On a well-known online auction site, an inscribed slab appeared a short time ago. The inscription mentions a slave of the emperor Tiberius, who served in the Palace as medicus ocularius, to assist both the Court staff and, most likely, the emperor and his family. Interesting is the fact that our oculist is called Mantias and therefore he has a “stage name”, that of a famous doctor, a pupil of Erophilus of Alexandria, who made the first studies on the human eye. The place and the context of origin are unknown, but, thanks to the studies of Daniele Manacorda, some hypotheses can be made: the slab in fact is very similar to several inscribed slabs produced in Rome, with all probability in the workshop, which was on the via Appia.
Un medicus ocularius dalla via Appia alla “rete”
Buonopane, Alfredo
2019-01-01
Abstract
On a well-known online auction site, an inscribed slab appeared a short time ago. The inscription mentions a slave of the emperor Tiberius, who served in the Palace as medicus ocularius, to assist both the Court staff and, most likely, the emperor and his family. Interesting is the fact that our oculist is called Mantias and therefore he has a “stage name”, that of a famous doctor, a pupil of Erophilus of Alexandria, who made the first studies on the human eye. The place and the context of origin are unknown, but, thanks to the studies of Daniele Manacorda, some hypotheses can be made: the slab in fact is very similar to several inscribed slabs produced in Rome, with all probability in the workshop, which was on the via Appia.
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