Thessalus of Tralles (fl. circa 70–95 AD) was a famous Roman physician and early adherent 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 ...

of medicine. He lived 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 ...

,Pliny, ''H. N.'' xxix. 5 where he was the court physician of Emperor Nero. It was here that he died and was buried, and his tomb was to be seen on the ''

Via Appia The Appian Way (Latin and Italian: ''Via Appia'') is one of the earliest and strategically most important Roman roads of the ancient republic. It connected Rome to Brindisi, in southeast Italy. Its importance is indicated by its common name, rec ...

''.Galen, ''De Meth. Med.'', i. 2, vol. x He was from Tralles in

Lydia Lydia (Lydian language, Lydian: ‎𐤮𐤱𐤠𐤭𐤣𐤠, ''Śfarda''; Aramaic: ''Lydia''; el, Λυδία, ''Lȳdíā''; tr, Lidya) was an Iron Age Monarchy, kingdom of western Asia Minor located generally east of ancient Ionia in the mod ...

. He was the son of a weaver, and followed the same employment himself in his youth. This, however, he soon gave up, and, though he had a poor general education, he embraced the medical profession, by which he acquired for a time a great reputation, and amassed a large fortune. He adopted the principles of the Methodic school, but modified and developed them. He appears to have exalted himself at the expense of his predecessors; asserting that none of them had contributed to the advance of medical science, and boasting that he himself could teach the art of healing in six months.

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 ...

frequently mentions him, but always in terms of contempt, and is often abusive towards him. He is said to have been later overshadowed by Crinas of Marseilles, who was in turn ousted by his fellow countryman Charmis. He supported a method of treatment that he named ''metasyncrisis''. His object was, in obstinate chronic cases, where other remedies failed, to attempt a thorough change in the fundamental constitution of the organism (''syncrisis''). He began by the application, for three days, of strong vegetable remedies, both internally and externally, together with which, a strict regimen and emetics were applied. This was the preparation to a system of

fasting Fasting is the abstention from eating and sometimes drinking. From a purely physiological context, "fasting" may refer to the metabolic status of a person who has not eaten overnight (see " Breakfast"), or to the metabolic state achieved after ...

, which concluded with a course of restoratives.William Smith, (1870), ''

Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology The ''Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology'' (1849, originally published 1844 under a slightly different title) is an encyclopedia/biographical dictionary. Edited by William Smith, the dictionary spans three volumes and 3,700 p ...

'', Volume 3, page 1102 Thessalus regarded the chicory plant to be an

herb In general use, herbs are a widely distributed and widespread group of plants, excluding vegetables and other plants consumed for macronutrients, with savory or aromatic properties that are used for flavoring and garnishing food, for medicinal ...

of the sun.Wood, Matthew. ''The Earthwise Herbal: A Complete Guide to Old World Medicinal Plants''. North Atlantic Books, 2008, , p. 189. "Cichorium intybus. Chicory. ''Chicory is a member of the family Asteraceae, distinguished by its rare blue flower. It was anciently used by the Greeks and Romans. Thessalus of Tralles (c. 50 CE) states that it is an herb of the sun; he reports learning his astrological medicine directly from the demigod Asclepius.''" He wrote several medical works, of which only the titles and a few sentences remain.

References

{{Authority control 1st-century Roman physicians 1st-century Greek physicians People from Tralles