Athenaeus of Attalia ( grc, Ἀθήναιος) (1st century AD), was a

physician A physician (American English), medical practitioner (Commonwealth English), medical doctor, or simply doctor, is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through th ...

, and the founder of the

Pneumatic school The Pneumatic school of medicine (''Pneumatics'', or ''Pneumatici'', el, Πνευματικοί) was an ancient school of medicine in ancient Greece and Rome. They were founded in Rome by Athenaeus of Cilicia, in the 1st century AD. The Roman era ...

of medicine. He was born in

Cilicia Cilicia (); el, Κιλικία, ''Kilikía''; Middle Persian: ''klkyʾy'' (''Klikiyā''); Parthian: ''kylkyʾ'' (''Kilikiyā''); tr, Kilikya). is a geographical region in southern Anatolia in Turkey, extending inland from the northeastern coa ...

, at Attalia according to

Galen Aelius Galenus or Claudius Galenus ( el, Κλαύδιος Γαληνός; September 129 – c. AD 216), often Anglicized as Galen () or Galen of Pergamon, was a Greek physician, surgeon and philosopher in the Roman Empire. Considered to be one of ...

, or at Tarsus according to

Caelius Aurelianus Caelius Aurelianus of Sicca in Numidia was a Greco-Roman physician and writer on medical topics. He is best known for his translation from Greek to Latin of a work by Soranus of Ephesus, ''On Acute and Chronic Diseases''. He probably flourishe ...

. He was the tutor to Theodorus, and appears to have practised medicine at

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

with great success. Athenaeus appears to have written extensively, as the twenty-fourth volume of one of his works is quoted by Galen, and the twenty-ninth by

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 ...

. Nothing, however, remains but the titles (his chief work being Περὶ βοηθημάτων lit. ''On Remedies''), and some fragments preserved by Oribasius. Galen gives the following report:

Athenaeus of Attaleia ... founded the medical school known as the Pneumatists. It suits his doctrine to speak of a containing cause in illness since he bases himself upon the Stoics and he was a pupil and disciple of
Posidonius Posidonius (; grc-gre, wikt:Ποσειδώνιος, Ποσειδώνιος , "of Poseidon") "of Apamea (Syria), Apameia" (ὁ Ἀπαμεύς) or "of Rhodes" (ὁ Ῥόδιος) (), was a Greeks, Greek politician, astronomer, astrologer, geog ...
... Athenaeus’ three types are as follows: the first consists of containing causes, the second of preceding causes, and the third of the matter of antecedent causes: for this is what they call everything external to the body which harms it and produces disease in it. If what is produced in the body belongs to the class of what causes disease, then, while it has not actually brought the disease about, it is called the preceding cause. Alterations are produced in the natural ''pneuma'' by these .e., precedingcauses together with those which are external .e., antecedent causes and with the body moistened or desiccated, chilled or heated, these are said to be the containing causes of diseases. (Galen, ''On Sustaining Causes'' 2.1–4)trans. R.J. Hankinson, "Stoicism and Medicine," in Brad Inwood (ed.), ''The Cambridge Companion to the Stoics'', p. 303, cf.
A. A. Long Anthony Arthur Long FBA (born 17 August 1937) is a British and naturalised American classical scholar and Chancellor's Professor Emeritus of Classics and Irving Stone Professor of Literature Emeritus, and Affiliated Professor of Philosophy and Rh ...
and
David Sedley David Neil Sedley FBA (born 30 May 1947) is a British philosopher and historian of philosophy. He was the seventh Laurence Professor of Ancient Philosophy at Cambridge University. Early life Sedley was educated at Trinity College, Oxford where ...
, ''The Hellenistic Philosophers'', vol. 1, pp. 33
335
/ref>

References

Sources

1st-century Greek physicians 1st-century Roman physicians {{AncientGreece-writer-stub