Cassius Felix
Encyclopedia
Cassius Felix is a Roman
African
medical writer
probaby native of Constantina
. He is known for having written in AD 447 a Latin treatise titled De Medicina. The little we can say of the author comes from his book, that is meant to be a simple handbook for practical use in which he wants others to be able to take advantage of his experience as a physician. His work appears to draw heavily, both directly and indirectly, on Greek medical sources, as was common in the African school of medicine.
A Christian by faith, he may be the person mentioned in passing in the anonymous De miraculis Sancti Stephani, a work written between 418 and 427, where a certain Felix is referred as holding the high medical dignity of archiater
, or chief doctor of his community.
The editio princeps
of his work was first published in 1879 in a Teubner edition edited by Valentin Rose
.
The name Cassius Felix is sometimes also applied to Cassius Iatrosophista, an earlier Greek medical writer (2nd or 3rd century AD) known only as the author of 84 or 85 Quaestiones Medicae et Problemata Naturalia .
Roman Empire
The Roman Empire was the post-Republican period of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....
African
Diocese of Africa
The Diocese of Africa was a diocese of the later Roman Empire, incorporating the provinces of North Africa, except Mauretania Tingitana. Its seat was at Carthage, and it was subordinate to the Praetorian prefecture of Italy....
medical writer
Medicine in ancient Rome
Medicine in ancient Rome combined various techniques using different tools and rituals. Ancient Roman medicine included a number of specializations such as internal medicine, ophthalmology and urology...
probaby native of Constantina
Constantine, Algeria
Constantine is the capital of Constantine Province in north-eastern Algeria. It was the capital of the same-named French département until 1962. Slightly inland, it is about 80 kilometres from the Mediterranean coast, on the banks of Rhumel river...
. He is known for having written in AD 447 a Latin treatise titled De Medicina. The little we can say of the author comes from his book, that is meant to be a simple handbook for practical use in which he wants others to be able to take advantage of his experience as a physician. His work appears to draw heavily, both directly and indirectly, on Greek medical sources, as was common in the African school of medicine.
A Christian by faith, he may be the person mentioned in passing in the anonymous De miraculis Sancti Stephani, a work written between 418 and 427, where a certain Felix is referred as holding the high medical dignity of archiater
Archiater
An archiater was a chief physician of a monarch, who typically retained several. At the Roman imperial court, their chief held the high rank and specific title of Comes archiatrorum.The term has also been used of chief physicians in communities...
, or chief doctor of his community.
The editio princeps
Editio princeps
In classical scholarship, editio princeps is a term of art. It means, roughly, the first printed edition of a work that previously had existed only in manuscripts, which could be circulated only after being copied by hand....
of his work was first published in 1879 in a Teubner edition edited by Valentin Rose
Valentin Rose (classicist)
Valentin Rose was a German classicist and textual critic.-Personal life:Valentin Rose was the son of mineralogist Gustav Rose , and a nephew to famed mineralogist Heinrich Rose and to the pharmacist Wilhelm Rose , of whom he published a brief remembrance...
.
The name Cassius Felix is sometimes also applied to Cassius Iatrosophista, an earlier Greek medical writer (2nd or 3rd century AD) known only as the author of 84 or 85 Quaestiones Medicae et Problemata Naturalia .