De Medicina is a 1st-century BCE medical treatise by Aulus Cornelius Celsus, a Roman encyclopedist and possibly (but not likely) a practicing physician. It is the only surviving section of a much larger encyclopedia; only small parts still survive from sections on agriculture, military science, oratory, jurisprudence and philosophy. De Medicina draws upon knowledge from ancient Greek works, and is considered the best surviving treatise on Alexandrian medicine. This work covers the topics of diet, disease, pharmacology, therapy and surgery. Sections detail the removal of missile weapons(?), stopping bleeding, preventing inflammation, diagnosis of internal maladies, removal of kidney stones, the amputation of limbs and so forth.
The original work was published some time before 47 BC, and it consisted of eight books in highly regarded Latin text. The subject matter is divided as follows:
- Book I – Diet, hygiene, and the benefits of exercise.
- Book II – The cause of disease, its symptoms and prognosis.
- Book III – Treatment of diseases, including the common cold and pneumonia.
- Book IV – Anatomical descriptions of selected diseases.
- Book V – Medicines, including opiates, diuretics, purgatives and laxatives.
- Book VI – Ulcers, skin lesions and diseases.
- Book VII – Classical operations, such as lithotomy and removal of cataracts.
- Book VIII – Treatment of dislocations and fractures.
De Medicina was known during the Middle Ages, but was later lost up until the 15th century. It was the first medical book to be printed, in Florence, 1478.