Selected Molluscs as a Food and a Medicine in Early Byzantine Medical Texts

Cephalopods (squid, cuttlefish, and octopus), valued in the Mediterranean diet, had already aroused the interest of Greek physicians from the 5th and 4th century BCE. Authors such as Hippocrates (5th-4th century BCE), Mnesitheus of Athens (4th century BCE), and later Pedanius Dioscorides (1st century AD) and Galen of Pergamon (2nd-3rd century AD) described their dietary properties and medicinal applications. The findings of ancient physicians regarding cephalopods constituted the basis and point of reference for later Byzantine authors. The aim of this paper is to analyze the views of early Byzantine physicians (4th–7th century AD) on cephalopods (μαλάκια). The opinions of Greek authors concerning the dietary and pharmacological properties that determined the use of cephalopods in medicine will be characterized. This analysis will allow for the determination of the role of these animals in early Byzantine dietetics and therapeutics. The study will be based on the texts of such Byzantine authors as Oribasius of Pergamon (4th–5th century AD), Aetius of Amida (6th century AD), and Paul of Aegina (7th century AD). The opinions of Byzantine physicians will be compared with the views of earlier ancient authors, enabling the presentation of continuity and potential transformations in medical doctrines concerning cephalopods.