Stephanus of Athens, Commentary on Hippocrates' Aphorisms, Sections 1—2, Corpus Medicorum Graecorum XI 1,3,1

The book has six main sections: 'Anfange der Medizin', 'Hippokrates', 'Instrumente und Medikamente', 'Asklepios', 'Der Arzt als Stand und Beruf', 'Ende und Weiterleben der antiken Medizin'. Within each of these chapters are numerous headed subsections which help to spotlight subjects in the absence of an index. If the result is occasionally a little like reading through a card index, then it is one which is both well-ordered and comprehensive. Inevitably, there is some overlap and repetition, most noticeable in the Asklepios section, but in the main the arrangement is a good one. It is strengthened by the use of numerous well-chosen in-text illustrations which have been skilfully integrated so that they almost invariably lie adjacent to the corresponding text. A good balance has also been reached with the footnotes which, without overloading the text, give access to a considerable number of references in addition to those of the general bibliography. This reviewer would have liked to have seen a little more space devoted to disease and its treatment with perhaps rather fewer or briefer descriptions of healing sanctuaries, but these are minor points which do not detract from the overall excellence of the book. Antje Krug is to be congratulated on providing us with a book that will undoubtedly be long and widely used.