Thessalus of Tralles (fl. circa 70–95 AD) was a famous Roman physician and early adherent to the Methodic school of medicine.[1] He lived in Rome,[2] where he was the court physicianofEmperor Nero. It was here that he died and was buried, and his tomb was to be seen on the Via Appia.[3]
He was from TrallesinLydia. He was the son of a weaver, and followed the same employment himself in his youth.[3] This, however, he soon gave up, and, though he had a poor general education, he embraced the medical profession, by which he acquired for a time a great reputation, and amassed a large fortune. He adopted the principles of the Methodic school, but modified and developed them. He appears to have exalted himself at the expense of his predecessors;[2] asserting that none of them had contributed to the advance of medical science,[3] and boasting that he himself could teach the art of healing in six months. Galen frequently mentions him, but always in terms of contempt,[4] and is often abusive towards him. He is said to have been later overshadowed by Crinas of Marseilles, who was in turn ousted by his fellow countryman Charmis.[5][6]
He supported a method of treatment that he named metasyncrisis.[7] His object was, in obstinate chronic cases, where other remedies failed, to attempt a thorough change in the fundamental constitution of the organism (syncrisis). He began by the application, for three days, of strong vegetable remedies, both internally and externally, together with which, a strict regimen and emetics were applied. This was the preparation to a system of fasting, which concluded with a course of restoratives.[8]
Thessalus regarded the chicory plant to be an herb of the sun.[9] He wrote several medical works, of which only the titles and a few sentences remain.[8]
| International |
|
|---|---|
| National |
|
| People |
|
