Vindicianus

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Vindicianus was a Roman physician and writer who wrote medical texts in the late 4th century AD. He was of African descent, well known to the church father Augustine , teacher of Theodorus Priscianus and also completed a political career, which he ended with his proconsulate in Africa .

Possible life testimonies

Various traces and personal testimonies show that Vindicianus was an important man in the late Roman Empire.
In Terracina and in Naples an inscription for the v (ir) c (larissimus) cons (ularis) camp (aniae) Avianius Vindicianus has come down to us.
Augustine of Hippo describes him as a great doctor. Augustine met him during his tenure as proconsul in Carthage . In a sensitive conversation the old man had dissuaded him from studying astrology . Vindicianus himself emphasizes his high rank. In his letter of recommendation to Valentinian II , he not only describes himself as the emperor's personal physician, but also emphasizes his honorary title comes . In the letter to his nephew Pentadius he proves his great medical knowledge and also his knowledge of Greek: he can translate the text of Hippocrates of Kos for his nephew Latinare = into Latin. Nevertheless, he was soon forgotten and only fragments of his work have survived.

plant

Epistula Vindiciani comitis archiatrorum ad Valentinianum imperatorem

Marcellus Empiricus has included the letter of Vindicianus to the Roman emperor Valentinian II in the collection of letters which he prefixed his work De medicamentis . The letter not only proves the high position that Vindicianus occupies, but also gives an insight into his work as a doctor. He puts two sick patients at the center of his remarks (from the recipe book De expertis remediis , of which Marcellus only has the introduction). In the first case, it is a serious gastrointestinal disorder caused by excess food or too many different wines . Among other Vindicianus applies the treatment agent of the methodologists to: baths, ointments, dietary requirements.

Epistula Vindiciani ad Pentadium

Another letter has been preserved in 2 manuscripts, including the Paris Codex 11218 around the year 800. In this relatively short letter, Vindicianus conveys to his nephew Pentadius some of the basic principles of Hippocrates' teaching on the four fluids that make up the human body. Most of the statements come from the work Über die Natur des Menschen (Nat. Hom.), But he also draws on other books of the Corpus Hippocraticum , and of course Hippocrates' statements on humoral pathology are in no way exhausted. The
key message is: corpus igitur hominis… have in se sanguinem choleram rubeam choleram nigram et flegma
So the human body has blood, red bile, black bile and phlegm.
This corresponds to:
The human body contains blood, phlegm, yellow and black bile
The four juices are assigned body organs, elementary qualities (dry, damp, cold, warm), seasons, ages, even times of day. Vindicianus invokes Hippocrates. However, the doctrine presented has been taken up and changed over the centuries by many scholars, from whom Vindicianus may also have excerpted. In particular, the taste qualities that are assigned to the juices - such as the blood "sweet" - and the division of mental / spiritual properties - e.g. B. iracundus = irascible for "black bile", moderatus = prudent for blood - can be found in Galenos .

Expositio de natura hominis , Vindiciani gynaecia

Under different titles, excerpts from a descriptive-anatomical and embryological work by Vindicianus have been found in various manuscripts, including the already mentioned Paris Codex 11218.
The text offers a representation of the human body from head to stomach / intestinal area with a focus on pregnancy . The autopsy that the anatomists were able to perform in Alexandria is no longer permitted (Chapter 2). Right and wrong ideas mix. In describing the heart (Chapter 11), for example, of its 4 large venae, 2 connected to the lungs are thought to be filled with air and 2 connected to the liver as filled with blood. From chap. 15 ideas about conception and growth of the embryo are compiled, including (Chapter 21) how the sex of the child-to-be can be determined. Following the widespread belief in ancient times that male is connected to right and female to left, it is assumed that in a male embryo, the mother's right breast becomes stronger.

Vindiciani epitome altera and other texts

Another expositio natura hominis is in 3 manuscripts, including the Vat. Pal. Passed down from the 9th century in 1088. It is an anatomy of the human body starting with the head with the beginning of a pathology . There is an overlap with the previous writing, but the topics are deepened.
Max Wellmann has a manuscript from Cod. Bruxell. Published 1348-1359, where he commented extensively and established the authorship of Vindicianus. There are different texts about the formation of seeds and the growth of the embryo , anatomical considerations and parts of an etiology that were drawn from various sources, mainly from Soranos and Diocles of Karystos .

The language

The language of the fragments is very different. The two letters are characterized by correct Latin, sentence rhythm and color description. The other texts, on the other hand, slide into Vulgar Latin, which is why Vindicianus also doubts their origin. Possibly new colloquial words appear, such as
Dentes vero nostri sunt XXXII, femineum et duribarbium aliquorum XXX
We have 32 teeth, women and (hard beards? Hard beards, i.e. young people?) Have XXX
The form femineum for women does not correspond to classical Latin either .

Text output

  • Marcellus: Über Heilmittel , edited by Max Niedermann , second edition provided by Eduard Liechtenhan , translated by Jutta Kollesch and Diethard Nickel , Berlin 1968
  • Vindicianus: Epistula Vindiciani ad Pentadium , in: Theodori Prisciani Euphoriston , published by Valentin Rose , Munich 1894
  • Vindicianus: Vindiciani epitome altera , in: Theodori Prisciani Euphoriston , published by Valentin Rose, Munich 1894
  • Vindicianus: Vindiciani fragmentum ex cod. Bruxell. 1348-1359 , in: Fragments Collection of the Greek Doctors , edited by Max Wellmann Volume I, Berlin 1901
  • Vindicianus: Vindiciani gynaecia , in: Theodori Prisciani Euphoriston , published by Valentin Rose, Munich 1894

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ CIL 10, 1683 and CIL 10, 6313 .
  2. ^ Augustine of Hippo: ep. 138, 3.
  3. Jump up ↑ Augustine: Confessiones IV, 3, 5 and VII, 6, 8.
  4. ^ Karl Deichgräber: Vindicianus 2. In: Paulys Realencyclopädie der classischen Altertumswwissenschaft (RE). Volume IX A, 1, Stuttgart 1961, Col. 29-31 ..
  5. ↑ Wolfgang Wegner: Vincicianus. 2005, p. 1444.
  6. ↑ Josef Schipper: A new text of the Gynaecia des Vindician , p. 9.
  7. ↑ CD Nat. Hom. Cape. 4 (VI 38, 40).
  8. ↑ Erich Schöner: The four-way scheme in ancient humoral pathology , p. 88.
  9. ↑ Josef Schipper: A new text of the Gynaecia des Vindician , p. 10.
  10. ↑ Valentin Rose: Theodori Prisciani Euphoriston , p. 467.
  11. ↑ Max Wellmann: The fragments of the Sicelian doctors Akron, Philiston , pp. 7, 8.
  12. ↑ Alf Önnerfors: The medical Latin from Celsus to Cassius Felix , pp. 282, 283.
  13. ↑ Alf Önnerfors: The medical Latin from Celsus to Cassius Felix , p. 282.
  14. ^ Vindicianus: Vindiciani epitome altera , VIIII.
personal data
SURNAME Vindicianus
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Roman doctor and writer
DATE OF BIRTH 4th century
DATE OF DEATH 4th century or 5th century