eul_aid: umi
Ἀνώνυμοι Ἰατρικοί
Medical Writers Anonymous
24 works

The designation "Medical Writers Anonymous" refers to a collection of about two dozen Greek medical handbooks written between the 1st and 6th centuries CE. The authors of these practical texts are unknown, which was common for technical works where the utility of the information was more important than the fame of the writer. According to modern scholars, these anonymous writers were likely practicing physicians or teachers working within the broad tradition of Greek medicine, possibly based in major centers like Alexandria or Constantinople.

Their surviving works include treatises on topics such as acute and chronic diseases, women's health, urine analysis, pulse diagnosis, medical ethics, and drug recipes. Written in straightforward, technical Greek, these texts served as guides for doctors and students. They compiled and simplified knowledge from earlier authorities like Hippocrates and Galen, while also incorporating folk remedies and everyday practices.

This anonymous corpus is significant because it provides a window into the mainstream medical practice of the Roman and early Byzantine periods, beyond the theories of famous individual doctors. The texts show how classical medical knowledge was adapted for daily use in diagnosis and treatment. Their influence was long-lasting; they were translated into Syriac, Arabic, and Latin and became foundational sources for medical knowledge in the Middle Ages and Renaissance. Their collective, anonymous nature itself highlights a tradition where practical knowledge was often treated as a shared professional resource.

Available Works

Κόσμος Μηνῶν
Adornment of the Months
30 passages
Ὑπόμνημα εἰς Οὖρα
Commentary-Urines
10 passages
Διάγνωσις περὶ τῶν ὀξέων καὶ χρονίων νοσημάτων
Diagnosis of Acute and Chronic Diseases
35 passages
Διάφορα Ἀποσπάσματα
Medical Fragments
10 passages
Ὀνομασίαι τῶν κατὰ ἄνθρωπον
Names of Human Parts, Book 1
72 passages
Ὀνόματα τῶν ἰατρικῶν ἐργαλείων κατὰ στοιχεῖα οἷς
Names of Medical Instruments by Element Used in Surgeries
3 passages
Περὶ Διαιτῆς
On Diet
22 passages
Περὶ Τροφῶν
On Foods
80 passages
Περὶ Τροφῶν
On Foods
29 passages
Περὶ Γενέσεως καὶ Σπέρματος
On Generation and Seed
15 passages
Περὶ λυκανθρωπίας
On Lycanthropy
1 passages
Περὶ Σφυγμῶν
On Pulses
3 passages
Περὶ Ἀφορισμῶν Ἱπποκράτους
On the Aphorisms of Hippocrates
1 passages
Περὶ χροιᾶς τοῦ αἵματος τοῦ ἀπὸ φλεβοτομίας ἐκ τῆς
On the Color of Blood from Phlebotomy in Persian Medicine
9 passages
Περὶ τῆς τῶν πυρετῶν διαφορᾶς
On the Difference of Fevers
10 passages
Περὶ Φύσεως Ἀνθρώπου
On the Nature of Man
10 passages
Περὶ Φύσεως Ἀνθρωπίνου Σώματος
On the Nature of the Human Body
6 passages
Περὶ Φύσεως Δώδεκα Μηνῶν
On the Nature of Twelve Months
49 passages
Περὶ τροφῶν δυνάμεως
On the Power of Foods
13 passages
Περὶ Οὖρων κατὰ Πέρσας
On Urine According to the Persians
1 passages
Περὶ Οὖρων κατὰ Σύρους
On Urine According to the Syrians
6 passages
Περὶ Οὖρων ἐν Πυρετοῖς
On Urine in Fevers
5 passages
Ὀνοματοποιία τῆς ἀνθρώπου φύσεως
Onomatopoeia of Human Nature
2 passages
Φυσιογνωμονικά
Physiognomics
22 passages

Sources