On Medical Matters

I.

Concerning the name of the author.

Although the primary name is written as Dioscorides in the most reliable codices and in the authors who cite us, there are nonetheless those who also call him Dioscourides. Those closest to him, Erotianus 1, and then Galen, do not use it everywhere, but often call him Dioscourides 2. Patriarch Photius does the same 3, though his authority—since he lived in the ninth century—cannot surpass our codices, which are much older in age. Suidas, a lexicographer of the twelfth century, holds much less weight, since he confused our author with another of the same name and fell into great error.

Commonly, another name is placed before the primary name; in printed editions it is written as Pedakios, but in the most reliable codices and in the library of Photius, it is written as Pedanius. We judge this spelling to be the more excellent one, all the more so since Lambecius believes this cognomen was adopted by the Roman gens Pedania Pedanian clan in a similar fashion 4. Following the example of Galen, many other Greeks who came to Rome, either to earn their pay or to join the ranks of the togati those wearing the toga, i.e., Roman citizens, assumed Roman surnames for themselves.

1. Expositio vocum Hippocraticarum Exposition of Hippocratic words, p. 214.
2. Expositio vocum Hippocraticarum, p. 432, 426, etc. De facultatibus medicamentorum On the faculties of medicines, book 6, p. 794.
3. Bibliotheca Library, codex 178.
4. Commentarii de bibliotheca Caesarea Vindobonensi Commentaries on the Imperial Library of Vienna, book 2, p. 591.