ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY IN THE WORK OF NEMESIUS OF EMESA “ON THE NATURE OF MAN”

Abstract

This study summarises the original medical information contained in the treatise On the Nature of Man by the Byzantine scholar Nemesius, Bishop of Emesa (4th century), written in ancient Greek. Nemesius’ work had a strong impact on later Byzantine scholarship, as witnessed by a number of treatises on human body that followed under a similar or identical title. This review introduces and summarises some of the basic views of Nemesius and compares them with those of Galen, one of the major contributors to medical knowledge of antiquity, in order to see how Galen’s theories on anatomy and physiology influenced Nemesius. We conclude that the medical information in the work of Nemesius reflects the high level of Byzantine medicine of the time, as well as deep influences from ancient Greek intelligentsia and Galen in particular.