Medicina nei Secoli: Journal of History of Medicine and Medical Humanities

Alcmaeon of Croton between Medicine and Philosophy

Marco Cilione, Francesca Gambetti — Mon, 29 Dec 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Seed from the brain (Alcmaeon of Croton 24 A 13 D-K1) Sexual and cognitive development from childhood to adolescence in Greek and Roman antiquity

Marco Cilione — Mon, 29 Dec 2025 00:00:00 +0000

The conceptualization of the body shared by natural philosophers, physicians, and lawmakers gave rise to a series of significant and enduring socio-political consequences. Humoral physiology established the foundational assumptions of women’s biological inferiority relative to the male body model, delineating the spaces of marginalization in relation to the attainment or loss of those levels of completeness deemed necessary to fulfill one’s social duties according to sex and age. Likewise, the reflection on the encephalo-myelogenic origin of seed, attributed to Alcmaeon of Croton, and its connection to the division of human life into hebdomads appears to have deeply influenced juridical formalization of socio-political roles based on biological criteria. This contribution thus seeks to bring together three interconnected issues within a unified framework: spermatogenesis as a marker of sexual and intellectual maturation; the hebdomadal division of life; and the transition from childhood to adolescence in both Greek and Roman law.

Knowledge and Perceptions between Alcmaeon and Parmenides

Francesca Gambetti — Mon, 29 Dec 2025 00:00:00 +0000

The aim of this paper is to examine Alcmaeon and Parmenides’ doctrines of knowledge, trying to highlight parallels and differences, eventual influences of the physician from Croton upon the physiologos from Elea. I will try to argue that Parmenides – in deconstructing ancient cosmogonies and in his quest for an explanation of all that exists – may have used Alcmaeon’s new findings on perceptions, which provided him with a strong epistemological set of tools and with a theory of knowledge, capable of validating his work. Both represent an important turning point in the criticism of mythical thinking and the development of a rational investigation of the human body and nature. Some scholars have tried to downplay his role, but the attention that ancient doxography paid to Alcmaeon is a sign of how innovative his research was considered to be, and how we too should take it into account, not only with respect to medicine but also to philosophy.

Again on fragment 4 D.-K. Alcmaeon and Galen compared

Sabrina Grimaudo — Mon, 29 Dec 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Going over the main bibliography on the text (which has not failed to arouse interest even in recent times), a comparison is made between the famous fragment 4 D.-K. by Alcmaeon, containing the oldest definition of health and disease in terms of ἰσονομία and μοναρχία τῶν δυνάμεων, and a passage from De sanitate tuenda by Galen, also relating to the definition of those concepts.

New Remarks on the Relationship Between Alcmaeon and the Egyptian Medical Tradition: A Comparative Analysis of Theophrastus' De Sensibus Chapters 25-26 and Column 56 of the Shabaka Stone (Bm Ea 498)

Francesco Lopez — Mon, 29 Dec 2025 00:00:00 +0000

A comparative analysis of column 56 of the Shabaka Stone (BM EA 498), also known as Memphite Theology (747-656 BC), and the testimonium of Theophrastus' De Sensibus chap. 25-26 (4th century BC) allows us to gain valuable insights into the knowledge heritage that Alcmaeon probably drew upon - either directly or indirectly - as he conducted his research on sense-perceptions and channels/poroi in 5th-century BC Croton. This comparison with Egyptian medical tradition enables us to reassess the vexata quaestio regarding the origins of anatomical dissection of the human body in Greece and to place Alcmaeon's theories in a more interconnected historical context.

Dualism in Alcmaeon of Croton: some considerations

Lorenzo Perilli — Mon, 29 Dec 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Starting from the evidence that has come down to us, and after emphasising how a sort of dualistic conception can be identified in every aspect of the doctrines attributed to Alcmaeon, this article aims to reflect on the concept of dualism itself and its interpretation and application in ancient Greek thought, in order to highlight how Alcmaeon’s conception cannot be understood by referring exclusively to Pythagorean philosophy or its Aristotelian interpretation, but is the mirror of an archaic yet enduring mentality, rooted in the relationship that the subject establishes with his surroundings. I will therefore examine the Greek conception of number, reflecting also on the existence and meaning of the grammatical category of the dual, which in many ancient languages – including, in addition to Greek, Sanskrit and Old Slavonic – distinguishes the set of two from the singular and the plural; I will also focus on the concept of the relationship between two quantities or entities as fundamental to the understanding of reality. I will also mention Jung’s interpretation of the idea of duality and the role of the binary system in representing the world in the digital environment.

From the Polis to the Body Alcmaeon’s ἰσονομία and the notion of ἁρμονία across Philolaus, Archytas, and Aristoxenus

Antonietta Provenza — Mon, 29 Dec 2025 00:00:00 +0000

The article examines the work of Alcmaeon of Croton in relation to medicine, politics, and Pre-Socratic philosophy. The analysis focuses on fragment (24 B 4 DK) in which health is defined as ἰσονομία of the δυνάμεις, in opposition to disease (μονάρχια / μοναρχία). Starting from these doctrines attributed to him, the paper aims to show, on the one hand, how Alcmaeon - seen in the light of a τέχνη πολιτική conceived as care of the community - takes a position with respect to the political events of Croton and the role played in them by the Pythagoreans; and, on the other, how, through Philolaus and Archytas, the latter a disciple of the former, those aspects of Alcmaeon’s reflection connected with αἴσθησις may have influenced the Pythagorean-Peripatetic Aristoxenus of Tarentum, the earliest music theorist whose writings survive, who regarded αἴσθησις as the most important vehicle for understanding music. Thus Alcmaeon’s position within the Pythagorean milieu of Croton would find a tentative definition, and, within the framework of his relationship with the Pythagoreans, further confirmation would be offered to the significant influence of the Magno-Greek component in the development of Aristoxenian doctrines.

From Empirical Observations to Learned Curiosities: Alcmaeon’s Theory of Goat Respiration

Theofanis Tsiampokalos — Mon, 29 Dec 2025 00:00:00 +0000

This paper examines the transmission and transformation of a zoological theory attributed to Alcmaeon of Croton, who, according to Aristotle, claimed that goats breathe through their ears. Although Aristotle refuted this theory, it persisted for centuries, appearing in the works of Varro, Pliny the Elder, Hippolytus of Rome, and Aelian. Varro and Pliny identified the Hellenistic paradoxographer Archelaus of Chersonesus as their immediate source, while Pliny and Aelian also attributed the theory to herdsmen – and, in Aelian’s case, to shepherds. Taking as a starting point Aristotle’s account, which identifies Alcmaeon as the ultimate source of this theory, the paper analyses these later testimonies and their contexts, in order to illuminate the dynamic processes of knowledge transmission in antiquity. It argues that the survival of Alcmaeon’s theory, despite its refutation, reflects both the resilience of peculiar ideas and the adaptability of ancient scholarly traditions, which integrated physiological theories into diverse epistemological frameworks.

Congetturare in un mondo pieno di segni L’attualità della distinzione tra semeîon (segno debole) e tekmḗrion (segno necessario) e del “congetturare” di Alcmeone per una teoria inferenziale della semiotica e della medicina contemporanee

Andrea Velardi — Mon, 29 Dec 2025 00:00:00 +0000

The aim of the paper is to analyze the interplay between medicine and semiotics in the ancient age and the deep relationship of the distinction between semeîon and tekmḗrion, formalized in Aristotle’s theory of syllogism, with the Peirce and Eco’s theory of the sign as abductive inference. In that framework I propose a new interpretation of Alcmaeon’s “conjecturing” (tekmairesthai) as holistic inference open to the interconnectedness of the signs and to the different degrees of probative strength that they assume according to the narrative text which links the different types of modes of sign production and the four types of abduction classified by Eco. From that perspective I will provide some basis for a possible integration of the inferential theory of the sign and the contemporary medical diagnostics.

Entheastiká. Medical accounts of religious madness in the Anonymus Parisinus

Sandro Passavanti — Mon, 29 Dec 2025 00:00:00 +0000

This article examines the twentieth chapter (Perì entheastikōn) of the 1st-century AD medical treatise Anonymus Parisinus, devoted to a chronic mental disorder whose sufferers believe themselves under divine influence and act on false opinions about the gods. After outlining the nosological context of the work, it analyses the doxographical section reporting the aetiological views of Praxagoras of Cos and a retrospectively constructed “Hippocratic” doctrine. Praxagoras situates the pathology in the heart and aorta, linking it to pneumatic disturbances comparable to those characteristic of epilepsy, mania, and melancholy, and offering a possible pathophysiological correlate of the Peripatetic doctrine of enthousiasmós; the “Hippocratic” view anachronistically frames the disease as a form of melancholy affecting the superstitious, a perspective also paralleled in Erotian’s Hippocratic Lexicon. The paper then examines the author’s description of symptoms – self-mutilation, frenzied movement, collapse in sacred spaces – closely associated with Metroac cult practices, and his distinctive therapeutic programme. This combines dietary measures, avoidance of ritual stimuli, and verbal admonition to correct false beliefs, supported by respected authority figures. The study situates Perì entheastikōn within broader Greco-Roman conceptions of ‘religious madness’ and highlights its pragmatic, practice-oriented approach to treatment.

Giambattista Messedaglia (1810-1845) : The History and Literary Legacy of a Petrifier

Sofia Bollini , Alberto Zanatta — Mon, 29 Dec 2025 00:00:00 +0000

This study reconstructs the biography and restores the scientific and literary significance of Giambattista Messedaglia (1810–1845), an anatomist from Verona known for his ability to petrify human and animal tissues. Through the analysis of archival and literary sources, the article explores how Messedaglia, inspired by the work of Girolamo Segato, developed an innovative method for preserving tissues, which he presented to the scientific community of Verona. Despite partial recognition of his work, Messedaglia’s technique did not achieve the desired success due to the lack of publicly available technical details and his untimely death. The article also examines Messedaglia's influence on contemporary literature, highlighting how poets and writers interpreted petrification as a triumph of human ingenuity over death. Finally, the study discusses the cultural significance of petrification within the context of the 19th century, emphasizing the different literary and scientific interpretations of this practice.

The apology for bloodletting in the portrait of an eighteenth-century Florentine surgeon

Donatella Lippi , Costanza Cucci, Elisa Zucchini, Marcello Picollo — Mon, 29 Dec 2025 00:00:00 +0000

This paper analyzes the portrait of the 18th-century Florentine surgeon Vincenzo Bachini, kept at the Galileo Museum in Florence. The painting might date back to around 1760-1780 and depicts the Bachini hanging a lancet case in his right hand, alluding to his bloodletting skills. A technical study of the painting has been performed using the non-invasive imaging techniques, Near Infrared (NIR) photography and Vis-NIR hyperspectral imaging (HSI). The size of the lancet case appears as purposely exaggerated in order to draw the viewer’s attention on the bloodletting instrumentations, as if to extol a medical practice on the wane, but still largely trusted. The portrait has been so far unpublished, and the present study is intended as an investigation on the role of bloodletting practice in the age of Enlightenment.