Carmen salutiferum: Quintus Serenus and his health-giving Liber Medicinalis

Totelin, Laurence ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9576-1643 2026. Carmen salutiferum: Quintus Serenus and his health-giving Liber Medicinalis. Blanco, Chiara, Hahn, Allegra and Martorana, Simona, eds. Body and Medicine in Latin Poetry, Vol. 183 Berlin: De Gruyter, pp. 179-196. (10.1515/9783110728811-010)

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Abstract

This chapter examines Quintus Serenus’ approach to medicine and literature in the Liber Medicinalis, a verse pharmacological text in which numerous recipes are presented roughly in the ‘head-to-toe’ order. It focuses on Serenus’ claim in the proem that he was composing a carmen salutiferum, a health-giving song. It suggests that Serenus may have composed his poem, which listed mainly simple remedies, as an alternative to the ostentatious type of medicine that was favoured in the first centuries of the Common Era. While the recipes given in the poem are simple, the poem itself, however, is complex and filled with literary allusions and riddles. The poem, then, is intended for an educated audience, which may have been particularly drawn towards fanciful, expensive medicines. The chapter explores this paradox.

Item Type:	Book Section
Date Type:	Publication
Status:	Published
Schools:	Schools > History, Archaeology and Religion
Subjects:	D History General and Old World > DE The Mediterranean Region. The Greco-Roman World
Publisher:	De Gruyter
ISBN:	9783110728699
Last Modified:	09 Jun 2026 15:38
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/177668

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