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Donkey milk knowledge archive · Historical source
Quintus Serenus: donkey milk in the didactic poem “Liber medicinalis”
The Latin didactic poem “Liber medicinalis” by Quintus Serenus, probably written in the 3rd century AD, mentions donkey milk in three places. It appears against excess bile, as a laxative ranked below mare’s milk, and after poisoning.
- Author
- Quintus Serenus (identity uncertain; often equated with Serenus Sammonicus, d. 212)
- Work
- Liber medicinalis; critical edition by Friedrich Vollmer, Corpus Medicorum Latinorum II 3, Leipzig/Berlin 1916
- Passage
- Chapter XVIII, vv. 338–339 (p. 18); chapter XXVII, vv. 525–526 (p. 27); chapter LXI, v. 1071 (p. 50) of Vollmer’s edition
- Time & place
- probably 3rd century AD (date uncertain; 2nd–4th century discussed) · Roman Empire (Latin West)
- Type of source
- Medical didactic poem (household remedies in verse)
In the original words
What the original says
et niueus prodest ex ubere sucus asellae, / si tepido uinum infundas ac mella piperque.
The snow-white juice from the she-ass’s udder also helps [according to Serenus], if wine, honey and pepper are poured into it while lukewarm.
crede tamen potum meliorem lactis equini: / dicitur hic dulces asinae praeuincere sucos.
But believe that a draught of mare’s milk is better: it is said to surpass the sweet juice of the she-ass.
lacte asinae placidaeque bouis prodesse loquuntur.
They say that the milk of the she-ass and of the gentle cow helps [after poisoning].
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
Pages 18–19 of Friedrich Vollmer’s edition (Corpus Medicorum Latinorum II 3, 1916): on the left, chapter XVIII with the verse on the “niueus … sucus asellae” (v. 338).
The page comes from a freely accessible digitised copy. Click to open the passage at the library.
Internet Archive, Digitalisat der Ausgabe Leipzig/Berlin 1916; gemeinfrei (Public Domain Mark)
Background
Who, when, what kind of text
The “Liber medicinalis” is a didactic poem in Latin hexameters of about 1,100 lines in 64 chapters, arranged from the head downwards by parts of the body and complaints. The manuscripts call the author Quintus Serenus. Since the Renaissance he has often been identified with the scholar Serenus Sammonicus (d. 212) or his son of the same name; this is not proven, and scholars date the poem anywhere between the 2nd and the 4th century.
Serenus does not write as a physician reporting his own cases; he puts simple household remedies into verse, many of them with parallels in Pliny’s Natural History. According to Vollmer’s preface, Marcellus (around 400) is the only ancient author known to have used the poem. We quote Friedrich Vollmer’s critical edition in the Corpus Medicorum Latinorum (vol. II 3, 1916), which is freely available as a scan.
Content
What the source reports about donkey milk
The chapter “Felli, uomitu et pthisi” (bile, vomiting and consumption) first deals with yellow bile. After pepper, elder shoots and sea water mixed with fresh water and honey, Serenus names “the snow-white juice from the she-ass’s udder”, to which wine, honey and pepper should be added while it is lukewarm.
In the chapter “Ventri molliendo” (to soften the bowels) he collects laxatives. After goat’s milk with salt and mead, he advises drinking mare’s milk: it is said to surpass “the sweet juice of the she-ass”. Donkey milk is known here, but it is explicitly placed second.
In the chapter “Venenis datis” (when poison has been given) he says that if caution could not ward off the poison, it must be expelled; the milk of the she-ass and the cow, it is said, helps. In his apparatus Vollmer points to a similar statement in Pliny (Nat. 28.158).
At a glance
Figures & facts from the source
Timeline
Where this source stands in the history of donkey milk
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Critical assessment
How reliable is this source?
Source value
The critical edition in the Corpus Medicorum Latinorum can be checked page by page as a scan and records the manuscript readings in its apparatus. The verses themselves are poetry: they do not describe observations of patients but collect traditional recipes. Author and date remain uncertain.
Hearsay in verse
Serenus himself marks two of the three passages as tradition (“dicitur”, “loquuntur” – it is said). As a laxative he explicitly ranks donkey milk below mare’s milk. This reflects a ranking of familiar kinds of milk rather than a special recommendation.
Today’s assessment
The verses document ancient household medicine and are not instructions for today. Bile complaints, persistent constipation and especially poisoning belong in medical hands; if poisoning is suspected, a poison control centre is the right place to call.
Our assessment
Serenus shows how naturally donkey milk belonged to Roman household medicine: it stands beside goat’s, cow’s and mare’s milk and is ranked higher or lower depending on the purpose. The matter-of-fact remark that mare’s milk works better as a laxative is exactly what makes the passage credible to us.
References
Sources to check
- Primary sourceQuinti Sereni Liber medicinalis, ed. Friedrich Vollmer, Corpus Medicorum Latinorum II 3, Leipzig/Berlin: Teubner 1916, double page pp. 18–19 with vv. 338–339 (Internet Archive, scan with full text); vv. 525–526 on p. 27, v. 1071 on p. 50
https://archive.org/details/quintus-serenus_1916/page/n21/mode/1up - SupplementarySame edition, double page pp. 26–27 with chapter XXVII “Ventri molliendo” (vv. 525–526)
https://archive.org/details/quintus-serenus_1916/page/n25/mode/1up - SupplementarySame edition, double page pp. 50–51 with chapter LXI “Venenis datis” (v. 1071)
https://archive.org/details/quintus-serenus_1916/page/n37/mode/1up
More sources and studies in the research archive. Summarised by the DON DONKEY’S editorial team, as of November 2026.