Aretaeus of Cappadocia (lived 2nd century AD)

Greek physician. He gave the earliest clear account of diabetes and left many fine descriptions of diseases including pleurisy, diphtheria, tetanus, pneumonia, asthma, and epilepsy. He was the first to distinguish between spinal and cerebral paralyses.

He practised in Rome and Alexandria and was thought to be next in importance to Hippocrates, whose teachings he revived. In principle a pneumatist (see Athenaeus of Attalia), in practice he was an eclectic, using the methods of several schools.

His work was forgotten until 1554 when two of his manuscripts, written in the Ionian dialect, On the Causes and Indications of Acute and Chronic Diseases, and On the Treatment of Acute and Chronic Diseases, were discovered and translated into Greek, Latin, French, Italian, and English.