Herodian on the long peak of the Antonine Plague’s second wave

I’ve stayed away from posts about plague recently, but it’s been nearly a year since Berlin went into its first lockdown and I’ve found myself revisiting stories about the Antonine Plague—especially about how the city’s doctors, politicians and ordinary citizens responded to a crisis that seemed to go on for ages (it nearly led to civil war according to some sources). Here’s a little bit from the historian Herodian on doctor-recommended treatments for the rich (the emperor Commodus) and the rest (the ordinary inhabitants of the city). The narrative is familiar: lack of social distancing, travel, close quarters with animals, awareness of a need for face-protection; but also, while the treatments for both rich and poor were roughly the same (viz., aromatherapy), the outcomes were not.

“It so happened at this time that Italy was in the grip of the plague. The suffering was especially intense in the city of Rome, as it was naturally overcrowded and received people from all over the world. And there was great destruction of animals and people.

“At that point, on the advice of some doctors, Commodus retired to Laurentum. For the town, being cooler and shaded by large laurel groves (hence the town’s name), seemed to be a safe place; and he is said to have withstood the corrupting power of the air by means of the fragrant vapours from the laurels and the pleasant shade of the trees.

“Meanwhile, at their doctors’ urging, those in the city filled their nostrils and ears with the most fragrant perfumes and continually used incense and aromatics, since some of the doctors said the fragrance, entering first, filled the sensory passages and prevented the corrupting power of the air from getting in; and if any should get in, it would be overpowered by [the fragrance’s] stronger power.

“Only—it made no difference: the sickness continued to peak for a long time, with great destruction of people and of all sorts of domesticated animals.”

συνέβη δὲ κατ' ἐκεῖνο καιροῦ λοιμώδη νόσον κατασχεῖν τὴν Ἰταλίαν· μάλιστα δὲ τὸ πάθος <ἐν> τῇ Ῥωμαίων πόλει ἤκμασεν ἅτε πολυανθρώπῳ τε οὔσῃ φύσει καὶ τοὺς πανταχόθεν ὑποδεχομένῃ, πολλή τέ τις φθορὰ ἐγένετο ὑποζυγίων ἅμα καὶ ἀνθρώπων. τότε ὁ Κόμοδος συμβουλευσάντων αὐτῷ τινῶν ἰατρῶν ἐς τὴν Λαύρεντον ἀνεχώρησεν· εὐψυχέστερον γὰρ ὂν τὸ χωρίον καὶ μεγίστοις κατάσκιον δαφνηφόροις ἄλσεσιν (ὅθεν καὶ τὸ ὄνομα τῷ χωρίῳ) σωτήριον εἶναι ἐδόκει, καὶ πρὸς τὴν τοῦ ἀέρος φθορὰν ἀντέχειν ἐλέγετο εὐωδίᾳ τε τῆς τῶν δαφνῶν ἀποφορᾶς καὶ τῇ τῶν δένδρων ἡδείᾳ σκιᾷ. ἀλλὰ καὶ οἱ κατὰ τὴν πόλιν κελευόντων τῶν ἰατρῶν μύρου εὐωδεστάτου τάς τε ὀσφρήσεις καὶ τὰ ὦτα ἐνεπίμπλασαν, θυμιάμασί τε καὶ ἀρώμασι συνεχῶς ἐχρῶντο, φασκόντων τινῶν τὴν εὐωδίαν φθάσασαν ἐμπιπλάναι τοὺς πόρους τῶν αἰσθήσεων καὶ κωλύειν δέχεσθαι τὸ φθορῶδες τοῦ ἀέρος, ἢ εἰ καί τι προεμπέσοι, κατεργάζεσθαι δυνάμει κρείττονι. πλὴν οὐδὲν ἧττον ἡ νόσος ἐπὶ πλεῖστον ἤκμασε, πολλῆς ἀνθρώπων φθορᾶς γενομένης πάντων τε ζῴων <τῶν> τοῖς ἀνθρώπων συνοίκων.

Herodian, History Following the Death of the Divine Marcus Aurelius 1.12.1–2

A Prescription for Julius Caesar

“They say that Caesar had an epileptic fit brought on by an unending winter, but that he was later treated by drinking the juice of the Heraclean plant with the rennet from a seal. It’s not surprising if Caesar was able to get his hands on seal rennet. Aretas, however, the phylarch of Arab Scenitae, wrote a letter to Claudius Caesar about a treatment using birds. He says the liver of a vulture roasted along with the blood and taken with honey three times a week gives relief from epilepsy. Likewise, the heart of the vulture, when dried, taken with water in the same manner, is equally effective.”

Ὅτι τὸν Καίσαρά φασιν ἐξ ἀπείρου χειμῶνος ἐπιληψίᾳ περιπεσεῖν· θεραπευθῆναι δὲ ὕστερον ἡρακλείου βοτάνης χυλὸν σὺν πυτίᾳ φώκης ἑλκύσαντα. καὶ Καῖσαρ μὲν οὔπω θαυμαστὸν εἰ καὶ φώκης πυτίας ηὐπόρησεν· Ἀρέτας δὲ ὁ τῶν Σκηνιτῶν Ἀράβων φύλαρχος Κλαυδίῳ Καίσαρι γράφων ἐπιστολὴν περὶ τῆς δι' ὀρνέων θεραπείας φησίν, ἧπαρ γυπὸς σὺν τῷ αἵματι ὀπτὸν μετὰ μέλιτος διδόμενον ἐπὶ ἑβδομάδας τρεῖς ἀπαλλάττειν ἐπιληψίας, ὁμοίως δὲ καὶ τὴν καρδίαν τοῦ γυπός, ὅτε ξηρανθῇ, ἐν ὕδατι διδομένην τῷ ἴσῳ τρόπῳ ἰσχύειν.

Johannes Lydus, On the months of the year, 4.104

“Most historians say that Caesar was a seven-month child, and that’s why he changed the name of the seventh month of the sacred year to his own.”

Ὅτι οἱ πολλοὶ τῶν ἱστορικῶν φασι τὸν Καίσαρα ἑπτάμηνον τεχθῆναι, καὶ διὰ τοῦτο τὸν ἕβδομον μῆνα τοῦ ἱερατικοῦ ἐνιαυτοῦ εἰς τὴν οἰκείαν μεταβαλεῖν προσηγορίαν.

Johannes Lydus, On the months of the year, 4.105

“An oracle was delivered to the Romans by the Mother, that they are not to engage in sexual activity at all during July, if their bodies are to stay healthy.”

Χρησμὸς ἐδόθη Ῥωμαίοις πρὸς τῆς Μητρός, μηδ' ὅλως ἀφροδισίοις χρῆσθαι ἀνὰ πάντα τὸν Ἰούλιον μῆνα, εἴπερ αὐτοῖς ὑγιαίνειν τὰ σώματα μέλλοι.

Johannes Lydus, On the months of the year, 4.106

“When some people were suspicious of Marc Antony and Dolabella and urged Caesar to keep an eye on them, he said he wasn’t worried about plodding and portly people, but thin and pale ones, indicating Brutus and Cassius.”

Ἀντώνιον δὲ καὶ Δολοβέλλαν ὑφορωμένων ἐνίων καὶ φυλάττεσθαι κελευόντων, οὐ τούτους ἔφη δεδιέναι τοὺς βαναύσους καὶ λιπῶντας, ἀλλὰ τοὺς ἰσχνοὺς καὶ ὠχροὺς ἐκείνους, δείξας Βροῦτον καὶ Κάσσιον.

[Plutarch], Sayings of Gaius Caesar, c.14 (Moralia 206F)

“When the conversation at dinner turned to the best kind of death, Caesar said: ‘unexpected’.”

Λόγου δὲ παρὰ δεῖπνον ἐμπεσόντος περὶ θανάτου ποῖος ἄριστος ‘ὁ ἀπροσδόκητος’ εἶπε.

[Plutarch], Sayings of Gaius Caesar, c.15 (Moralia 206F)

Socrates’ Meteorology II

Xenophon, a source between Aristophanes and Plato, on Socrates’ meteorological reputation.

Weather Gods

“The conversations [at the party] were so good that the Syracusan [entertainer] noticed everyone was ignoring his dinner show and enjoying one another. Feeling a bit jealous, he said to Socrates:

‘Hey Socrates, aren’t you the one they call The Thinker?’

‘Isn’t that better,’ he said, ‘than being called thoughtless?’

‘Sure, if you weren’t supposed to be a thinker of ta meteora.’

‘Do you know,’ Socrates said, ‘anything more meteorological than the gods?’

‘For heaven’s sake, obviously not,’ he said, ‘but they’re not what people say you’re concerned with. They say you’re concerned with the most unbeneficial things.’

‘Well even if that were so,’ he said, ‘I’d still be concerned with gods. When it rains from above, they are beneficial, as when they give light from above. If it’s an awkward pun*,’ he said, ‘it’s your fault for giving me trouble.’”

τοιούτων δὲ λόγων ὄντων ὡς ἑώρα ὁ Συρακόσιος τῶν μὲν αὑτοῦ ἐπιδειγμάτων ἀμελοῦντας, ἀλλήλοις δὲ ἡδομένους, φθονῶν τῷ Σωκράτει εἶπεν:

ἆρα σύ, ὦ Σώκρατες, ὁ φροντιστὴς ἐπικαλούμενος;

οὐκοῦν κάλλιον, ἔφη, ἢ εἰ ἀφρόντιστος ἐκαλούμην;

εἰ μή γε ἐδόκεις τῶν μετεώρων φροντιστὴς εἶναι.

οἶσθα οὖν, ἔφη ὁ Σωκράτης, μετεωρότερόν τι τῶν θεῶν;

ἀλλ᾽ οὐ μὰ Δί᾽, ἔφη, οὐ τούτων σε λέγουσιν ἐπιμελεῖσθαι, ἀλλὰ τῶν ἀνωφελεστάτων.

οὐκοῦν καὶ οὕτως ἄν, ἔφη, θεῶν ἐπιμελοίμην: ἄνωθεν μέν γε ὕοντες ὠφελοῦσιν, ἄνωθεν δὲ φῶς παρέχουσιν. εἰ δὲ ψυχρὰ λέγω, σὺ αἴτιος, ἔφη, πράγματά μοι παρέχων.

Xenophon, Symposium 6.6–7

*lit. “if I’m saying frigid things”, but he’s referring to a pun he’s making: anôphelestata (most unbeneficial) like anô ôphelestata (very beneficial things from above), so anôthen ôphelousin: “from above, when it rains, they are beneficial.”

Holding it in

“You can learn for yourself what I’m saying is true if you consider something that often happens to people. There are times when a biting humour builds up in the area around the anus and it makes us really need to go to the bathroom, but we are forced to hold it in because we are in the middle of some public business; once we’re done with it, we can’t go to the bathroom anymore and as a result we often we also get a headache and an upset stomach.”

ὅτι δὲ ἀληθές ἐστιν ὃ λέγω, πάρεστι μαθεῖν ἑκάστῳ τῶν πολλάκις ἡμῖν συμβαινόντων ἀναμνησθέντι. δακνώδης γοῦν ἐνίοτε χυμὸς εἰς τὰ κατὰ τὴν ἕδραν χωρία παραγενόμενος, ἐρεθίζει μὲν ἡμᾶς ἐπὶ τὴν ἔκκρισιν αὐτοῦ· κατασχεῖν δὲ αὐτὸν ἀναγκασθέντες, ἐπειδὰν ἐν πολιτικαῖς ὦμεν πράξεσιν, ἀπαλλαγέντες αὐτῶν οὐκέτ' ἀποκρίνομεν, αἰσθανόμεθά τε κἀκ τούτου πολλάκις τῆς κεφαλῆς ὀδυνηρᾶς γινομένης ἀνατρεπομένης τε τῆς γαστρός.

Galen, Matters of Health 6.10, 6.433 K. = 190,1–7 Koch

“For when people really need to poo but because they are held up in the agora or some other unsuitable place they hold it in for a long time, they are either no longer able to poo or their poo is small and dry. Why does this happen? Clearly it’s because effluvia have come off from them inside of us as well, from which it is clear that what is present in our intestines is also nourishment.”

οἱ γ(ὰρ) προθυμίᾳ γ(ινόμενοι) πρὸς τὸ διαχωρῆσαι,
καταλαμβανόμενοι δὲ ἐν ἀγορᾶι ἢ
ἐν ἀνεπιτηδείοις, εἶτα συσχόν-
τες ἐπὶ πλεῖον, οὐκέτι διαχωρο(ῦσιν)
ἢ διαχωροῦσιν ἐλάχιστά τε καὶ ξηρ(ά).
τίνος αἰ(τίας) γι(νομένης); δῆλον ὅτι ἀποφορᾶς καὶ ἐ̣ν(τὸς)
ἀπ' αὐτ(ῶν) γεγενημέν(ης). ἐξ ὧν φανερόν,
ὡς τροφή (ἐστιν) καὶ ἡ ἐν ἐντέροις παρακειμένη.

Anonymus Londinensis, Fragment 1,1–9 Diels

Thanks to Peter, Ralph and David for pointing these out.

Aristotle on Art and Nature: Tools

“For just as sophisticated doctors and nearly everyone concerned with physical training agree that those who are to be good doctors or physical trainers need experience about nature, so too good legislators need experience of nature, perhaps even more than the former. For the former are craftsmen of only the body’s excellence; the latter who are craftsmen of the excellence of the soul and who profess to teach about the flourishing and failure of the state have in fact an even greater need of philosophy.

“For in all the other craftsmen’s arts the best tools have been discovered from nature, as in carpentry the level, straight-edge and compass (the ones, I take it, that are grasped through water and light and the rays of sunshine), relative to which when we are making a judgment we test what is adequately straight and smooth to our sensation; likewise the politician also needs to have some guidelines from nature and the truth itself relative to which he will distinguish what is just, what is noble and what is useful.”

ὥσπερ γὰρ τῶν ἰατρῶν ὅσοι κομψοὶ καὶ τῶν περὶ τὴν γυμναστικὴν οἱ πλεῖστοι σχεδὸν ὁμολογοῦσιν ὅτι δεῖ τοὺς μέλλοντας ἀγαθοὺς ἰατροὺς ἔσεσθαι καὶ γυμναστὰς περὶ φύσεως ἐμπείρους εἶναι, οὕτω καὶ τοὺς ἀγαθοὺς νομοθέτας ἐμπείρους εἶναι δεῖ τῆς φύσεως, καὶ πολύ γε μᾶλλον ἐκείνων. οἱ μὲν γὰρ τῆς τοῦ σώματος ἀρετῆς εἰσι δημιουργοὶ μόνον, οἱ δὲ περὶ τὰς τῆς ψυχῆς ἀρετὰς ὄντες καὶ περὶ πόλεως εὐδαιμονίας καὶ κακοδαιμονίας διδάξειν προσποιούμενοι πολὺ δὴ μᾶλλον προσδέονται φιλοσοφίας.

καθάπερ γὰρ ἐν ταῖς ἄλλαις τέχναις ταῖς δημιουργικαῖς ἀπὸ τῆς φύσεως εὕρηται τὰ βέλτιστα τῶν ὀργάνων, οἷον ἐν τεκτονικῇ στάθμη καὶ κανὼν καὶ τόρνος † * τὰ μὲν ὕδατι καὶ φωτὶ καὶ ταῖς αὐγαῖς τῶν ἀκτίνων ληφθέντων, πρὸς ἃ κρίνοντες τὸ κατὰ τὴν αἴσθησιν ἱκανῶς εὐθὺ καὶ λεῖον βασανίζομεν, ὁμοίως δὲ καὶ τὸν πολιτικὸν ἔχειν τινὰς ὅρους δεῖ ἀπὸ τῆς φύσεως αὐτῆς καὶ τῆς ἀληθείας, πρὸς οὓς κρινεῖ τί δίκαιον καὶ τί καλόν καὶ τί συμφέρον.

*Pistelli marks this passage with a crux; other editors have tried various solutions, none very satisfying. I’ve looked at the mss. available online, but they all preserve the same text. In their reconstruction of the Protrepticus, Doug and Monte think a line is missing (p.52 of the pdf here). Ronja is working on some compelling solutions to explain what’s going on philosophically. I think it might be an interpolation, τὰ μὲν … ληφθέντων being originally a marginal note: maybe Aristotle (or Iamblichus) didn’t bother giving examples of the kinds of tools “discovered from nature” and so someone early in the tradition wrote in some examples of the kinds of things he might have had in mind and this was later brought into the text.

Aristotle ap. Iamblichus, Protrepticus 10, 54,12–55,3 Pistelli

A Mytilenean Peripatetic School? Galen on Primigenes of Mytilene

Here’s another text where Galen talks about a Peripatetic philosopher from Mytilene, Lesbos (Aristotle of Mytilene, possibly a teacher of Alexander of Aphrodisias, is here). This one’s name is Primigenes and Galen claims he gets a fever every time he misses his bath. He also tells us Primigenes is constantly reading and writing and doesn’t sweat very much. We’re left to infer he doesn’t get much exercise because he’s always at home doing philosophy. Seems to be a common trope that the kind of philosophy they do is rather solitary (compare with Apuleius when he describes his fish dissections following Aristotle at Apologia 25–28).

I haven’t found Primigenes mentioned anywhere else. Galen seems to have met with him when he was younger, so he would have lived in the mid-to-late second century. He also says Primigenes was second to none among the Peripatetics, which is pretty much the same thing he says about Aristotle of Mytilene. I wonder if this is just something Galen says about people he knows (you know, to make himself seem important) or if it implies the latter was dead by the time he met Primigenes. Could be both, I suppose.

“Experience certainly shows that in some cases people are harmed and benefited by the same things, in others by opposites. I know some people for example become sick right away when they don’t exercise for three days; others never exercise and always stay healthy; and of them some never bathe, while others immediately become feverish when they do not bathe, like Primigenes of Mytilene.

“Well then, it seems that this is how things are even to those who assemble the medical art by experience alone—except none of them has written down indications (like they do in the case of diseases) to which we might pay attention and discover the kind of daily routine each person needs. For it is possible in a few cases to discover what is referred to by the Empiricists as ‘precise syndromes’, as in peripneumonia and pleuritis; most diseases however involve a conjectural diagnosis, since they do not arise from an assemblage of defined symptoms, but require someone who knows the disposition of the body precisely and is competent enough to discover all the particulars that are in harmony with it. I discovered the following guided by reason itself when I was still a young man, from which it’s clear that long experience without reason is not able to discover such things.

“In the case of Primigenes, hearing that he always became feverish when he didn’t bathe, I reasoned that smoky residues were being generated in him which needed to be transpired but that because his skin was too thick to allow them to be evacuated and so caused them all to gather beneath the skin, they generated heat. That’s why baths are extremely useful for natures like his, not only for evacuating the smoky residue, but also for moisturizing with fresh water. I therefore thought it was a good idea to examine fully the quality of whatever kind of heat it was by placing my hand flat on Primigenes’ chest. As it was discovered to be acrid and biting (similar to eating a large quantity of onions), I was even more convinced that I had discovered the cause of what was happening. I asked whether he became sweaty when he didn’t bathe and when he said he did not, I was sure I had a firm grasp of his disposition. And yet I have also known others who likewise had a biting heat but did not become feverish because of a single missed bath since the residue in their case was evacuated by sweating. For Primigenes, in addition to his natural constitution, his typical daily routine was also responsible for him becoming feverish when he missed a single bath, as he spent most of the day at home where he was continually writing or reading because of his devotion to Peripatetic speculation—of those in his time he was second to none in the field.”

ἥ γε μὴν πεῖρα δείκνυσιν ὑπό τε τῶν αὐτῶν ἐνίους βλαπτομένους τε καὶ ὠφελουμένους, ὑπό τε τῶν ἐναντίων ὡσαύτως. οἶδα γοῦν τινας, οἳ τρεῖς ἡμέρας ἀγύμναστοι μείναντες εὐθέως νοσοῦσιν, ἀγυμνάστους τε ἑτέρους ἀεὶ διατελοῦντας, ὑγιαίνοντας δέ, καὶ τούτων ἐνίους μὲν ἀλούτους, ἐνίους δέ, εἰ μὴ λούσαιντο, πυρέττοντας αὐτίκα, καθάπερ ὁ Μιτυληναῖος Πριμιγένης.

ὅτι μὲν οὖν οὕτω φαίνεται ταῦτα γινόμενα, καὶ οἱ τῇ πείρᾳ μόνῃ τὴν τέχνην ἀθροίζοντες ἴσασιν. οὐ μὴν ἔγραψέ γέ τις αὐτῶν γνωρίσματα, καθάπερ ἐπὶ τῶν νοσημάτων, οἷς προσέχοντες εὑρήσομεν, ὁποίας ἕκαστος δεῖται διαίτης. ἐπ' ὀλίγων γὰρ ἔστιν εὑρεῖν τὰς καλουμένας ὑπὸ τῶν ἐμπειρικῶν συνδρομὰς ἠκριβωμένας, ὡς ἐν περιπνευμονίᾳ καὶ πλευρίτιδι· τὰ δὲ πλεῖστα νοσήματα στοχαστικὴν ἔχει τὴν διάγνωσιν, ὡς οὐκ ἐξ ἀθροίσματος ὡρισμένων συμπτωμάτων γινομένην, ἀλλ' ἀνδρὸς δεομένην ἀκριβῶς μὲν ἐπισταμένου τὴν διάθεσιν τοῦ σώματος, εὑρίσκειν δ' ἱκανοῦ τὰ κατὰ μέρος ἅπαντα τὰ τῇ τοιαύτῃ συμφωνοῦντα. τὸ γοῦν προκείμενον αὐτῷ τῷ λόγῳ ποδηγηθέντες ἡμεῖς εὕρομεν ἔτι νέοι τὴν ἡλικίαν ὄντες. ᾧ καὶ δῆλον, ὡς ἡ μακρὰ πεῖρα χωρὶς λόγου τὰ τοιαῦθ' εὑρίσκειν ἀδυνατεῖ.

ἐπὶ γοῦν τοῦ Πριμιγένους ἀκούσας, ὅτι πάντως πυρέττοι μὴ λουσάμενος, ἐλογισάμην αὐτῷ καπνώδη περιττώματα γεννᾶσθαι διαπνεῖσθαι δεόμενα, πυκνοτέρου δὲ τοῦ δέρματος ὄντος ἢ ὡς ἐπιτρέπειν αὐτοῖς κενοῦσθαι πᾶσιν ἀθροιζομένοις ὑπὸ τῷ δέρματι θερμασίαν γεννᾶν. διὸ καὶ τὰ λουτρὰ χρησιμώτατα ταῖς τοιαύταις φύσεσιν, οὐ μόνον τῷ κενοῦν τὸ καπνῶδες, ἀλλὰ καὶ τῷ τέγγειν ὑγρότητι γλυκείᾳ. καταμαθεῖν οὖν ἔδοξέ μοι πλατεῖαν ἐπιβαλόντι τὴν χεῖρα τῷ θώρακι τοῦ Πριμιγένους, ὁποία τίς ἐστιν ἡ τῆς θερμασίας ποιότης. ὡς δὲ δριμεῖα καὶ δακνώδης εὑρέθη παραπλησίως τοῖς κρόμμυα προσενηνεγμένοις δαψιλῆ, πολὺ δὴ μᾶλλον ἔτι τὴν αἰτίαν τοῦ γινομένου καλῶς εὑρῆσθαί μοι πεισθείς, ἐπυθόμην, εἴ τινες ἱδρῶτες αὐτῷ γίνοιντο χωρὶς τοῦ λουτροῦ, καὶ φάντος μὴ γίνεσθαι, βεβαιοτέραν γνῶσιν ἐπείσθην ἔχειν τῆς διαθέσεως αὐτοῦ. καὶ μὴν δὴ καὶ ἄλλους τινὰς εἶδον, ὁμοίως μὲν ἐκείνῳ δακνῶδες ἔχοντας τὸ θερμόν, οὐ μὴν ἐπ' ἀλουσίᾳ γε μιᾷ πυρέττοντας, ἐπειδὴ δι' ἱδρώτων αὐτοῖς ἐκενοῦτο τὸ περίττωμα. τῷ Πριμιγένει δὲ πρὸς τῇ φυσικῇ κατασκευῇ καὶ ὁ τρόπος τῆς διαίτης αἴτιος ἦν τοῦ πυρέττειν ἐπ' ἀλουσίᾳ μιᾷ, διατρίβοντι τὸ πλεῖστον τῆς ἡμέρας ἐπὶ τῆς οἰκίας, ἐν ᾗ γράφων ἢ ἀναγινώσκων διετέλει διὰ τὸ προσκεῖσθαι θεωρίᾳ Περιπατητικῇ, καθ' ἣν οὐδενὸς ἦν δεύτερος τῶν κατ' αὐτόν.

Galen, On Matters of Health 5.11.6–20 (6.364–367 K. = 160,24–163,4 Koch)

About Ashes

“Ash. That’s what the remnant of burnt wood is called, which is a composite of contrary substances and qualities. For it contains within itself something earthy on the one hand, and on the other what is as it were smoky or sooty or whatever you want to call. These latter parts of it are very fine and when the ash is soaked in water and strained they are carried off with it; whatever earthy stuff remains behind becomes weak and not biting since it imparted the hot power to the lye water.

“Not all ash has precisely the same mixture; rather, it varies somewhat according to differences in the materials burned. Dioscorides—I have no idea why—says ash has an astringent power, but in fact fig ashes are free from any such quality because unlike oak, holm oak, strawberry tree, Valonia oak, mastic, ivy and anything else like these the fig tree itself doesn’t exhibit an astringent quality in any of its parts, but is mostly full of a strong, hot and acrid sap. Indeed, ash from astringent wood is very astringent and I’ve been known to use it on occasion to stop bleeding when no other drug was available; but no one should ever use fig ash for this, for since it is mixed with something detergent it is extremely acrid and caustic and differs in both respects from ash made of oak wood: first because the smoky material in it is much more acrid; and second because the (as it were) earthy material in it, which in the others is fairly astringent, is in this case detergent like in the ash of spurge.

“Lime is also a species of ash, being composed of finer parts than the ash from wood, inasmuch as stones need to be roasted much more intensely to be turned into ash—but for all that it also has a great deal of fire within it. And for this reason, when it is washed it becomes a drug that dries without biting, even more so if it is washed two or three times. It becomes considerably dispersing when it is washed with sea water. We’ll talk about it when we come to the discussion about things extracted from mines.”

δʹ. Περὶ τέφρας.

Τέφρα. τῶν κεκαυμένων ξύλων τὸ λείψανον οὕτω προσαγορεύεται, σύνθετον ὑπάρχον ἐξ ἐναντίων οὐσιῶν τε καὶ ποιοτήτων. ἔχει γὰρ ἐν αὑτῷ τὸ μέν τι γεῶδες, τὸ δ' οἷον αἰθαλῶδες ἢ λιγνυῶδες ἢ ὅπως ἂν ἐθέλῃ τις καλεῖν. ταυτὶ μὲν οὖν τὰ μόρια λεπτομερῆ τ' ἐστὶ καὶ βρεχομένης ὕδατι τῆς τέφρας καὶ διηθουμένης συναποφέρεται. ὅσον δ' ὑπολείπεται γεῶδες, ἀσθενὲς καὶ ἄδηκτον γίγνεται ἐν τῇ κονίᾳ τὴν θερμὴν δύναμιν ἀποτιθέμενον.

οὐχ ἅπασα δὲ τέφρα τὴν αὐτὴν ἀκριβῶς ἔχει κρᾶσιν, ἀλλὰ κατὰ τὴν τῆς καυθείσης ὕλης διαφορὰν ὑπαλλάττεται. Διοσκορίδης δὲ οὐκ οἶδ' ὅπως στυπτικὴν αὐτὴν ἔχειν φησὶ τὴν δύναμιν. καίτοι γε ἡ συκίνη πάσης ἀπήλλακται τοιαύτης ποιότητος, ὅτι καὶ αὐτὸ τὸ δένδρον οὐχ ὥσπερ δρῦς καὶ πρῖνος καὶ κόμαρος καὶ φηγὸς καὶ σχῖνος καὶ κισσὸς, ὅσα τ' ἄλλα τοιαῦτα, τὴν στρυφνὴν ἐπιφαίνει ποιότητα κατ' οὐδὲν ἑαυτοῦ μέρος, ἀλλ' ἔστιν ὀποῦ πλῆρες ὅλον ἰσχυροῦ καὶ θερμοῦ καὶ δριμέος. ἐκ μὲν δὴ τῶν στρυφνῶν ξύλων ἡ τέφρα στυπτικὸν οὐκ ὀλίγον ἔχει, καὶ ἔγωγέ ποτε δι' αὐτῆς ἐπισχὼν αἱμοῤῥαγίας οἶδα, μηδενὸς ἑτέρου παρόντος φαρμάκου. τῇ συκίνῃ δ' οὐκ ἄν τις εἰς τοῦτο χρήσαιτό ποτε, πολὺ γὰρ αὕτη γε τὸ δριμὺ καὶ τὸ καυστικὸν ἔχει τῷ ῥυπτικῷ μεμιγμένον καὶ κατ' ἄμφω διενήνοχε τῆς ἐκ τῶν δρυΐνων ξύλων, ὅτι τε τὸ αἰθαλῶδες ἐν αὐτῇ πολλῷ δριμύτερόν ἐστι καὶ ὅτι τὸ οἷον γεῶδες, ἐν ἐκείναις μὲν ὑποστῦφόν πώς ἐστιν, ἐν ταύτῃ δὲ ῥυπτικὸν, ὥσπερ ἐν τῇ τῶν τιθυμάλλων.

ἔστι δὲ καὶ ἡ τίτανος εἶδός τι τέφρας, λεπτομερεστέρα μὲν οὖσα τῆς ἐκ τῶν ξύλων, παρ' ὅσον ἀκριβέστερον οἱ λίθοι κατοπτᾶσθαι δέονται πρὸς τὸ γενέσθαι τέφραν, ὅμως μὴν ἔχουσα καὶ αὐτὴ τὸ οἷον ἐμπύρευμα πολύ. καὶ διὰ τοῦτο πλυθεῖσα ξηραντικὸν ἀδήκτως γίνεται φάρμακον, καὶ μᾶλλον, εἰ δὶς ἢ καὶ τρὶς πλυθείη. διαφορητικὴ δ' ἱκανῶς γίνεται θαλάσσῃ πλυθεῖσα. λεχθήσεται δὲ ὑπὲρ αὐτῆς κᾀπειδὰν περὶ τῶν μεταλλευομένων ὁ λόγος ἡμῖν γίγνηται.

Galen, On Simple Drugs 8.19.2, 12.138–140 K.

Mardi Gras with Galen: a recipe for ancient Roman pancakes

Here’s a recipe (well, sort of) and description of how pancakes were cooked in ancient Rome. Some things to note: Galen points out the word for ‘pancake’ is pronounced differently by Attic and Asiatic Greek speakers, where the α and the η are switched: ταγηνῖται (tagenitai) vs. τηγανῖται (teganitai). The word for ‘pan’, τάγηνον (tagenon), doesn’t seem to undergo this vowel shift. It is cognate with tajine, but a tajine is more like the ancient kribanos, which Galen mentions in relation to the more common kind of cake, itrion (ἴτριον), known as libum in Latin (a nice recipe here; I like this how-to video). Galen associates these cakes with country people and very poor city people who he tells us make their bread out of whatever they have around. I also think it is interesting how long it takes Galen to describe something as familiar (at least to a North American) as flipping a pancake. Flipping a cake must not have been a very common thing to do (I suppose it still isn’t something one does to most cakes).

“Now would be a good time to talk about all those other cakes that they make from wheat flour. The ones called tagenitai [pancakes] by the Attic speakers but teganitai by us Greek speakers in Asia are prepared solely with olive oil. The oil is placed in a pan that is set on a smokeless fire and once it’s hot wheat flour that’s been mixed with lots of water is poured onto it. After it has cooked for a short time in the oil, it sets and thickens like soft cheese solidifying in baskets. At this point the cooks turn it round, bringing the upper side underneath so that it comes into contact with the pan and turning the side that used to be underneath and is sufficiently cooked so that it becomes the top; once the side underneath has set, they turn it round again two or three times until they think it has been cooked through.

“Now, it’s clear that this is thick-humoured, able to block the stomach, and productive of raw humours. That’s why some people mix honey with it and others sea salt as well. This would be a “kind” or “type” (or whatever your want to call it) of flat-cake, like many other such types of flat-cakes made from whatever’s at hand by country people and very poor people in the city. Likewise all those unleavened cakes they bake in a kribanos then remove and put immediately into warm honey so that it soaks them through, these too are a kind of flat-cake, as are all dishes prepared from cakes with honey.”

Περὶ δὲ τῶν ἄλλων πεμμάτων, ὅσα σκευάζουσιν ἐξ ἀλεύρου πυρίνου, καιρὸς ἂν εἴη λέγειν. οἱ μὲν οὖν ταγηνῖται παρὰ τοῖς Ἀττικοῖς ὀνομαζόμενοι, παρ' ἡμῖν δὲ τοῖς κατὰ τὴν Ἀσίαν Ἕλλησι τηγανῖται σκευάζονται δι' ἐλαίου μόνου. βάλλεται δὲ τὸ μὲν ἔλαιον εἰς τάγηνον ἐπικείμενον ἀκάπνῳ πυρί, καταχεῖται δ' αὐτῷ θερμανθέντι τὸ τῶν πυρῶν ἄλευρον ὕδατι δεδευμένον πολλῷ. διὰ ταχέων οὖν ἑψόμενον ἐν τῷ ἐλαίῳ συνίσταται καὶ παχύνεται παραπλησίως ἁπαλῷ τυρῷ τῷ κατὰ τοὺς ταλάρους πηγνυμένῳ. τηνικαῦτα δ' ἤδη καὶ στρέφουσιν οἱ σκευάζοντες αὐτό, τὴν μὲν ἄνωθεν ἐπιφάνειαν ἐργαζόμενοι κάτωθεν, ὡς ὁμιλεῖν τῷ ταγήνῳ, τὸ δ' αὐτάρκως ἡψημένον, ὃ κάτωθεν ἦν πρότερον, εἰς ὕψος ἀνάγοντες, ὡς ἐπιπολῆς εἶναι, κἀπειδὰν ἤδη καὶ τὸ κάτω παγῇ, στρέφουσιν αὖθις αὐτὸ δίς που καὶ τρίς, ἄχριπερ ἂν ὅλον ὁμαλῶς αὐτοῖς ἡψῆσθαι δόξῃ.

εὔδηλον οὖν, ὅτι παχύχυμόν τε τοῦτ' ἐστὶ καὶ σταλτικὸν γαστρὸς καὶ χυμῶν ὠμῶν γεννητικόν. διὸ καί τινες αὐτῷ μιγνύουσι μέλιτος, εἰσὶ δ' οἳ καὶ τῶν θαλαττίων ἁλῶν. εἴη δ' ἂν ἤδη τοῦτό γε πλακοῦντός τι γένος ἢ εἶδος ἢ ὅπως ἂν ὀνομάζειν ἐθέλῃς, ὥσπερ καὶ ἄλλα πολλὰ τοιαῦτα πλακούντων εἴδη συντιθέασιν αὐτοσχεδίως οἵ τε κατ' ἀγρὸν ἄνθρωποι καὶ τῶν κατὰ πόλιν οἱ πενέστατοι. τοιγαροῦν καὶ ὅσα διὰ κριβάνου τῶν ἀζύμων πεμμάτων ὀπτῶσιν, εἶτ' ἀφελόντες ἐμβάλλουσιν εὐθέως εἰς μέλι θερμόν, ὡς δέξασθαι δι' ὅλων ἑαυτῶν αὐτό, καὶ ταῦτα πλακοῦντός τι γένος ἐστὶ καὶ τὰ διὰ τῶν ἰτρίων σκευαζόμενα μετὰ μέλιτος πάντα.

Galen, On the Capacities of Foods 1.3 (6.490–492 K.)

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Update 22 February 2021

My nieces (with my sister’s help) decided to try out Galen’s recipe along with some traditional pancakes. They used some very light olive oil and some locally milled whole wheat flour. Here’s a quick video.

Love Doctor: Aretaeus on Love-Sickness and Melancholy

“There’s a story that some incurably melancholic person fell in love with a girl and when the doctors could do nothing to help, love cured him. I think however that he was in love from the start and that he was feeling down and disheartened because of the bad luck he was having with the girl and so seemed to ordinary people to be melancholic. He had no idea at that point that it was love; but when he realized his love for the girl, he stopped feeling down and he got rid of his anger and sorrow and the joy sobered him up out of his sad state. For his mind was restored by doctor love.”

λόγος ὅτι τῶν τοιῶνδέ τις ἀνηκέστως ἔχων, κούρης ἤρα τε καὶ τῶν ἰητρῶν οὐδὲν ὠφελούντων ὁ ἔρως μιν ἰήσατο· δοκέω δὲ ἔγωγε ἐρᾶν μὲν αὐτὸν ἀρχῆθεν, κατηφέα δὲ καὶ δύσθυμον [ἢ] ὑπ' ἀτυχίης τῆς κούρης ἔμμεναι καὶ μελαγχολικὸν δοκέειν τοῖσι δημότῃσιν. οὗτος οὔτε μὴν ἦν ἔρωτα ἐγγιγνώσκων, ἐπεὶ δὲ τὸν ἔρωτα ξυνῆψε τῇ κούρῃ, παύεται τῆς κατηφείης, καὶ διασκίδνησι ὀργήν τε καὶ λύπην, χάρμῃ δὲ ἐξένηψε τῆς δυσθυμίης· καθίσταται γὰρ τὴν γνώμην ἔρωτι ἰητρῷ.

Aretaeus, Causes and Signs of Chronic Diseases 1.5.8, 41,4–11 Hude

A fragrant perfume from the Dynameron of Nikolaos Myrepsos (the Perfumer)

A perfume recipe from the Dynameron of Nikolaos Myrepsos (“the Perfumer”), who seems to have been a Byzantine physician and perfumer of the 13th century. The Dynameron is one of those recipe books that was added to over time, so it’s anyone’s guess where the recipe comes from or what it might have been used to treat. The first edition of the massive Dynameron—it has around 3000 recipes—was completed in 2019 by Ilias Valiakos and published open access with Propylaeum. It is available here.

Note on weights and volumes: one ὅλκή weighs the same as one δραχμή, about 3.4 grams. A ξέστης is about 550 ml. A κύαθος is about 45ml.

“Perfume recipe, the one called ‘fragrant’.

It contains:

• 28 holkai terebinth resin

• 14 holkai clean wax

• 3 holkai each of:

  • juice of hyssop

  • Attic honey

  • deer marrow

  • ammoniac incense

  • galbanum

  • foam of soda

• 0.5 sextarios of old oil

• 1.5 holke of castorion

• 1 kyathon of fine wine.

Grind all these together and prepare it well. Give when needed, use.”

Μύρου σκευασία, τοῦ εὐώδους λεγομένου· ἔχει: Τερμεντίνης, ὁλκὰς κηʹ· κηροῦ καθαροῦ· ὁλκὰς ιδʹ· ὑσσώπου ὑγροῦ· μέλιτος Ἀττικοῦ· μυελοῦ ἐλαφείου· ἀμμωνιακοῦ θυμιάματος· χαλβάνης· ἀφρονίτρου, ἀνὰ ὁλκὰς γʹ· ἐλαίου παλαιοῦ, ξεστίου ἥμισυ· καστόριον, ὁλκὴν αʹ καὶ ἥμισυ· οἴνου καλοῦ, κύαθον αʹ· τρίψας ταῦτα πάντα καὶ σκευάσας καλῶς, δίδου ἐπὶ τῆς χρείας χρῶ.

Nicolas Myrepsos, Dynameron 34.25, 827,1–5 Valiakos