Pedanius Dioscorides

Pedanius Dioscorides (c. 40 in Anazarbus, Cilicia - c. 90) was an ancient Greek physician, pharmacologist and botanist who practised in Rome at the times of Nero. He was a surgeon with the army of the emperor so he had the opportunity to travel extensively seeking medicinal substances from all over the Roman and Greek world. Dioscorides from www. ... Dioscorides from www. ... For alternate uses, see Number 40. ... In ancient geography, Cilicia (Ki-LIK-ya) formed a district on the southeastern coast of Asia Minor (modern Turkey), north of Cyprus. ... For other uses, see number 90. ... Ancient Greece is the term used to describe the Greek-speaking world in ancient times. ... A physician is a person who practices medicine. ... Pharmacology (in Greek: pharmacon is drug, and logos is science) is the study of how chemical substances interfere with living systems. ... Botany is the scientific study of plant life. ... Location within Italy The Roman Colosseum Rome (Italian and Latin: Roma) is the capital city of Italy and of its Latium region. ... This article deals with the Roman emperor Nero. ... Surgery Surgery is the medical specialty that treats diseases or injuries by operative manual and instrumental treatment. ... A nations army is its military, or more specifically, all of its land forces. ... Roman Emperor is the title historians use to refer to the ruler of the Roman Empire. ... The Roman Colosseum Rome (Italian and Latin Roma) is the capital city of Italy, and of its Lazio region. ... The History of Greece extends back to the arrival of the Greeks in Europe some time before 1500 BC, even though there has only been an independent state called Greece since 1821. ...

Dioscorides is famous for writing a five volume book De Materia Medica that is a precursor to all modern pharmacopeias, and is one of the most influential herbal books in history. In fact it remained in use until about CE 1600. Unlike many classical authors, his works were not "rediscovered" in the Renaissance, because his book never left circulation. The Materia Medica was often reproduced in manuscript form through the centuries, often with commentary on Dioscorides' work and with minor additions from Arabian and Indian sources, though there were some advancements in herbal science among the Arabic additions. Pharmacopeia (literally, the art of the drug compounder), in its modern technical sense, is a book containing directions for the identification of samples and the preparation of compound medicines, and published by the authority of a government or a medical or pharmaceutical society. ... Events January January 1 - Scotland adopts January 1st as being New Years Day February February 17 - Giordano Bruno burned in a stake for heresy July July 2 - Battle of Nieuwpoort: Dutch forces under Maurice of Nassau defeat Spanish forces under Archduke Albert in a battle on the coastal dunes. ... By Region: Italian Renaissance Northern Renaissance -French Renaissance -German Renaissance -English Renaissance The Renaissance was an influential cultural movement which brought about a period of scientific revolution and artistic transformation, at the dawn of modern European history. ... For other uses, see Arab (disambiguation). ... The Republic of India is the second most populous country in the world, with a population of more than one billion, and is the seventh largest country by geographical area. ...

The Materia Medica is important not just for the history of herbal science, it also gives us a knowledge of the herbs and remedies used by the Greeks, Romans, and other cultures of antiquity. The work also records the Dacian and Thracian names for some plants, which otherwise would have been lost. Alternate meanings: see Dacia (disambiguation) Dacia, in ancient geography the land of the Daci or Getae, was a large district of Central Europe, bounded on the north by the Carpathians, on the south by the Danube, on the west by the Tisa (Tisza river, in Hungary), on the east by... The Thracians were an Indo-European people, inhabitants of Thrace and adjacent lands (present-day Bulgaria, northeastern Greece, European Turkey, eastern Serbia and Macedonia). ...

A number of illustrated manuscripts of the Materia Medica survive, many of them from the 5th and 7th centuries. There exist early translations as well, the most famous of these being the Weiner Dioskurides (512/513).

See also: Vienna Dioscurides, Gallery of pages from the Vienna Dioscurides. The donor portrait of Julia Anicia in the Vienna Dioscurides is the oldest extant donor portrait The Vienna Dioscurides (Vienna, Osterreichische Nationalbibliothek, Cod. ...

External links

• German translation of Materia Medica, 1902 (http://www.tiscalinet.ch/materiamedica)
• Plates showing many pages from an original illuminated Greek manuscript of the Materia Medica  (http://www.bnnonline.it/biblvir/dioscoride/index.htm)