Buyer protection
Donkey milk knowledge archive · Historical source
Alexander of Tralles (6th c.): ass’s milk after human milk in wasting fever
In the 6th century the Byzantine physician Alexander of Tralles recommended milk as food in wasting, “hectic” fevers. Human milk came first, ass’s milk second; the jenny was to be fed at home with barley and leaves.
- Author
- Alexander of Tralles (c. 525 – c. 605), physician from Tralles in Asia Minor
- Work
- On Fevers (Περὶ πυρετῶν), counted as book XII in the edition; Greek–German edition by Theodor Puschmann, vol. I, Vienna 1878
- Passage
- Chapter 4 “On hectic fever”, section “Περὶ γάλακτος / Ueber die Milch”, Greek p. 365, German p. 364 (Puschmann’s edition, vol. I)
- Time & place
- 6th century AD (Alexander lived c. 525–605) · Byzantine Empire (Alexander finally practised in Rome)
- Type of source
- Medical textbook (treatise on fevers)
In the original words
What the original says
τὸ μὲν οὖν γυναικεῖον γάλα προτετίμηται καὶ δεύτερον πάλιν τὸ ὄνειον.
Human milk is preferred, and in second place, again, is ass’s milk.
δῆλον δὲ ὅτι καὶ φροντίζειν δεῖ τοῦ ζῳου τρέφοντα αὐτὸ ἐν οἴκῳ διὰ κριθῶν καὶ μυρσίνης καὶ σχίνου καὶ δρυὸς φύλλων.
It is clear that one must also take care of the animal, feeding it at home with barley and with the leaves of myrtle, mastic and oak.
Am meisten wird die Frauenmilch geschätzt; aber an zweiter Stelle kommt die Eselsmilch.
Human milk is valued most; but in second place comes ass’s milk (Puschmann’s translation).
English rendering: our own translation by the DON DONKEY’S editorial team, following the sense of the text.
A look at the original
What the passage looks like
Page 365 of Theodor Puschmann’s edition (Vienna 1878): the Greek section “Περὶ γάλακτος” in the chapter on hectic fever, with the sentence on human and ass’s milk.
The page comes from a freely accessible digitised copy. Click to open the passage at the library.
University of Michigan, Google-Digitalisat via Internet Archive; gemeinfrei
Background
Who, when, what kind of text
Alexander came from Tralles in Lydia (today Aydın, Turkey) and was the son of a physician; his brother Anthemius is known as one of the architects of Hagia Sophia. He travelled widely and practised in Rome in old age. His “Therapeutica” in eleven books arrange diseases from head to foot; in addition there is a separate treatise on fevers dedicated to a certain Cosmas.
Theodor Puschmann edited Alexander’s writings in Vienna in 1878–1879 with a facing German translation and counted the treatise on fevers as the twelfth book. In his introduction he discusses whether its different style points to another author, and concludes that both works are by Alexander. The chapter on hectic fever gives detailed dietary rules.
Content
What the source reports about donkey milk
For ancient physicians “hectic fever” was a creeping, wasting fever that dries out the solid parts of the body; Puschmann also renders it as “Zehrfieber” (wasting fever). Alexander therefore prescribes moistening baths and food that is easily absorbed.
He considers milk especially suitable because it is easily distributed in the body. Human milk is preferred, ass’s milk comes second. Since some patients dislike taking human milk, they should be given ass’s milk. But one must take care of the animal and feed it at home with barley and with myrtle, mastic and oak leaves, so that the milk does not become harmful.
If there is a tendency to diarrhoea, he advises boiling the milk twice or dropping red-hot river pebbles into it. Those who do not want to drink it plain may have it cooked with barley gruel, spelt groats or wheat meal.
At a glance
Figures & facts from the source
Timeline
Where this source stands in the history of donkey milk
Each dot is a source from our knowledge archive – from Greek antiquity to the present day.
Critical assessment
How reliable is this source?
Source value
Puschmann’s edition offers the Greek text, readings from several manuscripts and a German translation on facing pages; both can be checked in the scan. The attribution of the treatise on fevers to Alexander has been doubted because of its style, but Puschmann considers it genuine.
Care for the animal
The practical advice to keep the jenny at home and feed her deliberately is unusual. Behind it lies the idea, already widespread in Galen, that fodder determines the properties of milk – the milk was to be fresh, of known origin and unspoilt.
Today’s assessment
The dietary rules belong to 6th-century medicine and cannot be applied to fevers today. Persistent fever and wasting belong in medical care; no effect of donkey milk can be derived from the text.
Our assessment
Alexander of Tralles stands at the end of antiquity, yet his ranking – human milk first, ass’s milk as second choice – still echoes centuries later. We particularly like his remark on feeding and keeping the jenny, which shows that milk quality began with the animal even then.
References
Sources to check
- Primary sourceAlexander von Tralles. Original-Text und Übersetzung, ed. Theodor Puschmann, vol. I, Vienna: Braumüller 1878, p. 365 (Greek text “Περὶ γάλακτος”; Internet Archive, copy of the University of Michigan)
https://archive.org/details/alexandervontra02alexgoog/page/n380/mode/1up - SupplementarySame edition, p. 364: Puschmann’s German translation “Ueber die Milch”
https://archive.org/details/alexandervontra02alexgoog/page/n379/mode/1up - SupplementaryPuschmann’s introduction to Alexander’s writings, pp. 102–104: on the treatise on fevers as the twelfth book and on the question of authorship
https://archive.org/details/alexandervontra02alexgoog/page/n119/mode/1up
More sources and studies in the research archive. Summarised by the DON DONKEY’S editorial team, as of November 2026.