Antonius () was a physician of

ancient Greece Ancient Greece () was a northeastern Mediterranean civilization, existing from the Greek Dark Ages of the 12th–9th centuries BC to the end of classical antiquity (), that comprised a loose collection of culturally and linguistically r ...

. He was mentioned by the medical writer

Galen Aelius Galenus or Claudius Galenus (; September 129 – AD), often Anglicization, anglicized as Galen () or Galen of Pergamon, was a Ancient Rome, Roman and Greeks, Greek physician, surgeon, and Philosophy, philosopher. Considered to be one o ...

, and referred to as "the herbalist" (ὁ ῥιζοτόμος). He must have lived in or before the first century (and possibly into the second century). The medical formulae of Antonius are several times quoted by Galen, and he is perhaps the same person who is called " the druggist" elsewhere (φαρμακοπώλης). Possibly they may both be identical with

Antonius Castor Antonius Castor was a pioneering botanist and pharmacologist of ancient Rome who lived in the first century. He is several times quoted and mentioned by Pliny the Elder, who considered him the greatest authority on his subjects. Life and identity ...

, but of this there is no proof whatever. A treatise on the

pulse In medicine, the pulse refers to the rhythmic pulsations (expansion and contraction) of an artery in response to the cardiac cycle (heartbeat). The pulse may be felt ( palpated) in any place that allows an artery to be compressed near the surfac ...

, which goes under Galen's name, but which is probably a spurious compilation from his other works on this subject, is addressed to a person named Antonius, who is there called "studious and philosophical" (Φιλομαθὴς καὶ Φιλόσοφος); and Galen wrote his work ''The Passions of the Soul'' (''De Propriorum Animi Cuiuslibet Affectuum Dignotione et Curatione'') in answer to a somewhat similar treatise by an

Epicurean Epicureanism is a system of philosophy founded 307 BCE based upon the teachings of Epicurus, an ancient Greek philosopher. Epicurus was an atomist and materialist, following in the steps of Democritus. His materialism led him to religious s ...

philosopher of this name, who, however, does not appear to have been a physician.

, ''Opera'', vol. v. p. 1, &c. Antonius is possibly the same man as Antonius Castor, the renowned botanist and pharmacologist mentioned

Pliny the Elder Gaius Plinius Secundus (AD 23/24 79), known in English as Pliny the Elder ( ), was a Roman Empire, Roman author, Natural history, naturalist, and naval and army commander of the early Roman Empire, and a friend of the Roman emperor, emperor Vesp ...

Notes

{{Authority control 1st-century Greek physicians Ancient Greek science writers Herbalists 2nd-century Greek physicians 2nd-century Romans Antonii