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Alexander of Tralles ( grc-x-byzant, Ἀλέξανδρος ὁ Τραλλιανός; ca. 525– ca. 605) was one of the most eminent physicians in the
Byzantine Empire
The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...
. His birth date may safely be put in the 6th century AD, for he mentions
Aëtius Amidenus Aetius, Aëtius, or Aetios (Ἀέτιος) may refer to:
People
* Aetius (philosopher), 1st- or 2nd-century doxographer and Eclectic philosopher
* Aëtius of Antioch, 4th-century Anomean theologian
* Flavius Aetius, Western Roman commander in chi ...
, who probably did not write until the end of the 5th or the beginning of the 6th century, and he is himself quoted by
Paul of Aegina
Paul of Aegina or Paulus Aegineta ( el, Παῦλος Αἰγινήτης; Aegina, ) was a 7th-century Byzantine Greek physician best known for writing the medical encyclopedia ''Medical Compendium in Seven Books.'' He is considered the “Father ...
, who is supposed to have lived in the 7th century; besides which, he is mentioned as a contemporary of
Agathias
Agathias or Agathias Scholasticus ( grc-gre, Ἀγαθίας σχολαστικός; Martindale, Jones & Morris (1992), pp. 23–25582/594), of Myrina (Mysia), an Aeolian city in western Asia Minor (Turkey), was a Greek poet and the principal histo ...
, who set about writing his ''History'' in the beginning of the reign of
Justin II
Justin II ( la, Iustinus; grc-gre, Ἰουστῖνος, Ioustînos; died 5 October 578) or Justin the Younger ( la, Iustinus minor) was Eastern Roman Emperor from 565 until 578. He was the nephew of Justinian I and the husband of Sophia, the ...
, about 565.
Life
Alexander was born a
Greek
Greek may refer to:
Greece
Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe:
*Greeks, an ethnic group.
*Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family.
**Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...
, and he had the advantage of being brought up under his father Stephanus, who was himself a physician, and also under another person, whose name he does not mention, but to whose son Cosmas he dedicates his chief work, which he wrote out of gratitude at his request. He was a man of an extensive practice, of a very long experience, and of great reputation, not only at Rome, but wherever he traveled in Spain, Gaul, and Italy, whence he was called by way of eminence "Alexander the Physician".
Agathias
Agathias or Agathias Scholasticus ( grc-gre, Ἀγαθίας σχολαστικός; Martindale, Jones & Morris (1992), pp. 23–25582/594), of Myrina (Mysia), an Aeolian city in western Asia Minor (Turkey), was a Greek poet and the principal histo ...
speaks also with great praise of his four brothers, Anthemius, Dioscorus, Metrodorus, and Olympius, who were all eminent in their several professions. Alexander is not a mere compiler, like
Aëtius Amidenus Aetius, Aëtius, or Aetios (Ἀέτιος) may refer to:
People
* Aetius (philosopher), 1st- or 2nd-century doxographer and Eclectic philosopher
* Aëtius of Antioch, 4th-century Anomean theologian
* Flavius Aetius, Western Roman commander in chi ...
,
Oribasius
Oribasius or Oreibasius ( el, Ὀρειβάσιος; c. 320 – 403) was a Greek medical writer and the personal physician of the Roman emperor Julian. He studied at Alexandria under physician Zeno of Cyprus before joining Julian's retinue. He ...
, and others, but is an author of quite a different stamp, and has more the air of an original writer. He wrote his great work in an extreme old age,
[Alexander of Tralles, xii. 1, p. 313] from the results of his own experience, when he could no longer bear the fatigue of practice. His style in the main was, according to scholars such as
John Freind, very good, short, clear, and (to use Alexander's own term) consisting of common expressions that,
though not always perfectly elegant, very expressive and intelligible.
German scholar
Johann Albert Fabricius
Johann Albert Fabricius (11 November 1668 – 30 April 1736) was a German classical scholar and bibliographer.
Biography
Fabricius was born at Leipzig, son of Werner Fabricius, director of music in the church of St. Paul at Leipzig, who was the ...
considered Alexander to have belonged to the
Methodic school
The Methodic school of medicine (''Methodics'', ''Methodists'', or ''Methodici'', el, Μεθοδικοί) was a school of medicine in ancient Greece and Rome. The Methodic school arose in reaction to both the Empiric school and the Dogmatic sch ...
, but in the opinion of Freind this is not proved sufficiently by the existing text.
Perhaps the most curious art of Alexander's practice appears to be his belief in
charms and
amulets. For example, his suggestion for treatment of
ague: "Gather olive leaf before sunrise, write on it with
common ink (''ka roi a''), and hang it round the neck." In exorcising
gout
Gout ( ) is a form of inflammatory arthritis characterized by recurrent attacks of a red, tender, hot and swollen joint, caused by deposition of monosodium urate monohydrate crystals. Pain typically comes on rapidly, reaching maximal intens ...
he says, "I adjure thee by the great name " (''Iao Sabaoth''), and a little further on, "I adjure thee with the holy names " (''Iao, Sabaoth, Adonai, Eloi''), from which he would appear to have been either a Jew or a Christian, and, from his frequent prescription of pork, it is most probable that he was a Christian.
Works
Alexander's chief work, titled ''Twelve Books on Medicine'', first appeared in an old, imperfect Latin translation, with the title ''Alexandri Yatros Practica'', which was several times printed. It was first edited in Greek by Jac. Goupylus (
Paris
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...
1548, fol.), a beautiful and scarce edition, containing also ''Rhazae de Pestilentia Libellus ex Syrorum Lingua in Graecam Translatus''.
The other work of Alexander that is still extant is a short treatise, , ''De Lumbricis'', which was first published in Greek and Latin by
Hieronymus Mercurialis (Venica 1570,
4to
Quarto (abbreviated Qto, 4to or 4º) is the format of a book or pamphlet produced from full sheets printed with eight pages of text, four to a side, then folded twice to produce four leaves. The leaves are then trimmed along the folds to produc ...
). Alexander seems also to have written several other medical works which are now lost. Alexander also is credited with the discovery that depression (melancholia) can lead to homicidal and suicidal tendencies (dianne, hales R.
Depression). He expresses his intention of writing a book on Fractures, and also on Wounds of the Head. A treatise on Urine written by him is alluded to by
Joannes Actuarius, and he himself mentions a work of his on Diseases of the Eyes, which was translated into
Arabic
Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walter ...
. The other medical treatise on
Pleurisy
Pleurisy, also known as pleuritis, is inflammation of the membranes that surround the lungs and line the chest cavity ( pleurae). This can result in a sharp chest pain while breathing. Occasionally the pain may be a constant dull ache. Other sy ...
, which is said to have been also translated into Arabic, was probably only the sixth book of his great work, which is entirely devoted to the consideration of this disease. Two other medical works which are sometimes attributed to Alexander Trallianus (viz. a Collection of Medical and Physical Problems, and a treatise on Fevers) could also be attributed to
Alexander of Aphrodisias
Alexander of Aphrodisias ( grc-gre, Ἀλέξανδρος ὁ Ἀφροδισιεύς, translit=Alexandros ho Aphrodisieus; AD) was a Peripatetic philosopher and the most celebrated of the Ancient Greek commentators on the writings of Aristotle ...
.
Curt Polycarp Joachim Sprengel
Kurt Polycarp Joachim Sprengel (3 August 1766 – 15 March 1833) was a German botanist and physician who published an influential multivolume history of medicine, ''Versuch einer pragmatischen Geschichte der Arzneikunde'' (1792–99 in four vo ...
. ''Hist. de la Méd.'' tom. ii.
List of published works
*
References
Attribution
*
Further reading
* on lin
*
*
*
External links
A digitized version of Trallianus in the Bayerische Staatsbibliothek
{{DEFAULTSORT:Alexander of Tralles
520s births
600s deaths
Year of birth uncertain
Year of death uncertain
6th-century Byzantine physicians
6th-century Byzantine scientists
6th-century Byzantine writers
7th-century Byzantine physicians
7th-century Byzantine writers
People from Tralles