Pseudo-Apuleius

Pseudo-Apuleius is the name given to the author of a 4th-century herbal known as Pseudo-Apuleius Herbarius or Herbarium Apuleii Platonici. He is not identical with Apuleius of Madaura (124–170), the Roman poet and philosopher. Little or nothing else is known of Pseudo-Apuleius apart from this. The oldest surviving manuscript of the Herbarium is 6th-century Leiden, MS. Voss. Q.9. Until the 12th century it was the most influential herbal in Europe, with numerous extant copies surviving into the modern era. Thereafter it was more or less displaced by the Circa instans, a herbal produced at the school of Salerno. "Pseudo-Apuleius" is also used as a shorthand generic term to refer to the manuscripts and derived works.

Arnoglossa. Plantago. Ms. Voss. Lat. Qu. 9. Leiden. 6th century

Dragontea. Ms. Voss. Lat. Qu. 9. Leiden. 6th century

Centauria maior. Ms. Voss. Lat. Qu. 9. Leiden. 6th century

Centauria minor. Ms. Voss. Lat. Qu. 9. Leiden. 6th century

Caelidonia. Ms. Voss. Lat. Qu. 9. Leiden. 6th century

Nymp[h]ea. Ms. Voss. lat. Qu. 9. Leiden. 6th century

Arnoglossa. Plantago. Codex Vind. 93, Vienna. 13th century

Drag[on]tea. Codex Vind. 93, Vienna. 13th century

Centauria maior. Codex Vind. 93, Vienna. 13th century

Centauria minor. Codex Vind. 93, Vienna. 13th century

Chelidonia. Codex Vind. 93, Vienna. 13th century

Ni[m]fea. Codex Vind. 93, Vienna. 13th century

Plantago. Arnoglossa. Print. Rome 1481

Dracontea. Print. Rome 1481

Centauria [maior]. Print. Rome 1481

Centauria minor. Print. Rome 1481

Celidonia. Print. Rome 1481

Nymphea. Print. Rome 1481

The text of Pseudo-Apuleius herbarius is based on late antique sources, especially on historia naturalis of Pliny and on de materia medica of Dioscorides. Scholars agree that the herbarius was compiled in the 4th century, according to Sigerist (1930, p. 200) from Latin, according to Singer (1927, p. 37) from Greek sources. Each of the 128 up to 131 chapters of the book (the number varying between manuscripts) dealt with one medical plant. In these chapters the name of the plant was followed by the enumeration of indications in the form of recipes and by synonyms of the plants name.

...
Wikipedia