The Spoon of Diocles ( el, κυαθίσκος τοῦ Διοκλέους) was a
Roman surgical instrument described by Celsus.
The instrument was designed by
Diocles of Carystus Diocles of Carystus (; el, Διοκλῆς ὁ Καρύστιος; la, Diocles Carystius; also known by the Latin name Diocles Medicus, i.e. "Diocles the physician"; c. 375 BC – c. 295 BC) was a well-regarded Greek physician, born in Carystus, a ...
to remove arrows from the human body. The instrument was used to remove the injured eye of
Philip II Philip II may refer to:
* Philip II of Macedon (382–336 BC)
* Philip II (emperor) (238–249), Roman emperor
* Philip II, Prince of Taranto (1329–1374)
* Philip II, Duke of Burgundy (1342–1404)
* Philip II, Duke of Savoy (1438-1497)
* Philip ...
without disfiguring him.
[
No genuine examples of the Spoon of Diocles are known to have survived to the present day,][Archaeological Remains as a Source of Evidence for Roman Medicine]
by Patricia A. Baker, in ''Medicina Antiqua'', published 2009; retrieved July 2, 2015 although some collections have forgeries and/or misidentified items.[Book Review: ''The Treatment of War Wounds in Graeco-Roman Antiquity'' by Christine Salazar]
reviewed by Lawrence J. Bliquez; in ''Bulletin of the History of Medicine'', Volume 75, Number 3, Fall 2001 (page 557-558); 10.1353/bhm.2001.0108; retrieved July 2, 2015 Historians Brian Campbell and Lawrence A. Tritle have expressed skepticism about the Spoon's authenticity, emphasizing that all information about the Spoon is based solely on writings by Celsus
Celsus (; grc-x-hellen, Κέλσος, ''Kélsos''; ) was a 2nd-century Greek philosopher and opponent of early Christianity. His literary work, ''The True Word'' (also ''Account'', ''Doctrine'' or ''Discourse''; Greek: grc-x-hellen, Λόγ ...
, with no mentions in works by others; they also feel that "it sounds impractical."[''The Oxford Handbook of Warfare in the Classical World'']
by Brian Campbell and Lawrence A. Tritle; published March 14 2013 by Oxford University Press
Oxford University Press (OUP) is the university press of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world, and its printing history dates back to the 1480s. Having been officially granted the legal right to print books ...
(via Google Books
Google Books (previously known as Google Book Search, Google Print, and by its code-name Project Ocean) is a service from Google Inc. that searches the full text of books and magazines that Google has scanned, converted to text using optical c ...
)
References
{{Ancient Roman medicine
Surgical instruments
Ancient Roman tools