etter of Bishop Theodoret of Cyrus, directed to the
prefect of the city, when he was about to leave the place. He wrote (see
Puschmann, Vol. I., p. 494): "When I took up the Bishopric of Cyrus I
made every effort to bring in from all sides the arts that would be
useful to the people. I succeeded in persuading skilled physicians to
take up their residence here. Among these is a very pious priest, Peter,
who practises medicine with great skill, and is well known for his care
for the people. Now that I am about to leave the city, some of those who
came at my invitation are preparing also to go. Peter seems resolved to
do this. I appeal to your highness, therefore, in order to commend him
to your special care. He handles patients with great skill and brings
about many cures."

Distinguished Christian writers and scholars, and the Fathers of the
Church in the early centuries, evidently paid much attention to
medicine. Tertullian speaks of medical science as the sister of
philosophy, and has many references to the medical doctrines discussed
in his time. Lactantius, in his work, "De Opificio Dei," has much to say
with regard to the human body as representing the necessity for design
in creation. His teleological arguments have much more force now than
they would have had for people generally twenty years ago. We have come
back to recognize the place of teleology. Clement of Alexandria was an
early Christian temperance advocate, who argued that the use of wine
was only justified when it did good as a medicine. The problems of
embryology and of diseases of childhood interested him as they did many
other of the early Christian writers.

AETIUS

The first great Christian physician whose works meant much for his own
time, and whose writings have become a classic in medicine, was Aetius
Amidenus, that is, Aetius of Amida, who was born in the town of that
name in Mesopotamia, on the upper Tigris (now Diarbekir), and who
flourished about the middle of the sixth century. His medical studies,
as he has told us himself, were made at Alexandria. After having
attracted attention by his medical learning and skill, he became
physician to one of the emperors at Byzantium, very probably Justinian,
(527-565). He seems to have been succeeded in the special post that was
created for him at court by Alexander of Tralles, the second of the
great Christian physicians. There is no doubt that Aetius was a
Christian, for he mentions Christian mys