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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, who is supposed to have lived in the 7th century; besides which, he is mentioned as a contemporary of
Agathias, who set about writing his ''History'' in the beginning of the reign of
Justin II, about 565.
Life
Alexander was born a
Greek, 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 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, 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 John Freind may refer to:
*Sir John Freind (conspirator) or John Friend (died 1696), English civil servant; executed
*John Freind (physician) (1675–1728), English physician
*Sir John Freind Robinson, 1st Baronet
John Freind Robinson, 1st Baro ...
, 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 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 scho ...
, 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
charm
Charm may refer to:
Social science
* Charisma, a person or thing's pronounced ability to attract others
* Superficial charm, flattery, telling people what they want to hear
Science and technology
* Charm quark, a type of elementary particle
* Ch ...
s and
amulet
An amulet, also known as a good luck charm or phylactery, is an object believed to confer protection upon its possessor. The word "amulet" comes from the Latin word amuletum, which Pliny's ''Natural History'' describes as "an object that protects ...
s. For example, his suggestion for treatment of
ague
Ague may refer to:
* Fever
* Malaria
* Agué, Benin
* Duck ague, a hunting term
See also
* Kan Ague, a residential area of Patikul, Sulu
Patikul, officially the Municipality of Patikul ( Tausūg: ''Kawman sin Patikul''; tl, Bayan ng Patikul ...
: "Gather olive leaf before sunrise, write on it with
common ink
Iron gall ink (also known as common ink, standard ink, oak gall ink or iron gall nut ink) is a purple-black or brown-black ink made from iron salts and tannic acids from vegetable sources. It was the standard ink formulation used in Europe for t ...
(''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 intensit ...
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 and 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), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...
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
Girolamo Mercuriale or Mercuriali ( it, Geronimo Mercuriali; la, Hieronymus Mercurialis, Hyeronimus Mercurialis) (September 30, 1530 – November 8, 1606) was an Italian philologist and physician, most famous for his work ''De Arte Gymnastica''. ...
(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
Johannes Zacharias Actuarius ( el, Ἰωάννης Ζαχαρίου Ἀκτουάριος; – c. 1328
), son of Zacharias ( el, Ζαχαρίας), was a Byzantine physician in Constantinople. He is given the title of '' Actuarius'', a dignity fr ...
, and he himself mentions a work of his on Diseases of the Eyes, which was translated into
Arabic
Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic languages, 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 ...
. The other medical treatise on
Pleurisy, 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.
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 vol ...
. ''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