About this Item

Title
Of Medical Substances.

Other Title
De materia medica

Summary
The precious codex known as the Dioscurides Neapolitanus contains the work of Pedanius Dioscorides, a Greek physician born in Anazarbus near Tarsus in Cilicia (present-day Turkey). He lived in the first century AD during the reign of Emperor Nero. Dioscorides wrote the treatise Peri hyles iatrikes, commonly known in Latin as De materia medica (Of Medical Substances), in five books.

This work is considered the most important medical manual and pharmacopeia of ancient Greece and Rome and was highly regarded throughout the Middle Ages in both Western and Arab traditions. It discusses the therapeutic effectiveness of natural substances derived from animal, plant, and mineral sources.

The codex preserved at the National Library of Naples contains only the herbal portion. Across its 170 illustrated pages, it documents known medicinal plants along with commentary describing each plant, its habitat, and its therapeutic uses.

The Dioscurides Neapolitanus is closely associated with the Dioscurides Constantinopolitanus in Vienna, produced in Constantinople in 512 for Princess Anicia Juliana, daughter of the Western Roman Emperor Olybrius. Both manuscripts likely derive from a common original source. However, the Neapolitan codex lacks the anthropomorphic and zoomorphic illustrations found in the Viennese manuscript and other Dioscorides codices, such as those in Paris and at the Palazzo Chigi in Rome.

The vivid illustrations, combined with detailed commentary, enhance the antiquarian value of this rare manuscript. It serves as a fundamental source for understanding Greco-Roman medical culture and its transmission into the Italian Byzantine world during the late sixth and early seventh centuries. The text reflects intellectual trends of the period, favoring a practical, instructional style resembling a manual rather than a purely scientific treatise.

As suggested in the late 17th century by Bernard de Montfaucon, who examined and praised the manuscript in Naples, the codex is likely of Italian origin, although its exact place of production remains uncertain. Some scholars associate it with the Exarchate of Ravenna, while others suggest it originated in southern Italy, possibly influenced by the Roman statesman and writer Cassiodorus (circa 487–circa 580).

Names
Dioscorides Pedanius of Anazarbos, author

Created / Published
[Place of publication not identified] : [Publisher not identified], [500 to 699]