Marseille-Jardin des Vestiges-bjs180810-04

Crinas (Crinias) of Marseilles was a 1st-century physician from

Massilia Massalia (Greek: Μασσαλία; Latin: Massilia; modern Marseille) was an ancient Greek colony founded ca. 600 BC on the Mediterranean coast of present-day France, east of the river Rhône, by Ionian Greek settlers from Phocaea, in Western A ...

(

Marseilles Marseille ( , , ; also spelled in English as Marseilles; oc, Marselha ) is the prefecture of the French department of Bouches-du-Rhône and capital of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Situated in the camargue region of southern Fra ...

), contemporary of the

Emperor Nero Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus ( ; born Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus; 15 December AD 37 – 9 June AD 68), was the fifth Roman emperor and final emperor of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, reigning from AD 54 unt ...

. He practiced medicine in Massilia, having mathematical and astrological knowledge. What we know about him comes from a few lines of

Pliny the Elder Gaius Plinius Secundus (AD 23/2479), called Pliny the Elder (), was a Roman author, naturalist and natural philosopher, and naval and army commander of the early Roman Empire, and a friend of the emperor Vespasian. He wrote the encyclopedic ...

in his '' Natural History'', book XXIX, 5 (9). Having heard of

Thessalus of Tralles Thessalus of Tralles (fl. circa 70–95 AD) was a famous Roman physician and early adherent to the Methodic school of medicine. He lived in Rome,Pliny, ''H. N.'' xxix. 5 where he was the court physician of Emperor Nero. It was here that he died an ...

, who made a great reputation for himself in Rome by practicing the same kind of medicine as himself, Crinas left his hometown to establish himself in Rome to compete with him. Very quickly, by his superior astrology, he diminished the credit of Thessalos by taking away half of his clients. He consulted the stars before prescribing diet and meal times for his patients, according to mathematical tables, which made him pass as more prudent, more learned and more religious than other physicians. He became so rich that he paid for the fortifications of several cities during his lifetime, and when he died left ten million

sesterces The ''sestertius'' (plural ''sestertii''), or sesterce (plural sesterces), was an ancient Roman coin. During the Roman Republic it was a small, silver coin issued only on rare occasions. During the Roman Empire it was a large brass coin. The na ...

to Marseilles for its fortifications. His name is thus associated with the Hellenistic rampart of Marseilles (the " Wall of Crinas"), discovered in 1913 near the Bourse, which was believed to have been built thanks to his donations. In fact the enclosure in pink limestone blocks was rebuilt in the middle of the 2nd century BC and Crinas seems to have only helped in its restoration. A street in the 7th arrondissement of Marseille bears his name.

References

1st-century Roman physicians 1st-century Greek physicians Ancient Massaliotes {{Ancient Roman medicine