Herophilos

The early Christian author Tertullian states that Herophilos vivisected at least 600 live prisoners;[1] however, this account has been disputed by many historians.

Together, they worked at a medical school in Alexandria that is said to have drawn people from all over the ancient world due to Herophilos's fame.

[2] After the death of Herophilos in 280 BC, his anatomical findings lived on in the works of other important physicians, notably Galen.

The Middle Ages witnessed the revival of an interest in medical studies, including human dissection and autopsy.

Frederick II (1194–1250), the Holy Roman Emperor, decreed that any that were studying to be a physician or a surgeon must attend a human dissection, which would be held no less than every five years.

Some European countries began legalizing the dissection of executed criminals for educational purposes in the late 13th and early 14th centuries.

[9] Further study of the cranium led Herophilos to describe the calamus scriptorius, which he believed was the seat of the human soul.

Part of Herophilos's beliefs about the human body involved the pneuma, which he believed was a substance that flowed through the arteries along with the blood.

To make this consistent with medical beliefs at the time, Herophilos stated that diseases occurred when an excess of one of the four humors impeded the pneuma from reaching the brain.

Other areas of his anatomical study include the liver, the pancreas, and the alimentary tract, as well as the salivary glands and genitalia.

He once said that "when health is absent, wisdom cannot reveal itself, art cannot become manifest, strength cannot be exerted, wealth is useless, and reason is powerless".