Abascantus (Greek: Ἀβάσκαντος) was a physician of
Lugdunum
Lugdunum (also spelled Lugudunum, ; modern Lyon, France) was an important Roman city in Gaul, established on the current site of Lyon. The Roman city was founded in 43 BC by Lucius Munatius Plancus, but continued an existing Gallic settlem ...
, who probably lived in the 2nd century AD. He is mentioned several times by
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 ...
, who has also preserved an antidote invented by him against the bite of serpents. The name appears in numerous Latin inscriptions in Gruter's collection, five of which refer to a
freedman
A freedman or freedwoman is a formerly enslaved person who has been released from slavery, usually by legal means. Historically, enslaved people were freed by manumission (granted freedom by their captor-owners), emancipation (granted freedom a ...
of
Augustus
Caesar Augustus (born Gaius Octavius; 23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14), also known as Octavian, was the first Roman emperor; he reigned from 27 BC until his death in AD 14. He is known for being the founder of the Roman Pri ...
, who is supposed by some scholars to be the same person that is mentioned by Galen.
[ This identification is uncertain, as also whether Parakletios Abaskanthos (Παρακλήτιος Ἀβάσκανθος) in Galen][''De Compos. Medicam. secund. Locos'', vii. 3. vol. xiii. p. 71] refers to the subject of this article.
References
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2nd-century Greek physicians
People from Lugdunum
2nd-century Gallo-Roman people
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