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Julianus

Julian & Oribasius

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Greetings all,

 

This is my first post on the forum although I have been lurking in the shadows for some time and just haven't got round to posting until now.

 

I am trying to find some primary sources that mention the relationship between the Emperor Julian and the physician Oribasius, specifically regarding the claim that Oribasius was at Julian's deathbed on the Persian Campaign.

 

Does anyone know of specific passages from primary sources that mention Oribasius by name in this context?

 

Thanks.

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Oribasius seems to be sadly obscure, and his collated work is only a partial survival. I also would be keen to have any references and links to any textual work.My own interest is in his apparent role as the collater and presever of texts extant in the Roman world.

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Oribasius seems to be sadly obscure, and his collated work is only a partial survival. I also would be keen to have any references and links to any textual work.My own interest is in his apparent role as the collater and presever of texts extant in the Roman world.

 

I guess you have in mind Gore Vidal's novel Julian, which, if I remember rightly, is narrated by Oribasius. Am I right, or have I confused something in my memory? In any case, he definitely was Julian's personal physician.

 

Mark Grant has published a partial translation of Oribasius, focusing on the dietary part of his work. Since it's published in Holland (but in English), it might not show up in Amazon etc. but you would find it in some libraries. Grant probably includes a biography in his introduction. Let me see if I have it in my bibliography, surely I have ...

 

Mark Grant, \Dieting for an emperor: a translation of books 1 and 4 of Oribasius' Medical Compilations with an introduction and commentary\. Leiden: Brill, 1997.

 

Also an article he wrote on the subject --

 

Mark Grant, 'Oribasius and medical dietetics or the three Ps' in \Food in antiquity\ ed. J. Wilkins and others (Exeter: Exeter University Press, 1995) pp. 371-9.

 

Any use?

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Thank you yes, (for myself that is , Julianus may need more sources if anyone has them), at least I have a target to aim for now ,the perseus links are minimal.

 

 

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/9004107...ce&n=266239

 

oof! pricey.Secondhand bookshop trawl for this one.

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I seem to have found two sources that mention Oribasius being at Julian's deathbed (John Lydus and Philostorgius) but it is interesting to note that Ammianus and Libanius do not mention him by name and Julian himself does not either (aside from the one letter addressed to him). This could possibly be indicative of their relationship being exaggerated, particularly by Eunapius.

 

Does anyone have any thoughts on this?

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Sorry, no great thoughts. But I'm just reading Gore Vidal's 'Julian' now and would be very interested in any comments people may have.

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Sorry, no great thoughts. But I'm just reading Gore Vidal's 'Julian' now and would be very interested in any comments people may have.

Why not give us a "short" review of it , when youve finished? You could drop it into the Libri thread.

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Sorry, no great thoughts. But I'm just reading Gore Vidal's 'Julian' now and would be very interested in any comments people may have.

 

I've also read it and I've lately finished "The Last Pagan: Julian the Apostate and the Death of the Ancient World" by Adrian Murdoch which was good but not as detailed as I would've wanted it. The author leaves out some details which I thought were very important in the Persian campaign, but otherwise it was quite good. Though in my opinion, I still think Gibbons chapters on Julian are probably the best.

 

In "The Last Pagan", Oribasius is listed as one of those present at Julian

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I seem to have found two sources that mention Oribasius being at Julian's deathbed (John Lydus and Philostorgius) but it is interesting to note that Ammianus and Libanius do not mention him by name and Julian himself does not either (aside from the one letter addressed to him). This could possibly be indicative of their relationship being exaggerated, particularly by Eunapius.

 

Does anyone have any thoughts on this?

 

Sorry, I missed this question at the time. My thought is, a historian wouldn't normally bother to say that the Emperor's physician is at the Emperor's deathbed. A. Where else would he be? B. The Emperor's physician is usually not important enough to be mentioned in historical sources anyway.

 

So, if two sources actually do say it, that's extremely good evidence, the best you could expect.

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Sorry, I missed this question at the time. My thought is, a historian wouldn't normally bother to say that the Emperor's physician is at the Emperor's deathbed. A. Where else would he be? B. The Emperor's physician is usually not important enough to be mentioned in historical sources anyway.

 

So, if two sources actually do say it, that's extremely good evidence, the best you could expect.

 

"Having spared no pains in relating the course of events up to the beginning of the present epoch I had thought it best to steer clear of more familiar matters, partly to escape the dangers which often attend on truth, and partly to avoid carping criticism of any work by those who feel injured by the omission of insignificant detail, such things, for example, as the emperor's table-talk or the reason for the public punishment of soldiers. Such folk also complain if in a wide-ranging geographical description some small strongholds are not mentioned, or if one does not give the names of all who attended the inauguration of the urban prefect, or passes over a number of similar details which are beneath the dignity of history. The task of history is to deal with prominent events, not to deal with trivial minutiae, which it is as hopeless to investigate as to count the small indivisible bodies we Greeks call atoms which fly through empty space."!

 

Ammianus Marcellinus - Res Gestae, Book 26, 1

Edited by Leguleius

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