Last update:
09-Sep-2020

A medical manuscript with the title Dynameron is kept in the Marciana National Library of Venice (Cod. gr. Ζ. 295) and originates from a text initially written in Greek by a physician named Aelius Promotus, who lived and worked in Alexandria (1st to 2nd century AD). This manuscript should not be confused with the enormous Mega Dynameron of Nicolaos Myrepsos, with 2667 recipes, which was written in the 13th century. Dynameron of Aelius Promotus contains 130 chapters dealing with different diseases and their treatment, described in 870 recipes. In the cited 41 recipes related to ailments of the kidneys and the urinary bladder, are included almost 80 different herbs, 6 ingredients of animal origin, and also 1 mineral. The large number of ingredients used in each recipe implies that Aelius Promotus was a follower of the so called "Empiric school" of medicine, although in his work are easily recognizable also influences from other theoretical sects. Many of the herbal ingredients proposed by the author are known for their diuretic, spasmolytic, analgesic and antiseptic properties. Hence, they are suitable for treating nephrolithiasis, strangury, dysuria, hematuria, as well as inflammations of the kidneys and the urinary bladder. Some of the recipes refer to ingredients that cannot be granted any apparent therapeutic reasoning. Additionally, some treatments seem more like superstitious rituals. However, when Dynameron is evaluated as a whole, the conclusion is that Aelius Promotus was a competent practicing physician with great experience, typical of the famous medical tradition of Alexandria during the late Roman era. There is evidence that Dynameron was highly estimated and was copied several times thereafter, in order to serve as a therapeutic manual for the common ailments a physician might encounter in his everyday practice.

Key words: Aelius Promotus, Alexandria, Dynameron, Nephrology, Urolithiasis.