The Controversy on the Purgative Medicines in Pseudogalenic de Catharticis: a Latin Commentary on Greek Medical Doctrine

Abstract

In this article we analyze the influence of Galenic doctrine on the properties and use of purgative medicines in the De catharticis, a pseudo-Galenic work written in Latin in late antiquity. It is preserved in manuscripts from the 9th century onwards, but contains formal elements of the didactic commentaries of late antiquity.