The Poison Aconite or Wolfsbane
I am very pleased to be able to bring you a further piece by Laura Diaz Arnesto, from Uruguay (I have forgiven her and her nation for the huge error of her compatriot linesman in the England v Germany World Cup match ).
Thisarticle helps us further understand how the ancients, and in particularthe Byzantines, used medicinalherbs as medicineand in this case as poisons. I hope that we hear more from Laura on this topic area, and submissions from readers would be very welcomeas we build up slowly to the 2011Runciman Lecture which I believe will be on the subject of Byzantine medicine.
Aconite is a powerful plant, used in the wholesale jerseys past as a medicinal herb, a poison and in potions for incantations. It belongs to the Aconitum genus of flowering plant belonging to the buttercup family (Ranunculaceae).
There are over 250 species of Aconitum. The most common plant in this genus, Aconitum napellus(the common Monkshood) was considered to be of therapeutic and of toxicological importance. These herbaceous perennial cheap jerseys plants are chiefly natives of the mountainous parts of the northern hemisphere, growing in moisture retentive but well draining soils on mountain meadows.
Some species of Aconite were well knownto the ancients as deadly poisons. It was said to be the invention of Hecate from the foam of Cerberus, and it was a species of Aconite that entered into the poison which the old men of the island of Ceos were condemned to drink when they became infirm and no longer of use to the State. Aconite is also supposed to have been the poison that formed the cup which Medea prepared for Theseus. The Greeks hailed it as the Queen of Poisons, and until the 20th century, it was the deadliest toxin known to man.
The leaves and root yield its active ingredient, a potent alkaloid called Aconitine, which was frequently used to poison the tips of hunting darts or javelins. Until its toxic properties were discovered, tincture or liniment of aconite was used to relieve sciatica, neuralgia and rheumatism, for the heat production and mild anaesthetic properties of the potion gave comfort to many an aching joint. However, its popularity took a plunge when it was discovered that the mere rubbing of preparations on skin produced symptoms like poisoning by ingestion, and thereafter was sought primarily by those who had more sinister uses for the plant.
The poison works by targeting the cardiovascular and central nervous system, and gastrointestinal tract. All the species contain the active poison Aconitine, which exists in all parts of the plant, but especially in the root. The poison takes effect quickly. At one time, Aconite was a homeopathic remedy used in western medicine. Today, Aconite use in medicine has been discontinued in favour of safer medications.
Ancient knowledge of Aconite usage
The Greeks called Aconite lykotonon, meaning wolf slaying (Wolfsbane); this plant earned the name because it was rubbed on the arrows used when hunting wolves. Several species of Aconitum have been used as arrow poisons. Soldiers would dump aconite down wells in order to poison an enemy water supply.
Monkshood originated from the spittle of the beast Kerberos was dripped on the ground and this lead to the sprouting of Monkshood.
The art of poisoning was carefully cultivated in Rome, and became a flourishing industry since the early Emperors. Our knowledge of poisons available during Roman times is derived from the writings of Dioscorides, ScriboniusLargus, Nicander, Pliny the Elder, and Galen. Poisons were of vegetable, animal and mineral origin. Vegetable poisons were best known and most frequently used. henbane, datura, deadly nightshade and mandrake; aconite from monk hood; hemlock, hellebore, colchicum (from autumn crocus), yew extract and opium.
Galen understood the very deleterious qualities of botanical poisons, some cultivated for nefarious use, and others combined with beneficial drugs to engender stimulant effects (aconite, hyoscyamus, mushrooms, hemlock, mandrake, this last common in Roman times as a reliable anaesthetic). Galen commanded the technical details, best recorded in Greek by Dioscoridesof Anazarbus, of animal, botanical, and mineral pharmacology.
An illustration of the species "Akoniton napellus", folio 67V
In De Materia Medica ( Materials of Medicine Dioscoridesdescribes two different plants, the first Akonitonlycoctonum, which was used to kill panthers, wolves, and other wild beasts, and as an anodyne (pain reliever) in eye medications. In the next chapter, he describes other aconitum, Aconitum napellus(monkshood), which also is toxic. Aconitum napellusis so named, says Theophrastus, because the tuberous root of the plant was thought to resemble a small turnip (napus) and this root resides its deadly property (the alkaloid Aconitine). He goes on to say that, depending upon how it is compounded, the effect of the poison can be immediate or fatal in several months or even a year or two, the longer the time, the more painful the death. In general, it was deadly to any four footed animal and them the same day if the root or leaf is put on the genitals usage of Aconite as a poison
Of the 88 emperors who reigned from 324 to 1453 from Constantine I to Constantine XI 29 died violent deaths, including several poisonings. Evidence for the use of aconitumas a poison in the Byzantine period can be found in the case of Emperor John I Tzimisces(ruled 969 976), who appears to have been poisoned by a disgruntled eunuch. He died suddenly in 976 on his return from his second campaign against the Abbasids, and was buried in the Church of Christ Chalkites, which he cheap nfl jerseys had rebuilt. Several sources state that the imperial chamberlain Basil Lekapenospoisoned the emperor to prevent him from stripping Lekapenos of his ill gotten lands and riches.
John I Tzimisces entering Constantinople in Triumph cheap nfl jerseys with the Preslav Icon
Nowadays, Aconite's natural habitat comprises the lower mountain slopes of the north portion of the Eastern Hemisphere; from the Himalayas through Europe to Great Britain. The Via Egnatia, one of the most important roads in the Byzantine Empire, built during the Roman Empire, to facilitate the communication between Rome and Constantinople, and connecting Durrsto Lychnidos(Ohrid), Thessalonica (Thessaloniki), Adrianople (Edirne) and Constantinople (Istanbul), is known to be the spiritual and cultural axis, first for the spreading of Orthodox Christianity in South East Europe, and later on the spread of monkshood."Poisons, Poisoning, and Poisoners in Ancient Rome", Francois P. Retief Louise Cilliers