Theriac
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It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Venice treacle. (Discuss)

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.^[1] It was considered a universal panacea. ^[2]

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.^[3]

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 had 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.^[4] 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.^[4] 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 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, is not known.^[5]

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.^[1]

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.

Notes

References

• Hodgson, Barbara (2001), In the Arms of Morpheus: The Tragic History of Morphine, Laudanum and Patent Medicines, Firefly Books, ISBN 1552975401.
• Majno, Guido (1991), The Healing Hand: Man and Wound in the Ancient World, Harvard University Press, 413-417, ISBN 0674383311.
• Schafer, Edward H. (1985), The Golden Peaches of Samarkand: A Study of T'Ang Exotics, University of California Press, ISBN 0-520-05462-8.

Further Reading

• Griffin, J. P., Venetian treacle and the foundation of medicines regulation, British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology 58:3, Pages 317-325. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2125.2004.02147.x