Antonius Musa
Illustration — Antonius Musa Antonius Musa (Antṓnios Moúsas) was a Greek botanist and personal physician of the Roman Emperor Augustus. Antonius was a freedman who received freeborn status along with other honours. In the year 23 BC, when Augustus was seriously ill, Musa cured the illness with cold compresses and became immediately famous.
Antonius Musa
https: Gallery: https: Wellcome Collection gallery (2018-03-23) · CC BY 4.0
- Born
- 63. · Roman Empire.
- Died
- 14. · Roman Empire.
- Nationality
- Ancient Rome.
- Occupation
- physician, botanist and writer.
- Fields
- medicine.
- Languages
- Latin.
VALÉORINE Encyclopedia
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Documentary summary
Illustration — Antonius Musa Antonius Musa (Antṓnios Moúsas) was a Greek botanist and personal physician of the Roman Emperor Augustus. Antonius was a freedman who received freeborn status along with other honours. In the year 23 BC, when Augustus was seriously ill, Musa cured the illness with cold compresses and became immediately famous.
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Note VALÉORINE
Antonius Musa was a botanist, physician and writer, a national of Ancient Rome. The botanist was born in Roman Empire and died in Roman Empire. Activity centred on medicine. Languages used include Latin.
Composed from admitted, traceable facts · 26 September 2026
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In this article
Physician of Augustus
Physician of Augustus
Antonius Musa was a freedman who most likely hailed from one of the Hellenized Greek areas in the eastern half of the Roman Empire. In the spring of 23 BC, when Augustus became seriously ill with liver problems during his consulship with Calpurnius Piso, Musa was tasked with treating the emperor. Musa reversed the typical medical treatment of warm compresses, favoring cold ones instead, which seems to have cured the emperor's ailments. After recovering from his illness, Augustus rewarded Musa with a generous sum of money. The Roman Senate voted to honor Musa with additional monetary rewards plus the right to wear a golden ring. He and other medical doctors were also granted exemption from taxation, while a statue of him was erected next to one depicting Asclepius, the god of healing. Various individuals also offered public thanks to Musa for his efforts.
Classical =
Classical =
• Pliny the Elder, Natural History 19.38, 25.38; online text at the Perseus Project. • Suetonius, The Twelve Caesars Augustus 58, 79; online text at the Perseus Project. • Cassius Dio, Roman History 53.30.3-6; online text in Greek at the Perseus Project. • Virgil, Aeneid XII.391-402; online text at the Perseus Project.
Life and career
Dated record
Life and career
The full dated record · 2 entries
14
Antonius Musa died at Roman Empire.
63
Antonius Musa born at Roman Empire.
Legacy
Musa, the plant group which includes the banana, the plantain and numerous other species, was apparently named after him. However, Musa may be a Latinization of the Arabic name for the fruit, mauz (موز). Mauz meaning Musa is discussed in the 11th century Arabic encyclopedia The Canon of Medicine, which was translated to Latin in medieval times and well known in Europe. Musa's brother was Euphorbus, physician to king Juba II of Numidia, after whom the plant Euphorbia, which has given its name to a scientific genus, was originally named. A short medical treatise called De Herba Vettonica describing the properties of betony has been transmitted under his name, but is thought instead to have been written in the 4th century. It seems to have been a source for the Roman medical writer Theodorus Priscianus. According to Francis Atterbury, the character Iapis in Virgil's Aeneid represents Musa while Aeneas represents Augustus.
Primary material
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reference work
- Wikidata, structured authority record Q772773: Antonius Musa
Reputable secondary · Wikimedia Foundation
- “Antonius Musa”, English Wikipedia, consulted as further reading
Reputable secondary · Wikipedia
authority file
- Gemeinsame Normdatei 118973894, Antonius, Musa.
General reference · Deutsche Nationalbibliothek
Literature
Scholarly footprint
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Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.Henrik Mouritsen. The Freedman in the Roman World. Cambridge University Press. 107. 2011. 9781139495035.
- 2.Goldsworthy, Adrian. Augustus: First Emperor of Rome. Yale University Press. 265. 2014. 978-0-300-17827-2.
- 3.Goldsworthy, Adrian. Augustus: First Emperor of Rome. Yale University Press. 265–266. 2014. 978-0-300-17827-2.
- 4.Liberty Hyde Bailey, The Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture. 1916. pp. 2076–9
- 5.Arabic Mauz meaning Musa or banana is in the medieval Arabic medical encyclopedia by Avicenna, which is online at Avicenna: Book Two. See also "Musa" at Dictionary.Reference.com. See also Musacées in Dictionnaire Étymologique Des Mots Français D'Origine Orientale, by L. Marcel Devic (year 1876).
- 6.D. R. Langslow, Medical Latin in the Roman Empire, Oxford University Press, 2000, pp. 67-68
- 7.Tanya M. Cladwell. Virgil Made English, The Decline of Classical Authority. Palgrave Macmillan. 156. 2008. 9780230617155.
References
Citations
References
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authority file
Gemeinsame Normdatei 118973894, Antonius, Musa.Deutsche Nationalbibliothek
Secondary witnessreference work
Wikidata, structured authority record Q772773: Antonius MusaWikimedia Foundation
Secondary witnessreference work
Secondary witness
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 16 August 2026.
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