Themison of Laodikeia

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Themison of Laodikeia (* 2nd or 1st century BC in Laodikea ) was a Syrian- Hellenic doctor, medicine writer and pioneer of the methodological school .

Life

Themison worked in Italy for a long time and lived in the city of Rome . There he was a student of the Greek doctor Asklepiades of Bithynia . From some of the teachings of his instructor, whose therapeutic pillars were bath, exercise therapy and the administration of wine, he distanced himself in old age, although it is not known which ones.

Since Themison was of the opinion that all problems of the body resulted from obvious states of the body ("communities"), he turned against the investigation of hidden causes of illness. In his opinion, the current, apparent condition of a patient pointed directly to the respective “community”. He rejected further research into the causes as a waste of time and as superfluous.

Themison developed a disease theory based on a disruption of the body pores. He distinguished between three states, which are based on the size of the particles and the cannula through which they flow:

  • status strictus ("contracted") - state of tension that prevents the excretion of the juices, which leads to hyposecretion.
  • status laxus ("liquid") - flaccid state that leads to increased secretion of body fluids. (Hypersecretion).
  • status mixtus ("mixed") - a mixed state of both statuses.

He was the first to subdivide diseases into acute (mostly caused by the status strictus ) and chronic diseases (mostly caused by the status laxus ). In his therapies, he varied days on which people fasted with days on which food was consumed.

Themison is also considered to be the founder of the methodological school , to which Aulus Cornelius Celsus , Tullius Bassus (or Iulius Bassus), Scribonius Largus , Soranos of Ephesus and others are counted. His pupil Antonius Musa further developed the teachings of his master, another pupil, Thessalus von Tralleis , modified them.

literature

  • Theodor Meyer-Steineg, Karl Sudhoff: Illustrated history of medicine . 5th edition, Voltmedia, Paderborn 2006, ISBN 3-938478-56-X , pp. 71-72.
  • Ferdinand Peter Moog: The fragments of Themison from Laodikeia. Medical dissertation, Giessen 1995 (text, translation and commentary).
  • Ferdinand Peter Moog: Themison of Laodikea. In: Werner E. Gerabek , Bernhard D. Haage, Gundolf Keil , Wolfgang Wegner (eds.): Enzyklopädie Medizingeschichte. De Gruyter, Berlin / New York 2005, ISBN 3-11-015714-4 , p. 1384 f.
  • Vivian Nutton: Themison from Laodikeia . In: The New Pauly . Vol. 12/1 (2002), Col. 302f.

Web links

References and comments

  1. ↑ Celsus , De medicina praef. 12.
  2. ^ Caelius Aurelianus , De morbis chronicis , praef. 3.
  3. ↑ Caelius Aurelianus: De morbis acutis , 1,16,155.
personal data
SURNAME Themison of Laodikeia
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Greek medic in Rome
DATE OF BIRTH 2nd century BC Chr.
DATE OF DEATH 1st century BC Chr.