1. Biography

Asclepius was born in the city of Tralles and was active in the first half of the 6th century. We know very little about his life. He studied philosophy at Alexandria, in the school of the Neoplatonic philosopher Ammonius Hermiae and was a classmate of Simplicius. In Alexandria, Asclepius followed courses in Aristotelian and Platonic philosophy, studying especially Plato’s Theaetetus. He delved into the genre known as hypomnema. He compiled commentaries on Aristotle's Metaphysics and Nicomachus Gerasenus' Introduction to Arithmetic. We have no evidence with respect to Asclepius' date or place of death. We only know that he died after Simplicius, i.e. after 560 or 570.

2. Works

Only two of Asclepius' hypomnemata survive.

2.1. Commentary on the Metaphysics

Asclepius' commentary (scholia) on Aristotle's Metaphysics is important for the history of Philosophy. This work is a hypomnema to the first seven books of the Metaphysics, and, as Asclepius mentions in the beginning of his text, it is based on the lectures delivered by his teacher Ammonius. This work was not circulated as an independent book. According to Spandagos,¹ the scholar Ioannes Tzetzes (1110-1180) reports that Asclepius had composed other mathematical works as well.

2.2. Commentary on the Introduction to Arithmetic

Asclepius also wrote a commentary on the Introduction to Arithmetic of Nicomachus Gerasenus. This annotated edition of the Introduction to Arithmetic was used as a textbook for the teaching of mathematics, usually as a preparation to the teaching of philosophy, and it remained a popular instructive book until the late Renaissance. Four different manuscript editions of these texts have survived. The existence of a similar hypomnema (commentary) compiled by Ioannes Philoponos, another student of Ammonius, had led scholars to the conclusion that both Asclepius’ texts originate from notes taken during Ammonius' lectures.