#asclepiades

The woeful death of Machaon, struck down in the dust, was noticed By his brother Podaleirios late, because He was sitting among the swift ships tending the soldiers Wounded by spears. He dressed himself in all his armor, Fury for his brother filling his spirit. His breast Was swelling with a terrible force that made him eager To enter the woeful battle and his black blood boiled In his raging heart. In a flash he leapt among the foes Brandishing in his agile hand his long-headed spear.

While the exhausting work of war engaged the others, Unbroken fast was kept by Podaleirios, lying In the dust and moaning aloud. He would not leave The graveside of his brother and his reckless mind Was set on killing himself by his own hands. Now he put his hands to his sword and now He looked for a deadly poison, while his comrades restrained him With many soothing pleas. In his unabating anguish He would have ended his life then with his own hands, There upon the new-made tomb of his brave brother, If Neleus’ son had not been told and shown his concern For him in his fearful affliction. He found him at one time Throwing himself on the woeful grave and at another Pouring dust upon his head and beating his breast With violent blows of his fists while calling out The name of his brother.

Grieving Podaleirios answered Nestor, as tears Of sorrow still streamed down and soaked his blooming cheeks: "Father, my heart is overwhelmed by unbearable grief For a brother who was so wise and who brought me up As though I were his son when our father had gone to heaven, Cradling me in his arms and devotedly teaching me His cures for sicknesses. Both bed and board we shared And took delight in having all possessions in common. How, then, can I forget the grief that assails me? His death Has ended my desire for the lovely light of life."

Ancient Rome had a lot of overlap, time and culture wise, with Classical Greece, focused around the city of Rome and lasted from the 8th century BCE to the 5th century CE in the west. At birth, a person could expect to live between 20-33. Between 67-75% of those born live to age 1 and can expect to live an additional 34-41 years while the 55-65% who live to age 5 have about 40-45 years remaining. About half of all those born make it to age 10 and can expect another 40 years ahead of them, while those who live to age 15 have about 33-39 years more. When a person reached age 40, they had about 20 more years, on average, while a 50 year old had about 14-18 years remaining. Those who made it to about age 60 could live about another 10-12 years, while those who made it to 70 could live another 6-7 years. The high rate of infant and child mortality resulted in a much younger life expectancy at birth and the number of soldiers who died young resulted in women having a slightly higher life expectancy than men.

Asclepiades of Bithyna, also known as Asclepiades of Prusa, was born in about 129 or 124 BCE in Prusias-on-Sea, also known as Cuis, in Anatolia, was a well-traveled Greek physician who had a great reputation who had many students and eventually settled in Rome. According to Pliny the Elder, he 'laid a wager with Fortuen, that he would forfeit his character as a physician if he should ever suffer from any disease himself…he won his water for he reached a great age and died at last from an accident' in 40 BCE. Most of his writins are now lost to us.

What is known of his theories is that he 'vilif[ied] the principles and practices of his predecessors, and by asserting that he had discovered a more effective method of treating diseases than had been before known to the world'. He especially had issue with Hippocrates' theories, focusing on dismantling the humoral doctrine. He proposed instead a variation on the atomic or corpuscular theory where a disease was the result of 'irregular or inharmonious motion of the corpuscles of the body', such as obstruction of the pores or irregular distribution of atoms. He proposed two types of disease, Acute and Chronic where Acute were caused by constriction or obstruction of the pores, and Chronic were caused by 'relaxation of the pores or deficiency of atoms'. This gave him three general categories,: 'status strictus (too tightly held), status laxus (too loosely held), and status mixtus (a little of each)'.

Because of his beliefs, his remedies were focused on restoring harmony within the body, with treatments such as diet, massage, bathing, and exercise. This didn't rule out emetics or bleeding, but he also prescribed a great deal of wine, which made him popular with his patients. He followed the motto cito tuto jucunde, 'swiftly, safely, and sweetly' and as such was considered kind and treated his patients fairly, regardless of gender or mental illness. This was a stark contrast with other physicians at the time, who were 'uncaring and unsympathetic towards their patients'.

Food was considered a source of therapy rather than drugs. He believed that if particles were too small or too large, indigestion, which could lead to illness. Asclepiades would prescribe food and wine, after which, would follow an enema to extract the food that was doing damage and remove the cause of the illness.

Hi! Yes, here are some of my suggestions:

Apollo [God of healing]

Asclepius, son of Apollo [God of medicine]

Epione, wife of Asclepius [Goddess of the soothing of pain]

Asclepiades - children of Asclepius and Epione:

Iaso [Cures & remedies]

Panacea [Cures & panaceas]

Hygeia [Good health]

Aigle [Radiant good health]