Quintus Gargilius Martialis (fl. c. 260) was a third-century Roman writer on horticulture, botany, and medicine. He has been identified by some with the military commander of the same name, mentioned in aLatin inscription of 260 as having lost his life in the colony ofAuzia inMauretania Caesariensis.[1] Considerable fragments of his work (probably calledDe hortis), which treated of the cultivation of trees and vegetables, and also of their medicinal properties, have survived, chiefly in the body of and as an appendix to theMedicina Plinii (an anonymous 4th century handbook of medical recipes based uponPliny the Elder,Naturalis Historiae, xx–xxxii).[2] Extant sections treat ofapples,peaches,quinces,citrons,almonds,chestnuts,parsnips, and various other edibles, with an emphasis on the medical effects they have on the body (quotingDioscorides sometimes).[citation needed] Gargilius also wrote a treatise on the tending of cattle (De curis boum). A biography of the emperorAlexander Severus is also attributed to him in theAugustan History.[2] This attribution has been read as a joke by some critics.[citation needed]
One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Martialis, Quintus Gargilius".Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 17 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 790.
