Mithridatium and Theriac 100 BC – Poisons and Antidotes

Since ancient times, people have been fascinated by poisons and have feared their consequences. For example, in ancient Greece and Rome, poisons were used for assassinations and state-sanctioned executions, encouraging the search for a universal antidote.

Believed for centuries to protect against a range of poisons, 2 well-known supposed antidotes were Mithridatium (2nd century BC) and Theriac (1st century AD).

The number and variety of ingredients in these compounds are astonishing. Mithridatium is said to have been developed by Mithridates 6, King of Pantus (now in Turkey), who was of Persian and Greek Macedonian ancestry. Fearing that he would be murdered by poisoning, Mithridates 6 perfected his Mithridatium by testing it on criminals and slaves. He believed that its 45 or more ingredients protected him against animal venoms and other poisons.

In the first century AD, Andromachus the Elder, physician to the Roman emperor Nero, "improved" Mithridatium by adding viper (a type of snake) flesh and increasing the amount of opium.

The resulting preparation, also known in the twelfth century as Venice Treacle, Theriac, contained at least 64 ingredients, including minerals, poisons, animal flesh, herbs, flowers, squill, and honey. Over time, Theriac was claimed not only to protect against poisoning but also to treat various diseases, including bubonic plague. By the Middle Ages, Theriac contained more than 100 ingredients, which sometimes needed to "mature" for several years, and it was still available for use in Europe in the early twentieth century.

Researcher John Griffin writes: "Two ancient products, Mithridatium and Theriac Andromachus, occupied a central place in treatment for nearly two thousand years. Concern about the quality of these products required these medicines to be prepared publicly, later replaced by inspection of manufacturing and inspection of the finished product. Perhaps, in the final analysis, Mithridatium and Theriac's contribution to modern medicine was that concerns about their quality awakened the earliest concepts of the regulation of medicine."

Description of the article image: An illustration of an apothecary mixing Theriac, from Hortus Sanitatis (Garden of Health), 1491, compiled by the printer Jacob Meydenbach. Note the use of a snake in the image.

Historical figures mentioned in the article: Mithridates VI (132 BC–63 BC), Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus (37–68)

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