What is De Medicina by Aulus Cornelius Celsus?

De Medicina is a first-century medical treatise written by the Roman encyclopedist Aulus Cornelius Celsus. It is the only surviving section of a much larger encyclopedia and serves as a vital primary source on ancient Roman and Alexandrian medical knowledge. The work is divided into eight books covering diet, therapeutics, pharmacy, surgery, and human anatomy, making it the very first complete medical textbook to be printed.

What we know

• De Medicina is believed to be the sole surviving section of a much larger encyclopedia compiled by Aulus Cornelius Celsus. [2, 3]
• The treatise is arranged into eight books that follow the tripartite division of ancient medicine: diet, pharmacology, and surgery. [3]
• De Medicina was published some time before 47 CE and became the first complete medical textbook to be printed in Florence in 1478. [3]
• Celsus classified various mental disorders in Book III, including phrenitis, melancholia, and lethargus, and he was the first to use the term insania. [3]

Still open

• Sources note that Aulus Cornelius Celsus was a Roman encyclopedist, but it remains unlikely that he was actually a practicing physician.

Where to go next

• whoWho was Aulus Cornelius Celsus?
• the bigger pictureWhat were the lost parts of Celsus's encyclopedia?
• whenHow did early medical printing begin in Florence?
• how it workedWhat surgical techniques were used in Alexandrian medicine?
• whereWhere is Celsus Peak located in Antarctica?
• an unexpected connectionHow does an Antarctic geographic landmark connect to ancient Roman medicine?Celsus Peak in Antarctica was named by the UK Antarctic Place-Names Committee in honor of the Roman encyclopedist Aulus Cornelius Celsus.

Sources

• [1]Aulus Cornelius Celsus (Wikidata Q312420) · CC0 1.0
• [2]Aulus Cornelius Celsus · CC BY-SA 4.0
• [3]De Medicina · CC BY-SA 4.0
• [4]Celsus Peak · CC BY-SA 4.0
• [5]Petron (physician) · CC BY-SA 4.0