Who was Diocles?
Diocles of Carystus was a Greek physician who was regarded as second only to Hippocrates. He believed to lived in the first half of the 4th century BC. Diocles probably learned his trade from his father, who was a physician, for medicine in those time was a craft that was often passed from father to son.
He wrote several medical works, including the first separate treatise on anatomy. Diocles collected a large number of herbs and poisons, and went into great detail specifying their qualities and powers.
His best-known contribution to medicine are in the area of practical medicine, diet, nutrition and hygiene. Diocles also played a key role in ancient times in the development of dissection and anatomical research.