Abascantus

Abascantus (Ancient Greek: Ἀβάσκαντος) was a physician of Lugdunum, who probably lived in the 2nd century AD. He is mentioned several times by Galen,^[1] who has also preserved an antidote invented by him against the bite of serpents.^[2] The name appears in numerous Latin inscriptions in Gruter's collection, five of which refer to a freedman of Augustus, who is supposed by some scholars to be the same person that is mentioned by Galen.^[3] This identification is uncertain, as also whether Parakletios Abaskanthos (Παρακλήτιος Ἀβάσκανθος) in Galen^[4] refers to the subject of this article.^[3]