The same people that we look at as the founders of democracy were freely using drugs across all walks of life from the emperor to the common soldier. Living conditions throughout the empire were harsh what with all the wars, famines, plagues, and natural disasters. So, the people needed a way to forget their troubles. The Romans turned to some of the plants they used for healing for their out-of- body experiences. And anything mind-altering or pleasureinducing was as popular then as it is today. Alcohol, cannabis, opiates, and psychoactive drugs, including those made from mushrooms, were the drugs of choice, and everybody used them to get high, free from the stigma that exists today in many countries. Drugs were just part of the Roman way of life. Welcome to the Roman Empire. loaded. The Romans not only grew drugs, but they also sold them and took them. As well as being used to treat illnesses as wide-ranging as earachche and insomnia, cannabis and opioids were universally accepted for recreational use. These leisure drugs weren’t kept secret or sold under the counter. Because demand was so high, there were dealers all over the empire who bought and sold drugs in many forms such as oils and powders, selling them in the markets alongside other more mundane spices and herbs. Drug dealers often gave advice on how to prepare the drug and how much to use for the best high. Poppies were grown in gardens beside other innocuous plants such as lavender and lettuce. First century poet Virgil even shared advice on how to cultivate poppies alongside ordinary crops, believing that the poppy of Saras, the opium poppy, was best planted late in the year at the awesome equinox at the same time as the Bali when quote parts of the world were half in light and half in shade. Little old wine drinker me. Although alcoholism as a concept wasn’t thought of until the 20th century, it was common across the empire where wine was a big thing. Wine played a large part in religion and funeral practices, and there were several public festivals celebrating wine production. Some Roman connoisseurs could even identify the year and location where a particular wine was made. Used across the classes, it was thought to increase strength and increase sexual potency as long as it was drunk in moderation. Whereas excessive drinking and alcoholism would have the opposite effect. Like other Roman writers, the philosopher Plenny the Elder thought that drinking was damaging to society. He described cases of alcoholism in his treaty natural history, stating that quote, “A great part of mankind are of the opinion that there is nothing else in life worth living for.” He described how drunken people have a quote palid hue, drooping eyelids, tremulous hands, inebri, and dreams of monstrous lustfulness and forbidden delights. as well as having hangovers and troubled sleep. He believed that if women drank alcohol, they were likely to be promiscuous, married women would commit adultery, and that people could be driven to a frenzy and a thousand crimes or even death by the consumption of alcohol. The stoic Roman philosopher Senica was in agreement, believing that the excessive consumption of alcohol could cause long-term damage to the drinker long after the initial effects of the tipple had worn off. He thought that drunkenness revealed the worst character flaws in people and was well aware of functioning alcoholics who could appear sober even though they had consumed huge quantities of alcohol. The politician and general Mark Anthony was said to be a heavy drinker. The most famous doctor in the Roman Empire, Galen, one of the most famous physicians of antiquity after Hypocrates described how the young slave of a teacher consumed large amounts of alcohol which resulted in a fever, an inability to sleep and delirium. Eventually, the slave died because of his symptoms. Galen also believed that alcohol should be kept away from children because it would only encourage them to drink. Draft of living death. Roman physicians were well aware of the poisoning effects of opium. In the 2n century BC, the Greek doctor Nicanda of Caulifon described what happened to someone who had drunk too much. Quote, “Their eyes do not open, but are bound quite motionless by their eyelids. With the exhaustion, an odorous sweat bathes all the body, turns cheeks pale, and causes the lips to swell. The bonds of the jaw are relaxed, and through the throat, the labored breath passes faint and chill. And often either the livid nail or nostril is a harbinger of death. The physician Diosceridis nicknames the father of pharmaccognacy. He was around in the second half of the first century was more direct. Quote, “It kills.” Although there was a way back from the coma, Nicando recommended quote fourth with ruse him with slaps on either cheek or else by shouting or again by shaking him as he sleeps in order that swooning man may dispel the fatal drowsiness. Plenty the Elder mentioned several illnesses that opium was used to treat, including carbunals, elephantis, epilepsy, and liver complaints, and even scorpion bites. I can’t get no sleep. Opium was used commonly for insomnia. Galen discusses the drug use of the Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius. He followed the path of stoicism, which believed in the four virtues, one of which was temperance. According to Galen, Emperor Orurelius applied this self-restraint in all things, including his drug taking. He mixed the opium with spoonfuls of honey, and the dosage was adjusted every day by the imperial physician to make sure that the emperor could get the sleep he needed without compromising his judgment during the day. According to Galen, Norelius was an energetic leader who used the electuary to relax. He became quite the opiates connoisseur and was able to tell the difference between good and bad ingredients in his sleep medicine, reducing the dosage whenever he needed to fulfill his imperial duties with a clear head. Seemingly not the behavior of some drug adult addict. Some Romans purchased opium especially to take their own life. Suicide was not illegal or frowned upon in the Roman world. Many people who were either old or in pain chose to slip away from this life on a gentle wave of opium. Opiates dissolved in drink were also an easy way to get rid of an enemy. It’s thought that Nero had his 13-year-old stepbrother Bratannicus poisoned with opiates at a dinner party in 55 AD. The drug was placed in the young boy’s drink, having previously been made by the notorious maker of poisons named Lacusta. Once Brtannicus drank the substance, according to the annals of Senator Tacticus, he quote lost alike both voice and breath, passed into a coma, and died possibly sometime weeks later, leaving the throne free for Nero to take. [Music] Euphoria. A few plants known to the Romans like mandre, belladona, wormwood, gyson and henbane either ingested or breathed as smoke produced atropene and gave the user feelings of euphoria, hallucinations and delirium. Common wormwood was used for mental stimulation and anxiety. The Romans also made a special wine with the plant. According to Plenny, he believed that the physicians prescribed wormwood wine a little too much. Although this didn’t stop him from discussing which method of making it was the best. Wormwood contains a chemical called fuone which produces mindaltering effects making humans feel self-confident. It also stimulates feelings of creativity. It’s actually a potent neurotoxin, meaning that too much of the wormwood wine could be extremely dangerous, a fact that seems to have eluded the Romans completely. Being so soluble in alcohol meant that the leaves could be easily boiled in wine to create a potion. Wormwood smelled bad and tasted even worse. So like opium, the Romans often mixed it with honey to make it go down easier. Sometimes many different drugs were mixed to form a cocktail. Wine jars found in an ancient pharmacy near Pompei showed traces of a concoction containing cannabis, opium, and henbane. The first century poet and philosopher Lucretius was thought to have been given a mixture of wormwood by his wife that led him to fits of insanity. Acting on the central nervous system, it’s thought that this drug could drive someone into madness. As there was no way of proving a suspected poisoning over 2,000 years ago, we will never know whether this was done with Lucretius’s consent or because his wife was trying to poison her husband. Another plant that the Romans use as a potent drug was the daffodil. That’s right. Today, we see it as a pretty yellow flower that indicates winter is over and spring is on the way. For the Romans, the daffodil was a potent drug. Parts of the plant were used to make medications, but it also had mindaltering effects on its users. According to Plenty, the daffodil had painkilling properties and also caused delirium. And what we now refer to today as magic mushrooms were also popular and even used by emperors. It’s possible that the dream fish, a species of seabbream widely available throughout the Mediterranean that produces vivid hallucinations, was also consumed in ancient Rome. The Romans clearly understood that some plants could have mind-altering effects. And as far back as the 1st century BC, the Greek philosopher Theoprastus had realized that people were able to tolerate a higher and higher dosage of drug as their bodies became accustomed to it. So there’s no reason to think that the Romans hadn’t realized just how quickly someone could become an addict either. [Music] The Highife. The use of hemp in human history goes back even further than opium and was brought to Europe before written records began. The mysterious Yamna people were a Bronze Age culture that introduced the plant into Eastern Europe from Asia, where it had been used for over 5,000 years. Hemp, which is a member of the Malbury family, is a versatile material and has many practical uses. It can be utilized for the production of clothing and rope. The flowers and resin from the plant can also produce high quantities of psychoactive drugs. It’s possible that marijuana was imported by Roman merchants from the Scythes. The Scythes were an ancient nomadic people from Iran. The Greek historian Herodotus recorded how they quote take seeds from the hemp and throw them on red hot stones where they smolder and give off fumes. They cover this with mats and crawl under while fumes emerge so densely that no Greek steam bath could produce more. The Scythes howl with joy at their vapor bath. Obviously, Romans didn’t just skin up a joint and start toking on it. They often used the same process as the Scythes known as fumigation to breathe in the fumes of various substances such as incense and herbs as well as cannabis. Diocondes, a physician who traveled throughout the Roman Empire with Nero’s army, was familiar with many medicinal herbs, including cannabis. He commented on how its excessive use would cause problems with the user’s sex life. Duskundis also points out that this makes cannabis perfect for anyone who needs to control their impulses. Plenny the Elder said the juice of the cannabis plant was used to quote kill parasites, numb the pain or arthritis, and settle the stomachs of domestic animals. Plenny also refers to hemp as the laughing weed in his natural history and adds that it is intoxifying when added to wine. And Galen described how cannabis was used at parties to bring quote joy and laughter. Thank you so much for watching this episode of the Roman Empire. Please do subscribe if you enjoyed the video as we do release a new one like this every Friday. So until next time, hope everyone has an amazing week. Cheers. [Music]
Video Tags: [vid_tags]
Video Duration: 00:11:40
