Democedes

thumb| Democedes of Croton (; ), described in The Histories of Herodotus as "the most skillful physician of his time".

==Democedes's background== Democedes was a Greek physician and a member of the court of Darius I. He was born in Croton, in Magna Graecia. His father was Calliphon, a priest and physician at Croton at the time of Pythagoras. His first position as physician seems to be in civil service of Athens and Aegina. Later he entered service under Polycrates. In 522 B.C., Polycrates, his entourage, and Democedes were all captured as Lydians by Oroetes and sent to Susa.