The neurology of aretaeus: Radix pedis neurologia

Abstract

Aretaeus (Aretaios) was a physician born in Cappadocia in about the 2nd century AD, a student of medicine and physician in Alexandria. His works are found in eight books which espoused the physiological and pathological views of the Hippocratic principles derived from the pneumatists and the eclectic schools. Though he has been called the forgotten physician, it has been said that: 'after Hippocrates no single Greek author has equalled Aretaios'. In order to give an indication of his neurological legacy, this paper offers a summary of and quotations from his principal neurological contributions: migraine, vertigo, tetanus, epilepsy, melancholia, strokes and paralysis. One of his most important discoveries was the notion that the pyramidal tract decussates.