Critical Remarks on Codices in which Galen Appears as a Member of the gens Claudia

Abstract

Some nineteenth-century scholars misleadingly thought that no Greek codex supports Galen’s legal affiliation to the gens Claudia. When the manuscript Thessalonicensis Vlatadon 14 was thrust into the limelight with regard to this issue in 2011, it was promptly imagined that the relevant information derived from Renaissance Italy, thanks to the voyages and studies of John Argyropoulos. Allegedly there also is a codex gemellus of the Vlatadon witness, the MS Athous Iviron Graecus 184, which does not transmit that gentilic name. The article shows that the latter codex cannot reasonably be regarded as a twin manuscript of the former. Moreover, it disproves the widespread scholarly claim that Galen is never named Claudius in documents that antedate the Age of Humanism, drawing attention to some insufficiently explored Byzantine sources, the oldest of which dates back to around 1200 AD.

The “Galenic Question”: A solution Based on Historical Sources and Mathematical Analysis of Texts

“…External confirmation of physicians is found in the I century BC and at the beginning of the I century AD, concerning the physicians of the Julio-Claudian court. Usually, Galen -a name of Greek origin -is cited alone [34], but the full name is Claudius Galenus, as byzantine sources indicate [35]. The term Claudius may indicate that this Galen obtained the roman citizenship, very likely during the emperor Claudius (41-54), because he was particularly interested in surrounding himself with physicians [36].…”