The Siesta (detail), by Lawrence Alma-Tadema. 1868 • WIKIMEDIA COMMONS At V th century BC. J.-C., the Ionian philosopher Diagoras de Melos assured that it was better to die than to succumb to the charms of opium, thus alerting to a now proven danger to health:drug addiction. His warnings, however, found little echo with ancient societies, especially the Romans, since many drugs circulated freely through the Mediterranean without their use ever being sanctioned, except if it was intended to harm, to poison or murder. In ancient times, drugs were among the many natural substances known to produce specific effects on the body. They were classified in the broad category of "medicines" (in ancient Greek, pharmakon means both "poison" and "remedy"). Defined by the Hippocratic Corpus as "substances which act by cooling, warming, drying, moistening, contracting, relaxing or putting to sleep", they were thus employed to prepare painkillers, remedies or potions. Plants, remedies as well as poisons Authors such as Pliny the Elder and Dioscorides list almost a thousand different drugs, including mandrake, henbane, belladonna, datura, hemlock, aconite, poisonous mushrooms, wine, cannabis and opium. In addition to the appearance and origin of these substances, they describe the mode of administration:the herbs were infused, macerated, applied in the form of poultices and plasters, or even ingested in the form of powder, while the oils were applied to the skin, diluted in therapeutic baths or inhaled. Used for various therapeutic purposes, the mandrake was for example known for the sedative properties of its leaves and roots, the ingestion of which promoted sleep. A toxic and powerful narcotic plant native to the shores of the Caspian Sea, the datura was known for its very particular delusions that it provoked, but also for the great effectiveness of its leaves against respiratory discomfort such as asthma. Commonly used in homes to calm sleep disorders and toothaches, belladonna also produced fruits whose juice was applied to the pupils for recreational purposes. Cannabis in temples Opium and cannabis were the most consumed drugs in Greco-Roman antiquity. Cannabis has been perceived for millennia as a mysterious, sacred, even demonic plant. The Greeks and Romans discovered its effects as they extended their domination towards the eastern Mediterranean, then introduced it into certain religious rituals in the form of incense or "perfume" whose odor they spread "through the smoke", in the etymological sense of the Latin expression per fumare . When consumed, cannabis gave off an aroma, the inhalation of which produced a stimulating, relaxing or hallucinogenic effect. Because it was relatively rare in Mediterranean markets, cannabis became a luxury item. Thanks to the physician Galen, we know that the Roman elite adopted the Athenian habit of offering it in social settings, while its hallucinogenic properties made it very popular at banquets. The myth thus tells that Helen of Troy used cannabis to appease the guests of a meal offered by Menelaus, without their knowledge, by mixing it with the wine she served them. Plunged into a deep lethargy, whoever tasted this beverage "would not let a tear run down his cheeks all day, even if his mother and his father died, even if in his presence a brother were slaughtered with iron. or a beloved son, and that his eyes would witness it", says Homer in his Odyssey . Pliny the Elder enumerates for his part the therapeutic virtues of hemp, whose cooked root “relaxes contracted joints, and is used for gout and similar affections. It is applied raw to burns. This plant was also considered a cure for sexual impotence. Baptized "opium" by the Greeks, the juice obtained by cutting poppy capsules (Papaver somniferum ) was widely used by ancient societies. Some believed that only the gods knew its secrets, until Asclepius, the healing god of Greek mythology, revealed them to mortals; others attributed the discovery of this drug to Hermes, the god of travel and trade, or even to Alexander the Great during his conquests in Asia, who would have introduced its consumption in the Mediterranean region. Dangerous narcotics Authors like Herodotus, Hippocrates and Theophrastus were interested in the different applications of the poppy, particularly in the medical field. Physicians like Dioscorides or Heraclides of Taranto emphasized its calming and soporific virtues, corroborated by Plutarch, who described opium and mandrake as the narcotic drugs most commonly used to induce sleep. Sometimes represented with a poppy in her hand, the goddess Juno herself would have used it to defend Rome by drugging the Carthaginian general Hannibal, in order to keep him away from the Roman capital. At least that's what the Punic War says. of the poet Silius Italicus:“It immediately calls Sleep, [which] carries away in a curved horn the poppies it has prepared. He descends into the silence of the night, goes to the tent of the young Barcéen and […] pours rest on his eyes. » The Eastern varieties of these drugs remained the most requested by the Greeks and the Romans, who nevertheless acclimatized them in their latitudes. It is said that Tiberius retired to the island of Capri to be able to consume the excellent local opium, planted centuries earlier by the first Greek colonists. To avoid the consumption of altered drugs, authors such as Dioscorides or Pliny explain that quality opium is malleable and releases a powerful aroma; in its pure state, it dissolves easily in water and melts under the rays of the sun. Pliny assured that "the poppy [had always been] in honor among the Romans", as evidenced by the preparations concocted by doctors for the emperors of the I st and II e centuries after. J.-C. , with white pepper, honey and opium; Andromache the Elder, physician to Nero, is said to have invented theriac, a calming composition containing a third of opium. Although considered drugs, these preparations appear to have induced addiction in patients.Find out more General history of drugs, by Antonio Escohotado, The Poltergeist, 2004. Prices capped by the Roman State The trade in opium, cannabis and other drugs used in medicine was regulated by the public authorities. Promulgated in 301 AD. J.-C., the edict of Diocletian establishes the price of the goods in the Empire, by indicating that they were goods of current consumption on which it was not allowed to speculate. The price of a modius military (17.5 liters) of cannabis seeds could not exceed 80 denarii. The price of poppy was limited to 150 denarii and corresponded to that of medicinal herbs (medicae seminis) . The trade in these drugs, at prices in the same range as certain basic necessities (wheat, ground beans, beans or chickpeas, including modius military cost 100 denarii), must therefore have been widespread in the Mediterranean markets. An opium-addicted emperor? On the prescription of his doctor Galen, Marc Aurèle took an opium lozenge infused in wine every day. According to some authors, the emperor developed an dependence as evidenced by the visions described in his Thoughts , such as his vertiginous perception of time. Other authors, however, see only typical images of stoicism, of which he was a follower. From Venus to venenum Derived from “Venus” and initially associated with the love potion, the Latin term venenum ends up designating drugs used to cure, poison, abort or commit suicide. Whoever prepared them received the name of veneficus , sometimes deformed to maleficus .
