Cassius Felix (), also Cassius Felix of Cirta, was a

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

African medical writer probably native of

Constantina Flavia Valeria Constantina (also sometimes called ''Constantia'' and ''Constantiana''; el, Κωνσταντίνα; b. after 307/before 317 – d. 354), later known as Saint Constance, was the eldest daughter of Roman emperor Constantine the Great ...

. He is known for having written in AD 447 a

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

treatise titled ''De Medicina''. The little we can say of the author comes from his book, that is meant to be a simple handbook for practical use in which he wants others to be able to take advantage of his experience as a physician. His work appears to draw heavily, both directly and indirectly, on Greek medical sources, as was common in the African school of medicine. A Christian by faith, he may be the person mentioned in passing in the anonymous '' De miraculis Sancti Stephani'', a work written between 418 and 427, where a certain Felix is referred as holding the high medical dignity of

archiater An archiater ( grc, ἀρχίατρος) was a chief physician of a monarch, who typically retained several. At the Roman imperial court, their chief held the high rank and specific title of '' Comes archiatrorum''. The term has also been used of c ...

, or chief doctor of his community. The '' editio princeps'' of his work was first published in 1879 in a

Teubner The Bibliotheca Teubneriana, or ''Bibliotheca Scriptorum Graecorum et Romanorum Teubneriana'', also known as Teubner editions of Greek and Latin texts, comprise one of the most thorough modern collection published of ancient (and some medieval) ...

edition edited by Valentin Rose. The name Cassius Felix is sometimes also applied to Cassius Iatrosophista, an earlier Greek medical writer (2nd or 3rd century AD) known only as the author of 84 or 85 ''Quaestiones Medicae et Problemata Naturalia'' ( grc, Ἰατρικαὶ Ἀπορίαι καὶ Προβλήματα Φυσικά).A. Garzya and R. Masullo, ''I problemi di Cassio Iatrosophista'', Naples: Accademia Pontaniana, 2004

References

External links

Cassius Felix, ed. Rose 1879

Cassius Iatrosophista, ed. Ideler 1841
{{Authority control 5th-century Roman physicians 5th-century Latin writers Felix