ABSTRACT
Greek medicine in the fourth century BCE is an important and rich field, both from the point of view of the history of medicine and science and also from a more strictly philosophical perspective, with many interesting questions about scientific methodology, intellectual development and interaction. Likewise, Aristotle and Theophrastus continued to be regarded as authorities in medicine by medical writers of later antiquity such as Galen, Soranus, Oribasius and Caelius Aurelianus. A related form of ‘systematization’ of medicine is the attempt at establishing a correct usage of classificatory terminology. Identification, definition, comparison with similar items and corresponding classification–these are clear tendencies in the medicine and life sciences of the fourth century, and it is, again, an obvious inference to relate this to developments in the Academy and the Lyceum. There is more evidence for a strong interest on Mnesitheus’ part in classification and division, notably in the area of dietetics, especially vegetables and fish, which is discussed extensively by Bertier.
