Francois P. Retief

POISONS, POISONING AND THE DRUG TRADE IN ANCIENT ROME

The first recorded instance of poisoning in ancient Rome occurred in 331 BC when, during an epidemic, a large number of women were accused of concerted mass poisoning. Overreaction of the community in times of stress particularly, when scapegoats for unexplained phenomena are sought, might have played an important role in this and many subsequent incidents of suspected poisoning. Rome represented a culture steeped in superstition, fear and mythology with virtually no scientific means of retrospectively proving or disproving alleged poisoning. The drug trade in antiquity is briefly reviewed, from the Marsi and rootcutters who collected materials, and the intermediary herbalists and drug pedlars, to the physicians and other prescribers of drugs. There was a general lack of proper knowledge, which led to much abuse and death of patients. The distinction between these professional groups was often vague and physicians were generally not held in high regard. From authoritative writings of Theophrastus, Dioscorides, Pliny and others it is evident that the Romans were aware of a very large number of toxic (and assumed toxic) substances, of plant, animal and mineral origin, but it is evident that the poisoners of ancient Rome almost exclusively made use of plant (and to lesser extent animal) products, and not mineral poisons. A brief overview of the recorded crimes by poison, and known poison dispensers of the time is given. Poisoning probably reached a maximum during the 1st and 2nd centuries AD, when the Julio-Claudian emperors in particular achieved great notoriety, and a wide variety of specific and “universal” antidotes came into vogue.

Breast cancer in antiquity.

Cancer of the breast, seen by Galen as the commonest cancer of his time, was probably first mentioned by Hippocrates in the 5th century BC. A single case history was described but no specific treatment mentioned. For centuries no further cases were described, until Cato, 2nd century BC, advocated cabbage poultices for all tumours and breast cancer in particular. Aëtius of Amida probably first described Pagets cancer of the nipple. By the 2nd century AD treatment comprised a variety of local applications, systemic medicaments, venesection and surgery. Surgical resection first described by Celsus and subsequently by Leonidas (usually combined with cautery) proved curative when applied early in the disease.

Measles in antiquity and the Middle Ages

Although no longer a formidable epidemic disease, measles is still responsible for up to 2 million deaths per annum – mainly among children in developing countries. It is an ancient disease, long confused with smallpox, from which it was clearly differentiated only in the 10th century. In this paper, the place of measles in the medical history of antiquity and the Middle Ages is reviewed.

Poisons, Poisoners, and Poisoning in Ancient Rome

Abstract Our knowledge of poisonous substances known to the ancient Romans is derived from the records of various contemporary writers. The Greek scholar, Theophrastus, associate and successor of Aristotle as head of the Lyceum (4th century BCE) led the way in identifying plants with medicinal (and poisonous) properties. In the 1st century CE, Dioscorides of Anazarbus wrote his famous herbal, De materia medica, which superseded all existing literature in classifying remedies and drugs from the vegetable, animal, and mineral kingdoms. This work, which dealt with close to 1000 drugs, became the standard text for centuries to come. Information on poisons can also be gleaned from the writings of the poet Nicander (2nd century BCE), the army physician Scribonius Largus (150 CE), the encyclopedist Pliny the Elder (2379 CE), another encyclopedist, Cornelius Celsus (1st century CE), and the famous physician and philosopher Galen (2nd century CE).

Akhenaten, a unique pharaoh

Akhenaten was a unique pharaoh in more ways than one. He initiated a major socio-religious revolution that had vast consequences for his country, and possessed a strikingly abnormal physiognomy that was of note in his time and has interested historians up to the present era. In this study, we attempt to identify the developmental disorder responsible for his eunuchoid appearance.

Lead Poisoning and the Downfall of Rome: Reality or Myth?

Abstract Lead was known to the ancients from at least the fourth millennium BCE, but its utilization increased markedly during Roman times, when it became a health hazard. Lead was used extensively in plumbing, domestic utensils were made of lead and pewter, lead salts were used in cosmetics, and a grape juice concentrate commonly used as a sweetener was prepared by preference in lead containers. Roman writers commented on the toxicity of lead, but classic chronic lead poisoning was first described in the seventh century CE. The authors thus suggest that chronic lead poisoning did not contribute significantly to the fall of the Roman Empire.

Bees, honey and health in antiquity

In antiquity bees and honey had a very special significance. Honey was indeed considered to drip from heaven as the food of the gods. As an infant Zeus was fed on honey in the cave of Dicte, by bees and the beautiful Melissa, whose name became the Greek word for “bee”. When the ancient Romans wished you luck they said “May honey drip on you!” and for the Israelites Palestine was a “land of milk and honey” (Forbes 1957:85-87). In his Georgics Vergil likened the inhabitants of the new Golden Age to an orderly swarm of bees (Johnson 1980:90-105), and the word “honeymoon” probably derived from the ancient custom of newlyweds to drink mead (honey-wine) for a month after their wedding (Hajar 2002:5-6). Allsop and Miller state that even today honey is popularly associated with warmth, nostalgia, goodness and flattery (1996:513-520). In this study the origins of apiculture (bee-keeping) and the status and uses of honey in antiquity are analysed – with emphasis on its assumed value as a health promoting agent.

Julius Caesar (100-44 BC) - did he have a brain tumour?

Julius Caesar, one of the outstanding leaders of antiquity, is perhaps best remembered for his military achievements, but he was also a cultured person, a writer and historian, orator and statesman. Except for an attack of quartan malaria early in life, he was healthy and physically fit up to his fifties, when various authors reported the onset of epilepsy. The evidence is that he experienced only two epileptic attacks – probably at the age of 51 and 54 years. He was assassinated at age 56. It has been suggested that his epilepsy was almost certainly secondary to cerebral disease, with a benign brain tumour being highly probable. Contemporary historians also recorded accompanying symptoms which could fit such pathology, including vague disturbances of consciousness, ‘diseases of the head’ (which might indicate headache), terrifying nocturnal experiences interpreted as nightmares, and periodic episodes of giddiness, even tremors. Caesar’s relatively careless reaction to rumours of assassination could be interpreted as erratic behaviour, and some of his friends suspected that he no longer wished to live.

Did Adolf Hitler have syphilis

The evidence that Adolf Hitler might have suffered from incapacitating syphilis is reviewed. Rumors that he acquired syphilis from a prostitute at the age of 20 years, with possible re-infection during World War I, can no longer be verified. Evidence is that he was sexually rather inactive throughout his life. Suggestions that Hitlers cardiac lesion and complaints such as transitory blindness, tremor of his left arm and leg, recurring abdominal pain and a skin lesion of the leg were of syphilitic aetiology cannot be supported. Hitlers progressive mental and physical deterioration after 1942, his growing paranoia, fits of rage, grandiosity and symptoms of possible dementia would fit in neurosyphilis. There are, however, also other explanations for his terminal syndrome, and evidence that repeated clinical examinations did not show the characteristic signs of dementia paralytica or tabes dorsalis, swings the balance of probability away from tertiary syphilis.

HORTICULTURE IN ANTIQUITY, WITH EMPHASIS ON THE GRAECO-ROMAN ERA

The evolution of horticulture (gardening) in antiquity, as distinct from largescale agriculture and forestry, is traced from its humble origins in ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia, to the Graeco-Roman era. Little is known about horticulture in the Greek Bronze Age and Homeric period, but from the 5th century onwards, public rather than private gardens became popular. In Athens a market garden was planted on the agora, and public parks (containing trees without flowers or decorative shrubs) like the Academy and Lyceum, appeared on the outskirts of the cities. Orchards and vegetable gardens were usually placed outside city walls and domestic gardening in and around homes were virtually unknown. The Greeks used wild flowers rather than cultivated flowers. Graveyards were planted with trees, and sacred groves, often in idyllic settings, were associated with shrines and divinity. During the Hellenistic era, exotic gardens based on the Persian paradeisos, were introduced by the affluent. The Romans made extensive use of private and domestic horticulture. In their homes (domus) built on the Greek model, the peristyle in particular, was converted into a garden containing trees, shrubs, flowers and vegetables. Further walled gardens were often attached to the domus. In large cities where the majority of citizens lived in multi-storied apartments (cenaculae), domestic gardening was restricted to occasional climbing plants and potted flowers decorating pillars, balconies and window sills. Wealthy Romans erected villas on country estates where indoor gardens and outside horticultural projects often included large orchards, gardens and vegetables shrubs and flowers, as well as tree-lined walking lanes, shrines, statues and water features. Facilities for horse riding were common, as well as pleasure gardens on the paradeisos model.