Rufus of Ephesus (, fl. late 1st and early 2nd centuries AD) was a Greek physician and author who wrote treatises on dietetics, pathology, anatomy, gynaecology, and patient care. He was an admirer of Hippocrates, although he at times criticized or departed from that author's teachings. While several of his writings survive in full and have been critically edited, most are fragmentary and lack critical editions. His writings explore subjects often neglected by other authors, such as the treatment of slaves and the elderly. He was particularly influential in the East, and some of his works survive only in Arabic. His teachings emphasize the importance of anatomy and seek pragmatic approaches to diagnosis and treatment. Life Little is known about Rufus's life. According to the Suda, he lived in the time of Trajan (98–117), which is probably correct, as Rufus quotes Zeuxis and Dioscorides, and is himself quoted by Galen. He probably studied at Alexandria, for he makes personal comments about the citizenry's general health and specific diseases. He may then have established himself at Ephesus, which was a centre of the medical profession. Works Although Rufus was a voluminous author, the majority of his works no longer survive in full. The most recent attempt to publish his corpus as a whole remains C. Daremberg and E. Ruelle's Oeuvres de Rufus d'Éphèse: texte collationé sur les manuscrits, traduits pour la première fois en français, avec une introduction (1879). Important studies of Rufus' corpus were subsequently published in the 20th century by Johannes Ilberg and Alexander Sideras. Rufus' principal work on anatomy was entitled On the Names of the Parts of the Human Body. The work contains valuable information about the state of anatomical science before the time of Galen. Rufus considered the spleen to be absolutely useless. He intimated that the recurrent nerves were then recently discovered, saying "The ancients called the arteries of the neck carotid, because they believed that when they were pressed hard, the animal became sleepy and lost its voice; but in our age it has been discovered that this accident does not proceed from pressing upon these arteries, but upon the nerves contiguous to them." He showed that the nerves proceed from the brain, and he divided them into two classes, those of the senses and those of motion. He considered the heart to be the seat of life, and noticed that the left ventricle