Aulus Cornelius Celsus
Aulus Cornelius Celsus | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | c.25 BC |
| Died | c.50 AD (aged roughly 75) |
| Occupation | Encyclopaedist |
Aulus Cornelius Celsus(c.25 BC –c.50 AD) was aRomanencyclopaedist, known for hisextantmedical work,De Medicina,which is believed to be the only surviving section of a much largerencyclopedia.TheDe Medicinais a primary source ondiet,pharmacy,surgeryand 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,and military arts. He made contributions to the classification of human skin disorders indermatology,such asmyrmecia,and his name is often found in medical terminology regarding the skin, e.g.,kerion celsiandarea celsi.[1]He is also the namesake ofParacelsus(lit.Above Celsus), a greatSwissalchemist and physician prevalent in theMedical Renaissance.
Life
[edit]Nothing is known about the life of Celsus. Even hispraenomenis uncertain; he has been called both Aurelius and Aulus, with the latter being more plausible.[2]Some incidental expressions in hisDe Medicinasuggest that he lived under the reigns ofAugustusandTiberius;which is confirmed by his reference to the Greek physicianThemisonas being recently in his old age.[3]
It is not known with any certainty where he lived. He has been identified as the possible dedicator of a gravestone inRome,but it has also been supposed that he lived inNarbonese Gaul,because he refers to a species ofvine(marcum) which, according toPliny,[4]was native to that region.[5]
It is doubtful whether he practised medicine himself, and although Celsus seems to describe and recommend his own medical observations sanctioned by experience,Quintiliansays that his volumes included all sorts of literary matters, and evenagricultureandmilitary tactics.[6]
Works
[edit]De Medicina
[edit]
Of the numerous volumes of his encyclopedia published before 47 CE, only one remains intact, his celebrated treatiseOn Medicine(De Medicina). "The work's encyclopedic arrangement follows the tripartite division of medicine at the time as established byHippocratesandAsclepiades— diet,pharmacology,andsurgery."[7]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[8])
- 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 toDe Medicinathere is an early discussion of the relevance of theory to medical practice and the pros and cons of bothanimal experimentationandhuman experimentation.Celsus discusses, for example, the case ofHerophilosandErasistratos,who he asserts practisedvivisection.[9]
In the treatment of disease, Celsus's principal method was to observe and watch over the operations ofNature,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 thescalpel;his rules forblood lettingandpurgativesare laid down with detail and precision;[10]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 offever,[11]and he is credited with recording thecardinal signsofinflammationknown as "Celsus tetrad of inflammation":calor(warmth),dolor(pain),tumor(swelling) andrubor(redness andhyperaemia).
He goes into great detail regarding the preparation of numerous ancient medicinal remedies including the preparation ofopioids.In addition, he describes many 1st century Roman surgical procedures which included removal of acataract,treatment forbladder stones,and the setting offractures.
Celsus wrote on the anatomy of theeyeand was the first to call one of its layers thechoroid.[12]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.[13]
Hippocratesused the Greek word καρκίνος,karkínos'crab, crayfish' to refer to malignant tumors as carcinomas. It was Celsus who translated the Greek term into the Latincancer,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
[edit]- 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 theUniversity 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, 1552Digital editionof theUniversity 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 theUniversity and State Library Düsseldorf.
On agriculture
[edit]Also, Celsus wrote a technical work on agriculture, on whichColumellapartly based hisDe Re Rustica.
References
[edit]- ^Rosenthal T (1961). "Aulus Cornelius Celsus - his contributions to Dermatology".Arch Dermatol.84(4): 613–618.doi:10.1001/archderm.1961.01580160077013.
- ^"Traditionally he is called Aurelius, but Aurelius is a clan name, not a praenomen; hence Aulus, a common first name among the Cornelii, has been suggested and has manuscript support." -The McGraw-Hill encyclopedia of world biography,(1973), page 448.
- ^Celsus,De Medicina,praef.; iii. 4
- ^Pliny,Hist. Nat.xiv. 32
- ^"He has been identified with the dedicator of a gravestone from Rome. On the other hand, the rare name Cornelius Celsus occurs on a few inscriptions from Tarraco and Narbo.... In the part of his work on agriculture, Celsus mentioned (Col. 3. 2. 25) a species of vine (marcum) which, according to Pliny (Nat. 14. 32), is native to Narbonese Gaul. "- D. R. Langslow, (2000),Medical Latin in the Roman Empire,page 43. Oxford University Press
- ^Quintilian, xii. 11
- ^"On Medicine - De medicina".World Digital Library.Retrieved2014-03-01.
- ^Magill, Frank Northen; Aves, Alison (1998).Dictionary of World Biography.Taylor & Francis.ISBN9781579580407.Retrieved25 August2013.
- ^Preface, 23-6.
- ^Celsus,De Medicina,ii. 10, etc.
- ^Celsus,De Medicina,iii. 3, etc.
- ^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
- ^Leffler CT, Hadi TM, Udupa A, Schwartz SG, Schwartz D (2016)."A medieval fallacy: the crystalline lens in the center of the eye".Clinical Ophthalmology.2016(10): 649–662.doi:10.2147/OPTH.S100708.PMC4833360.PMID27114699.
External links
[edit]
- Works by Aulus Cornelius CelsusatOpen Library
- De Medicina at LacusCurtius(Latin original and English translation)
