On the Camels of the Aorsi: Dioscorides and the Medicine Trade of the  Bosporan Kingdom. Part I. The Soldier’s Life of Dioscorides

We know only a little about the life of Dioscorides, a medical botanist who wrote in the first century AD or so. His reference to his “soldier’s life” has been important in reconstructions of his activities, often linked with campaigns in Armenia under Nero. However, a “soldier’s life” was a common enough metaphor in the first century AD for a life of hard work, which need have no connection at all to military service. His work shows scant knowledge of the Caucasus. The evidence for his dates makes it likely that he wrote after AD 77, when Pliny the Elder completed his Natural History, in which Dioscorides’ important work is not mentioned. Therefore, his remarks on the Bosporan Kingdom were made after AD 77.

Keywords

Dioscorides, ancient pharmacology, ancient botany, medicine, Corbulo, Ephesus, Laecanius

Publication date

28.06.2021

Number of characters

40413

Cite

GOST	Braund D. On the Camels of the Aorsi: Dioscorides and the Medicine Trade of the Bosporan Kingdom. Part I. The “Soldier’s Life” of Dioscorides // Vestnik drevnei istorii – 2021. – V. 81. – Issue 2 C. 394-407 [Electronic resource]. URL: http://ras.jes.su/vdi/s032103910014829-4-1-en (circulation date: 25.04.2024). DOI: 10.31857/S032103910014829-4
MLA	Braund, David "On the Camels of the Aorsi: Dioscorides and the Medicine Trade of the Bosporan Kingdom. Part I. The “Soldier’s Life” of Dioscorides." Vestnik drevnei istorii 81.2 (2021):394-407. DOI: 10.31857/S032103910014829-4
APA	Braund D. (2021). On the Camels of the Aorsi: Dioscorides and the Medicine Trade of the Bosporan Kingdom. Part I. The “Soldier’s Life” of Dioscorides. Vestnik drevnei istorii 81(2), pp.394-407 DOI: 10.31857/S032103910014829-4

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