Charmis of Marseilles

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Charmis of Marseilles (fl. 1st century AD) was a famous Roman physician. A native of Massilia, he came to Rome during the reign of Nero. [1] Pliny counted him as a "completely Greek physician". [2] He achieved great fame and fortune in Rome by introducing the practice of cold bathing, which supplanted the astrological medicine of his fellow townsman Crinas. [3] Crinas had in turn supplanted Thessalus, who followed the principles of the Methodic school of medicine. [3]

It is said that he charged a client two hundred thousand sesterces for his services. [1] [4] He also practiced outside Rome, probably in his native Massilia. [2] After some dealings with a "sick man from the provinces" he was fined a million sesterces by Claudius, who also exiled him. [2] [4]

Nonetheless, according to Pliny, he quickly regained a fortune while in exile in Gaul and after his return in Rome. [2] It is thought that Charmis of Marseilles and the "Charmes" mentioned in Galen's On Antidoctes are the same person. [1] [2] Thus, thanks to Galen we known that he also treated women. An antidote used by him had several benefits, including effectiveness for menstrual problems, as well as the pain-free expulsion of the embryo. [2]

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References

  1. 1 2 3 "Charmis". Perseus Project. Retrieved 10 February 2022.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Hemelrijk, Emily; Woolf, Greg (18 July 2013). Women and the Roman City in the Latin West. Brill. p. 276. ISBN   9789004255951 . Retrieved 10 February 2022.
  3. 1 2 Conrad, Lawrence I.; Neve, Michael; Nutton, Vivian; Porter, Roy; Wear, Andrew (1995). The Western Medical Tradition 800 BC to AD 1800. Cambridge University Press. p. 54. ISBN   9780521475648 . Retrieved 10 February 2022.
  4. 1 2 Prioreschi ·, Plinio (1998). Roman Medicine (Mellen history of medicine). Horatius Press. p. 602. ISBN   9781888456035 . Retrieved 10 February 2022.