![Soranus of Ephesus, Gynaecology, Brussels, Ms](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c0/Soranus_of_Ephesus%2C_Gynaecology%2C_Brussels%2C_Ms._3714.jpg)
Soranus of Ephesus ( grc-gre, Σωρανός ὁ Ἑφέσιος; 1st/2nd century AD) was a
Greek physician. He was born in
Ephesus but practiced in
Alexandria
Alexandria ( or ; ar, ٱلْإِسْكَنْدَرِيَّةُ ; grc-gre, Αλεξάνδρεια, Alexándria) is the second largest city in Egypt, and the largest city on the Mediterranean coast. Founded in by Alexander the Great, Alexandri ...
and subsequently in
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 ...
, and was one of the chief representatives of 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 ...
of medicine. Several of his writings still survive, most notably his four-volume treatise on
gynecology, and a Latin translation of his ''On Acute and Chronic Diseases''.
Life
Little is known about the life of Soranus. According to the
Suda (which has two entries on him) he was a native of Ephesus, was the son of Menander and Phoebe, and practiced medicine at
Alexandria
Alexandria ( or ; ar, ٱلْإِسْكَنْدَرِيَّةُ ; grc-gre, Αλεξάνδρεια, Alexándria) is the second largest city in Egypt, and the largest city on the Mediterranean coast. Founded in by Alexander the Great, Alexandri ...
and
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 ...
in the reigns of
Trajan
Trajan ( ; la, Caesar Nerva Traianus; 18 September 539/11 August 117) was Roman emperor from 98 to 117. Officially declared ''optimus princeps'' ("best ruler") by the senate, Trajan is remembered as a successful soldier-emperor who presi ...
and
Hadrian (98–138). He lived at least as early as
Archigenes
Archigenes ( gr, Αρχιγένης), an ancient Greco-Syrian physician, who lived in the 1st and 2nd centuries AD.
Archigenes was the most celebrated of the sect of the Eclectici, and was a native of Apamea in Syria; he practiced at Rome in the ...
, who used one of his medicines; he was tutor to Statilius Attalus of
Heraclea, physician to
Marcus Aurelius
Marcus Aurelius Antoninus (Latin: áːɾkus̠ auɾέːli.us̠ antɔ́ːni.us̠ English: ; 26 April 121 – 17 March 180) was Roman emperor from 161 to 180 AD and a Stoic philosopher. He was the last of the rulers known as the Five Good ...
; and he was dead when
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 ...
wrote his work ''De Methodo Medendi'', c. 178.
He 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 ...
, and was one of the most eminent physicians of that school. Little else is known about his life, except that he passed some time in
Aquitania for the purpose of treating some skin diseases which were very prevalent there at the time.
Works
His treatise ''Gynaecology'' is extant (first printed in 1838, later by
V. Rose, i
1882 with a 6th-century Latin translation by one
Muscio Muscio (also Mustio) is the supposed author of the ''Genecia'' (''Gynaecia''), a treatise of gynecology dating to ca. AD 500, preserved in a manuscript of ca. AD 900. The treatise borrows heavily from Soranus.
Nothing is known about the life of ...
). Also extant are parts of treatises ''On Signs of Fractures'' and ''On Bandages''. Of his most important work (''On Acute and Chronic Diseases'') only a few fragments in Greek remain, but there exists a complete Latin translation by
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 flourished ...
(5th century). The ''Life of
Hippocrates
Hippocrates of Kos (; grc-gre, Ἱπποκράτης ὁ Κῷος, Hippokrátēs ho Kôios; ), also known as Hippocrates II, was a Greek physician of the classical period who is considered one of the most outstanding figures in the history o ...
'' probably formed one of the collection of medical biographies by Soranus referred to in the Suda, and is valuable as the only authority for the life of the great physician, with the exception of articles in the Suda and in
Stephanus of Byzantium (s.v. ). The ''Introduction to the Science of Medicine'' is considered spurious.
Besides these works, Soranus was the author of several others, of which only the titles and some fragments have been preserved. Galen mentions two works on ''Pharmacy'', from which he quotes some passages.
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 flourished ...
quotes from several other works, and Soranus himself refers to many additional works which have not survived.
Tertullian
Tertullian (; la, Quintus Septimius Florens Tertullianus; 155 AD – 220 AD) was a prolific early Christian author from Carthage in the Roman province of Africa. He was the first Christian author to produce an extensive corpus of L ...
quotes a work ''De Anima'', in four books, in which Soranus divided the
soul
In many religious and philosophical traditions, there is a belief that a soul is "the immaterial aspect or essence of a human being".
Etymology
The Modern English noun '' soul'' is derived from Old English ''sāwol, sāwel''. The earliest atte ...
into seven parts, and denied its immortality.
[Tertullian, ''De Anima'', c. 6] He is quoted by
Paulus Aegineta
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 “Fathe ...
, as being one of the earliest Greek medical writers who had described the
Guinea worm
''Dracunculus medinensis'', or Guinea worm, is a nematode that causes dracunculiasis, also known as guinea worm disease. The disease is caused by the female which, at up to in length, is among the longest nematodes infecting humans. In contr ...
; and he appears to have enjoyed a great reputation among the ancients, as
Augustine
Augustine of Hippo ( , ; la, Aurelius Augustinus Hipponensis; 13 November 354 – 28 August 430), also known as Saint Augustine, was a theologian and philosopher of Berber origin and the bishop of Hippo Regius in Numidia, Roman North A ...
calls him "Medicinae auctor nobilissimus,"
[‘Noblest author of remedies”; Augustine, ''Contra Iulianum’’, v. 51] and Tertullian, "Methodicae Medicinae instructissimus auctor."
See also
*
Women's medicine in antiquity
Childbirth and obstetrics in Classical Antiquity (here meaning the ancient Greco-Roman world) were studied by the physicians of ancient Greece and Rome. Their ideas and practices during this time endured in Western medicine for centuries and many ...
Notes
References
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Further reading
*
Weitzmann, Kurt, ed.,
Age of spirituality: late antique and early Christian art, third to seventh century', no. 187, 1979,
Metropolitan Museum of Art
The Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York City, colloquially "the Met", is the largest art museum in the Americas. Its permanent collection contains over two million works, divided among 17 curatorial departments. The main building at 1000 ...
, New York, ; full text available online from The Metropolitan Museum of Art Libraries
*Greek text
**
Johannes Ilberg
Johannes Ilberg (10 July 1860, Magdeburg – 20 August 1930, Leipzig) was a German educator and classical philologist who was the author of numerous works on ancient Greek medicine. His father, Hugo Ilberg (1828-1883), was a '' Gymnasium'' dire ...
, ''Sorani Gynaeciorum libri IV, De signis fracturarum, De fasciis, Vita Hippocratis secundum Soranum'', ''Corpus medicorum Graecorum'' 4, Berlin, 1927.
online
**Paul Burguière,
Danielle Gourevitch, and Yves Malinas, ''Maladies des femmes'' (with French translation),
Collection Budé
The ''Collection Budé'', or the ''Collection des Universités de France'', is an editorial collection comprising the Greek and Latin classics up to the middle of the 6th century (before Emperor Justinian). It is published by Les Belles Lettres, ...
, 1988-.
*English translation
**
{{Ancient Roman medicine
1st-century Greek physicians
Ancient gynaecologists
Ancient Ephesians
Ancient Greek science writers
2nd-century Greek physicians
1st-century births
2nd-century deaths