Aulus Cornelius Celsus

Aulus Cornelius Celsus was a Roman encyclopedist of the first century AD, writing under Tiberius. Almost nothing is known of his life; he was probably not a practicing physician but an educated layman who compiled the knowledge of his time on agriculture, military science, rhetoric, law, philosophy and medicine. Only the eight books on medicine survive, and they are the fullest account of Greek and Roman medical practice that has come down to us, treating diet, disease, pharmacy and surgery. They were lost for centuries, rediscovered in the fifteenth century and among the first medical texts printed. The four signs of inflammation he listed are still taught.