The <i>Per&igrave; ouron</i>Treatise of Stephanus of Athens: Byzantine Uroscopy of the 6th-7th Centuries AD

Abstract

In the 6th-7th centuries AD, treatises on uroscopy were written by Theophilus, Magnus and the author of work transmitted through the ms. Parisinus gr. 2260, Stephanus of Athens. These works are the first to deal comprehensively with the problem of urines, uroscopy and their clinical role, so that a philological and content analysis and examination of their reciprocal relationships may clarify an important period in the birth and development of Byzantine uroscopy, which represents a significant epistemological passage in the medieval history of medicine (e.g. the positing of relationships between physical signs and systemic diseases).

Uroscopy in Byzantium (330–1453 AD)

“…2 Aetius' view concerning urine color and smell was not particularly different from that of Galen or Hippocrates, as the latter said that "urine is perfect when it is white." 3 Another eminent doctor of the early Byzantine period was Stephanus of Athens, who taught in Alexandria until he visited Constantinople at the invitation of Emperor Hera- clius (610 -641 AD). Like his predecessors he also considered uroscopy part and parcel of the diagnostic method.…”

“…The interesting element and the innovation of Stephanus' treatise is that he proposed 2 hues/shades for the 4 remaining colors, a downgrading and upgrading also done by Ioanni Actuarius almost 7 centuries later, perhaps copying Stephanus' work. 3 Almost a century later in his Notes About Urine, Paulus Aegineta described white urine with a smooth and soft texture as an ideal characteristic, and indicative of good health or a good prognosis. Paulus also considered nebulae and suspensions important, and embracing the Hippocratic practice in his writings he compared pathological urine with that of healthy people, describing the different kinds of urine and their origins.…”

Theophilus’ <i>Auctoritas:</i> The Role of <i>De urinis</i> in the Medical Curriculum of the 12th–13th Centuries

“…Especially Theophilus' works, as well as those of Magnus and Stephen of Athens -interrelated, whatever the relationship might be between Magnus and Stephen, whether intellectual or didactic [5] -represent textual models for the ancient world which consolidates and integrates a tradition which classical medicine in many ways had left incomplete.…”