A Dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology

Smith, William

A Dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology. William Smith, LLD, ed. 1890

1. PEDACIUS or PHDANIUS (Πεδάκιος or Πεδάνιος) DIOSCORIDES, the author of the celebrated Treatise on Materia Medica, that bears his name. It is generally supposed, says Dr. Bostock, that he was a native of Anazarba, in Cilicia Campestris, and that he was a physician by profession. It appears pretty evident, that he lived in the [first or] second century of the Christian era, and as he is not mentioned by Pliny, it has been supposed that he was a little posterior to him. The exact age of Dioscorides has. however, been a question of much critical discussion. and we have nothing but conjecture which can lead us to decide upon it.