Hippiatrica

The evolution of horse usage, with the expansion of the cavalry from the fourth century onward, depended on quality livestock, the intensification of hippiatric medical research and the development of horse-related instruments both for the use of the rider and his mount.
The Early Byzantine and Roman cavalry were dependent on this triad, otherwise they could not have succeeded against more experienced Barbarians. The enemy's experience was matched with experimentation, the development and continuous improvement of an expertise which allowed them to reverse the situation to their advantage in later confrontations with nomadic people.
This triad actually took place almost simultaneously, contrary to what was thought for a long time. Specifically, these three pieces of the puzzle, directly linked to the expansion of the cavalry, appeared between the third and fifth / sixth centuries and bear witness to major efforts in an age that was believed to be less fruitful in such areas.

"Cette monographie – la première du genre – est une réflexion sur les miniatures hippiatriques grecques, où se demander pour quel usage et comment le lecteur médiéval les « lisait », conduit nécessairement à essayer d’expliciter les rapports complexes qu'entretiennent l'illustration et le texte.
Après une présentation générale de la littérature hippiatrique, l’auteur élucide des questions liées à la composition du Corpus hippiatricorum graecorum. L’intérêt est principalement porté sur les différentes recensions d’un de ses abrégés, l’Épitomé, et sur sa place par rapport au Corpus hippiatricorum. Ainsi est-on amené à mieux discerner l'histoire de ce traité et celle des deux seuls manuscrits illustrés.
Vient ensuite un chapitre consacré à l'étude minutieuse de ces deux témoins, le Leidensus Vossianus graecus Q. 50 et le Parisinus graecus 2244. Paléographie et codicologie s'en mêlent, qui révisent bien des opinions reçues sur l'origine des manuscrits.
Un re-examen des miniatures des deux témoins est alors possible. Par-delà analyses stylistique et iconographique, trop souvent attachées à la quête absolue de l'archétype, l'auteur analyse les rapports texte/image pour établir, en définitive, le modus operandi des imagiers et déterminer les fonctions concrètes pour lesquelles les figures ont été pensées et conçues. De ce regard synchronique découle naturellement une étude sur la façon dont le lecteur médiéval utilisait les images. Les conclusions pratiques se voient donc confrontées aux théories antiques et médiévales sur le rôle de l'image et celui des mots. Ainsi l'image hippiatrique ne saurait être seulement une simple illustration du texte : elle appartient à l'œuvre tout autant.
L’ouvrage s’adresse aux antiquisants et aux médiévistes, historiens de l’art et de la médecine vétérinaire antique et moderne ainsi qu’aux philologues et à quiconque s’intéresse à l’histoire de l’illustration scientifique et des relations entre l’homme et l’animal."

This first reflection on learning and on memorisation of the hippiatric knowledge in Late Antiquity and in Byzantium deserves a deeper study to answer three questions which have been barely dealt with in this contribution: how? why? for whom? The first question involves a thorough comparison between the Corpus hippiatricorum Graecorum and, on the one hand, the Epitome and, on the other hand, the «Hierocles recomposed». As for the two other questions, they request an analysis of the context in which both these works were written and in which context their iconography was conceived. It is only then that we shall be able to understand the nature of these two writings and their images.

The manuscripts Parisinus Gr. 2244 and Lugdunensis Vossianus Gr. Q 50, two collections of vetinary texts copied in the 14th century, contain practical advice featuring saints who enjoyed great veneration on the island of Cyprus: they are invoked on behalf of the prosperity of the live-stock (sheep and cattle) and in the fight against parasites in vineyards and crops. The six prescriptions, some of which lay down the number of animals to be sacrificed on the saint’s feast, provide
an insight into the everyday reality of the mediaeval countryside, where the peasants
very naturally relied on the benevolence of God by the intercession of his saints.

Through the study of the artistic relationships between Byzantium and the Occident, we try to demonstrate that unlike some ideas of the past (Weitzmann, Kádár, etc.) the Greek hippiatric illustration has been in part influenced by Occidental models. These Occidental influences are analysed just as the working methods of each of the two miniaturists.

Based on a survey references to colours in Greek hippiatrics text—especially in the Hippiatrica and in book 16 of the Geoponica—this paper examines the lexicon used by horsedoctors to designate colour and the contexts in which it appears, in order to better understand the importance given to colour terms. Colour adjectives are used in three sections of the texts: the external description of the animal (especially the coat and eyes), body fluids and pharmacology (simple and compound drugs).

ABSTRACT Iulius Africanus (3rd cent.) is a fascinating intellectual in a period of transition. Author of the first Christian world chronicle (Chronographiae), he also wrote a comprehensive and multifaceted manual of many fields of knowledge, where the religious character is open to debate. The preserved fragments of the Cesti treat military, technical, medical and many other topics. These texts are presented in an entirely new critical edition, based on a thorough analysis of all channels of transmission. The edition is accompanied by notes and a new English translation.

After reviewing some of the data regarding the use and exchange value of the mule, the horse and the donkey, the paper focuses the symbolic meaning of these animals for the ancients. More specifically, it addresses the theories of hybridization according to which the process of adulteration of equine blood lines might be explained as a ‘zoo-poietic’ construction of the animal. Finally, it shows briefly how Aristotle’s explanation of the mule’s inborn sterility may be read as a reflection of some of the folk prejudices against its creation.