Alexander of Tralles

Alexander (Ancient Greek: Ἀλέξανδρος ὁ Τραλλιανός) of Tralles in Lydia (or Alexander Trallianus, c. 525 – c.605) was one of the most eminent of the ancient physicians. His date may safely be put in the 6th century, for he mentions Aëtius Amidenus, who probably did not write until the end of the 5th or the beginning of the 6th century, and he is himself quoted by Paul of Aegina, who is supposed to have lived in the 7th century; besides which, he is mentioned as a contemporary of Agathias, who set about writing his History in the beginning of the reign of Justin II, about 565.

Alexander had the advantage of being brought up under his father Stephanus, who was himself a physician, and also under another person, whose name he does not mention, but to whose son Cosmas he dedicates his chief work, which he wrote out of gratitude at his request. He was a man of an extensive practice, of a very long experience, and of great reputation, not only at Rome, but wherever he traveled in Spain, Gaul, and Italy, whence he was called by way of eminence "Alexander the Physician". Agathias speaks also with great praise of his four brothers, Anthemius, Dioscorus, Metrodorus, and Olympius, who were all eminent in their several professions. Alexander is not a mere compiler, like Aëtius Amidenus, Oribasius, and others, but is an author of quite a different stamp, and has more the air of an original writer. He wrote his great work in an extreme old age, from the results of his own experience, when he could no longer bear the fatigue of practice. His style in the main was, according to scholars such as John Freind, very good, short, clear, and (to use Alexander's own term) consisting of common expressions that, though not always perfectly elegant, very expressive and intelligible.

German scholar Johann Albert Fabricius considered Alexander to have belonged to the sect of the Methodici, but in the opinion of Freind this is not proved sufficiently by the existing text.

...
Wikipedia