Aulus cornelius celsus biography definition wikipedia

Celsus on christianity

Rome, 1st century CE , collection of knowledge. For the original article on Celsus see DSB , vol. Celsus is often considered the most important Latin medical writer of antiquity for several reasons. His Prefatio is particularly important for medical historians, because in it he traces the history of medicine from its origins to his time. Of equal importance is the information he furnished about surgical techniques and medical authors of the Hellenistic-Roman period, which otherwise would not be known.

Celsus created a medical language in Latin. He synthesized and documented an entire series of works, achievements, and medical techniques of the Greco-Roman era which is our sole source of knowledge of them. He demonstrated great independence of thought and judgment.

Celsus pronunciation

Finally, he described and represented the Roman ideal of the physician-friend medicus amicus. Little is known about the details of his life except for his name nomen: Cornelius and his surname cognomen: Celsus. Nothing else can be regarded as certain: not his given name praenomen , his place of birth, the dates of composition of his work, or his profession.

The ancient sources never gave his praenomen , only Cornelius Celsus. In later manuscripts it was usually given as the initial A. Neither the ancient documents nor Celsus himself mentioned a clear and definite birthplace. The hypothesis has been advanced that it was located somewhere in the region of Hispania Tarraconensis and Narbonnese Gaul northeast Spain and southwest France , a conjecture based on discoveries in that region of a series of inscriptions recording various Cornelii Celsi and on the description of Gallic therapeutic techniques in De medicina.