Nemesius On the Nature of Man

On the Nature of Manis an invaluable text for historians of ancient thought, not only as a much contested source of evidence for earlier works now lost, but also as a vivid illustration of intellectual life in the late fourth century. Nemesius, its author, was a Christian bishop who was influenced by the medical works of Galen, as well as the philosophical writings of Plato, Aristotle, and Porphyry; the subject of the text is not only the nature of human beings and their place in the scheme of created things, but also an anthropological study of early Christian theology. A considerable influence on later Byzantine and medieval Latin philosophical theology,On the Nature of Manis an essential text for any scholar of the early history of medicine, theological history, and ancient studies.

Philip Van Der Eijk is professor of Greek at Newcastle University. R. W. Sharples is professor of classics at University College, London.