Sergios of Resaina

Sergios von Resaina (also Sergius or Sarğīs ; died 536 in Constantinople ) was a late antique philosopher, physician and translator.

The exact origin of Sergios is not known because the sources are not clear. What is certain is that he worked as a doctor in Resaina- Theodosiopolis (today Raʾs al-ʿAin in Syria) in the Eastern Roman Empire . He must have studied in Alexandria , Egypt and was considered an expert on the Syrian language and medicine, and he apparently mastered Greek. In 535 he traveled to Antioch to lodge a complaint against Bishop Asylus (often inaccurately referred to as Ascolius ) of Resaina with the Patriarch Ephraim; the background is not entirely clear, but it should not have been religious. Soon afterwards he set off for Rome on behalf of the Patriarch and from there accompanied Pope Agapitus I to the Eastern Roman capital Constantinople , where both died in 536.

Sergios wrote numerous philosophical, medical and even Christian theological treatises. He also translated (mainly philosophical) works into Syrian, with which he achieved great merit as a mediator of ancient knowledge, as parts of these writings were preserved for posterity through the cultural transfer into Arabic. These works included treatises on Galen and Alexander of Aphrodisias , among others . His (preserved) commentary on the categories of Aristotle , whom he particularly valued as a philosopher, is famous. As the first Syrian commentator on Aristotle, he had a decisive influence on the history of knowledge of the late antiquity and early medieval Middle East.

Editions / translations

Sami Aydin (Ed.): Sergius of Reshaina. Introduction to Aristotle and his "Categories", Addressed to Philotheos. Brill, Leiden / Boston 2016 (= Aristoteles Semitico-Latinus. Volume 24). [Text, English translation and commentary with detailed introduction]

literature

The Oxford Dictionary of Late Antiquity . Volume 2. Oxford 2018, pp. 1361 f.
Daniel King: Alexander of Aphrodisias' "On the Principles of the Universe" in a Syriac Adaptation. In: Le Muséon. Revue d'études orientales 123, 2010, pp. 159–191.

Remarks

↑ For his biography, see Sami Aydin (ed.): Sergius of Reshaina. Introduction to Aristotle and his Categories, Addressed to Philotheos. Leiden / Boston 2016, p. 3 ff.
^ The Oxford Dictionary of Late Antiquity . Volume 2. Oxford 2018, p. 1361.
↑ Sami Aydin (ed.): Sergius of Reshaina. Introduction to Aristotle and his Categories, Addressed to Philotheos. Leiden / Boston 2016, p. 6 f.
↑ Overview in Sami Aydin (ed.): Sergius of Reshaina. Introduction to Aristotle and his Categories, Addressed to Philotheos. Leiden / Boston 2016, p. 10 ff.
↑ On his Aristotle commentary, see Sami Aydin (ed.): Sergius of Reshaina. Introduction to Aristotle and his Categories, Addressed to Philotheos. Leiden / Boston 2016, p. 51 ff.

personal data
SURNAME	Sergios of Resaina
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Sergius of Resaina; Sarğīs from Resaina
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	late antique philosopher, physician and translator
DATE OF BIRTH	5th century or 6th century
DATE OF DEATH	536
Place of death	Constantinople

[1] For his biography, see Sami Aydin (ed.): Sergius of Reshaina. Introduction to Aristotle and his Categories, Addressed to Philotheos. Leiden / Boston 2016, p. 3 ff.

[2] The Oxford Dictionary of Late Antiquity . Volume 2. Oxford 2018, p. 1361.

[3] Sami Aydin (ed.): Sergius of Reshaina. Introduction to Aristotle and his Categories, Addressed to Philotheos. Leiden / Boston 2016, p. 6 f.

[4] Overview in Sami Aydin (ed.): Sergius of Reshaina. Introduction to Aristotle and his Categories, Addressed to Philotheos. Leiden / Boston 2016, p. 10 ff.

[5] On his Aristotle commentary, see Sami Aydin (ed.): Sergius of Reshaina. Introduction to Aristotle and his Categories, Addressed to Philotheos. Leiden / Boston 2016, p. 51 ff.