Pulse and Physiology in Hellenistic Science

Part of the medical canon taught in late antiquity and the middle ages were the Galenic pulse works, which shaped medical theory and practice throughout history. Galen’s own works were greatly informed by the lost canon of Hellenistic pulse treatises and theories, with which Galen engages throughout his works and which he cites and quotes profusely. These fragments, together with fragments in other ancient authors such as Rufus of Ephesus, allow us to uncover and reconstruct the complex and diverse Hellenistic pulse theories.