They are always watching. Always listening. Even when your phone is turned off, they’re still there with their ear pressed against your device’s invisible back door. They thrive in darkness and secrecy. They control the economy and bend authorities to their will, yet they remain faceless. They are the silent force tightening their grip around our crumbling society, and they will not stop until their power over the world is complete. Who is this most malevolent secret organization that holds the strings of power? They are known only as the Collective, and their invisible reign across the world seemed unstoppable. That is, until a soul‐searching Montrealer named David Collins followed his intuition to uncover a broken shard of advanced ancient technology with the power to change everything. As David continues to follow his intuition, he finds allies within the Order of Hermes, a secret organization dedicated to uncovering lost knowledge and bringing that knowledge to the world. Yet the Order of Hermes must also keep those secrets safe from the Collective, who would use such technology to consume the world in their greed. With the help of his allies, David begins to unlock the shard’s mysterious powers of healing and destruction, but in doing so, he also draws the eye and ire of the Collective. So begins a deadly chase across Quebec and New York State. With the Collective’s ruthless shadows constantly at David’s heels, will he be able to unlock the shard’s secrets and use its powers to cure the world of the insidious Collective before it’s too late?

This book is a wide-ranging survey and discussion of the god, Asclepius, in the ancient world of Greece and Rome, based upon first-hand evidence from numismatic, literary and archaeological sources. It reviews Asclepian temple medicine and offers a clinical explanation for its success. It will be of interest to many of those working within or associated with the world of medicine today, as well as to teachers and students of the history of medicine.

Legendary ancient Greek physician and healer god Asclepius was considered the foremost antagonist of Christ. Providing an overview of all facets of the Asclepius phenomenon, this work, first published in two volumes in 1945, comprises a unique collection of the literary references and inscriptions in ancient texts to Asclepius, his life, his deeds, cult, temples--with extended analysis thereof.

The Asclepius is one of two philosophical books ascribed to the legendary sage of Ancient Egypt, Hermes Trismegistus, who was believed in classical and renaissance times to have lived shortly after Moses. The Greek original, lost since classical times, is thought to date from the 2nd or 3rd century AD. However, a Latin version survived, of which this volume is a translation. Like its companion, the Corpus Hermeticum (or The Way of Hermes), the Asclepius describes the most profound philosophical questions in the form of a conversation about secrets: the nature of the One, the role of the gods, and the stature of the human being. Not only does this work offer spiritual guidance, but it is also a valuable insight into the minds and emotions of the Egyptians in ancient and classical times. Many of the views expressed also reflect Gnostic beliefs which passed into early Christianity.

Throughout antiquity patients sought relief and healing from their afflictions in the sanctuaries of Asclepius, the God of healing. The Asclepian healing cult included sacrifices, ablutions and incubation. In their dreams, the patients received therapeutic instructions. But not only miraculous cures occurred in the Asclepieia, nor were these sacred sites the last refuge of the seriously ill. Using selected examples from the Roman Imperial Period, Florian Steger outlines the healthcare provided in the prominent Asclepian sanctuaries - Epidaurus and Pergamum in particular - and demonstrates that this healthcare was on a par with the contemporary medical culture. Ancient epigraphic healing reports and the patient journal of the celebrated orator Publius Aelius Aristides paint a vivid picture of the daily treatments. The medicine of Asclepius clearly formed an integral part of the Roman Empire's multifaceted healthcare market.