Criton of Heraclea (, ) was a 2nd-century (c. 100 AD)

Greek Greek may refer to: 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 of all kno ...

chief physician and

procurator Procurator (with procuracy or procuratorate referring to the office itself) may refer to: * Procurator, one engaged in procuration, the action of taking care of, hence management, stewardship, agency * Procurator (Ancient Rome), the title of var ...

of Roman Emperor

Trajan Trajan ( ; born Marcus Ulpius Traianus, 18 September 53) was a Roman emperor from AD 98 to 117, remembered as the second of the Five Good Emperors of the Nerva–Antonine dynasty. He was a philanthropic ruler and a successful soldier ...

(98–117) in the campaign in

Dacia Dacia (, ; ) was the land inhabited by the Dacians, its core in Transylvania, stretching to the Danube in the south, the Black Sea in the east, and the Tisza in the west. The Carpathian Mountains were located in the middle of Dacia. It thus ro ...

. He is perhaps the Criton mentioned in

Martial Marcus Valerius Martialis (known in English as Martial ; March, between 38 and 41 AD – between 102 and 104 AD) was a Roman and Celtiberian poet born in Bilbilis, Hispania (modern Spain) best known for his twelve books of '' Epigrams'', pu ...

's ''Epigrams''. He wrote a work on ''Cosmetics'' in four books, which were very popular in

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 ...

's time and which contained almost all that had been written on the same subject by

Heraclides of Tarentum Heraclides of Tarentum (; fl. 3rd – 2nd century BC), was an Ancient Greek physician of the Empiric school who wrote commentaries on the works of Hippocrates. He came from Tarentum, was a pupil of Mantias, and probably lived in the 3rd or 2nd c ...

Cleopatra Cleopatra VII Thea Philopator (; The name Cleopatra is pronounced , or sometimes in both British and American English, see and respectively. Her name was pronounced in the Greek dialect of Egypt (see Koine Greek phonology). She was ...

, and others. The contents of each chapter of the four books have been preserved by Galen, who frequently quotes from it. Criton wrote also a work on ''Simple Medicines'' of which the fourth book is quoted by Galen; he is also quoted by Aëtius and

Paul of Aegina Paul of Aegina or Paulus Aegineta (; Aegina, ) was a 7th-century Byzantine Greek physician best known for writing the encyclopedia, medical encyclopedia ''Medical Compendium in Seven Books.'' He is considered the “Father of Early Medical Writing ...

, and may perhaps be the person to whom one of the letters of

Apollonius of Tyana Apollonius of Tyana (; ; ) was a Greek philosopher and religious leader from the town of Tyana, Cappadocia in Roman Anatolia, who spent his life travelling and teaching in the Middle East, North Africa and India. He is a central figure in Ne ...

is addressed. Criton also has a historical work, ''Getica'', now lost about the history of

Daco The Dacians (; ; ) were the ancient Indo-European inhabitants of the cultural region of Dacia, located in the area near the Carpathian Mountains and west of the Black Sea. They are often considered a subgroup of the Thracians. This area inclu ...

Getae The Getae or Getai ( or , also Getans) were a large nation who inhabited the regions to either side of the Lower Danube in what is today northern Bulgaria and southern Romania, throughout much of Classical Antiquity. The main source of informa ...

. ''Getica'' was at the basis of Trajan's own work, ''

Dacica ''Dacica'' ("Dacian atters), or ''De bello dacico'' ("On the Dacian War"), is a lost Latin work by Roman Emperor Trajan, written in the spirit of Julius Caesar's commentaries like ''Commentarii de Bello Gallico, De Bello Gallico'', and descri ...

'' (or ''De bello dacico''), about his Dacian Wars, which is also lost. He is perhaps the author of a work on ''Cookery'', mentioned by

Athenaeus Athenaeus of Naucratis (, or Nαυκράτιος, ''Athēnaios Naukratitēs'' or ''Naukratios''; ) was an ancient Greek rhetorician and Grammarian (Greco-Roman), grammarian, flourishing about the end of the 2nd and beginning of the 3rd century ...

.Athenaeus, xii. p. 516 None of his works seem to be extant, except a few fragments preserved by other authors. As Trajan's medic, Criton created a mixture consumed daily by the emperor.

Titles of works

* ''Cosmetics'', a medical treatise * ''Simple Medicines'' * ''Getica'', a work on the history of the

Notes

References

* *
On melancholy
by

Rufus of Ephesus Rufus of Ephesus (, fl. late 1st and early 2nd centuries AD) was a Greek physician and author who wrote treatises on dietetics, pathology, anatomy, gynaecology, and patient care. He was an admirer of Hippocrates, although he at times critici ...

, Peter E. Pormann * {{DEFAULTSORT:Criton Of Heraclea Greek-language historians from the Roman Empire Writers of lost works 2nd-century historians 2nd-century Roman physicians 2nd-century Greek physicians Historiography of Dacia Statilii Ancient Greek historians known only from secondary sources