Rome. The possession of such friends was more than sufficient to render him one of the favored and prosperous physicians of his day in that city. As Meyer-Steineg aptly says, "he owed not a little of his success to the happy manner in which the scientist, the clever physician, and—to a slight degree—the charlatan were combined in his character." The following anecdote which is told of him by Lucius Apuleius shows, on the one hand, that he possessed remarkably keen powers of observation, and, on the other, that there were some grounds for the charge that his behavior was at times somewhat theatrical in character:—
One day, as Asclepiades was returning to the city, from his
place in the country, he observed the approach of a long
funeral procession. Desiring to learn whether the deceased was
a person of his acquaintance, and also in the hope of perhaps
gaining other information of a professional nature, he approached
as nearly as possible to the bier. The face of the corpse was
anointed with sweet-smelling ointments over which spices had
been sprinkled; but, notwithstanding this, he was able to detect
certain signs which led him to suspect that the man might not
yet be dead; and accordingly he examined the body very closely
and thus satisfied himself that such was indeed the fact. Whereupon
he called aloud that the man was still alive, and told the
bearers to extinguish the torches, to carry away the materials for
the pyre, and to remove the funeral feast from the grave to a table.
Some at once objected to the carrying out of these measures and
made sarcastic remarks about the healing art—probably because
they were already in possession of the man's estate, and were afraid
that they might have to give it up. The more influential ones,
however, insisted that the physician's words should be heeded.
Then Asclepiades, notwithstanding the opposition which was made
by the relatives, succeeded in securing a brief delay, during which
he had the supposed corpse removed to his own house. Restorative
measures were employed, respiration was re-established, and the
man was brought back to life. At the succeeding festivities
unlimited praise was bestowed upon the wise physician.
Whether this tale, which I have copied from Neuburger,
is true or not, it seems to fit in well with the bold and
