Rufus of Ephesus

Rufus of Ephesus (Greek: Ῥοῦφος ὁ Ἐφέσιος, fl. late 1st century AD) was a Greek physician and author who wrote treatises on dietetics, pathology, anatomy, and patient care. He was to some extent a follower of Hippocrates, although he at times criticized or departed from that author's teachings. His writings dealt with subjects often neglected by other authors, such as the treatment of slaves and the elderly. Some of his works survive to this day. He was particularly influential in the East, and some of his works survive only in Arabic. His teachings emphasized the importance of anatomy, and sought pragmatic approaches to diagnosis and treatment.

Little is known about Rufus's life. According to the Suda, he lived in the time of Trajan (98-117), which is probably correct, as Rufus quotes Zeuxis and Dioscorides, and is himself quoted by Galen. He probably studied at Alexandria, for he makes personal comments about the citizenry's general health and specific diseases. He then established himself at Ephesus, which was a center of the medical profession.

He wrote several medical works, some of which survive. The principal one is entitled On the Names of the Parts of the Human Body. The work contains valuable information about the state of anatomical science before the time of Galen. Rufus considered the spleen to be absolutely useless. He intimated that the recurrent nerves were then recently discovered, saying "The ancients called the arteries of the neck carotid, because they believed that when they were pressed hard, the animal became sleepy and lost its voice; but in our age it has been discovered that this accident does not proceed from pressing upon these arteries, but upon the nerves contiguous to them." He showed that the nerves proceed from the brain, and he divided them into two classes, those of the senses and those of motion. He considered the heart to be the seat of life, and noticed that the left ventricle is smaller and thicker than the right.

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