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.
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