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The Works of Oribasius

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The Works of Oribasius Review IX. (Euvres (TOribctse ; Texle Grec, en grande partie inedit, collationne sur les Manuscrits, traduit pour la premiere fois en Franqais : avec une Introduction, des Notes, des Tables et ties Planches. Par les Doc- teurs Bussemaker et Daremberg.?Paris, Impvime par Autori- sation du Gouvernement a l'lmprimerie Imp6riale. Tome I., 1851, pp. lx. et 692 j tome II., 1854, pp. xii. et 924; tome III., 1858, pp. xxviii. et 724. The Works of Oribasius; the Greek Text, partly hitherto unpublished, corrected by the collation of MSS., translated for the first time into Wrench: with an Introduction, JSotes, Tables, and l lates. By Dr. Bussemaker and Dr. Daremberg. we a sliort account of Dr. Just ten ago (April, 1849) gave years ' Daremberg's projected Bibliotheque,' or collection of the old Greek and Latin?medical writers. The plan was at that time suspended, in embarrassments which consequence of the political and social then that prevailed in France j and, indeed, the difficulties have arisen to thwart the execution of the work would have been more than suffi- But Dr. a cient to discourage any ordinary editor. Daremberg is man of no ordinary zeal and perseverance ] and accordingly, after repeated applications to successive Ministers for their assistance, and after repeated disappointments, in consequence of the overthrow either of a ministry or a government, he has at last had the satisfaction of seeing the work, which was commenced under the auspices of Louis Philippe, completed (or at least in a fair way of being completed,) "par automation du Gouvernement a l'lmprimerie 1 Imperiale." But the progress of the Bibliotheque,' from its commencement to its partial completion, deserves to be related rather more in detail; both because of its literary importance, and also because of the 402 Reviews. [April, peculiar differences it exhibits from our usual English mode of con- ducting similar undertakings. It was as far back as 1843 (sixteen years ago!) that Dr. Daremberg, who was already favourably known by his inaugural dissertation on Galen's knowledge of the nervous system, conceived the idea of publishing a collection of the ancient medical writers, more comprehensive than Kiihn's, and more carefully executed. After consulting MM. Littre and Andral, by whom the plan was favourably received, he applied to the Minister of Public Instruction, which post was then filled by M. Villemain; and at his request submitted to him a plan of the work, which received his official approbation, November 28th, 1844. He was then sent by the French Government on a mission to Germany to examine MSS. relating to the work; much in the same way as Dietz had, with a similar object, visited most of the great European libraries at the expense of the Prussian Government. After his return, in 1846, at the request of a fresh Minister, he submitted his plan to the Academy of Inscriptions and the Academy of Medicine, both of which learned Societies ex- pressed their approbation, and recommended it to the favourable notice of the Government. He was in consequence sent on a literary mission to this country, where he visited the principal libraries at London, Oxford, and Cambridge. On the 22nd of February, 1848, he received an official assurance that the Government would assist his work " " by bearing part of the expense. But on the morrow," says he, many other hopes besides mine were overturned." However, towards the end of the same year, in consequence of a fresh application to another Minister, the Republican Government authorized the printing of his edition of Oribasius at the National (no longer the Royal) press. In the early part of 1849 he paid a second visit to England, in com- pany with Dr. Bussemaker, more especially for the purpose of collating a MS. of Oribasius in the library of St. John's College, Cambridge and, towards the end of the same year, he was sent by the Govern- ment to visit the libraries in Italy. In 1851 the official promise of assistance was once more ratified, and the first volume of his work appeared. Among the large number of writers to be comprehended in his ' Bibliotlieque,' it was a matter of comparatively little importance which author should be published first; and accordingly Dr. Darem- berg was induced to commence with Oribasius by his meeting with Dr. Bussemaker, who had already published a portion of this writer's principal work, and who was then occupied with preparing a complete edition of it. (Tome i. p. v.) Upon the whole, we think the choice of Oribasius a very judicious one. Though less known to the medical world than Hippocrates, Galen, Dioscorides, Aretseus, and Celsus, and therefore perhaps less generally interesting, this writer's works are much more rarely met with, and also offer much greater opportunities for the ' * The results of liis two visits to this country are partly given in his Notices et Extraits des Manuscrits Medicaux Grecs, Latins, et Fra^ais, des principales Bibliotheques de 1'Europe.' The first part contains a catalogue raisonne of the Greek medical MSS. now existing in England, with the exception of those in Caius College Library, Cambridge, which will be noticed in the second part of the work. 1859.] The Works of Oribasius. 403 improvement of the text by the publication of numerous inedited pas- sages taken from MSS. which had never been examined. But before ?saying anything more about the manner in which Drs. Bussemaker and Daremberg have executed their task, perhaps we may as well give a few particulai's of Oribasius himself; and as the editors (by what -appears to us a strange oversight,) have omitted all notice of his personal we shall have recourse to Dr. William Smith's ' history, Dictionary of Greek and .Roman Biography,' which contains a tolerably full account of a life more than usually eventful and inte- resting. Oribasius was born either at Sardes or Pergamus, probably about A.d. 325. He belonged to a respectable family, received a good pre- liminary education, and early acquired a great professional reputation. He became acquainted with the Emperor Julian before he ascended the throne, and was almost the only person to whom the young prince imparted the secret of his apostasy from Christianity. He accom- panied Julian into Gaul, a.d. 355, and it was about this time that, at his command, he began the compilation of his principal medical work. He is supposed to have been in some way instrumental in raising Julian to the throne, A.D. 361, and was in consequence appointed Qufestor of Constantinople, and sent on a mission to Delphi to en- deavour to restore the oracle of Apollo. He accompanied the Emperor in his expedition against the Persians, and was with him at the time of his death, a.d. 363. By the succeeding Emperors he was banished from Constantinople, his property was confiscated, and he wras even in danger of his life. The cause of his disgrace is not known, but we may conjecture that he had made himself obnoxious, either in the discharge of his duties as Quaestor, or by his enmity against the Christians. In his exile, Oribasius exhibited proofs both of his fortitude and of his medical skill, and is said to have gained such influence and esteem " among the barbarian Kings" (as they are called), that he became one of their principal men, while the common people looked upon him as almost a god. It is supposed that his banishment did not last many years. After his return he married a lady of good family and fortune,and had by her four children, one of whom was probably his son Eustathius, for whose use and at whose request he made an abridgment of his prin- cipal medical work, which is still extant. He also had his property restored out of the public treasury, and lived to a good old age, as he was alive as late as the year 395. Of the personal character of Oribasius we know little or nothing; but it is clear that he was much attached to Paganism and to the heathen philosophy. He was an intimate friend of who ' Eunapius, inserted in his Vit;e Philosophorum et Sophistarum" an account of his life, in which he praises him very highly. He was the author of several works, of which we possess three that are generally con- sidered to be genuine?viz., 1. The Suraywycu 'Iarpirat, Collecta Medi- cinalia, sometimes called 'E/^ojujj/covra/BijQXof, from its consisting of seventy (or seventy-two) books; 2. The 'oxpig, Synopsis, consisting of nine books, addressed to his son Eustathius ; and 3. The EvTropicrra, De 404 lleviews. [April, facile Parabilibus, in four books, addressed to his friend Eunapius. It is the first of these that is now being published by Drs. Bussemaker and Daremberg, and to this we will confine our observations. It contains little original matter, but is a judicious collection of extracts from Galen and Dioscorides, and other writers whose works are no longer extant. It had become scarce, on account of its bulk, as early as the time of Paulus ^Egineta, in the seventh or eighth century. It was translated into Arabic in the ninth century; but in the following century, though Haly Abbas was aware of its existence, he says he had never seen more than one book out of the seventy. More than half of the work is now lost, and (with respect to prac- tical medicine) the most valuable and interesting portions. The state of the Greek text before the present edition may be briefly noticed, and we will at the same time mention the amount of hitherto unpublished books and fragments which are now for the first time brought to light.
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