Io ̄anne ̄s Esdras (1100 – 1200 CE)
Credited with an unpublished treatise on urine preserved in a Greek MS (Città del Vaticano,
Reginensis graecus 182, f.4). The text strongly resembles that of the 12th c. Byzantine physi-
cian Io ̄anne ̄s bishop of Prisduana contained in several MSS (Diels 2.55; Zervos in EEBS 10
[1933]: 362–382; see Dimitriadis 1971: 41–42).
Diels 2 (1907) 53; RE 9.2 (1916) 1800 (#32), H. Gossen; Dimitriadis (1971) 43.
Alain Touwaide
Io ̄anne ̄s Iako ̄bos (1200 – 1400 CE?)
Wrote several medical treatises known in Latin MSS; the orthography of the name suggests
a Greek origin, yet no Greek text seems extant. He probably lived after 1000 CE, as none of
his work is known in pre-Salernitan Latin MSS. Furthermore, one of the texts attributed
to him seems to be a Latin translation of compound medicines from Avicenna’s Qanu ̄n
(ca 1000). Similarly, de pestilentia, known in numerous MSS under different titles, might be
related to the plague of 1348. His name is also attached to texts on head wounds, stones,
fever, and female sterility.
Diels 2 (1907) 53; RE 9.2 (1916) 1800 (#33), H. Gossen; Thorndike and Kibre (1963) 45, 521, 1421,
1502, 1693, 1709 ( plague); 227 (formulas from Avicenna); 1028, 1081 (head wounds); 1214 (stones);
1341 (fever); 1506 (female sterility).
Alain Touwaide
Io ̄anne ̄s Iatrosophist (400 – 650 CE?)
Known solely from a treatise on therapeutics apparently contained in only one 15th c.
Byzantine MS (Paris, BNF, graecus 2316). The text closely follows the ancient version of the
therapeutic collection by Io ̄anne ̄s arkhiatros (date unknown) attested through several MSS
and different versions. The therapeutic work of the MS might be attributed to this Io ̄anne ̄s.
In any case, Io ̄anne ̄s’ title (iatrosophiste ̄s), the iatrosophic nature of the work along the lines of
the Alphabetum empiricum ascribed to D and S A, and
the presence of a commentary on the H C A preceding
Io ̄anne ̄s’ text in the same MS, all suggest a late antique date and a location in such a medi-
cal school as Alexandria or Ravenna. Io ̄anne ̄s might be identifiable with other better-known
Io ̄anne ̄s but is probably distinct from I A.
Diels 2 (1907) 54; RE 9.2 (1916) 1800 (#34), H. Gossen; Temkin (1932) 66; Ihm (2002) #283–284; BNP
6 (2005) 897, V. Nutton.
Alain Touwaide
Io ̄anne ̄s Matthaios (ca 1450 CE?)
In one Latin manuscript credited with the work Consilia medicinalia. The ascription might be a
partially truncated form of the name of the late medieval Italian physician Giovanni Matteo
Ferrari de Gradi (d. 1472), who authored similar Consilia and commentaries on Avicenna’s
Qanu ̄n, G’s Tegni (the Latin translation of the Arabic version) and Ra ̄zı ̄’s Nonus Almansoris.
Diels 2 (1907) 54; RE 9.2 (1916) 1800 (#35), H. Gossen.
Alain Touwaide
IO ̄ANNE ̄S MATTHAIOS