It is probable that to him we are indebted, in the first instance, for the arrangement of diseases into the two great classes of Acute and Chronic (Cael. Aurel. De Morb. Chron. 3.8. p. 469), a division which has a real foundation in nature, and which still forms an important feature in the most improved modern nosology. In his philosophical principles Asclepiades is said to have been a follower of Epicurus, and to have adopted his doctrine of atoms and pores, on which he attempted to build a new theory of disease, by supposing that all morbid action might be reduced into obstruction of the pores and irregular distribution of the atoms. This theory he accommodated to his division of diseases, the acute being supposed to depend essentially upon a constriction of the pores, or an obstruction of them by a superfluity of atoms; the chronic, upon a relaxation of the pores or a deficiency of the atoms.
The age at which Asclepiades died and the date of his death are unknown; but it is said that he laid a wager with Fortune, engaging to forfeit his character as a physician if he should ever suffer from any disease himself. Pliny, who tells the anecdote (H. N. 7.37), adds, that he won his wager, for that he reached a great age and died at last from an accident. Works
Nothing remains of his writings but a few fragments. Editions
These fragments have been collected and published by Gumpert in the little work mentioned above. Poem with directions respecting health Edition
There is a poem containing directions respecting health (ὑγιεινὰ παραγγελματα) which is ascribed to Asclepiades of Bithynia, and which was first published by R. von Welz, Würzberg, 1842; but a writer in the Rheinisches Museum (p. 444 in the vol. of 1843) has shewn, that this poem could not have been written before the seventh century after Christ. Further Information
Further information respecting the medical and philosophical opinions of Asclepiades may be found in Sprengel's Hist. de la Méd.; Isensee, Gesch. der Med.; Ant. Cocchi, Discorso Primo sopra Asclepiade, Firenze, 1758, 4to.; G. F. Bianchini, La Medicina d'Asclepiades per ben curare le Malattie Acute, raccolta da Varii Frammenti Greci e Latini, Venezia, 1769, 4to.; K. F. Burdach, Asclepiades und John Brown, eine Parallele, Leipzig, 1800, 8vo.; Id. Scriptorum de Asclepiade Index, Lips. 1800, 4to.; Bostock's Hist. of Med., from which work part of the preceding account has been taken.
2. Asclepiades Pharmacion (Φαρμακίων) or Junior, a physician who must have lived at the end of the first or the beginning of the second century after Christ, as he quotes Andromachus, Dioscorides, and Scibonius Largus (Gal. De Compos. Medicam. sec. Locos, 7.2, 10.2, vol. xiii. pp. 51, 53, 342; De Compos. Medicam. sec. Gen. 7.6, vol. xiii. p. 968), and is himself quoted by Galen. He derived his surname of Pharmacion from his skill and knowledge of pharmacy, on which subject he wrote a work in ten books, five on external remedies, and five on internal. (Gal. ibid. vol. xiii. p. 442.) Galen quotes this work very frequently, and generally with approbation.
3. M. ARTORIUS ASCLEPIADES. [Artorius.]
4. Asclepiades Philophysicus (Φιλοφυσικός), a physician, who must have lived some time in or before the second century after Christ, as he is quoted by Galen, who has preserved some of his medical formulae. (De Compos. Medical. sec. Locos, 7.5, 8.5, vol. xiii. pp. 102, 179.)
5. L. Scribonius Asclepiades, whose name occurs in a Latin inscription of unknown date, is supposed by Rhodius (ad Scrib. Larg. p. 4) to be Scribonius Largus Designatianus [Largus], but this is very doubtful.
6. Asclepiades Titiensis, a physician, who must have lived in or before the second century after Christ, as he is quoted by Caelius Aurelianus. (De Morb Acut. 3.5, p. 201.)
7. Asclepiades Junior (ὁ Νεωτερος), a physician quoted by Galen (De Compos. Medicam. sec. Locos, 1.1. vol. xii. p. 410), who is the same person as Asclepiades Pharmacion.
8. Areius Asclepiades (Ἄρειος) is sometimes inserted in the list of physicians of the name of Asclepiades, but this appears to be a mistake, as in the passage of Galen where the names occur (De Compos. Medicam. sec. Locos, 8.5. vol. xiii. p. 182) instead of Ἀρείου Ἀυκληπιάδου we should probably read Ἀρείου Ἀσκληπιαδείου. [Areius.]
9. M. Gallus Asclepiades seems to be a similar mistake, as in Galen, De Compos. Medicam. sec. Locos, 8.5, vol. xiii. p. 179, instead of Γαλλου Μάρκου τοῦ Ἀσκληπιάδου we should probably read Γαλλου Μαρκου τοῦ Ἀσκληπιαδείου. [Gallus.]
There are several other physicians of the name of Asclepiades mentioned in inscriptions, of whom nothing worth recording is known. A list of them is given in the works mentioned above. [W.A.G]
See Aesculapius.
(Ἀσκληπιάδης). A Greek poet, a native of Samos, and a younger contemporary of Theocritus. He was the author of thirty-nine epigrams, mostly erotic, in the Greek Anthology. The well-known Asclepiadean metre was perhaps named after him. See Anthology.
- on Argus: Apollod. 2.1.3
- as to the wife of Minos: Apollod. 3.1.2