The Surgical Instrumentarium of Leon Iatrosophistes

Abstract

This study examines the surgical operations in the ninth century treatise Synopsis of the Medical Art authored by Leon latrosophistes, with particul­ar attention to the instruments required. It is argued here on the basis of this and other relevant Byzantine texts that the surgeons of the Middle and Late Byzantine Periods had available most, if not all, of the instruments em­ployed in the Roman Empire and the Early Byzantine Period. Based on these findings, it is also maintained that the state of the surgical art throughout Byzantine times remained more or less at the same level of expertise.