Apollonios of

Kition Kition (Ancient Greek: , ; Latin: ; Egyptian: ; Phoenician: , , or , ;) was an ancient Phoenician and Greek city-kingdom on the southern coast of Cyprus (in present-day Larnaca), one of the Ten city-kingdoms of Cyprus. Name The name of the ...

(or Apollonius of Citium; ), was a physician (fl. c. 60 BC) belonging to the

Empiric school The Empiric school of medicine (''Empirics'', ''Empiricists'', or ''Empirici'', ) was a school of medicine founded in Alexandria the middle of the third century BC.Heinrich von Staden, ''Herophilus: The Art of Medicine in Early Alexandria: Edition, ...

of thought. He studied medicine in

Alexandria Alexandria ( ; ) is the List of cities and towns in Egypt#Largest cities, second largest city in Egypt and the List of coastal settlements of the Mediterranean Sea, largest city on the Mediterranean coast. It lies at the western edge of the Nile ...

under the surgeon

Zopyrus Zopyrus (; ) (died 484/3 BC) was a Persian nobleman mentioned in Herodotus' '' Histories''. He was son of Megabyzus I, who helped Darius I in his ascension. According to Herodotus, when Babylon revolted against the rule of Darius I, Zopyrus ...

, but he lived in Kition (now

Larnaca Larnaca, also spelled Larnaka, is a city on the southeast coast of Cyprus and the capital of the Larnaca District, district of the same name. With a district population of 155.000 in 2021, it is the third largest city in the country after Nicosi ...

). Another theory is that he studied medicine in Kition although it is not clear whether a medical school existed at the time. It has been suggested by some scholars that this physician is the same person as Asclepiades Titiensis. Apollonios of Kition from book Peri Arthron

Apollonios of Kition from book Peri Arthron

Background

The fame of Apollonios was spread all over the ancient Greek world, and he was considered to be the most important of all Cypriot physicians. The medical opinions of Apollonios were considered valid and authentic according to

Erotianus Erotianus (, also Herodianus, ; 1st century AD) was the author of an extant Greek work titled ''Collection of Hippocratic words'' (). It is uncertain whether he was himself a physician or merely a grammarian, but he appears to have written (or at l ...

. Important personalities such as

Strabo Strabo''Strabo'' (meaning "squinty", as in strabismus) was a term employed by the Romans for anyone whose eyes were distorted or deformed. The father of Pompey was called "Gnaeus Pompeius Strabo, Pompeius Strabo". A native of Sicily so clear-si ...

Cicero Marcus Tullius Cicero ( ; ; 3 January 106 BC – 7 December 43 BC) was a Roman statesman, lawyer, scholar, philosopher, orator, writer and Academic skeptic, who tried to uphold optimate principles during the political crises tha ...

and

Pedanius Dioscorides Pedanius Dioscorides (, ; 40–90 AD), "the father of pharmacognosy", was a Greek physician, pharmacologist, botanist, and author of (in the original , , both meaning "On Medical Material") , a 5-volume Greek encyclopedic pharmacopeia on he ...

have also written positive comments on Apollonios. Although primarily a physician, Apollonios had an interest in surgery and trauma. Apollonios of Kition from Peri Arthron - dislocation

Apollonios of Kition from Peri Arthron - dislocation

Books

Apollonios wrote several books on medicine but his most important (and the one that survived) is ''Peri Arthron'' (''On Joints'', ) which is a study of the teachings of

Hippocrates Hippocrates of Kos (; ; ), also known as Hippocrates II, was a Greek physician and philosopher of the Classical Greece, classical period who is considered one of the most outstanding figures in the history of medicine. He is traditionally referr ...

on the subject. This book was written in

Cyprus Cyprus (), officially the Republic of Cyprus, is an island country in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Situated in West Asia, its cultural identity and geopolitical orientation are overwhelmingly Southeast European. Cyprus is the List of isl ...

. A copy of this work was found in the library of the

Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived the events that caused the fall of the Western Roman E ...

doctor Nikitas, and it is now kept in

Florence Florence ( ; ) is the capital city of the Italy, Italian region of Tuscany. It is also the most populated city in Tuscany, with 362,353 inhabitants, and 989,460 in Metropolitan City of Florence, its metropolitan province as of 2025. Florence ...

. The book was written under the patronage of the king Ptolemaius (

Ptolemy of Cyprus Ptolemy of Cyprus was the king of Cyprus c. 80-58 BC. He was the younger brother of Ptolemy XII Auletes, king of Egypt, and, like him, a son of Ptolemy IX Lathyros. He was also the uncle of Cleopatra VII. Reign over Cyprus He appears to have been ...

) c. 81-58 BC. It is divided into three sections written at different times. The first part discusses the dislocations of the shoulder; the second discusses those of the elbow, wrist, jaw and spine, whereas the third and final part discusses the dislocations of the lower limbs. The book includes 30 hand-painted pictures, believed to be copies made from the original book written by Hippocrates himself. It is believed that he wrote a book on epilepsy (''On Epileptics'').Gaelii Aureliani ''Chron. Libr'' 1.4, Meurs This has not survived.

Herodian Herodian or Herodianus () of Syria, sometimes referred to as "Herodian of Antioch" (c. 170 – c. 240), was a minor Roman civil servant who wrote a colourful history in Greek titled ''History of the Empire from the Death of Marcus'' (τῆς με ...

mentions that Apollonios wrote (or co-authored) a total of 21 books. Some of these were studies on the adverse effects of alcohol, elaborating on the type of voice produced during drunkenness. One of the books was on general therapy (''curationes'').

Modern legacy

Many modern students of Ancient Greek and Cypriot medical history have written about Apollonios.

Municipality has given his name to a street, and more recently, has dedicated a statue in a main square of the town. The hand-painted drawings of Apollonios from his books on joints have been exhibited in a variety of medical and historical exhibitions. The

Laurentian Library The Laurentian Library (Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana or BML) is a historic library in Florence, Italy, containing more than 11,000 manuscripts and 4,500 early printed books. Built in a cloister of the Medicean Basilica di San Lorenzo di Firenze u ...

where the original manuscript is housed has agreed to allow the removal of the manuscript for the purposes of exhibition, only on very rare occasions. In May 2013 the Kyriazis Medical Museum in Larnaca organised a major event celebrating the 2000 years since Apollonios' death.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Apollonios Of Kition 1st-century BC Greek physicians Ancient Cypriots Cypriot writers People from Larnaca Greek medical writers