Rufus of Ephesus was a Greek physician and author who wrote treatises on dietetics, pathology, anatomy, and patient care. He was to some extent a follower of Hippocrates, although he at times criticized or departed from that author's teachings. His writings dealt with subjects often neglected by other authors, such as the treatment of slaves and the elderly. Some of his works survive to this day. He was particularly influential in the East, and some of his works survive only in Arabic. His teachings emphasized the importance of anatomy, and sought pragmatic approaches to diagnosis and treatment.
Life
Little is known about Rufus's life. According to the Suda, he lived in the time of Trajan, which is probably correct, as Rufus quotes Zeuxis and Dioscorides, and is himself quoted by Galen. He probably studied at Alexandria, for he makes personal comments about the citizenry's general health and specific diseases. He then established himself at Ephesus, which was a center of the medical profession.
Works
He wrote several medical works, some of which survive. The principal one is entitled On the Names of the Parts of the Human Body. The work contains valuable information about the state of anatomical science before the time of Galen. Rufus considered the spleen to be absolutely useless. He intimated that the recurrent nerves were then recently discovered, saying "The ancients called the arteries of the neckcarotid, because they believed that when they were pressed hard, the animal became sleepy and lost its voice; but in our age it has been discovered that this accident does not proceed from pressing upon these arteries, but upon the nerves contiguous to them." He showed that the nerves proceed from the brain, and he divided them into two classes, those of the senses and those of motion. He considered the heart to be the seat of life, and noticed that the left ventricle is smaller and thicker than the right. The names of nearly one hundred works have been preserved by Galen, the Suda, and especially by Arabic writers, who appear to have translated almost all of them into Arabic. Ibn al-Nadim mentioned his few works, while Husaibia mentioned 58 books by Rufus of Ephesus. Most of his works have been lost. His surviving works include:
His short treatise Medical Questions, is valuable because its advice on how a doctor can gain information from a patient through questions offers a glimpse into the bedside manner of ancient physicians. Arabic writers have also preserved numerous fragments from his self-help manual For the Layman. Other fragments of his lost works are preserved by Galen, Oribasius, Aëtius, Rhazes, Ibn al-Baitar, etc. Rufus also commentated on some of the works of Hippocrates, and he is said by Galen to have been a diligent student of them, and to have always endeavoured to preserve the ancient readings of the text. Qusta ibn Luqa translated another treatise, on Nabidh, into Arabic. Ibn Menduria Isfahani also edited ‘Risalah al Nabidh’. Fuat Sezgin stated that a copy of the manuscript ‘Risalah al Nabidh’ is extant at present only in the Library of University of Aleppo. But another copy of this manuscript is also preserved in the Library of Ibn Sina Academy of Medieval Medicine and Sciences. This second copy of the manuscript ‘Risalah al Nabidh’ dated 1745AD was derived from another manuscript dated 1291AD as Qusta ibn Luqa its translator from the original text on Nabidh by Rufus of Ephesus. Hakim Syed Zillur Rahman edited the second copy of the manuscript ‘Risalah al Nabidh’ dated 1745AD with translation and detailed commentary.
