Cultura

Are Pseudo-Plutarch’s Narrations About the Euphrates and Tigris Rivers in His Book “On Rivers” Reliable?

VOLUME 23, 2026

The Role of Targeted Infra-popliteal Endovascular Angioplasty to Treat Diabetic Foot Ulcers Using the Angiosome Model: A Systematic Review

VOLUME 6, 2023

Mesut KINACI

Abstract

The text of the book entitled On Rivers, attributed to Pseudo-Plutarch, is based on the manuscript Palatinus Heidelbergensis gr. 398 (Codex Palatinus Graecus 398, fols. 157r-173r), dated to the ninth century CE and housed in the Heidelberg University Library. Since the author of the text is identified as Plutarch, it was initially assumed that the book belonged to the famous Mestrius Plutarch (ca. 46-120 CE). However, when the author’s vocabulary, intellectual level, and the references employed in the composition of the text are considered, it becomes clear that On Rivers cannot be attributed to Mestrius Plutarch but rather to another author bearing the same name. For this reason, the author has come to be referred to as Pseudo-Plutarch. The book addresses twenty-five significant rivers from various regions of the known world and takes the form of a catalog providing geographical, onomastic, etymological, mythological, and paradoxographical information about these rivers. While some modern scholars dismissed Pseudo-Plutarch’s On Rivers as unreliable and therefore negligible, others used it as a reference source to substantiate their arguments. The present article was written in order to compare the narrations about the Euphrates (Εὐφράτης = Fırat) and the Tigris (Τίγρις = Dicle) found in On Rivers, attributed to Pseudo-Plutarch, with those of other ancient authors, and to question the accuracy of Pseudo-Plutarch’s narrations regarding these two rivers. The geographical, onomastic, etymological, mythological, and paradoxographical information provided in the book is compared to the writings of other ancient authors as well as with modern scholarship, and its reliability is critically examined. It is therefore recommended that scholars exercise caution and adopt a critical perspective when citing Pseudo-Plutarch’s On Rivers as a reference.

Keywords : Pseudo-Plutarch. On Rivers. Euphrates. Tigris. Mesopotamia.
Erin Saricilar
Lecture in accounting. University of Basrah, College of Administration and Economics, Department of Accounting.

Abstract

Atherosclerotic disease significantly impacts patients with type 2 diabetes, who often present with recalcitrant peripheral ulcers. The angiosome model of the foot presents an opportunity to perform direct angiosome-targeted endovascular interventions to maximise both wound healing and limb salvage. A systematic review was performed, with 17 studies included in the final review. Below-the-knee endovascular interventions present significant technical challenges, with technical success depending on the length of lesion being treated and the number of angiosomes that require treatment. Wound healing was significantly improved with direct angiosome-targeted angioplasty, as was limb salvage, with a significant increase in survival without major amputation. Indirect angioplasty, where the intervention is applied to collateral vessels to the angiosomes, yielded similar results to direct angiosome-targeted angioplasty. Applying the angiosome model of the foot in direct angiosome-targeted angioplasty improves outcomes for patients with recalcitrant diabetic foot ulcers in terms of primary wound healing, mean time for complete wound healing and major amputation-free survival.
Keywords : Diabetic foot ulcer, angiosome, angioplasty