directly to the swollen tonsils. “The Augusta always has this compound at hand”: the
“Augusta” is probably Antonia Minor, the mother of Claudius (so perhaps Scribonius had
been a court physician well before the British campaign). He divided and sub-divided the
Compositiones into a traditional “head-to-heel” arrangement, followed by antidotes (163–199),
and finally (200–271) acopa, plasters, poultices, and salves to soothe wounds, especially
employed by surgeons, eventually retailing 271 recipes that use 242 botanicals, 36 minerals,
and 27 medicines derived from animals.
The “Dedicatory Epistle” addressed to Callistus bewails the general lack of standards
among physicians, and Scribonius firmly adheres to a “Hippokratic” ideal, showing that the
pagani often contribute useful remedies in contrast to the professional medici who perform
gratuitous surgeries and pander worthless drugs. Scribonius touts no theoretical constructs,
making the Compositiones a clear, practical manual for the preparation of compounds generally
useful and often effective for common ailments. Quotations by G (e.g. CMLoc, 7.3
[13.67 K.] and CMGen, 6.14 [13.930 K.]) indicate Scribonius had also written tracts on
drugs in Greek, and among later authorities writing in Latin, only M
B borrows goodly chunks of the Compositiones for his own De medicamentis (CML V
[1968]). Recent partial translations of the Compositiones into German and English are
unfortunately marred by a lack of technical expertise.
Ed.: S. Sconocchia, Scribonii Largi Compositiones (1983 [supersedes the edition of Helmreich (1887),
esp. with readings from the Codex Toletanus]); German translation (from the Helmreich ed.):
W. Schonack, Die Rezepte des Scribonius Largus (1913).
F. Rinne, “Das Receptbuch des Scribonius Largus,” Historische Studien aus dem Pharmakologischen
Institute der Kaiserlichen Universität Dorpat 5 (1896) 1–99; RE 2A.1 (1921) 876–880, F.E. Kind;
S. Sconocchia, Per una nuova edizione di Scribonio Largo (1981); Önnerfors (1993) 250–258; S. Sconoc-
chia, “L’opera di Scribonio Largo e la letteratura medica del 1 sec. D.C.,” ANRW 2.37.1 (1993) 843–
922; V. Nutton, “Scribonius Largus, the Unknown Pharmacologist,” Pharmaceutical Historian 25.1
(1995) 5–8.
John Scarborough
S ⇒ T
Sebosus Statius (ca 20 BCE – 60 CE?)
Wrote in Latin a periplous or paradoxography cited by P: distance between Sue ̄ne ̄
and Meroë (6.183), the blessed isles of I distinct from the earlier-known Madeiran
archipelago (6.202), and giant blue worms of the Ganges (9.46: cf. K on the Indus).
NP 11.929 (s.v. Statius #II.5), Kl. Sallmann.
PTK
S ⇒ A
S ⇒ (1) I; (2) P
Secundus (ca 150 – 350 CE?)
Addressee – real or fictitious – of two letters in A’ veterinary treatise. These are
preserved in the Hippiatrika: one on cough (Hippiatrica Parisina 458 = Hippiatrica Berolinensia
SECUNDUS