Eudemus (physician)
Encyclopedia
Eudemus was the name of several Greek physicians, whom it is difficult to distinguish with certainty:
- A druggist, who apparently lived in the 4th or 3rd century BC. He is said by TheophrastusTheophrastusTheophrastus , a Greek native of Eresos in Lesbos, was the successor to Aristotle in the Peripatetic school. He came to Athens at a young age, and initially studied in Plato's school. After Plato's death he attached himself to Aristotle. Aristotle bequeathed to Theophrastus his writings, and...
, to have been eminent in his trade, and to have professed to be able to take helleboreHelleboreCommonly known as hellebores, members of the genus Helleborus comprise approximately 20 species of herbaceous perennial flowering plants in the family Ranunculaceae, within which it gave its name to the tribe of Helleboreae...
without being purged. - A celebrated anatomist, who lived probably about the 3rd century BC, as GalenGalenAelius Galenus or Claudius Galenus , better known as Galen of Pergamon , was a prominent Roman physician, surgeon and philosopher...
calls him a contemporary of Herophilus and ErasistratusErasistratusErasistratus was a Greek anatomist and royal physician under Seleucus I Nicator of Syria. Along with fellow physician Herophilus, he founded a school of anatomy in Alexandria, where they carried out anatomical research...
. He appears to have given particular attention to the anatomy and physiology of the nervous systemNervous systemThe nervous system is an organ system containing a network of specialized cells called neurons that coordinate the actions of an animal and transmit signals between different parts of its body. In most animals the nervous system consists of two parts, central and peripheral. The central nervous...
. He considered the metacarpus and metatarsusMetatarsusThe metatarsus or metatarsal bones are a group of five long bones in the foot located between the tarsal bones of the hind- and mid-foot and the phalanges of the toes. Lacking individual names, the metatarsal bones are numbered from the medial side : the first, second, third, fourth, and fifth...
each to consist of five bones, on which point Galen differed from him, but modern anatomists agree with him. He, however, fell into the error of supposing the acromion to be a distinct and separate bone. - A physician at RomeRomeRome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
, who was the paramour of LivillaLivillaLivia Julia was the only daughter of Nero Claudius Drusus and Antonia Minor and sister of the Roman Emperor Claudius and Germanicus...
, the wife of Drusus Caesar, the son of the emperor TiberiusTiberiusTiberius , was Roman Emperor from 14 AD to 37 AD. Tiberius was by birth a Claudian, son of Tiberius Claudius Nero and Livia Drusilla. His mother divorced Nero and married Augustus in 39 BC, making him a step-son of Octavian...
, and who joined her and SejanusSejanusLucius Aelius Seianus , commonly known as Sejanus, was an ambitious soldier, friend and confidant of the Roman Emperor Tiberius...
in their plot for poisoning her husband, 23 AD. He was afterwards put to the tortureTortureTorture is the act of inflicting severe pain as a means of punishment, revenge, forcing information or a confession, or simply as an act of cruelty. Throughout history, torture has often been used as a method of political re-education, interrogation, punishment, and coercion...
. He is supposed to be the same person who is said by Caelius AurelianusCaelius AurelianusCaelius Aurelianus of Sicca in Numidia was a Roman physician and writer on medical topics. He is best known for his translation from Greek to Latin of a work by Soranus of Ephesus, On Acute and Chronic Diseases. He probably flourished in the 5th century, although some place him two or even three...
to have been one of the followers of ThemisonThemison of LaodiceaThemison of Laodicea, , 1st century BC, was the founder of the Methodic school of medicine, and one of the most eminent physicians of his time....
, and whose medical observations on hydrophobia and some other diseases are quoted by him. He appears to be the same physician who is mentioned by Galen among several others as belonging to the Methodic schoolMethodic schoolThe Methodic school of medicine was an ancient school of medicine in ancient Greece and Rome. The Methodic school arose in reaction to both the Empiric school and the Dogmatic school...
. - A contemporary and personal acquaintance of Galen, in the latter part of the 2nd century.
- The name is also mentioned several times by Galen, AthenaeusAthenaeusAthenaeus , of Naucratis in Egypt, Greek rhetorician and grammarian, flourished about the end of the 2nd and beginning of the 3rd century AD...
, and by other writers.