The Transfer of Medical Episteme in the ‘Encyclopaedic’ Compilations of Late Antiquity (A03)

• Subject Area: History of Science ; Greek and Latin Philology
• Term: from 2012 to 2024
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 191249397

The project examines the textual structures of late antique medical encyclopaedias and the different forms of discourse and strategies of epitomisation they employ. By analysing the textual practices of Oribasius of Pergamon, Aetius of Amida and Paul of Aegina and comparing them with earlier medical collections, such as those of Celsus and Caelius Aurelianus, the project investigates the increasing focus of these encyclopaedias on practical usefulness as well as their integration into the oikonomies of knowledge and power within the Eastern Mediterranean.

• DFG Programme: Collaborative Research Centres
• Subproject of: SFB 980: Episteme in Motion - Transfer of Knowledge from the Ancient World to the Early Modern Period
• Applicant Institution: Freie Universität Berlin
• Co-Applicant Institution: Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin
• Project Head: Professor Dr. Philip van der Eijk