Nemesius – On the Nature of Man: Translated Texts for Historians

On the Nature of Man is an invaluable text for historians of ancient thought, not only as a much contested source of evidence for earlier works now lost, but also as a vivid illustration of intellectual life in the late fourth century. Nemesius, its author, was a Christian bishop who was influenced by the medical works of Galen, as well as the philosophical writings of Plato, Aristotle, and Porphyry; the subject of the text is not only the nature of human beings and their place in the scheme of created things, but also an anthropological study of early Christian theology. A considerable influence on later Byzantine and medieval Latin philosophical theology, On the Nature of Man is an essential text for any scholar of the early history of medicine, theological history, and ancient studies.