A. Scholars dispute the degree to which the introduction to He ̄ro ̄n’s Pneumatics,
which evidently borrows a proof from Strato ̄n, is evidence for Strato ̄n’s view.
He wrote a number of works on medical topics, and seems to have offered a naturalistic
account of the soul. In this, he may have been following new medical theories that ascribed
the functions of the soul to a substance, pneuma, carried in passageways throughout the
body. Although Aristotle ascribes some functions to pneuma, it was assigned a greater role
in the theories of the Hellenistic doctors who took the newly discovered nervous system to
be the pathway for perception and motor functions. Strato ̄n located the centre of the soul’s
activity between the eyebrows, rejecting Aristotle’s view that the heart is the center. He
regarded rationality as a kind of causal change, and hence apparently part of the natural
world; he offered lists of objections to P’s arguments for the immortality of the soul. A
report by G may refer to Strato ̄n of Lampsakos: it concerns a figure who held that
both male and female parents produce seed, as indeed new medical discoveries would
suggest.
Scholars have long speculated that works in the Aristotelian corpus thought not to be by
Aristotle may be written by Strato ̄n. In some cases, like Meteorologica Book 4, the arguments
against attributing these to Aristotle are now generally rejected. His name is still often
mentioned in connection with the A M, but this is only specula-
tion. He does seem to have had an interest in empirical investigations. His best known
contributions to natural philosophy include attempts to prove the downward acceleration of
falling bodies by the greater impact of bodies dropped from higher points, and by the
breaking up of a continuous stream of water as it falls further. Other scientific contributions
include a theory of the formation of seas by analogy to rivers, and an account of sound as
impact transmitted through air.
Ed.: H.B. Gottschalk, “Strato of Lampsacus: Some Texts,” Proceedings of the Leeds Philosophical and
Literary Society 9 (1965) 95–182; F. Wehrli, Straton von Lampsakos 2nd ed. (1969); R.W. Sharples, ed. of
fragments, RUSCH (forthcoming).
M. Gatzemeier, Die Naturphilosophie des Straton von Lampsakos: Zur Geschichte des Problems der Bewegung
im Bereich des frühen Peripatos (1970); L. Repici, La natura de l’anima: Saggi su Stratone de Lampsaco (1988);
D.J. Furley, “Strato’s Theory of Void,” in Cosmic Problems: Essays on Greek and Roman Philosophy of Nature
(1989) 149–160; NDSB 6.540, Sylvia Berryman.
Sylvia Berryman
Stratonikos (Veterin.) (before ca 400 CE)
Quoted by H: on fever, Hippiatrica Berolinensia 1.18; sore throat, Hippiatrica
Berolinensia 19.4; cholera, Hippiatrica Parisina 642 = Hippiatrica Berolinensia 75.5; and shrew-
mouse bites, Hippiatrica Parisina 705 = Hippiatrica Berolinensia 87.2. Hierokle ̄s may have used
Stratonikos in a compilation related to that of C D U.
McCabe (2007) 227, 234.
Anne McCabe
Stratonikos of Pergamon (110 – 150 CE)
Student of both Q and S, possessed of a good bedside manner, taught
G in Pergamon; leaving nothing in writing, he advanced novel interpretations of the
H C, E, according to Gale ̄n, in Hipp. Epid. VI (CMG 5.10.2.2,
STRATONIKOS (VETERIN.)