The Encyclopedia of Ancient Natural Scientists: The Greek tradition and its many heirs

(Ron) #1

Ed.: Deichgräber (1930) 400–406, 408.
RE 19.2 (1938) 2369–2370 (#51), H. Diller; KP 4.752 (#23), F. Kudlien; BNP 11 (2007) 41 (#I.33),
V. Nutton.
Fabio Stok


Philippos (of Rhe ̄gion?) Xe ̄ros (1000 – 1100 CE?)


Greek physician cited in the text and scholia of the Ephodia to ̄n apode ̄mounto ̄n (Greek transla-
tion of ibn al-Gazza ̄r’s Za ̄d al musa ̄f ̄ır, c a 896 – 979 CE) in MS Vat. graec. 300 (ca mid-12th c.,
S. Italy), ff. 90V– 91 R, 126RV, 230V, 292R, 300RV, and probably also 17R, and other MSS. The
MS Paris, BNF, graecus 2194, ff. 454R– 464 V contains a tract under his name (Costomiris
1890: 170–171). Mercati (1917) and Ieraci Bio (1989: 223) considered Philippos the
owner and copyist-annotator of the Vatican MS. Unlikely to have been either (cf. CMG
11.1.4, p. 14), Philippos Xe ̄ros predated the codex and may have lived during the 11th c.
CE; he practiced medicine in southern Italy. In the Paris MS, he is qualified as ΡΙΓΙΝΟΣ,
i.e., of Rhe ̄gion, and is associated with E  S.


G. Mercati, Notizie varie di antica letteratura medica e di bibliografia (1917); A.M. Ieraci Bio, “La medicina
greca nello Stretto (Filippo Xeros ed Eufemio Siculo),” in F. Burgarella and A.M. Ieraci Bio, edd., La
cultura scientifica e tecnica nel’Italia meridionale bizantina (2006) 109–123.
Alain Touwaide


Philippos of Rome (45 – 95 CE)


Physician often mentioned by G with A, as together having followers (In
Hipp. Progn. [16.684 K.], etc.). Since the Souda (A-4107) names Arkhigene ̄s’ father as Philippos,
scholars assume that this Philippos is the father of the better-known Pneumaticist;
Kudlien (1968: 1099) prefers a close friendship between the two men. Gale ̄n’s inclusion of
Philippos among the neo ̄teroi (Febr. Diff. 2 [7.347 K.]) does not preclude Philippos being
Arkhigene ̄s’ father. Gale ̄n mentions students of Philippos (CMGen 3 [13.642 K.]; cf. Juvenal
13.125, of some doctor Philippos in Rome), who might thus have been a teacher. Since
Arkhigene ̄s practiced in Rome, Philippos is usually located there, despite lack of evidence
beyond Juvenal. Gale ̄n mentions an ophthalmic compound medicine used by Philippos in
Caesarea of Kappadokia (CMLoc 4.8 [12.735 K.]); if that is the same man, and he did not
simply travel there, he may have been a native (note Arkhigene ̄s’ origin from Apameia).
Scholars assume Philippos shared Arkhigene ̄s’ medico-philosophical orientation; and
indeed, Gale ̄n’s several references imply Philippos’ Pneumaticism. Gale ̄n states that
“the group around Philippos and Arkhigene ̄s studied the question of repletion” (Plenit.
7.530 K.), which might be linked to the Pneumaticist theory of pneuma and stoikheia: cf.
A  A. Moreover, their group worked on katokhe ̄ (catalepsy: Gale ̄n, In
Hipp. Epid. III [17A.640 K.]), resulting from an obstruction of physiological organs accord-
ing to Pneumaticist theory (the reading attributing such a theory to Philippos in C
A, Acute 2.57 [CML 6.1.1, p. 166] is a Renaissance paradiorthosis). Although
Kudlien (1968: 1099) distinguishes the P  E who wrote on marasmos, his theo-
ries, emphasizing the diagnostic role of pulse, are not inconsistent with Pneumaticism.
He defined senescence as a bodily state that does not resemble “burning coal,” but is
already like “ashes of a fading fire” (Gale ̄n, Caus. Puls. 4 [9.176–177 K.], Praesag. Puls. 1
[9.246–247 K.], and MM 7 [10.495 K.]); Gale ̄n criticizes the author’s recommendation to
avoid bathing (Marasmos 6 [7.690 K.]; also MM 10 [10.706–707, 722 K.]).


PHILIPPOS (OF RHE ̄GION?) XE ̄RO S
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