Marcellus Empiricus
was born at Burdigala (Bordeaux) in the fourth century after Christ. He is said to have held the office of " magister officiorum" under Theodosius the Great, A. D. 379-395, and to have lost this post under his successor Arcadius. He was a Christian, but it seems doubtful whether he was really a physician, though he is sometimes called "Archiater."
Works
De Medicamentis Empiricis, Physicis ac Rationabilibus
He is the author of a pharmaceutical work in Latin, De Medicamentis Empiricis, Physicis ac Rationabilibus, which he says in the preface he compiled for the use of his sons. It is of little value, and contains many charms and superstitious absurdities, as might have been anticipated when he tells us, that he inserted in the work not only the medicines approved of by physicians, but also those recommended by the common people (agrestes et plebeii).
Further Information
It was first published in 1536, fol. Basil., and is inserted in the collection of medical writers published by Aldus, Venet. 1547, and H. Stephens, Paris, 1567.
Further Information
Sprengel, Hist. de la Méd. vol. ii.; Chonlant, Iandb. der Büc]erkunde für die Aeltere Aedicin.
From William Smith (ed.), Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology. Text provided under a CC BY-SA license by Perseus Digital Library, http://www.perseus.tufts.edu, with funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities and Tufts University. Data accessed from https://github.com/PerseusDL/canonical-pdlrefwk/ on 17 October 2026.