Theory and Praxis

Abstract

When it comes to the pharmacology of Galen of Pergamon (129–ca. 216/17 CE), we first think of his extensive treatise On the Capacities of Simple Drugs and his collections of recipes in On the Composition of Drugs or On Antidotes. In these treatises, however, the physician takes a back seat to the communication of factual knowledge or theoretical digressions. In his main therapeutic work, Method of Medicine, a different, personal side of pharmacotherapy is revealed, which is examined in this article: which medicinal plants does Galen personally prefer, which ones does he know from his own experience in nature? In order to gain an overview, a statistical analysis is first carried out, which compares the frequencies of medicinal plants named in the entire corpus with those of his Method. Subsequently, some key passages of the work are analyzed, which give a good impression of Galen’s abilities as a precise observer of nature and patient-oriented therapist. Also, by means of cross-references interspersed in these works, Galen succeeds in bringing theoretical and practical aspects of pharmacology into a balanced relationship.