Aulus Cornelius Celsus ( 25 BC 50 AD) was a
Roman encyclopedist, known for his
extant
Extant or Least-concern species, least concern is the opposite of the word extinct. It may refer to:
* Extant hereditary titles
* Extant literature, surviving literature, such as ''Beowulf'', the oldest extant manuscript written in English
* Exta ...
medical work, ''
De Medicina'', which is believed to be the only surviving section of a much larger
encyclopedia
An encyclopedia is a reference work or compendium providing summaries of knowledge, either general or special, in a particular field or discipline. Encyclopedias are divided into article (publishing), articles or entries that are arranged Alp ...
. The ''De Medicina'' is a primary source on
diet,
pharmacy
Pharmacy is the science and practice of discovering, producing, preparing, dispensing, reviewing and monitoring medications, aiming to ensure the safe, effective, and affordable use of medication, medicines. It is a miscellaneous science as it ...
,
surgery
Surgery is a medical specialty that uses manual and instrumental techniques to diagnose or treat pathological conditions (e.g., trauma, disease, injury, malignancy), to alter bodily functions (e.g., malabsorption created by bariatric surgery s ...
and related fields, and it is one of the best sources concerning medical knowledge in the Roman world. The lost portions of his encyclopedia likely included volumes on agriculture, law,
rhetoric
Rhetoric is the art of persuasion. It is one of the three ancient arts of discourse ( trivium) along with grammar and logic/ dialectic. As an academic discipline within the humanities, rhetoric aims to study the techniques that speakers or w ...
, and military arts. He made contributions to the classification of human skin disorders in
dermatology
Dermatology is the branch of medicine dealing with the Human skin, skin.''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary.'' Random House, Inc. 2001. Page 537. . It is a speciality with both medical and surgical aspects. A List of dermatologists, ...
, such as
myrmecia, and his name is often found in medical terminology regarding the skin, e.g.,
kerion celsi and
area celsi. He is also the namesake of
Paracelsus (''lit.'' Above Celsus), a great
Swiss
Swiss most commonly refers to:
* the adjectival form of Switzerland
* Swiss people
Swiss may also refer to: Places
* Swiss, Missouri
* Swiss, North Carolina
* Swiss, West Virginia
* Swiss, Wisconsin
Other uses
* Swiss Café, an old café located ...
alchemist and physician prevalent in the
Medical Renaissance.
Life
Nothing is known about the life of Celsus. Even his
praenomen
The praenomen (; plural: praenomina) was a first name chosen by the parents of a Ancient Rome, Roman child. It was first bestowed on the ''dies lustricus'' (day of lustration), the eighth day after the birth of a girl, or the ninth day after the ...
is uncertain; he has been called both Aurelius and Aulus, with the latter being more plausible. Some incidental expressions in his ''
De Medicina'' suggest that he lived under the reigns of
Augustus
Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus (born Gaius Octavius; 23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14), also known as Octavian (), was the founder of the Roman Empire, who reigned as the first Roman emperor from 27 BC until his death in A ...
and
Tiberius
Tiberius Julius Caesar Augustus ( ; 16 November 42 BC – 16 March AD 37) was Roman emperor from AD 14 until 37. He succeeded his stepfather Augustus, the first Roman emperor. Tiberius was born in Rome in 42 BC to Roman politician Tiberius Cl ...
; which is confirmed by his reference to the Greek physician
Themison as being recently in his old age.
It is not known with any certainty where he lived. He has been identified as the possible dedicator of a gravestone in
Rome
Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...
, but it has also been supposed that he lived in
Narbonese Gaul, because he refers to a species of
vine
A vine is any plant with a growth habit of trailing or scandent (that is, climbing) stems, lianas, or runners. The word ''vine'' can also refer to such stems or runners themselves, for instance, when used in wicker work.Jackson; Benjamin; Da ...
(''marcum'') which, according to
Pliny, was native to that region.
It is doubtful whether he practised medicine himself, and although Celsus seems to describe and recommend his own medical observations sanctioned by experience,
Quintilian
Marcus Fabius Quintilianus (; 35 – 100 AD) was a Roman educator and rhetorician born in Hispania, widely referred to in medieval schools of rhetoric and in Renaissance writing. In English translation, he is usually referred to as Quin ...
says that his volumes included all sorts of literary matters, and even
agriculture
Agriculture encompasses crop and livestock production, aquaculture, and forestry for food and non-food products. Agriculture was a key factor in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created ...
and
military tactics
Military tactics encompasses the art of organizing and employing fighting forces on or near the battlefield. They involve the application of four battlefield functions which are closely related – kinetic or firepower, Mobility (military), mobil ...
.
Works
De Medicina
Of the numerous volumes of his encyclopedia published before 47 CE, only one remains intact, his celebrated treatise ''On Medicine'' (''De Medicina''). "The work's encyclopedic arrangement follows the tripartite division of medicine at the time as established by
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 ...
and
Asclepiades — diet,
pharmacology
Pharmacology is the science of drugs and medications, including a substance's origin, composition, pharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamics, therapeutic use, and toxicology. More specifically, it is the study of the interactions that occur betwee ...
, and
surgery
Surgery is a medical specialty that uses manual and instrumental techniques to diagnose or treat pathological conditions (e.g., trauma, disease, injury, malignancy), to alter bodily functions (e.g., malabsorption created by bariatric surgery s ...
." It is divided into eight books.
* Book 1 – The History of Medicine (includes references to eighty medical authors, some of whom are known only through this book
)
* Book 2 – General Pathology
* Book 3 – Specific Diseases
* Book 4 – Parts of the Body
* Book 5 and 6 – Pharmacology
* Book 7 – Surgery
* Book 8 – Orthopedics
In the "Prooemium" or introduction to ''De Medicina'' there is an early discussion of the relevance of theory to medical practice and the pros and cons of both
animal experimentation and
human experimentation. Celsus discusses, for example, the case of
Herophilos and
Erasistratos, who he asserts practised
vivisection.
In the treatment of disease, Celsus's principal method was to observe and watch over the operations of
Nature
Nature is an inherent character or constitution, particularly of the Ecosphere (planetary), ecosphere or the universe as a whole. In this general sense nature refers to the Scientific law, laws, elements and phenomenon, phenomena of the physic ...
, and to regulate rather than oppose them, conceiving that fever consisted essentially in an effort of the body to throw off some morbid cause, and that, if not unduly interfered with, the process would terminate in a state of health. On occasions, however, he boldly recommends the use of the
scalpel; his rules for
blood letting and
purgatives are laid down with detail and precision; and many of the rules he prescribes were not very different from those still in use at the beginning of the 19th century.
His work contains detailed descriptions of the symptoms and different varieties of
fever
Fever or pyrexia in humans is a symptom of an anti-infection defense mechanism that appears with Human body temperature, body temperature exceeding the normal range caused by an increase in the body's temperature Human body temperature#Fever, s ...
, and he is credited with recording the
cardinal signs of
inflammation
Inflammation (from ) is part of the biological response of body tissues to harmful stimuli, such as pathogens, damaged cells, or irritants. The five cardinal signs are heat, pain, redness, swelling, and loss of function (Latin ''calor'', '' ...
known as "Celsus tetrad of inflammation": ''calor'' (warmth), ''dolor'' (pain), ''tumor'' (swelling) and ''rubor'' (redness and
hyperaemia).
He goes into great detail regarding the preparation of numerous ancient medicinal remedies including the preparation of
opioids. In addition, he describes many 1st century Roman surgical procedures which included removal of a
cataract
A cataract is a cloudy area in the lens (anatomy), lens of the eye that leads to a visual impairment, decrease in vision of the eye. Cataracts often develop slowly and can affect one or both eyes. Symptoms may include faded colours, blurry or ...
, treatment for
bladder stones, and the setting of
fractures
Fracture is the appearance of a crack or complete separation of an object or material into two or more pieces under the action of stress (mechanics), stress. The fracture of a solid usually occurs due to the development of certain displacemen ...
.
Celsus wrote on the anatomy of the
eye and was the first to call one of its layers the
choroid.
[Dolz-Marco, R., Gallego-Pinazo, R., Dansingani, K. K., & Yannuzzi, L. A. (2017). The history of the choroid. In J. Chhablani & J. Ruiz-Medrano (Eds.), Choroidal Disorders (Vol. 1–5, pp. 1-5). Academic Press. https://doi.org/0.1016/b978-0-12-805313-3.00001-6] During the twentieth century, many historians claimed that Celsus believed that the crystalline lens is in the exact center of the eye. In fact, Celsus made no specific statement about the position of the crystalline lens, and his Graeco-Roman contemporaries did understand that the lens is located to the front.
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 ...
used the Greek word καρκίνος, ''karkínos'' 'crab, crayfish' to refer to malignant tumors as carcinomas. It was Celsus who translated the Greek term into the Latin cancer, also meaning 'crab'.
The first printed edition of Celsus' work was published in 1478. His style has been much admired as being equal in purity and elegance to that of the best writers of the Augustan age.
Some online editions
* ''In hoc volvmine haec continentvr Avrelii Cornelii Celsi medicinae libri VIII : qvam emendatissimi, Graecis etiam omnibvs dictionibvs restitvtis''. Beigefügte Werke: ''Qvinti Sereni Liber de medicina et ipse castigatiss. Accedit index in Celsvm et Serenvm sane qvam copiosvs ...'', ed.
Ioannes Baptista Egnatius. Venetiis : in aedibvs Aldi et Andreae Asvlani soceri, 1528
Digital editionof the
University and State Library Düsseldorf.
* ''Aurelii Cornelij Celsi de arte Medica libri octo : multis in Locis iam emendatiores longè, quàm unquam antea, editi'' . Beigefügte Werke: ''Accessit quoque Rerum & Verborum in hisce omnibus memorabilium locupletissimus Index'' . Basileae : Oporinus, 155
Digital editionof the
University and State Library Düsseldorf.
* ''Aur. Corn. Celsi De medicina : libri octo ; cum notis integris Joannis Caesarii, Roberti Constantini, Josehi Scaligeri, Isaaci Casauboni, Joannis Baptistae Morgagni, Ac locis parallelis.'' Lugduni Batavorum : Joh. Arn. Langerak, 1746
Digital editionof the
University and State Library Düsseldorf.
On agriculture
Also, Celsus wrote a technical work on agriculture, on which
Columella partly based his ''
De Re Rustica.''
References
External links
*
De Medicina at LacusCurtius(Latin original and English translation)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Celsus Aulus Cornelius
Silver Age Latin writers
Ancient Roman writers
1st-century Roman physicians
Cornelii
Ancient Roman encyclopedists
1st-century writers in Latin
20s BC births
50s deaths
Ancient surgeons
Year of birth uncertain
Year of death uncertain