DCLP Transcription [xml]
Introduction
Medical treatise about phlebotomy in the question-and-answer format (PSI inv. 3783, formerly inv. CNR 85+86). The text is made up of several fragments, the bigger of which contains column ii, almost completely preserved. It contains an articulated treatise on phlebotomy in the format of questions and answers: the questions are marked by special S-shaped signs at the end of the corresponding lines, the answers are thick and condensed, but elaborated and precise, so that the impression is that we are not dealing with a simple questionnaire for school use, but with a true treatise in the erotapokrisis form. Medical terminology finds parallels in the Methodist medical school and in P.Turner 14, another catechism. For an ample overview of the theory and the practice of ancient phlebotomy see Andorlini 1997, which is also the preliminary editio princeps of the papyrus.
(This papyrus has been digitally edited by Nicola Reggiani as part of the Project "DIGMEDTEXT - Online Humanities Scholarship: A Digital Medical Library based on Ancient Texts" (ERC-AdG-2013, Grant Agreement no. 339828) funded by the European Research Council at the University of Parma (Principal Investigator: Prof. Isabella Andorlini). The digital edition is mostly based on the previous edition (Andorlini 1997))
column i
column ii
[καὶ ἐπι]σφαλῶς νοσούντας; vac. ? ἀπὸ ((line-filler))
τί̣ν̣ω̣ν δεῖ τόπων φλεβοτομεῖν; vac. ? ((line-filler))
ἀπὸ τῶν ἀπαθ̣ῶν μὲν ἐὰν πρωτοπα-
5θῇ τις τόπος, ἀπ’ ἀγκῶνος δὲ ἐὰν ὅλον
νοσῇ τὸ σῶμα, διὰ τὸ ἔκδηλα εἶναι̣ τὰ
ἐν αὐτῷ ἀγγεῖα, μάλιστα δὲ τὰ ἀπ[ὸ] ε̣ὐ̣ω-
νύμου· ταχεως γὰρ κολλᾶται ἡ διαί̣[ρ]ε̣σ̣ις
διὰ τὸ ὀλ̣[ι]γοκείνητον(*) α̣ὐ̣τὸν εἶναι κἂν
10δυσχέρεια̣ ἐ̣π̣α̣κολουθήσῃ. η̣τ̣ ̣ν̣ ((line-filler))
ο̣χ̣λ̣ή̣σει(*) τὸν πάσχοντα ἤ τε οὐδ̣ὲ̣ μ̣ᾶλ-
λ̣ον ἐν τῷδε κρύβε̣ται, ο̣ὐ̣ δι̣α̣ ̣ ̣ ̣ ̣(*) ἀ̣π̣ὸ̣
[τ]ῶ̣ν̣ πασ̣χ̣όντων̣ τόπων, ἀλλὰ ἀπὸ τῶν ἀπα-
θῶν πο ̣ ̣(*) μ̣ε̣τὰ τ̣ὴν φλεβοτομία̣ν̣. ἤ τ̣ε̣ ((line-filler))
15διὰ τὸ μὴ πᾶσιν βο̣η̣[θ]ε̣ῖ̣σθαι̣ ω ̣σ̣τ̣ε̣ ̣ ̣ ̣ο ̣ ((line-filler))
των παθ̣ῶ̣ν̣ τὸ αἷμα̣; ἀλλ’ ἵνα μήτε ὑπὸ
τῆ̣ς̣ σφίγξεως τῶν τόπων ἢ τῆς κυπ-
τώσεως χάριν τοῦ̣ ἀγγεί̣ου παραλαμβά-
νομεν μή̣[τ]ε̣ ὑπὸ τῆς παρόδου τοῦ
20αἷματος· ? characters untranscribed
19 lines untranscribed
40? characters untranscribed vac. ? τίς vac. ? ((line-filler))
καιρὸς φλεβοτομίας; vac. ? ἡ ἐπίδοσις μὲν
τοῦ ὅλου πάθους, ἄνεσις δὲ τοῦ κατὰ μέ-
ρος παροξυσμοῦ ἐντὸς τῆς πρώτης δια-
τρίτου. vac. ? τί μέτρον φλεβοτομίας; vac. ? ((line-filler))
——
45ἡ σύμμετρος ἀφαίρεσις τοῦ σώματος ἣν ἐπι-
γνωσόμεθα ? characters untranscribed
? lines untranscribed
Apparatus
Notes
- a.ii.1-2.
The notion of στέγνωσις (cf. also ll. 15-16 below) "constriction", distinguishing a particular pathological state, is a basic concept of the Methodist medical school (on which see A.E. Hanson, M. Green, Soranus Ephesius Methodicorum Princeps, ANRW II 37.2, 968-1075): cf. e.g. Cael.Aur. Cel.pass. I 70 Bendz; also Sor. Gyn. I 29; P.Oxy. LII 3654, fr. 6, 2; P.Turner 14, 11-12.
- a.ii.4-7.
The opportunity of operating from the parts not yet affected by the disease is stated already by Hp. Nat.hom. 11,6, pp. 196-7 Jouanna).
- a.ii.9.
ὀλιγοκείνητον ("moving little"): it is the first attestation of this compound word, which later appears only in Joannes Philoponus (In Arist. cat. 13,1, p. 166, 5-9) and Stobaeus (II 8,41,13).
- a.ii.7-10.
The opportunity of operating from the left arm finds a parallel in a passage by Soranus (Gyn. III 11,1-2) where references to the opportunity of
- a.ii.40-43.
The moments of increase (ἐπίδοσις) and decline (ἄνεσις) are two of the crucial stages of the nosological progress accordin to the Methodists: cf. Herod.med. in P.Tebt. II 272, 4; Id. ap. Orib. Coll. VII 8,1. The perfect καιρὸς φλεβοτομίας is when the paroxism starts declining according to Orib. Syn. I 11,1 and Herod.med. ap. Orib. Coll. VII 8.
- ii.a.43-44.
The therapeutical cycle of three days (διάτριτος) is theorized by the Methodist school: see Cael.Aur. Cel.pass. I 72 and 74.
- ii.a.45-46.
The correct quantity of blood to be extracted has to correspond to the condition of the body: cf. e.g. Orib. Coll. VII 4,3. Galen (Ven. sect. adv. Eras. XI 174,9-13 K.) establishes a measure of three kotylai (i.e. less than one litre of blood) and criticises excessive extractions.
- 1.
Column iii contains reference to the use of purifying and relaxing means: it probably dealt with a support therapy consisting, among other things, of ointments with oil or a mix of oil and water (ὑδρέλαιον), as well as of the application of διακλύσματα and κλυστῆρες.