Oribasius or Oreibasius ( el, Ὀρειβάσιος; c. 320 – 403) was a

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

medical writer and the

personal physician Concierge medicine, also known as retainer medicine, is a relationship between a patient and a primary care physician in which the patient pays an annual fee or retainer. This may or may not be in addition to other charges. In exchange for the reta ...

of the Roman emperor Julian. He studied at

Alexandria Alexandria ( or ; ar, ٱلْإِسْكَنْدَرِيَّةُ ; grc-gre, Αλεξάνδρεια, Alexándria) is the second largest city in Egypt, and the largest city on the Mediterranean coast. Founded in by Alexander the Great, Alexandri ...

under physician Zeno of Cyprus before joining Julian's retinue. He was involved in Julian's coronation in 361, and remained with the emperor until Julian's death in 363. In the wake of this event, Oribasius was banished to foreign courts for a time, but was later recalled by the emperor

Valens Valens ( grc-gre, Ουάλης, Ouálēs; 328 – 9 August 378) was Roman emperor from 364 to 378. Following a largely unremarkable military career, he was named co-emperor by his elder brother Valentinian I, who gave him the eastern half of ...

Works

Oribasius's major works, written at the behest of Julian, are two collections of excerpts from the writings of earlier medical scholars, a collection of excerpts from

Galen Aelius Galenus or Claudius Galenus ( el, Κλαύδιος Γαληνός; September 129 – c. AD 216), often Anglicized as Galen () or Galen of Pergamon, was a Greek physician, surgeon and philosopher in the Roman Empire. Considered to be o ...

and the ''Medical Collections'' (Ἰατρικαὶ Συναγωγαί, ''Iatrikai Synagogai'';

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through ...

: ''Collectiones medicae''), a massive compilation of excerpts from other medical writers of the ancient world. The first of these works is entirely lost, and only 25 of the 70 (or 72) books of the ''Collectiones'' survive. This work preserves a number of excerpts from older writers whose writings have otherwise been lost, and has thus been valuable to modern scholars. The earliest known description of a

string figure A string figure is a design formed by manipulating string on, around, and using one's fingers or sometimes between the fingers of multiple people. String figures may also involve the use of the mouth, wrist, and feet. They may consist of si ...

, presented as the surgical sling ''Plinthios Brokhos'' by Greek physician

Heraklas Heraklas ( grc-gre, Ἡρακλᾶς) was a Greek physician of the 1st century AD whose descriptions of surgeons' knots and slings are preserved in book 48 of Oribasius' ''Medical Collections'' (Ἰατρικαὶ Συναγωγαί, ''Iatrikai ...

, is among the preserved material. Hagiography has it that in 362, on behalf of his emperor Julian, Oribasius visited the

Delphi Delphi (; ), in legend previously called Pytho (Πυθώ), in ancient times was a sacred precinct that served as the seat of Pythia, the major oracle who was consulted about important decisions throughout the ancient classical world. The orac ...

oracle An oracle is a person or agency considered to provide wise and insightful counsel or prophetic predictions, most notably including precognition of the future, inspired by deities. As such, it is a form of divination. Description The word ...

, now in a rather desolate state, offering his emperor's services to the temple and, in return, receiving one of the last prophecies by the Delphic

Pythia Pythia (; grc, Πυθία ) was the name of the high priestess of the Temple of Apollo at Delphi. She specifically served as its oracle and was known as the Oracle of Delphi. Her title was also historically glossed in English as the Pythoness ...

Tell the king, the splendid hall fell to the ground.

Phoebus Apollo, grc, Ἀπόλλωνος, Apóllōnos, label=genitive , ; , grc-dor, Ἀπέλλων, Apéllōn, ; grc, Ἀπείλων, Apeílōn, label=Arcadocypriot Greek, ; grc-aeo, Ἄπλουν, Áploun, la, Apollō, la, Apollinis, label= ...
no longer has his house, nor the prophesying laurel,
nor the speaking well. The speaking water has dried out.
— ''Passio Artemii'' 96.1284.45–7, ''Cedrenus'' 1.532.8–10)

Notes

References

*Browning, Robert and Nutton, Vivian, ''"Oribasius"'', from ''The Oxford Classical Dictionary'', Simon Hornblower and Antony Spawforth, ed. (Oxford University Press, 2003) *Grant, Mark (author and translator) and Oribasius, ''Dieting for an Emperor: A Translation of Books 1 and 4 of Oribasius’ „Medical Compilations“''. Brill Academic Publishers, Leiden – New York – Cologne 1997; *Haars, Maximilian (author and translator), ''Die allgemeinen Wirkungspotenziale der einfachen Arzneimittel bei Galen. Oreibasios, Collectiones medicae XV. Einleitung, Übersetzung und pharmazeutischer Kommentar''. Wissenschaftliche Verlagsgesellschaft, Stuttgart 2018; *Musgrove, Caroline Joanne. Oribasius’ Woman: Medicine, Christianity and Society in Late Antiquity. Doctoral thesis, University of Cambridge, 2017. *Oribasius: Collectionum Medicarum Reliquiae, I. Libri I-VIII; II; IX-XVI. By J. Raeder (Corpus Medicorum Graecorum VI.1.1–2) Leipzig & Berlin, Teubner 1928–9.
online
*Thompson, E.A. "The Last Delphic Oracle." CQ 40.1 (1946): 35–6. {{Authority control 4th-century Romans 4th-century Greek physicians 320 births 403 deaths Julian (emperor) 4th-century writers