Bacchius of Tanagra, (3rd century BC), was one of the earliest commentators on the writings of Hippocrates

Hippocrates

Hippocrates of Cos or Hippokrates of Kos was an ancient Greek physician of the Age of Pericles , and is considered one of the most outstanding figures in the history of medicine...

 and was a native of Tanagra

Tanagra

Tanagra is a town and a municipality north of Athens in Boeotia, Greece. The seat of the municipality is the town Schimatari. It is not far from Thebes, and it was noted in antiquity for the figurines named after it...

 in Boeotia

Boeotia

Boeotia, also spelled Beotia and Bœotia , is one of the regional units of Greece. It is part of the region of Central Greece. It was also a region of ancient Greece. Its capital is Livadeia, the second largest city being Thebes.-Geography:...

. He was a follower of Herophilus, and a contemporary of Philinus

Philinus of Cos

Philinus of Cos was a Greek physician. He was the reputed founder of the Empiric school. He was a pupil of Herophilus, a contemporary of Bacchius, and a predecessor of Serapion. He wrote a work on part of the Hippocratic collection directed against Bacchius, and also one on botany, neither of...

. Therefore, he must have lived in the 3rd century BC. Of his writings, (which were both valuable and interesting) nothing remains but a few fragments preserved by Erotianus

Erotianus

Erotianus was the author of a Greek work still extant, entitled Collection of Hippocratic words . It is uncertain whether he was himself a physician, and try to solve father of medicine Hippocrates or merely a grammarian, but he appears to have written some other works on Hippocrates besides...

 and Galen

Galen

Aelius Galenus or Claudius Galenus , better known as Galen of Pergamon , was a prominent Roman physician, surgeon and philosopher...

, by whom he is frequently mentioned.