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 Rome. The possession of such friends was more than sufficient to render him one of the favored and prosperous physicians of his day in that city. As Meyer-Steineg aptly says, "he owed not a little of his success to the happy manner in which the scientist, the clever physician, and—to a slight degree—the charlatan were combined in his character." The following anecdote which is told of him by Lucius Apuleius shows, on the one hand, that he possessed remarkably keen powers of observation, and, on the other, that there were some grounds for the charge that his behavior was at times somewhat theatrical in character:—

One day, as Asclepiades was returning to the city, from his place in the country, he observed the approach of a long funeral procession. Desiring to learn whether the deceased was a person of his acquaintance, and also in the hope of perhaps gaining other information of a professional nature, he approached as nearly as possible to the bier. The face of the corpse was anointed with sweet-smelling ointments over which spices had been sprinkled; but, notwithstanding this, he was able to detect certain signs which led him to suspect that the man might not yet be dead; and accordingly he examined the body very closely and thus satisfied himself that such was indeed the fact. Whereupon he called aloud that the man was still alive, and told the bearers to extinguish the torches, to carry away the materials for the pyre, and to remove the funeral feast from the grave to a table. Some at once objected to the carrying out of these measures and made sarcastic remarks about the healing art—probably because they were already in possession of the man's estate, and were afraid that they might have to give it up. The more influential ones, however, insisted that the physician's words should be heeded. Then Asclepiades, notwithstanding the opposition which was made by the relatives, succeeded in securing a brief delay, during which he had the supposed corpse removed to his own house. Restorative measures were employed, respiration was re-established, and the man was brought back to life. At the succeeding festivities unlimited praise was bestowed upon the wise physician.

Whether this tale, which I have copied from Neuburger, is true or not, it seems to fit in well with the bold and