A Dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology

1. A native of Acarnania, the friend and physician of Alexander the Great, of whom a wellknown story is told by several ancient authors. He was the means of saving the king's life, when he had been seized with a severe attack of fever, brought on by bathing in the cold waters of the river Cydnus in Cilicia, after being violently heated, B. C. 333. Parmenion sent to warn Alexander that Philippus had been bribed by Dareius to poison him; the king, however, would not believe the information, nor doubt the fidelity of his physician, but. while he drank off the draught prepared for him, he put into his hands the letter he had just received, fixing his eyes at the same time steadily on his countenance. A well-known modern picture represents this incident; and the king's speedy recovery fully justified his confidence in the skill and honesty of his physician. (Q. Curt. 3.6 ; Valer. Max. 3.8, in fine; Plut. Vit. Alex. 100.19 ; Arrian, 2.4; Justin, 11.8; Diod. 17.31.)