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Marcellus Empiricus: Carmen de Medicina

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This short hexameter poem accompanies the De Medicamentis of Marcellus, the high official of the Theodosian court who compiled that collection of remedies. It names the legendary founders of medicine, Apollo, Chiron, Podalirius and Machaon, Asclepius, who came to Rome in the form of a serpent, and Hippocrates of Cos, and declares that the book gathers healing knowledge from the different medical schools.

The poem is a learned verse epilogue that sets Marcellus’s practical compilation within the noble lineage of Greek medicine. It shows the persistence of classical myth and poetic craft among the Christian aristocracy of Gaul around 400, and it is a modest example of didactic verse on a technical subject.

About this edition. The Latin text comes from Musisque Deoque, the digital archive of Latin poetry (edition: E. Lichtenahn, 1968), licensed CC BY-SA. Every word has been analyzed with LatinCy, a neural language model for Latin — click or tap any word for its dictionary form, part of speech, and complete morphology, together with the full entry from Lewis & Short’s A Latin Dictionary.

Latin · Science & Medicine
Carmen de Medicina
Marcellus Empiricus · every word parsed
1
Quod natum Phoebus docuit, quod Chiro(==CHIRO+_) Achillem,
Quod didicere olim Podalirius atque Machaon
A genitore suo, qui quondam uersus in anguem
Templa Palatinae subiit sublimia Romae:
5
Quod Cous docuit senior quodque Abdera suasit,
Quod logos aut methodos simplexque empirica pangit:
Hoc liber iste tenet diuerso e dogmate sumptum.
Namque salutiferas disponit pagina curas.
Istic repperies per nomina perque medellas
10
Descriptas species et pondera mensurarum
Congrua, quae sapiens sumes moderamine certo.
Ne fallare, uide, neu quae sunt parta saluti
Uertat in exitium non sollers cura medentis.
Sume igitur medicos pro tempore proque labore
15
Aetatisque habitu summa ratione paratos,
Gramine seu malis aegro praestare medellam
Carmine seu potius: namque est res certa saluti
Carmen ab occultis tribuens miracula uerbis.
Quae curis hominum physicorum inuenta pararunt,
20
Quaeque suis natura bonis terraque marique
Edidit, illa suis altrix simul atque creatrix
Fetibus omnigenis, quos parturit; ergo salubres
Suggerit impensas ponto et tellure creatas,
Angue, fera, pecude et fruge, alite, murice, pisce,
25
Lacte, mero, pomis, lymphis, sale, melle et oliuo,
Sucis, unguinibus, taedis, pice, sulfure, cera,
Polline, farre, fabis, lino, scobe, uellere, cornu,
Bacis et balanis, lignis, carbone, fauilla,
Floribus et uariis herbis, holere atque metallis,
30
Sandyce et creta, spimitho, pumice, gypso,
Cadmia, chalciti, chalcantho, chalcecamino,
Cassitero molli, lepide, cypro atque atramento.
Prome etiam (seu tunde prius seu contere gyro),
Quod uiride hortus habet, uel quod carnaria siccum,
35
Alia serpullumque herbas thymbramque salubrem
Brassicaque et rafanos ac longis intiba fibris
Et mentam et senapi coriandrum prototomumque
Erucam atque apium, maluam betamque salubrem
Rutam et nasturcum(==NASTURCUM_) et amara absinthia misce
40
Puleiumque potens nec non et lene cyminum.
Palmula nec desint Edymes nec pruna Damasci,
Quae cum multiplici contriris orbe terendo,
In patinis excocta dabis aut grandibus ollis,
Uerum adoperta coques, ne fumida iura saporem
45
Corruptum reddant, quae mox fastidiat aeger.
Adde et aromaticas species, quas mittit Eous,
Uel quae Iudaicis flagrant bene condita capsis,
Tus, costum, folium, myrram, storacem, crocomagma,
Aspalathum, gallam, elleborum nigrumque bitumen
50
Et nardum et casias et amoma et cinnama rara,
Balsama, peucedanum, spicam, crocum atque bidellam,
Irim, castoreum, scillam, opium, panaceam,
Resinam, lepidum, euforbium(==E.UFORBIUM), git atque pyrethrum
Zingiber et calidum, mordax piper, et laser algens,
55
Agaricum(==AGARICUM_), asarumque potens, aloen, aconitum,
Galbana, sandaracam, samsucum, sporon, alumen,
Acaciam, propolin(==PRO-PO–LI+N), adarcen, cnicon, acanthum,
Andrachnen, acoron, opopanaca, pompholygemque,
Cyperum, ladanum, sagapenon(==SA+GA+PE–NO–N) et tragacanthon
60
Scammoniam, +cypen+, malabathron, ammoniacon,
Denique repperies istic, quod lucis in ortu
Indus Arabs Serus Perses diuesque Sabaeus
Uicino sub sole legunt, quod praebet Orontes,
Eximium ignoto mittit quod Nilus ab ortu,
65
Decerptum foliis, ramo, cute, cortice, uirga,
Quodque ab Idumaeis uectum seplasia uendunt
Et quidquid confert medicis Lagea cataplu.
Haec quicumque leges, poteris discernere tecum,
Agnoscenda magis siue exercenda rearis.
70
Quisque tamen nostrum hoc studium dignabere, quaeso
Praestes iudicium purum mentemque benignam.
Sic tua perpetuo uegetentur membra uigore
Et peragas placidam per multa decennia uitam.
Sic non incuses ualidam placidamque senectam
75
Nec tibi sit medicis opus umquam nec tibi casus
Aut morbus pariant ullum quandoque dolorem,
Sed procul a curis et sano corpore uiuas,
Quotque hic sunt uersus, tot agant tua tempora Ianos.
Click or tap any word for its parse and dictionary entry.
Text: Perseus Digital Library, licensed CC BY-SA. Dictionary: Lewis & Short (Perseus, CC BY-SA). Morphology: LatinCy — machine parsing, corrected against the AGDT & PROIEL treebanks and Morpheus.
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