ABSTRACT
The first dream narrative to include a hospital description is found in the collection of miracles tale recounting the healings performed through the intercession of Saints Cosma's and Damian. These miraculous cures took place at their famous church of the Kosmidion, located just outside the walls of Constantinople. In the mid-fifth century, Paulinus, a close friend and advisor of Emperor Theodosius II, built the Kosmidion Church outside Constantinople and dedicated it to the two saints. Byzantine Christians adopted this practice of sleeping in churches like the Kosmidion from the ancient Greek practice of incubation, consisted of sleeping in one of the famous temples of Asclepius, who then appeared to his suppliants in dreams and recommended some course of treatment. In the tenth century, Symeon the Metaphrast rewrote Sampson's vita in more eloquent Greek as part of his project to collect and rephrase many biographies of famous Byzantine saints.
