691 



01UBASIUS. 



ORIQENES 



works which are no longer extant. A Commentary on the Aphorisms 

 of Hippocrates goes under the name of Oribasius, but it ia manifi-stl] 

 spurious. The author, who appears to have been a Christian, quotes 

 the Holy Scriptures, and says in the preface that he wrote his work 

 by order of Ptolemy Euergetes. It is of little value, and was first 

 published at Paris, 8vo, 1533, ed. Jo. Guinterius Andernacus, Lat. 



We possess three works bearing the name of Oribasiup, which are 

 generally considered to be genuine, viz. : 1, trwayaryal iarpiKal, ' Col 

 lecta Medicinalia ; ' 2, avmtyts, ' Synopsis ad Eustathium ; ' 3, tmiipHTTa, 

 ' Euporista ad Eunapium,' or ' De facile Parabilibus.' The first ol 

 these works was composed, as we learn from the preface or dedication 

 preferred by Photius, at the command of Julian, while they were in 

 Gaul together, and consisted originally of seventy books, according to 

 Pbotius (' Biblioth.,' cod. ccxvii.), or, as Suidas says, of seventy-two; 

 whence it is also called ^JSo^Tj/coyTti/Si/SAos, ' Libri Ixx.' Of this large 

 wcrk, which consisted almost entirely of extracts from Galen and 

 other authors, we possess less than half, namely, books 1-15, 21, 22, 

 24, 25, 43, 44, 49, with fragments of 50 and 51. They are extremely 

 valuable, both aa containing passages from authors whose works are 

 no longer extant, and also as serving frequently to correct and explain 

 different sentences in Galen's works. It would be impossible here to 

 give anything like a complete analysis of so large a work, and perhaps 

 this is the less necessary its it contains but little original matter ; but 

 it may be useful to give a general idea of its contents, mentioning at 

 the tame time anything that may appear especially worthy of notice. 

 The first five books treat of Dietetics ; lib. vi. contains directions 

 about sleep, exercise, friction, 4c. ; lib. v^i. is on venesection, arterio- 

 tomy, cupping, purging, and emetics (he says that the effects of 

 hellebore were first tried upon dogs and afterwards upon men, and 

 that he cured by means of it a woman affected with cancer) ; lib. viii. 

 is about clysters, with some more remarks on hellebore and 

 emetics ; lib. ix. on climate, winds, &c., and also on external applica- 

 tions ; lib. x. on natural and artificial baths, containing a particular 

 account of the oil baths and oil and water baths; the five following 

 books are on Materia Mtdica : the twenty-fourth and twenty-fifth 

 books contain a complete system of anatomy and physiology, taken 

 almost entirely from Gulen's great work, ' De Usu Partium Corporis 

 Human!.' It should here however be noticed that Oribasius is the 

 first author who gives an account of the salivary glands, which appear 

 to have been overlooked by Galen ; at least no description of them is 

 to be found in any of his extant anatoiuical works. The passage in 

 Oribaaius occurs lib. xxiv., cap. 8, and is as follows : " On each side of 

 the tongue you will find the orifices of the vessels called salivary, 

 large enough to admit the end of a probe ; they have their origin at 

 the root ol the tongue, where there are the ghmds of the same nature, 

 for the vessels arise from them in the same way as arteries, by means 

 of which the talivary moisture lubricates the tongue itself, and all 

 the adjacent parts of the mouth." The above seventeen books were 

 for some time supposed to be all that remained of the jpSonnitoi'-ra- 

 &ifl\os. They first appeared in Latin about 1550, Venet., s. a. 8vo, 

 ed. J. Bapt. Rasarius, ap. 1'. Mauutium, Aldi F. The first fifteen 

 books were published, Mosquao, 4to, 1808, Gr. and Lat., ed. MatthaM, 

 under the title ' XXI. Veterutn tt Clarorum Medicorum Grxcorum 

 Varia Opuscula,' &c. The 21st and 22nd books were discovered by 

 Dietz, Preface to his unedited 'Scholia in Hippocr. et Gal.,' &c., 

 Rt-giui. Pruss., 8vo, 1834, 2 vols, but they have not been published. 

 Of the twenty-fourth and twenty-fifth books there is a pood edition, 

 Lugd. Bat., 4to, 1735, Gr. and Lat., ed. G. Dunduss, with the title 

 Oribasii Anatomica ex Libris Galeni,' &c. Cocchi however published, 

 Florent., foL, 1754, Gr. and Lat., in his edition of the collection of 

 surgical works by Nicetas [NlCETAa], two works by Oribasius, irtpl 

 Kara.yiia.Tuiv, ' De Fracturis," and epl i(ap6p^n<iT<av, ' De Luxatis,' which 

 he conjectured to be the forty-sixth and forty-seventh books of the 

 ffumyuyiit, nnd at the same tiu.e ho expressed bis opinion that the 

 forty third and forty-fifth books bad long been before the public under 

 the title ' De Laqueis et Machinatnentis Chirurgicis ex Herace et 

 Ht-liodoro,' contained in 'Vidi Vidii Chirurgia,' foL ; Paris, 1544, and 

 in the twelfth vol. of Chartier's edit of Hippocr. and Galen. Angelo 

 Mai discovered in the Vatican library part of lib. xliv., ' De Absccssibus;' 

 lib. xlv. 'De Variis Tumoribus;' lib. xliit. 'Do Laqueis; ' lib. xlix. 

 ' De MachinamentU,' and part of lib. 1., ' De Pudendorum Morbis.' 

 These he published in the fourth vol. of ' Class. Auctor. e Vatic. Codic. 

 Edit.,' 8vo, Komic, 1831. The contents of the last-mentioned books 

 are sufficiently expressed by their titles, nor is there anything in 

 them deserving of particular notice. 



The second of the extant works of Oribasius (called CTWOI//IS, ' Synop- 

 sis,' and addressed to his son Eustathius) consists of nine books ; we 

 learn from the preface that it was composed after the former work, 

 and if an abridgment of it. In the first book he treats of various kinds 

 of exercise, baths, external applications, cupping, scarification, leech- 

 ing, 4c. ; he also gives directions for choosing which vein in the arm 

 to open in phlebotomy, and sajs that it ia dangerous to touch the 

 median, on account of the proximity of the nerve ; that arteriotomy 

 should be performed on the temples or behind tho ears. He next 

 gives (lib. ii.) lint of simple drugs with their properties ; lib. iii. 

 treats of plaistcrs and other external medicaments ; lib. iv. of uiateria 

 medica; lib. v. of diseases of women and children, &c. ; lib. vi. of 

 fevers, contagion, 4c. ; lib. vii. of surgery ; lib. viii. diseases of the 



head, eyes, and ears, lycanthropia, and hydrophobia; lib. ix. diseases 

 of the thorax, abdomen, kidneys, &c. ; also on diabetes, in which 

 disorder he recommends sudorifics. A Latin translation of this work 

 by J. Bapt. Rasarius appeared, Venet., 8vo, 1554, ap. P. Manutium. 



The third extant work by Oribasius bears the title of i\m&fwru, 

 'De Facile Parabilibus,' and is addressed to his friend Eunapius 

 (though some copies in the time of Photius read Eugenius), at whose 

 desire it was composed, and who is probably the author of the ' Vitse 

 Philosoph. et Sophist.' It consists of four books, which seem to be a 

 short abridgment of his great work, chiefly taken from Galen, Dios- 

 corides, and Rufus Ephesius. Its genuineness is doubted by Sprengel. 

 Of this work also the Greek text has never been published. A Latiu 

 translation by J. Sicard came out, Basel, fol., 1529, and another by 

 J. Bapt. Rasarius, Venet., 8vo, 1558. Rasarius also published, Basel, 

 3 torn. 8vo, 1557, an edition of his translations of all the works of 

 Oribasius, which are inserted in the first volume of the 'Medicso 

 Artis Principes,' by H. Stephens, Paris, 2 torn. fol. 1567. 



Oribasius has been called 'Galen's ape," and it ia true that he seldom 

 contradicts him ; but he has also inserted in his works so much that 

 is original, that it is surprising that he should have confined himself 

 to the office of a mere compiler. 



ORI 'GENES (npiye'i/T/s), commonly called by English writers OIUGEN, 

 was born in Egypt in the year A.D. 185 or 186. Porphyry states that 

 he was born of heathen parents and brought up in the Greek religion, 

 but this is denied by Eusebius. He received instruction from Clemens 

 of Alexandria, then a catechist at Alexandria, and at a later period he 

 attended the lectures of the celebrated philosopher Ammonias Saceas. 

 In the year 202 his father Leonidas suffered martyrdom. Though 

 not quite seventeen years old, Origenes was hardly restrained by the 

 care of his mother from offering himself also to martyrdom. He sent 

 a letter to his father in prison, containing this sentence : "Take heed, 

 father, that you do not change your mind for our sake." After his 

 father's death, Origenes was supported for a short time by a rich lady 

 of Alexandria, but ho soon became able to maintain himself by 

 teaching grammar. At the age of eighteen, Demetrius, the bishop of 

 Alexandria, put him at the head of the catechetical school in that 

 city, to the duties of which office he devoted himself entirely and 

 with great success. During this period he supported himself by the 

 sale of his library of ancient authors for a daily stipend of four 

 oboles, which he received from the purchaser. We are not told how 

 long this payment was continued. lu his twenty-first year, having 

 taken up the opinion that the words of our Saviour (Matthew xix. 12) 

 onv'ht to be understood literally, he castrated himself; in later life he 

 confessed his error in this matter. -Soon after this he learned Hebrew, 

 a thing very unusual at that time (Hieron., 'De Vir. Illust.,' c. 56); 

 but his knowledge of the language was never very great. About the 

 year 212 his preaching reclaimed from the Valentinian heresy a 

 wealthy person of the name of Ambrose, who afterwards assisted 

 bim materially in the publication of his Commentaries on the Scrip- 

 tures. He was sent by Demetrius into Greece upon some ecclesiastical 

 business, and on his way thither, in 228, he was ordained a presbyter 

 at Csesarea in Palestine. This circumstance excited the jealousy of 

 Demetrius to such a degree, that when Origenes returned home he 

 found that prelate violently opposed to him; he therefore left Alex- 

 andria and retired to Csesarea in 231. Demetrius held two councils 

 at Alexandria upon this occasion, by the first of which Origenes was 

 forbidden to teach or even to appear in the city ; by the second he 

 was deposed from the office of presbyter, and perhaps excommuni- 

 cated. Demetrius moreover sent letters to most of the churches, in 

 consequence of which Origenes was condemned by the Bishop of 

 Home, and by all others except those of Palestine, Arabia, Phoenicia, 

 and Achaia. Jerome states that these proceedings were not taken 

 Because Origenes was guilty of any heresy, but solely from jealousy 

 of his eloquence and reputation. While Origenes resided at Csesareii 

 le was resorted to by persons from the most distant places, who were 

 anxious to hear his interpretations of the Scripture. Among his 

 lisciples were several who afterwards rose to great eminence in the 

 Church. His advice was now eagerly sought for. Mammaea, tho 

 mother of the Emperor Alexander Severus, sent for him to Autiocli 

 ,lnit she might converse with him on religion ; and at a later period 

 lu had a correspondence with the Emperor Philip and his wife Severa. 

 At two synods which were held about this time in Arabia he again 

 enjoyed the success (rare indeed in religious controversy) of convincing 

 lis opponents : these were, Beryllus, bishop of Bostra in Arabia, who 

 denied the pre-existence of Christ, and some who held the opinion 

 ihat the human soul dies with the body, and will be revived with it 

 again at the resurrection. He also paid visits to the churches of Rome 

 aud Athens ; the former of these visits was some time before he left 

 Alexandria, and the object of it was, as he himself tells us, " to see 

 ,he most ancient church of the Romans." When he was sixty years 

 >ld he permitted his discourses to be taken down in short-hand, and 

 n this way above a thousand of his homilies were preserved. 



It was about this time that he wrote an answer, in eight books, to 

 he objections brought against Christianity by Celsus, a philosopher 

 who lived in the reigns of Hadrian and the Antoumes, in a work 

 ntitled ' Tho True Word ' (M-yos 'AM)07;s). The objections of Celsus, 

 is they appear from the answer of Origenes (for the work itself is 

 ost), are of a frivolous and malignant character, and the work of 



