Dioscorides’ De materia medica
The Greek physician Pedanius Dioscorides of Anazarbus described some 600 plants and about 1,000 medicines made from them in five books; De materia medica remained the chief reference work on pharmacology in Europe and the Middle East for more than 1,500 years.
- Date
- between 50 and 70exact date unknown: an interval is given
- Place
- Anazarbusapproximate locationtoday: Anavarza, near Dilekkaya, Adana Province, Turkey · Balkans and Anatolia
- Participants
- Pedanius Dioscorides
- Threads
- Europe in the Roman age (1st–5th c.)
- Also known as
- De Materia Medica; Peri hyles iatrikes; On Medical Material; Материя медика
Dioscorides came from Anazarbus in Cilicia and probably studied medicine at nearby Tarsus, where the physician Laecanius Arius, to whom he dedicated the work, lived. He wrote of having led a “soldier’s life” and is traditionally described as a physician with the Roman army. His book, written in Greek as Peri hylēs iatrikēs (“On Medical Material”), describes the plants, animal products and minerals used in medicine, including drugs still recognised as effective, such as opium, aloe, henbane and colchicum. Where it was written is unknown; the usual dating is 50–70, while older scholars put its completion in 77–78.
Unlike most classical texts, De materia medica never fell out of use. It was copied in Greek, Latin and Arabic — the most famous manuscript, the illustrated Vienna Dioscurides, was made in Constantinople in 512/513 — and from the Renaissance it was printed, translated into the European languages and used as the foundation of new herbals. As late as 1934 a monk on Mount Athos was seen identifying plants with a copy of Dioscorides.
Connections
Related events
- Pliny the Elder’s Natural History77 · Western and Central Europetwo contemporary compendia of knowledge about plants and medicines; some passages coincide almost word for word, probably from common sources
Adjacent events in the thread
- Missionary journeys of Paulc. 46 – between 57 and 58 · Balkans and Anatolia
- Boudica’s revoltbetween 60 and 61 · Western and Central Europe
Meanwhile in the world
Other regions, within a year of this event
Western and Central Europe
- Boudica’s revoltbetween 60 and 61
- Roman conquest of Britain43 – between 83 and 84
- Great Fire of Rome19 July 64 – c. 27 July 64
- Martyrdom of Peter and Paul in Romebetween 64 and 68
- Nero crowns Tiridates I in Rome66
Eastern Europe
- The Alans appear on the Don and in the North Caucasusbetween 50 and 72
- Plautius Silvanus lifts the Scythian siege of Chersonesusbetween 61 and 66
- Roman–Bosporan War45–49
- Zarubintsy culturec. 200 BC – c. 200
Middle East and Egypt
- Roman–Parthian War of 58–6358–63
- Periplus of the Erythraean Sea40s … 70s
- Reign of Vologases I51–78
- First Jewish–Roman War66 – between 73 and 74
- Siege of JerusalemApril 70 – 8 September 70
+ 1 event
Africa
- Adulis and Aksum in the Periplus40s … 70s
- Nero’s expedition to the sources of the Nilebetween 61 and 62
- Temple of Apedemak at Naqabetween 1 BC and AD 70
Central and Northern Asia
- The burials of Tillya Tepe (the Bactrian Gold)between 16 and 100
- The Xiongnu split into Northern and Southern48
- Kujula Kadphises founds the Kushan Empirebetween 20 and 50
South Asia
- Kushans conquer Gandhara and Taxilabetween 50 and 70
- Apostle Thomas in India (tradition)52 (?)
- Gandharan art: the first images of the Buddhabetween 30 BC and AD 100
- Gautamiputra Satakarni defeats Nahapanabetween 71 and 130
- Heyday of Indo-Roman trade: Muziris and Arikameduc. 30 BC – c. 250
East Asia
Southeast Asia and Oceania
- Founding of Funan: Kaundinya and Queen Liuyebetween 1 and 100
- Óc Eo, the port of Funanbetween 1 and 100 – between 601 and 700
- Sa Huỳnh culturec. 1000 BC – c. 200
North America
- Hopewell traditionbetween 200 and 100 BC – c. 500
- Late Basketmaker II erac. 50 – c. 500
Latin America
- Monte Albán II: the Zapotec state expandsc. 100 BC – c. 200
- Rise of Teotihuacanc. 1 – c. 250
- Nazca culture and the Nazca Linesbetween 200 and 100 BC – between 500 and 800
The same period
Sources
- Wikipedia (English): De materia medica
- Wikipedia (English): Dioscorides
- Wikipedia (Russian): Материя Медика Диоскорида
- Wikipedia (Russian): Диоскорид
- Riddle J. M. Dioscorides on Pharmacy and Medicine. — Austin: University of Texas Press, 1985.
- Wikidata: Q3704131