Called to see
a lady he found her suffering from general malaise without any fever
or increased action of the pulse. He saw at once that her trouble was
mental and, like a wise physician, engaged her in general conversation.
Quite possibly he knew her story, for the name of a certain actor,
Pylades, was mentioned, and he noticed that her pulse at once increased
in rapidity and became irregular. On the next day he arranged that the
name of another actor, Morphus, should be mentioned, and on the third
day the experiment was repeated but without effect. Then on the fourth
evening it was again mentioned that Pylades was dancing, and the pulse
quickened and became irregular, so he concluded that she was in love
with Pylades. He tells how he was first called to treat the Emperor
Marcus Aurelius, who had a stomach-ache after eating too much cheese. He
treated the case so successfully that the Emperor remarked, "I have but
one physician, and he is a gentleman." He seems to have had good fees,
as he received 400 aurei (about 2000) for a fortnight's attendance upon
the wife of Boethus.
He left Rome for a time in 168 A. D. and returned to Pergamon, but was
recalled to Rome by the Emperor, whom he accompanied on an expedition
to Germany.
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