David Bennett was, for most of his career, a hospital executive in the British National Health Service. In retirement, he brought together his life-long love of the Greek language and the interest he had developed in hospital history by studying the texts associated with Byzantine hospitals, first for a Master's degree and then a Ph.D. at the University of London. He died in 2012. This book grew out of his doctoral thesis.

Introduction / Part One: Researching the history of the Byzantine hospital / 1. From hostel to hospital. The Byzantine xenon / 2. Uncertainties / 3. Can history be written from manuscripts? / Part Two: Exploring the textual evidence / 4. "In conformity with xenôn patice" The Therapeutikai / 5. On the symptoms of acute and chronic affections. Romanos, Theophilos and the Prostagai / 6. Armoury, monastery, infirmary. The Mangana Xenôn remedies. Codex Vaticanus graecus 299 / 7. The codex Parisinus graecus 2194, ff. 441r-450v (Xenonika I and II) / 8. In the great porticoed street of Maurianos? The Mauraganos xenôn text / Part Three: The search for healing in Byzantine xenônes / 9. Conclusions / Part Four: Consulting hospital formularies / Introduction / Texts / Bibliography / Index