Food and diet in late antiquity: a translation of Books 1 and 4 of Oribasius' 'Medical compilations', with an introduction and commentary
Abstract
The opinion of W. H. S. Jones that Oribasius is 'an author
that nobody wishes to read through' is probably coincident
with the view of most Classicists who have ever read the
Medical Compilations to judge from the almost total neglect
Oribasius has suffered. Translations of the whole work
have appeared only in Latin and French.
This thesis is an attempt to redress this injustice,
and the commentary is designed to indicate Oribasius'
source for each quotation or paraphrase, assess the accuracy
and comprehensibility of the contents, and discover the
reasons behind the recommendations and rejections of certain
cakes, breads, fruits, and vegetables, the emphasis
being on ancient food and diet rather than medicine and
philosophy. Books 1 and 4 are linked by their common
themes of grains and breads, and thus have been chosen for
examination. With the absence of any modern work on ancient
Greek cuisine, and with the fullest accounts of Roman cooking
often lacking in detail or accuracy, particular care
has been taken to supply as full a set of references as
possible which will perhaps prove useful for further study.
The text on which the commentary is based is that prepared
with great thoroughness and accuracy in 1928 by J. Raeder with
some small changes. The translation, the first into
English, offers no claims at elegance, but is there merely
to assist with the reading of the Greek text. The thesis
ends with both an index listing according to the forms
in which they appear all the words in Books 1 and 4,
with the exception of some common particles, and also
a general index.
Type
Thesis, PhD Doctor of Philosophy
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