one of the ablest of the ancient Christian philosophers, and the author of a Greek treatise On the Nature of Man, flourished, as bishop of Emesa in Syria, probably about the end of the fourth century. His book is the only record that remains of his existence. It seems to be little else than a synopsis of the orthodox philosophy of that day, written in a style generally clear, easy, and elegant. Man is considered as a complex being, composed of a body and a soul. It is while discussing the former of these divisions that Nemesius displays his learning and his power of theorizing to the best advantage. His remarks on the spleen, the nerves, the glands, and other organs of the body, prove him to have been a thorough adept in all the physiological lore of that age; and his curious speculations touching the motion of the pulse, and the use of the bile, have led Fell, Brucker, and others of his indiscriminate admirers, to suppose that he was acquainted with the circulation of the blood and the functions of the liver; an opinion, however, which Freund, in his History of Physic, and Haller, in his Bibliotheca Anatomica, contest. Treating of the other great division of his subject, Nemesius considers the soul as composed of two parts, the rational part consisting of thought, memory, and especially will, and the irrational part consisting of the desires and the passions. On the liberty of the human will, and other kindred subjects, his views are just and profound. He holds, however, the Platonic doctrine of the pre-existence of the soul.

An edition of the work of Nemesius in the original was given to the world by Nicasius Ellobodius, 8vo, Antwerp, 1664; and by Fell, 8vo, Oxford, 1671. The latest and the best edition is that of F. Matthiæ, 8vo, Halle, 1802. It was translated into English by George Wither, 12mo, London, 1636; into German by Osterhammer, 8vo, Salzburg, 1819; and into French by J. B. Thibault, 8vo, Paris, 1844.