Joannes Actuarius
Encyclopedia
Joannes Zacharias Actuarius (c.
1275 – c.
1328), son of Zacharias, was a Byzantine
physician
in Constantinople
. He practiced with some degree of credit, as he was honored with the title of Actuarius
, a dignity frequently conferred at that court upon physicians.
(1282–1328). One of his school-fellows is supposed to have been Apocauchus, whom he describes (though without naming him) as going upon an embassy to the north.
He wrote several books on medicinal subjects, particularly, an extensive treatise about the urine
s and uroscopy
. Around 1299, he considered moving to Thessaloniki
, but decided to stay in Constantinople; later, he was appointed chief physician to the Emperor.
Some of his works were translated into Latin, and published in the 16th century.
Circa
Circa , usually abbreviated c. or ca. , means "approximately" in the English language, usually referring to a date...
1275 – c.
Circa
Circa , usually abbreviated c. or ca. , means "approximately" in the English language, usually referring to a date...
1328), son of Zacharias, was a Byzantine
Byzantine Empire
The Byzantine Empire was the Eastern Roman Empire during the periods of Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, centred on the capital of Constantinople. Known simply as the Roman Empire or Romania to its inhabitants and neighbours, the Empire was the direct continuation of the Ancient Roman State...
physician
Physician
A physician is a health care provider who practices the profession of medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring human health through the study, diagnosis, and treatment of disease, injury and other physical and mental impairments...
in Constantinople
Constantinople
Constantinople was the capital of the Roman, Eastern Roman, Byzantine, Latin, and Ottoman Empires. Throughout most of the Middle Ages, Constantinople was Europe's largest and wealthiest city.-Names:...
. He practiced with some degree of credit, as he was honored with the title of Actuarius
Actuarius
Actuarius or actarius, rendered in Greek as aktouarios , was the title applied to officials of varying functions in the late Roman and Byzantine empires....
, a dignity frequently conferred at that court upon physicians.
Biography
Very little is known of the events of his life, and his dates are debated, as some reckon him to have lived in the eleventh century, and others place him as recently as the beginning of the fourteenth. He probably lived towards the end of the thirteenth century, as one of his works is dedicated to his tutor, Joseph Racendytes, who lived in the reign of Andronikos II PalaiologosAndronikos II Palaiologos
Andronikos II Palaiologos , Latinized as Andronicus II Palaeologus, was Byzantine emperor from 1282 to 1328. He was the eldest surviving son of Michael VIII Palaiologos and Theodora Doukaina Vatatzina, grandniece of John III Doukas Vatatzes...
(1282–1328). One of his school-fellows is supposed to have been Apocauchus, whom he describes (though without naming him) as going upon an embassy to the north.
He wrote several books on medicinal subjects, particularly, an extensive treatise about the urine
Urine
Urine is a typically sterile liquid by-product of the body that is secreted by the kidneys through a process called urination and excreted through the urethra. Cellular metabolism generates numerous by-products, many rich in nitrogen, that require elimination from the bloodstream...
s and uroscopy
Uroscopy
Uroscopy is the historic medical practice of visually examining a patient's urine for pus, blood, or other symptoms of disease. It dates back to ancient Egypt, Babylon, and India. It was particularly emphasized in Byzantine medicine....
. Around 1299, he considered moving to Thessaloniki
Thessaloniki
Thessaloniki , historically also known as Thessalonica, Salonika or Salonica, is the second-largest city in Greece and the capital of the region of Central Macedonia as well as the capital of the Decentralized Administration of Macedonia and Thrace...
, but decided to stay in Constantinople; later, he was appointed chief physician to the Emperor.
Some of his works were translated into Latin, and published in the 16th century.
Works
- (Lat. De Actionibus et Affectibus Spiritus Animalis, ejusque Nutritione). This is a psychologicalPsychologyPsychology is the study of the mind and behavior. Its immediate goal is to understand individuals and groups by both establishing general principles and researching specific cases. For many, the ultimate goal of psychology is to benefit society...
and physiologicalPhysiologyPhysiology is the science of the function of living systems. This includes how organisms, organ systems, organs, cells, and bio-molecules carry out the chemical or physical functions that exist in a living system. The highest honor awarded in physiology is the Nobel Prize in Physiology or...
work in two books, in which all his reasoning seems to be founded upon the principles laid down by AristotleAristotleAristotle was a Greek philosopher and polymath, a student of Plato and teacher of Alexander the Great. His writings cover many subjects, including physics, metaphysics, poetry, theater, music, logic, rhetoric, linguistics, politics, government, ethics, biology, and zoology...
, GalenGalenAelius Galenus or Claudius Galenus , better known as Galen of Pergamon , was a prominent Roman physician, surgeon and philosopher...
, and others, with relation to the same subject. The style of this tract is by no means impure, and has a great mixture of the old AtticAttic GreekAttic Greek is the prestige dialect of Ancient Greek that was spoken in Attica, which includes Athens. Of the ancient dialects, it is the most similar to later Greek, and is the standard form of the language studied in courses of "Ancient Greek". It is sometimes included in Ionic.- Origin and range...
in it, which is very rarely to be met with in the later Greek writers. A tolerably full abstract of it is given by Barchusen. It was first published in a Latin translation by Giulio AlessandriniGiulio AlessandriniGiulio Alessandrini was an Italian physician, author, and poet.- Biography :Giulio Alessandrini studied philosophy and University of Padua...
in 1547. The first edition of the original was published in 1557, edited, without notes or preface, by Jac. Goupyl. A second Greek edition appeared in 1774, under the care of J. F. Fischer. Ideler has also inserted it in the first volume of his Physici et Medici Graeci Minores (1841); and the first part of J. S. Bernardi Reliquiae Medico-Criticae (1795) contains some Greek ScholiaScholiumScholia , are grammatical, critical, or explanatory comments, either original or extracted from pre-existing commentaries, which are inserted on the margin of the manuscript of an ancient author, as glosses. One who writes scholia is a scholiast...
on the work. - (Lat. De Methodo Medendi). Six books which have hitherto appeared complete only in a Latin translation, though Dietz had, before his death, collected materials for a Greek edition of this and his other works. In these books, says Friend, though he chiefly follows GalenGalenAelius Galenus or Claudius Galenus , better known as Galen of Pergamon , was a prominent Roman physician, surgeon and philosopher...
, and very often Aëtius AmidenusAëtius AmidenusAëtius of Amida was a Byzantine physician and medical writer, particularly distinguished by the extent of his erudition. Historians are not agreed about his exact date...
and Paulus AeginetaPaul of AeginaPaul of Aegina or Paulus Aegineta was a 7th-century Byzantine Greek physician best known for writing the medical encyclopedia Medical Compendium in Seven Books...
without naming him, yet he makes use of whatever he finds to his purpose both in the old and modern writers, Greeks as well "barbarians"; and indeed we find in him several things that are not to be met with elsewhere. The work was written extempore, and designed for the use of Apocauchus during his embassy to the north. A Latin translation of this work by Corn. H. Mathisius, was first published in 1554. The first four books appear sometimes to have been considered to form a complete work, of which the first and second have been inserted by Ideler in the second volume of his Physici et Medici Graeci Minores (1542), under the title "" (Lat. De Morborum Dignotione), and from which the Greek extracts in H. Stephens's Dictionarium Medicum (1564) are probably taken. The fifth and sixth books have also been taken for a separate work, and were published by themselves in a Latin translation by J. Ruellius (1539), with the title De Medicamentorum Compositione. An extract from this work is inserted in Jean FernelJean FernelJean François Fernel was a French physician who introduced the term "physiology" to describe the study of the body's function. He was the first person to describe the spinal canal...
's collection of writers De Febribus (1576). - (Lat. De Urinis). A treatise on urineUrineUrine is a typically sterile liquid by-product of the body that is secreted by the kidneys through a process called urination and excreted through the urethra. Cellular metabolism generates numerous by-products, many rich in nitrogen, that require elimination from the bloodstream...
in seven books. Actuarius treated of this subject fully and distinctly, and, though he goes upon the plan which Theophilus ProtospathariusTheophilus ProtospathariusTheophilus Protospatharius , the author of several Greek medical works, which are still extant, and of which it is not quite certain whether some do not belong to Philaretus and Philotheus. Every thing connected with his titles, the events of his life, and the time when he lived, is uncertain...
had marked out, yet he has added a great deal of original matter. It is the most complete and systematic work on the subject that remains from antiquity, so much so that, till the chemical improvements of the 19th century, he had left hardly anything new to be said by the moderns, many of whom transcribed it almost word for word. This work was first published in a Latin translation by Ambrose Leo (1519), and has been reprinted numerous times; the Greek original was published for the first time in the second volume of Ideler's work quoted above. Two Latin editions of his collected works are said by Choulant to have been published in the same year, 1556, one at Paris, and the other at Lyons.
Further reading
- Dambasis, I. Ioannes Actuarius. Iatrika Chronika, 19661; vol. 7: 206 (in Greek)
- Hohlweg, A. "John Actuarius' de Methodo Medendi." In: Scarborough, J, ed. Symposium on Byzantine Medicine. Dumbarton Oaks Papers, Washington, Columbia, 1984; 121-133.