Salpe was an ancient Greek midwife cited by Pliny the Elder, and a writer of a work called the Paignia mentioned in Athenaeus’ Deipnosophistae. It is not certain whether the Salpe mentioned by Pliny and the Salpe mentioned by Athenaeus were different people.
Pliny cites Salpe six times in his Natural History.[1] She is described by him as an obstetrix,[2] though he ascribes general remedies to her, not simply those concerned with women’s health.[3] Her remedies only survive in Pliny’s references to them, not in her own words.[4] She uses both herbal and magical remedies to cure a variety of ailments – including sunburn, stiff or numbed limbs, and dog bites.[4]