List of ancient doctors


The following is a list of ancient doctors who were known to have practised medicine in some form before AD 700:
NameTime periodEthnicityKnown for
AbascantusAD 2nd centuryGreekinvented antidote against serpent bites
Adamantius JudaeusAD 5th centuryGreek
Aegimus5th century BCGreekfirst person who wrote a treatise on the pulse
Aemilia HilariaAD 4th centuryRomanfemale physician. Wrote books on gynecology and obstetrics.
Aeschrion of PergamonAD 2nd centuryGreekpharmaceutist
Aëtius of AmidaAD 5th–6th centuryByzantine Greek
AgathinusAD 1st centuryGreekfounder of the Eclectic school of medicine
AlbuciusAD 1st centuryRomanwealthy physician, with annual income of 250,000 sesterces
Alcon AD 1st centuryGreeksurgeon
Alexander of TrallesAD 6th centuryByzantine Greekchief work titled Twelve Books on Medicine
Amenhotep13th century BCEgyptianchief physician of the early 19th Dynasty
Androcydes4th century BCGreek
AndromachusAD 1st centuryGreek
Anonymus LondinensisAD 1st centuryGreekauthor of the physiological work On Medicine
Antipater1st century BCGreekauthor of a work titled On the Soul
AntipaterAD 2nd centuryGreekgave an account of the morbid symptoms that precede death
Antiphanes of DelosAD 2nd centuryGreek"the sole cause of diseases in man was the too great variety of his food"
Antonius CastorAD 1st centuryRomanherbal remedies
AntyllusAD 2nd centuryGreeksurgeon, treatment of aneurysms became standard until the 19th century
Apollonius ClaudiusAD 2nd centuryGreek
Apollonius CypriusAD 1st centuryGreek
Apollonius OrganicusAD 2nd centuryGreek
Apollonius PergamenusAD 3rd centuryGreek
Apollonius PitaneusAD 1st centuryGreek
Apollonius SeniorAD 1st centuryGreek
Apollonius TarensisAD 1st centuryGreek
Apollonius TherAD 1st centuryGreek
Apollonius Glaucus3rd century BCGreekOn Internal Diseases
Apollonios of Kition1st century BCGreek Cypriotmost important work is On Joints
ArchigenesAD 1st–2nd centuryGreekvery high reputation for his professional skill
ArcyonAD 1st centuryGreeksurgeon
AretaeusAD 1st centuryGreekgeneral treatise on diseases
Aristotle4th century BCGreek
Asclepiades PharmacionAD 1st–2nd centuryGreekskill and knowledge of pharmacy
Asclepiades of Bithynia2nd–1st century BCGreekbuilt a new theory of disease
Aspasia the PhysicianAD 4th centuryGreekFemale gynecologist
Athenaeus of AttaliaAD 1st centuryGreekfounder of the Pneumatic school of medicine
Bian Que4th century BCChineseearliest known Chinese physician
Bolus of Mendes3rd century BCGreek
Caelius AurelianusAD 5th centuryRomanmedical translator
Cassius FelixAD 3rd centuryRoman Africanmedical writer
Cato the Elder2nd century BCRoman
Aulus Cornelius CelsusAD 1st centuryRomanDe Medicina
Charaka6th–2nd century BCIndianone of the principal contributors to Ayurveda
Saints Cosmas and DamianAD 3rd centuryArabpersecuted by Diocletian
Criton of HeracleaAD 1st–2nd centuryGreekChief physician of emperor Trajan
Ctesias5th century BCGreek
DamocratesAD 1st centuryGreekwrote pharmaceutical works in Greek iambic verse
Demetrius of Apamea2nd century BCGreekstudied sexual organs
Demosthenes PhilalethesAD 1st centuryGreekauthor of the Ophthalmicus, the most influential work of ophthalmology in antiquity
Dexippus of Cos4th century BCGreekpupil of Hippocrates
Dieuches4th century BCGreekDogmatic school of medicine
Diocles of Carystus4th century BCGreekpractical medicine, especially diet and nutrition
Saint DiomedesAD 3rd centuryGreekarrested by Diocletian
Pedanius DioscoridesAD 1st centuryGreekDe Materia Medica
Dong FengAD 3rd centuryChinese
Erasistratus3rd century BCGreekfounded a school of anatomy in Alexandria
ErotianusAD 1st centuryGreekCollection of Hippocratic Words
Eudemus AD 1st–2nd centuryGreektwo persons, the first the poisoner of Drusus Julius Caesar, the second an acquaintance of Galen
Saint FabiolaAD 4th centuryRomannurse
Gaius Stertinius XenophonAD 1st centuryGreekpersonal physician of emperor Claudius
GalenAD 2nd–3rd centuryGreekdeveloper of anatomy, physiology, pathology, pharmacology, and neurology
Ge HongAD 4th centuryChineseoriginator of First Aid in TCM
HeliodorusAD 1st centuryGreekwrote on medical technique
Heraclides of Tarentum2nd century BCGreekphysician of the Empiric school
Herodotus AD 1st–2nd centuryGreekTwo doctors, the first a Pneumaticist, the second an Empiricist
Herophilus3rd century BCGreekdeemed to be the first anatomist
Hicesius1st century BCGreekhead of a medical school established at Smyrna
Hippocrates5th century BCGreek"Father of Medicine", wrote the Hippocratic Corpus
Hua TuoAD 2nd centuryChineseabilities in acupuncture, moxibustion, herbal medicine and medical Daoyin exercises
Huangfu MiAD 3rd centuryChinesecompiled the Canon of Acupuncture and Moxibustion
Ji BenAD 3rd centuryChinesephysician who started a failed rebellion
Irynachet22nd century BCEgyptiansenior physician of the great house
Jivaka Komarabhacca5th century BCIndianpersonal physician of King Bimbisara and Gautama Buddha
Leonidas AD 2nd–3rd centuryGreeksurgical writer, provided the first detailed description of a mastectomy
LeopardaAD 4th centuryGreekfemale gynecologist
Madhava-kara8th century BCIndianlisted diseases along with their causes, symptoms, and complications
Marcellus EmpiricusAD 4th–5th centuryRomanauthor of pharmacological compendium De medicamentis
Marcellus of SideAD 2nd centuryGreekwrote a long medical poem
Quintus Gargilius MartialisAD 3rd centuryRomanwriter on horticulture, botany and medicine
Meges of Sidon1st century BCGreek/Romansurgeon
MenemachusAD 2nd centuryGreekMethodic school of medicine
Menodotus of NicomediaAD 2nd centuryGreekEmpiricist
MetrodoraAD 4th centuryGreekfemale gynecologist, author of On the Diseases and Cures of Women.
Merit-Ptah27th century BCEgyptianearly female physician
Mnesitheus4th century BCGreekclassification of diseases
Sextius Niger1st century BCRomanpharmacology
OribasiusAD 4th centuryGreekmedical writer and person physician of Julian the Apostate
Paccius AntiochusAD 1st centuryRomanwealthy commercial physician
Palladius AD 6th centuryGreekprofessor of medicine at Alexandria
Paul of AeginaAD 7th centuryByzantine GreekMedical Compendium in Seven Books
Penthu16th century BCEgyptianChief Physician to Akhenaten
Peseshet25th century BCEgyptianone of the earliest known female physicians
Philagrius of EpirusAD 3rd centuryGreekmedical writers
Philinus of Cos3rd century BCGreekreputed founder of the Empiric school
Philistion of Locri4th century BCGreekphysician and writer of medicine
Philonides AD 1st centuryGreekauthor of De Medicina
Philoxenus 3rd century BCGreco-Egyptianwrote several volumes on surgery
PhilumenusAD 3rd centuryGreek
Plistonicus4th–3rd century BCGreekwrote a work on anatomy
Posidonius2nd–1st century BCGreekpolymath
Praxagoras of Cos4th century BCGreektheory of circulation
Aelius PromotusAD 2nd centuryGreekauthor of Medicinalium Formularum Collectio
Qar23rd century BCEgyptianChief Physician during the Sixth dynasty
Raban Gamliel VIAD 5th centuryHebrewdemonstrated a special remedy of the spleen
Rabâ-ša-Marduk13th century BCKassite
Rufus of EphesusAD 1st–2nd centuryGreekwrote treatises on dietetics, pathology, anatomy, and patient care
Serenus SammonicusAD 3rd centuryRomanauthor of a didactic medical poem Liber Medicinalis
Scribonius LargusAD 1st centuryRomancourt physician to the Roman emperor Claudius
Serapion of Alexandria3rd century BCGreekmember of the Empiric school of medicine
Sextius NigerAD 1st centuryRomanauthor of the pharmacologist work On material
Sextus EmpiricusAD 2nd centuryRoman
Sextus PlacitusAD 4th centuryRomanauthor of Libri medicinae Sexti Placiti Papyriensis ex animalibus pecoribus et bestiis vel avibus Concordantiae
Shepseskaf-ankh25th century BCEgyptianChief Physician during the Fifth dynasty
Soranus of EphesusAD 2nd centuryGreekauthor of treatise on gynecology and On Acute and Chronic Diseases
Sushruta7th century BCIndianauthor of the treatise The Compendium of Suśruta
Themison of Laodicea1st century BCGreekfounder of the Methodic school of medicine
Theodorus PriscianusAD 4th centuryRomanauthor of Medical Matters in Four Books
Theophilus ProtospathariusAD 7th centuryGreek
Theophrastus4th–3rd century BCGreek
Thessalus of TrallesAD 1st centuryRomanMethodic school of medicine, court physician of Emperor Nero
Xenocrates of AphrodisiasAD 1st centuryGreekpharmaceutical writer, including On Useful Things from Living Beings
Zhang ZhongjingAD 150—219Chinesemade great contributions to the development of Traditional Chinese Medicine
Zopyrus AD 1st centuryGreekantidote inventor