Aretæus, who died about 170 B.C., was one of the most brilliant lights of antiquity previous to the Christian era, but, in spite of all this, of his life very little is known. He came from Cappadocia about the end of the reign of Nero, and lived in Alexandria. That he lived in Alexandria is apparent from his numerous references to its location, to the habits and therapeutics of the Egyptians, and to the geography of the country. Furthermore, references to its diseases abound in his writings, so that it is made to appear that he had had the best advantages there, although he must have traveled extensively. But a small portion of his writings remain, and these consist, for the most part, of compendiums of pathology and therapeutics. He described disease, not in anatomical order from head to foot, but under{035} the classification of acute and chronic. With the exception of Hippocrates, he has shown himself the most free from vague, arbitrary speculation, and from the dogmatism of the schools of any writer of antiquity. He, more than any other up to his time, endeavored to found pathology upon a sound anatomical basis. For every picture of disease he endeavored to provide a suitable anatomical accompaniment. This appears particularly, for instance, in his description of intestinal ulcers due to dysentery, or the paralyses following brain affections, or his description of pharyngeal diphtherias, of which he gave a good account under the name of Syriac or Egyptian ulcers. Pulmonary tuberculosis, tetanus, and anal fistula are amply mentioned in his writings. His therapeutics were simple and rational; he laid great stress upon dietetic treatment. His surgical writings appear to have all been lost, but there is every reason to think that he brought to bear upon{036} external medicine the same good sense which he applied to internal affections. [Illustration: 0055]