The renowned Greek physician Democedes of Croton is remembered for his expertise and influential role in the courts of ancient rulers. His father was Calliphon, a priest, physician, and of such savage temper that he caused Democedes to leave Croton and sail away to the island of Aegina. There he set up a medical practice and was so successful that the state of Aegina employed him as a physician. His reputation growing, Athens hired him away at a high salary in his third year after leaving Croton.

By documenting his career, Herodotus has provided insights into the cultural and political landscape of the sixth century BC. Croton was home to a rich medical tradition influenced by Pythagorean philosophy and empirical research. Growing up in this intellectually stimulating environment, Democedes benefited from an excellent education and quite early in his youth became known as a gifted physician. Leaving Athens, Democedes became the personal physician of Polycrates, the tyrant of Samos, which brought him further fame. Unfortunately, Polycrates was captured and crucified by the Persian satrap Oroetes. In 522 Democedes himself was also captured and sent as a slave to Susa, the capital of the Persian empire.

It was about this time that Darius I, the king of Persia, jumped from his horse and developed a severe dislocation of his ankle that his Egyptian doctors had been unable to cure. According to Herodotus, they twisted the ankle with such violence that they made it worse. Unable to sleep for eight nights because of pain, and having heard of the skill of Democedes, Darius asked to have him brought in his presence. Democedes, fettered and clothed in rags, denied being a physician because he thought if the Persians knew this they would never let him return to his native country. Threatened with torture, he claimed that he had acquired some medical knowledge by having lived for some time with a physician. Then he managed to cure the king by using non-invasive conservative treatments and so impressed the Persians that he was then taken to the royal court and became one of the royal table companions as well as the king’s physician. In that capacity, he also cured the breast ulcer of Queen Atossa, Darius’ wife, again by using conservative methods. This incident is often referred to in the medical literature as the first ever reported case of breast disease. It has variously been interpreted as cancer or inflammatory mastitis.

According to Herodotus, Democedus agreed to cure Atossa’s breast illness on condition that she would persuade Darius to promise to do whatever she asked him. When she recovered, she asked Darius to invade Greece, saying that she longed to be served by those Athenian and Spartan maids of whom she had heard so much, and added that nobody could tell more about Greece than the man who had cured his foot and her breast. Accordingly, Darius agreed to send fifteen Persian noblemen to explore the coast of Greece and to take Democedus with them as their guide. They first went to Phoenicia, where they outfitted three ships, then visited most of the coast of Greece, stopping at each port for the Persians to take notes of what they saw. They then went to explore the cites of Magna Grecia, the Greek cities in southern Italy. When they stopped in Tarentum, Democedes made an attempt to escape. In this he was aided by the King of the Tarentians, who hid the oars of the pursuing Persians so that they could not catchup with him. After Democedes returned to his hometown of Croton, some Crotonians were sufficiently intimidated by the awesome power of the Persians that they considered giving him up to them. Most of the other Crotonians, however, came out in favor of Democedes and even defended him by striking his pursuers with their walking sticks. As they were departing, Democedes went to their ships and asked them to inform Darius that he was engaged to marry the daughter of the famous wrestler Milo, of whom Darius was a great fan. Herodotus speculated that Democedes had paid Milo a large sum of money to hasten the marriage to impress Darius that, in his own country, he was indeed a man of great distinction.

Reference

• Herodotus. The Persian Wars, Book 3: 129-33.