Everything about Theriac totally explained
» For the radiation therapy machine involved in several accidents, see Therac-25.
Theriac or
theriaca was a medical concoction originally formulated by the Greeks in the 1st Century AD and became popular throughout the ancient world as far away as
China and
India via the mercantile trading via the
Silk Route.
The word
theriac comes from the
Greek term
theriaka. The Greek word refers to ancient
bestiaries about dangerous beasts and their bites. Theriac was later called by the English
treacle, (the
Middle English word) who used it as an antidote against poison.
History
According to legends, the history of theriac begins with the king
Mithridates VI of Pontus who experimented with poisons and antidotes on his prisoners. His numerous toxicity experiments eventually led him to declare that he'd discovered an antidote for every venomous reptile and poisonous substance. He mixed all the effective antidotes into a single one,
mithridatium or mithridate. Mithridate contained opium, myrrh, saffron, ginger, cinnamon and castor, along with some forty other ingredients. When the
Romans defeated him, his medical notes fell into their hands and Roman
medici began to use them. Emperor
Nero's physician
Andromachus improved upon mithridatum by bringing the total number of ingredients to sixty four, including viper's flesh. The traditional theriac later was called
Venice treacle by the English.
Greek physician
Galen devoted a whole book
Theriaké to theriac. One of his patients, Roman emperor
Marcus Aurelius, took it on regular basis.
In 667, ambassadors from
Rûm presented the
Emperor Gaozong of the
Tang Dynasty in
China with a theriac. The Chinese observed that it contained the
gall of
swine, was dark red in colour and the foreigners seemed to to respect it greatly. The Tang pharmacologist Su Kung noted down that it had proved its usefulness against "the hundred ailments". Whether this panacea contained the traditional ingredients such as opium, myrrh and hemp, isn't known.
In 1668, the famous
French apothecary,
Moyse Charas, published the forumala for theriac, seeking to break the monopoly held by the Viennese at that time on the medication, thereby opening up the transfer of medical information.
Traditional theriac
The production of a proper theriac took months with all the collection and
fermentation of herbs and other ingredients.It was supposed to be left to mature for years. It was also expensive and hence available only for the rich.
Patients would use theriac for bites but also as a preventative against any kind of poisoning and eventually against just about anything. It was used in
salves and
plasters or just eaten in chunks.
Theriaca andromachi or
Venice Treacle contained 64 ingredients. In addition to viper flesh and opium, it included
cinnamon,
agarics and
gum arabic. The ingredients were pulverised and reduced to an
electuary with honey.
By the time of the Renaissance, the making of theriac had become an official ceremony, especially in Italy. Pharmacists sold it as late as 1884.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Theriac'.
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