On Simples, Attributed to Dioscorides: Introduction, Translation, Concordances(57 Studies in Ancient Medicine)

On Simples, a medicinal text of the first century A.D., is attributed in the manuscripts to the famous Dioscorides. In a remarkable piece of detective work, Professor Fitch establishes that its alphabetical sequences of medications, ignored by earlier scholars, are conclusive proof that the attribution cannot be correct. He also shows that these sequences provide evidence about the content of earlier, now lost, works, including perhaps the Rhizotomikon of Crateus. This is the first English translation of On Simples. With its exhaustive concordances and indices, it will make the work accessible to readers interested in ancient medicine, and will facilitate future research.

Table of Contents:
Introduction  1 The Nature of the Work  2 Title and Focus: On Simples or Euporista?  3 Sources and Compilation (1): An Alphabetical Source  4 Sources and Compilation (2): Additions to the Alphabetical Source  5 Relationship to Dioscorides  6 The Compiler  7 Date  8 Earlier Scholarship  9 Future Research  10 Identifications of Plants  11 This Translation Weights and Measures On Simples Book 1: External Medicine  Preface  Head (1–28)  Eyes (29–53)  Ears (54–65)  Teeth and Gums (66–77)  Mouth and Throat (78–88)  Hair (89–98)  Skin of Head and Body (99–124)  Breasts (125–131)  Testicles (132–134)  Swellings and Tumours (135–153)  Wounds (154–159)  Skin Conditions (160–170)  Lesions (171–197)  Haemorrhages (198–201)  Anus (202–217)  Sinews and Joints (218–235) Book 2: Internal Medicine  Preface  Stomach and Abdomen (1–17)  Fevers (18–28)  Lungs and Chest (29–41)  Intestines (42–57)  Gall-Bladder, Liver and Spleen (58–66)  Parasitic Worms (68–70)  Reproductive Organs (71–105)  Kidneys and Bladder (106–119)  Poisonous Bites and Stings (120–138)  Other Poisons (Chiefly Ingested) (139–168)  Envoi Concordances, Appendices, Indices Concordance of Medications 1: English—Greek Concordance of Medications 2: Greek—English Appendix 1: Divergences from Wellmann’s Greek Text Appendix 2: Textual Notes Appendix 3: Alphabetical Sequences Bibliography Index of Ailments and Body Parts Index of Medications General Index

About the Author :
John G. Fitch, Ph.D. (Cornell 1974), is Professor Emeritus of the University of Victoria. He has published monographs, translations and articles on Greco-Roman literature, with a special interest in Senecan drama. His books include Annaeana Tragica (Brill 2004).

Review :
"Fitch has done a great service to the Classics community by translating this little-known text. I have already used his translation several times in teaching, thus familiarising students with passages that they would not have been able to access otherwise." Laurence Totelin, Cardiff University in BMCR 2024.02.24