CHAP. 109. (34.)—AN EXPLANATION OF GREEK TERMS RELATIVE TO WEIGHTS AND MEASURES.
As we have occasion to make use of Greek names very fre-
quently when speaking of weights and measures,[1] I shall here
subjoin, once for all, some explanation of them.
The Attic drachma—for it is generally the Attic reckoning
that medical men employ—is much the same in weight as the
silver denarius, and is equivalent to six oboli, the obolus being
ten chalci; the cyathus is equal in weight to ten drachmmæ.
When the measure of an acetabulum is spoken of, it is the
same as one fourth part of a hemina, or fifteen drachmæ in
weight. The Greek mna, or, as we more generally call it,
"mina," equals one hundred Attic drachmæ in weight.
Summary.—Remedies, narratives, and observations, seven
hundred and thirty.
Roman Authors Quoted.—Cato the Censor,[2] M. Varro,[3] Antias,[4] Cæpio,[5] Vestinus,[6] Vibius Rufus,[7] Hyginus,[8] Pompo-
nius Mela,[9] Pompeius Lennæus,[10] Cornelius Celsus,[11] Calpurnius
Bassus,[12] C. Valgius,[13] Licinius Macer,[14] Sextius Niger[15] who
wrote in Greek, Julius Bassus[16] who wrote in Greek, Autonius
Castor.[17]
Foreign Authors Quoted.—Theophrastus,[18] Democritus,[19]
Orpheus,[20] Pythagoras,[21] Mago,[22] Menander[23] who wrote the
Biochresta, Nicander,[24] Homer, Hesiod,[25] Musmæus,[26] Sophocles,[27]
Anaxilaüs.[28]
Medical Authors Quoted.—Mnesitheus[29] who wrote on
Chaplets, Callimachus[30] who wrote on Chaplets, Phanias[31] the
physician, Simus,[32] Timaristus,[33] Hippocrates,[34] Chrysippus,[35]
Diocles,[36] Ophelion,[37] Hieraclides,[38] Hicesius,[39] Dionysius,[40] Apollodorus[41] of Citium, Apollodorus[42] of Tarentum, Praxagoras,[43]
Plistonicus,[44] Medius,[45] Dieuches,[46] Cleophantus,[47] Philistio,[48]
Asclepiades,[49] Crateaus,[50] Petronius Diodotus,[51] Iollas,[52] Erasistratus,[53] Diagoras,[54] Andreas,[55] Mnesides,[56] Epicharmus,[57] Da-
mion,[58] Dalion,[59] Sosimenes,[60] Tlepolemus,[61] Metrodorus,[62] Solo,[63]
Lyeus,[64] Olympias[65] of Thebes, Phlilinus,[66] Petrichus[67] Micton,[68]
Glaucias,[69] Xenocrates.[70]
1. See the Introduction to Vol. 111.
2. See end of B. iii.
3. See end of B. ii.
4. See end of B. ii.
5. A writer on flowers and chaplets, in the time of Tiberius. Nothing
whatever beyond this seems to be known of him.
6. C. Julius Atticus Vestinus, or, according to some authorities, M. Atticus Vestinus. He was consul a.d. 65; and, though innocent, was put
to death by Nero's order, for alleged participation in the conspiracy of Piso.
7. See end of B. xiv.
8. See end of B. iii.
9. See end of B. iii.
10. See end of B. xiv.
11. See end of B. vii.
12. See end of B. xvi.
13. See end of B. xx.
14. See end of B. xix.
15. See end of B. xii.
16. See end of B. xx.
17. See end of B. xx. See also B. xxv. c. 5.
18. See end of B. iii.
19. See end of B. ii.
20. See end of B. xx.
21. See end of B. ii.
22. See end of B. viii.
23. See end of B. xix.
24. See end of B. viii.
25. See end of B. vii.
26. An alleged disciple of Orpheus, and probably as fabulous a personage.
Many works, now lost, passed under his name.
27. One of the most celebrated of the Greek tragic writers; born B.C. 495. Of his 127 tragedies, only seven have come down to us.
28. A Pythagorean philosopher, a native of one of the cities called Larissa. Being accused of magical practices, he was banished from the city of Rome by the Emperor Augustus. The explanation of these charges is, that he probably possessed a superior knowledge of natural philosophy. See B. xxv. c. 95. B. xxxiii. c. 49. B. xxxii. c. 52, and B. xxxv. c. 50.
29. A physician, a native of Athens in the fourth century B.C. He is
supposed to have belonged to the sect of the Dogmatiei, and was greatly
celebrated for his classification of diseases. He wrote on diet and drink,
among other subjects.
30. Probably the same writer that is mentioned at the end of B. iv.; or,
possibly, a physician of that name, who was a disciple of Herophilus, and
lived about the second century B.C.
31. A distinguished Peripatetic philosopher of Eresos in Lesbos, a disciple
of Aristotle, and a contemporary of Theophrastus.
32. Of this writer, nothing whatever is known, beyond the mention made
of him in c. 88 of this Book, and in B. xxii. c. 32.
33. Nothing whatever is known relative to this writer.
34. See end of B. vii.
35. See end of B. xx.
36. See end of B. xx.
37. See end of B. xx.
38. For Heraclides of Pontus, see end of B. iv. For Heraclides of Ta-
rentum, see end of B. xii.
39. See end of B. xv.
40. See end of B. xii.
41. See end of B. xx.
42. See end of B. xx.
43. See end of B. xx.
44. See end of B. xx.
45. See end of B. xx.
46. See end of B. xx.
47. See end of B. xx.
48. See end of B. xx.
49. See end of B. vii.
50. See end of B. xx.
51. See end of B. xx.
52. See end of B. xii.
53. See end of B. xi.
54. See end of B. xii.
55. See end of B. xx.
56. See end of B. xii.
57. Sec end of B. xx.
58. See end of B. xx.
59. See end of B. vi.
60. See end of B. xx.
61. See end of B. xx.
62. See end of B. xx.
63. See end of B. xx.
64. See end of B. xii.
65. See end of B. xx.
66. See end of B. xx.
67. See end of B. xix.
68. See end of B. xx.
69. Sec end of B. xx.
70. See end of B. xx.