The ''Hippiatrica'' ( Greek: Ἱππιατρικά) is a

Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...

compilation of ancient Greek texts, mainly excerpts, dedicated to the care and healing of the

horse The horse (''Equus ferus caballus'') is a domesticated, one-toed, hoofed mammal. It belongs to the taxonomic family Equidae and is one of two extant subspecies of ''Equus ferus''. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 million yea ...

.. The texts were probably compiled in the fifth or sixth century AD by an unknown editor. Currently, the compilation is preserved in five recensions in 22

manuscript A manuscript (abbreviated MS for singular and MSS for plural) was, traditionally, any document written by hand – or, once practical typewriters became available, typewritten – as opposed to mechanically printed or reproduced i ...

s (containing 25 copies) ranging in date from the 10th to the 16th centuries AD.

Seven texts from

Late Antiquity Late antiquity is the time of transition from classical antiquity to the Middle Ages, generally spanning the 3rd–7th century in Europe and adjacent areas bordering the Mediterranean Basin. The popularization of this periodization in English h ...

constitute the main sources of the ''Hippiatrica'': the veterinary manuals of Apsyrtus, Eumelus (a veterinary practitioner in

Thebes, Greece Thebes (; ell, Θήβα, ''Thíva'' ; grc, Θῆβαι, ''Thêbai'' .) is a city in Boeotia, Central Greece. It played an important role in Greek myths, as the site of the stories of Cadmus, Oedipus, Dionysus, Heracles and others. Archaeol ...

) Hierocles,

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 ...

, and Theomnestus, as well as the work of

Pelagonius Pelagonius (4th century AD) was an influential Latin writer on veterinary medicine, especially on horses. He is one of the many authors whose work was compiled and preserved in the ''Hippiatrica''. Remains of his texts still exist in Latin and Gre ...

(originally a Latin text translated into Greek), and the chapter on horses from the agricultural compilation of Anatolius.. Although the aforementioned authors allude to their

classical Greek Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic pe ...

veterinary predecessors (i.e.

Xenophon Xenophon of Athens (; grc, Ξενοφῶν ; – probably 355 or 354 BC) was a Greek military leader, philosopher, and historian, born in Athens. At the age of 30, Xenophon was elected commander of one of the biggest Greek mercenary armies o ...

and

Simon of Athens Simon of Athens was an Athenian writer on horses and horsemanship of the fifth century BC. He is the earliest known ancient Greek writer on the subject; Pliny described him as , "the first to have written on riding". His writings are quoted b ...

), the roots of their tradition mainly lie in

Hellenistic In Classical antiquity, the Hellenistic period covers the time in Mediterranean history after Classical Greece, between the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC and the emergence of the Roman Empire, as signified by the Battle of Actium in ...

agricultural literature derived from Mago of Carthage. In the 10th century AD, two more sources from Late Antiquity were added to the ''Hippiatrica'': a work by Tiberius and an anonymous set of ''Prognoses and Remedies'' (Greek: Προγνώσεις καὶ ἰάσεις). Content-wise, the sources in the ''Hippiatrica'' provide no systematic exposition of veterinary art and emphasize practical treatment rather than on aetiology or

medical theory Medical research (or biomedical research), also known as experimental medicine, encompasses a wide array of research, extending from "basic research" (also called ''bench science'' or ''bench research''), – involving fundamental scientif ...

. However, the compilation contains a wide variety of literary forms and styles: proverbs,

poetry Poetry (derived from the Greek '' poiesis'', "making"), also called verse, is a form of literature that uses aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language − such as phonaesthetics, sound symbolism, and metre − to evoke meani ...

, incantations, letters, instructions, prooimia, medical definitions,

recipe A recipe is a set of instructions that describes how to prepare or make something, especially a dish of prepared food. A sub-recipe or subrecipe is a recipe for an ingredient that will be called for in the instructions for the main recipe. His ...

s, and reminiscences. In the entire ''Hippiatrica'', the name of

Cheiron In Greek mythology, Chiron ( ; also Cheiron or Kheiron; ) was held to be the superlative centaur amongst his brethren since he was called the "wisest and justest of all the centaurs". Biography Chiron was notable throughout Greek mythology ...

, the Greek

centaur A centaur ( ; grc, κένταυρος, kéntauros; ), or occasionally hippocentaur, is a creature from Greek mythology with the upper body of a human and the lower body and legs of a horse. Centaurs are thought of in many Greek myths as bein ...

associated with healing and linked with

veterinary medicine Veterinary medicine is the branch of medicine that deals with the prevention, management, diagnosis, and treatment of disease, disorder, and injury in animals. Along with this, it deals with animal rearing, husbandry, breeding, research on nutri ...

, appears twice (as a deity) in the form of a rhetorical invocation and in the form of a spell; a remedy called a ''cheironeion'' (Greek: χειρώνειον) is named after the mythological figure..

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