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Mithridate, also known as mithridatium, mithridatum, or mithridaticum, is a semi-mythical remedy with as many as 65 ingredients, used as an antidote for poisoning, and said to have been created by Mithridates VI Eupator of Pontus in the 1st century BC. It was one of the most complex and highly sought-after drugs during the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, particularly in Italy and France, where it was in continual use for centuries.^[1]^[2] An updated recipe called theriac (Theriacum Andromachi) was known well into the 19th century.^[3]

Mithridate takes its name from its inventor, Mithridates VI, king of the ancient Anatolian Kingdom of Pontus (134 to 63 BC), who is said to have so fortified his body against poisons with antidotes and preservatives that when he tried to kill himself, he could not find any poison that would have an effect, and, according to some legends, had to ask a soldier to run him through with a sword. The recipe for the reputed antidote was found in his cabinet, written with his own hand, and was carried to Rome by Pompey. It was translated into Latin by Pompey's freedman Lenaeus, and later improved upon by Nero's physician Andromachus and Marcus Aurelius' physician Galen.^[4] It likely underwent considerable alterations since the time of Mithridates.^[3] After realizing the anti-toxic effects of snake meat, Andromachus made Faroug antidote with changes in the previous formulas.^[5]

In the Middle Ages, mithridate was also used as part of a regimen to ward off potential threats of plague. According to Simon Kellwaye (1593), one should "take a great Onyon, make a hole in the myddle of him, then fill the place with Mitridat or Triacle, and some leaues of Rue".^[6] Until as late as 1786, physicians in London were officially prescribing mithridate.^[7] According to historian Christopher Hill, Oliver Cromwell took a large dose of mithridate as a precaution against the plague and found it cured his acne.

The term mithridate has come to refer to any generally all-purpose antidote.^[8]

Origins

Mithridates' father was assassinated by poisoning, according to some at his mother's orders. After this, Mithridates's mother held regency over Pontus until a male heir was of age. Mithridates was in competition with another brother, whom his mother favored, for the throne.^[9] Supposedly during his youth he began to suspect plots against him at his mother's orders and was aware of her likely connection with his father's death. He then, supposedly, began to notice pains during his meals, and suspected his mother had ordered small amounts of poison to be added to his food in order to cause his health to deteriorate while avoiding notice of intent to kill him slowly. After other assassination attempts, he fled into the wilderness.^[10]

While in the wild it is said that he began consuming non-lethal levels of poisons and mixing many into a remedy to make him immune to many poisons.^[11]

In keeping with most medical practices of his era, Mithridates' anti-poison routines included a religious component supervised by Agari, or Scythian shamans who never left his side.^[12]

Formulation

Aulus Cornelius Celsus details one version of the antidote in De Medicina (ca. AD 30). A recent translation is as follows: "But the most famous antidote is that of Mithridates, which that king is said to have taken daily and by it to have rendered his body safe against danger from poison". It contained:

costmary, 1–66 grams
sweet flag, 20 grams
hypericum, 8 grams
Natural gum, 8 grams
sagapenum,^[13] 8 grams
acacia juice, 8 grams
Illyrian iris (probably I. germanica),^[14] 8 grams
cardamom, 8 grams
anise, 12 grams
Gallic nard (Valeriana italica),^[15] 16 grams
gentian root, 16 grams
dried rose leaves, 16 grams
poppy-tears (Papaver rhoeas, a wild poppy with low opiate content),^[16] 17 grams
parsley, 17 grams
cassia, 20–66 grams
saxifrage, 20–66 grams
darnel, 20–66 grams
long pepper, 20–66 grams
storax, 21 grams
castoreum, 24 grams
frankincense, 24 grams
hypocistis juice,^[17] 24 grams
myrrh, 24 grams
opopanax, 24 grams
malabathrum leaves, 24 grams
flower of round rush, 24–66 grams
turpentine-resin, 24–66 grams
galbanum, 24–66 grams
Cretan carrot seeds, 24–66 grams
nard, 25 grams
opobalsam, 25 grams
shepherd's purse, 25 grams
rhubarb root, 28 grams
saffron, 29 grams
ginger, 29 grams
cinnamon, 29 grams

The ingredients are then "pounded and taken up in honey. Against poisoning, a piece the size of an almond is given in wine. In other affections an amount corresponding in size to an Egyptian bean is sufficient." Of these ingredients, Illyrian iris, darnel, and rhubarb were not commonly found in other versions of the antidote.^[16] However, Celsus' formulation, written 100 years after the death of Mithridates, was one of the first published. Galen called the antidote "theriac" and presented versions by Aelius (used by Julius Caesar), Andromachus (physician to Nero), Antipater, Nicostratus, and Damocratis. The Andromachus formulation closely resembles that of Celsus.^[16]

The manufacture of antidotes called mithridate or theriac (English "treacle") continued into the nineteenth century. Ephraim Chambers, in his 1728 Cyclopaedia, says "Mithridate is one of the capital Medicines in the Apothecaries Shops, being composed of a vast Number of Drugs, as Opium, Myrrh, Agaric, Saffron, Ginger, Cinnamon, Spikenard, Frankincense, Castor, Pepper, Gentian, &c. It is accounted a Cordial, Opiate, Sudorific, and Alexipharmic". Petrus Andreas Matthiolus considered it more effectual against poisons than Venice treacle, and easier to make.^[3] Late versions of the antidote incorporated dried blood or the dried flesh of lizards or vipers^[7] or Malabathrum.^[18]

Criticism

Pliny (Natural History, XXIX.24–25, ca. AD 77) was skeptical of mithridate and other such theriacs (panacea potions), with their numerous ingredients:

The Mithridatic antidote is composed of fifty-four ingredients, no two of them having the same weight, while of some is prescribed one sixtieth part of one denarius. Which of the gods, in the name of Truth, fixed these absurd proportions? No human brain could have been sharp enough. It is plainly a showy parade of the art, and a colossal boast of science.^[19]

In literature

In A. E. Housman's collection of poetry titled A Shropshire Lad published in 1896, there is a poem about King Mithridates and his antidote's amazing abilities:

There was a king reigned in the East:
There, when kings will sit to feast,
They get their fill before they think
With poisoned meat and poisoned drink.
He gathered all that springs to birth
From the many-venomed earth;
First a little, thence to more,
He sampled all her killing store;
And easy, smiling, seasoned sound,
Sate the king when healths went round.
They put arsenic in his meat
And stared aghast to watch him eat;
They poured strychnine in his cup
And shook to see him drink it up:
They shook, they stared as white's their shirt:
Them it was their poison hurt.
—I tell the tale that I heard told.
Mithridates, he died old.^[6]

In the Diary of Samuel Pepys, entry for 9th April 1664; Pepys writes at the end of the day “by the help of mithridate slept very well” having been unwell the previous night and also having vomited during the day.

References

^ "Pair of Drug Jars". The J. Paul Getty Museum. Retrieved 26 January 2006.
^ Ciaraldi, Marina (2000). "Drug preparation in evidence? An unusual plant and bone assemblage from the Pompeian countryside, Italy". Vegetation History and Archaeobotany. 9 (2): 91–98. doi:10.1007/BF01300059. S2CID 85196684.
^ ^a ^b ^c "Mithridate".
^ Adrienne Mayor, "Greek Fire, Poison Arrows & Scorpion Bombs" Overlook 2003"
^ "Theriac: medicine and antidote".
^ Kellwaye, Simon. 1593. A defensatiue against the plague contayning two partes or treatises.... 32.
^ ^a ^b Nature. 14 September 1989. 115/1.
^ Sci. Monthly. Sept 1932. 244/1.
^ Adrienne Mayor. The Poison King: the life and legend of Mithradates, Rome’s deadliest enemy. p.68
^ Adrienne Mayor. The Poison King: the life and legend of Mithradates, Rome’s deadliest enemy. p.69
^ McGing, B. C. (1986). The Foreign Policy of Mithridates VI Eupator, King of Pontus. Leiden, The Netherlands: E. J. Brill. p. 43.
^ mayor, Adrienne. Greek Fire, Poison Arrows, and Scorpion Bombs: Biological and Chemical Warfare in the Ancient World. New York, Overlook Duckworth, 2003; p. 148
^ Identified as a fetid gum resin obtained from a species of Ferula
^ M. Grieve, A Modern Herbal, 1931
^ Anthony Dweck, "A listing of the Valerianaceae family", in Medicinal and Aromatic Plants Industrial Profile, 1996 [1]
^ ^a ^b ^c Stata Norton, Molecular Interventions 6:60–66, 2006
^ probably th juice of Cytinus hypocistis: Culpeper, The Complete Herbal, 1654
^ Dunglison, Robley. 1848. Medical lexicon. A dictionary of medical science.
^ Grout, James. "Mithridatum". Encyclopaedia Romana. Retrieved 26 January 2006.

[1] "Pair of Drug Jars". The J. Paul Getty Museum. Retrieved 26 January 2006.

[2] Ciaraldi, Marina (2000). "Drug preparation in evidence? An unusual plant and bone assemblage from the Pompeian countryside, Italy". Vegetation History and Archaeobotany. 9 (2): 91–98. doi:10.1007/BF01300059. S2CID 85196684.

[Mithridate-3] "Mithridate".

[4] Adrienne Mayor, "Greek Fire, Poison Arrows & Scorpion Bombs" Overlook 2003"

[Theriac:_medicine_and_antidote-5] "Theriac: medicine and antidote".

[6] Kellwaye, Simon. 1593. A defensatiue against the plague contayning two partes or treatises.... 32.

[Nature_1989-7] Nature. 14 September 1989. 115/1.

[8] Sci. Monthly. Sept 1932. 244/1.

[9] Adrienne Mayor. The Poison King: the life and legend of Mithradates, Rome’s deadliest enemy. p.68

[10] Adrienne Mayor. The Poison King: the life and legend of Mithradates, Rome’s deadliest enemy. p.69

[The_Foreign_Policy_of_Mithridates_VI_Eupator,_King_of_Pontus-11] McGing, B. C. (1986). The Foreign Policy of Mithridates VI Eupator, King of Pontus. Leiden, The Netherlands: E. J. Brill. p. 43.

[12] yor, Adrienne. Greek Fire, Poison Arrows, and Scorpion Bombs: Biological and Chemical Warfare in the Ancient World. New York, Overlook Duckworth, 2003; p. 148

[13] Identified as a fetid gum resin obtained from a species of Ferula

[14] M. Grieve, A Modern Herbal, 1931

[15] Anthony Dweck, "A listing of the Valerianaceae family", in Medicinal and Aromatic Plants Industrial Profile, 1996 [1]

[molinterv.aspetjournals.org-16] Stata Norton, Molecular Interventions 6:60–66, 2006

[17] robably th juice of Cytinus hypocistis: Culpeper, The Complete Herbal, 1654

[18] Dunglison, Robley. 1848. Medical lexicon. A dictionary of medical science.

[19] Grout, James. "Mithridatum". Encyclopaedia Romana. Retrieved 26 January 2006.

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@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
+{{Short description|Semi-mythical remedy}}
-[[Image:Mithridatum Drug Jar, Annibale Fontana.jpg|thumb|right|240px|Elaborately-gilded drug jar for storing mithridate. By [[Annibale Fontana]], about 1580-90. Courtesy, [[J. Paul Getty Museum]].]]
+{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2016}}
+{{about|the remedy|the 1673 play by Jean Racine|Mithridate (Racine)|other uses|Mithridates (disambiguation)}}
+[[File:Mithridatum Drug Jar, Annibale Fontana.jpg|thumb|right|Elaborately gilded drug jar for storing mithridate. By [[Annibale Fontana]], about 1580–1590.]]
+'''Mithridate''', also known as '''mithridatium''', '''mithridatum''', or '''mithridaticum''', is a semi-mythical remedy with as many as 65 ingredients, used as an [[antidote]] for [[poison]]ing, and said to have been created by [[Mithridates VI of Pontus|Mithridates VI Eupator of Pontus]] in the 1st century BC. It was one of the most complex and highly sought-after drugs during the [[Middle Ages]] and the [[Renaissance]], particularly in Italy and France, where it was in continual use for centuries.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.getty.edu/art/gettyguide/artObjectDetails?artobj=1407|title=Pair of Drug Jars|work=The J. Paul Getty Museum|accessdate=2006-01-26}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Ciaraldi|first=Marina|date=2000|title=Drug preparation in evidence? An unusual plant and bone assemblage from the Pompeian countryside, Italy|journal=Vegetation History and Archaeobotany |volume=9 |issue=2 |pages=91–98 |doi=10.1007/BF01300059|s2cid=85196684 }}</ref> An updated recipe called theriac ([[Theriacum Andromachi]]) was known well into the 19th century.<ref name="Mithridate">"[http://digicoll.library.wisc.edu/cgi-bin/HistSciTech/HistSciTech-idx?type=turn&entity=HistSciTech000900250210&isize=L Mithridate]".</ref>
+Mithridate takes its name from its inventor, Mithridates VI, king of the ancient Anatolian [[Kingdom of Pontus]] (134 to 63 BC), who is said to have so fortified his body against poisons with antidotes and preservatives that when he tried to kill himself, he could not find any poison that would have an effect, and, according to some legends, had to ask a soldier to run him through with a sword. The recipe for the reputed antidote was found in his cabinet, written with his own hand, and was carried to Rome by [[Pompey]]. It was translated into Latin by Pompey's freedman Lenaeus, and later improved upon by [[Nero]]'s physician [[Andromachus (physician)|Andromachus]] and [[Marcus Aurelius]]' physician [[Galen]].<ref>Adrienne Mayor, "Greek Fire, Poison Arrows & Scorpion Bombs" Overlook 2003"</ref> It likely underwent considerable alterations since the time of Mithridates.<ref name="Mithridate"/> After realizing the anti-toxic effects of [[snake]] meat, Andromachus made [[Faroug antidote]] with changes in the previous formulas.<ref name="Theriac: medicine and antidote">"[https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15125416/ Theriac: medicine and antidote]".</ref>
-:''This article is about the remedy; ''Mithridate'' is also a play by [[Jean Racine]].''
+In the [[Middle Ages]], mithridate was also used as part of a regimen to ward off potential threats of [[Pandemic|plague]]. According to Simon Kellwaye (1593), one should "take a great [[onion|Onyon]], make a hole in the myddle of him, then fill the place with Mitridat or [[Venice treacle|Triacle]], and some [[leaf|leaues]] of [[Rue]]".<ref>Kellwaye, Simon. 1593. ''A defensatiue against the plague contayning two partes or treatises...''. 32.</ref> Until as late as 1786, physicians in London were officially prescribing mithridate.<ref name="Nature 1989">''[[Nature (journal)|Nature]]''. 14 September 1989. 115/1.</ref> According to historian [[Christopher Hill (historian)|Christopher Hill]], [[Oliver Cromwell]] took a large dose of mithridate as a precaution against the plague and found it cured his [[acne]].
-'''Mithridate''', also known as as '''mithridatium''' or '''mithridaticum''', is a semi-mythical remedy with as many as 65 ingredients, used as an [[antidote]] for [[poison]]ing, and said to be created by [[Mithridates VI of Pontus]]. It was among one of the most complex, highly sought-after drugs during the [[Renaissance]], particularly in [[Italy]] and [[France]], where they were in continual use for centuries {{ref label|getty|7|^}}. An updated recipe called theriac ([[Theriacum Andromachi]]) was known well into the [[19th century]]. {{ref label|1728|1|^}}
+The term ''mithridate'' has come to refer to any generally all-purpose antidote.<ref>''Sci. Monthly''. Sept 1932. 244/1.</ref>
-Its ingredients included [[opium]], [[myrrh]], [[agaric]], [[saffron]], [[ginger]], [[cinnamon]], [[spikenard]], [[frankincense]], [[castor]], [[black pepper|pepper]], [[gentian]], the dried flesh of [[viper]]s {{ref label|nature|2|^}}, [[Malabathrum]] {{ref label|1848|4|^}}, etc. The preparation was considered a [[cordial]], [[opiate]], [[sudorific]], and [[alexipharmic]]. [[Petrus Andreas Matthiolus]] considered it more effectual against poisons than [[venice treacle]], and easier to make.{{ref label|1728|1|^}}
+==Origins==
-Mithridate takes its name from its inventor, Mithridates, King of Pontus, who is said to have so fortified his body against poisons with antidotes and preservatives, that when he tried to kill himself, he could not find any poison that would have an effect. The receipt of it was found in his cabinet, written with his own hand, and was carried to [[Rome]] by [[Pompey]]. It was translated into verse by [[Damocrates]], a famous physician, and was afterwards translated by [[Galen]]. It likely underwent considerable alterations since the time of its royal prescriber.{{ref label|1728|1|^}}
+[[File:3 Drug jars for Mithridatum. Wellcome M0020082.jpg|thumb|right|Three drug jars for mithridatum]]
+Mithridates' father was assassinated by poisoning, according to some at his mother's orders.  After this, Mithridates's mother held regency over [[Kingdom of Pontus|Pontus]] until a male heir was of age. Mithridates was in competition with another brother, whom his mother favored, for the throne.<ref>Adrienne Mayor. ''The Poison King: the life and legend of Mithradates,<!--sic--> Rome’s deadliest enemy''. p.68</ref>  Supposedly during his youth he began to suspect plots against him at his mother's orders and was aware of her likely connection with his father's death.  He then, supposedly, began to notice pains during his meals, and suspected his mother had ordered small amounts of poison to be added to his food in order to cause his health to deteriorate while avoiding notice of intent to kill him slowly. After other assassination attempts, he fled into the wilderness.<ref>Adrienne Mayor. ''The Poison King: the life and legend of Mithradates,<!--sic--> Rome’s deadliest enemy''. p.69</ref>
+While in the wild it is said that he began consuming non-lethal levels of poisons and mixing many into a remedy to make him immune to many poisons.<ref name="The Foreign Policy of Mithridates VI Eupator, King of Pontus">{{cite book | last = McGing | first = B. C. | title = The Foreign Policy of Mithridates VI Eupator, King of Pontus | publisher = E. J. Brill | year= 1986 | location = Leiden, The Netherlands | pages = 43}}</ref>
-Mithridate was used as part of a regimen to ward off potential threats of [[Pandemic|plague]]. According to Simon Kellwaye (1593), one should "take a great [[onion|Onyon]], make a hole in the myddle of him, then fill the place with Mitridat or [[venice treacle|Triacle]], and some [[leaf|leaues]] of [[Rue]]" {{ref label|1593|5|^}}. Until as late as [[1786]], physicians in [[London]] could officially prescribe mithridate.{{ref label|nature|2|^}}
+In keeping with most medical practices of his era, Mithridates' anti-poison routines included a religious component supervised by ''Agari'', or [[Scythia]]n [[shaman]]s who never left his side.<ref>mayor, Adrienne. ''Greek Fire, Poison Arrows, and Scorpion Bombs: Biological and Chemical Warfare in the Ancient World.'' New York, Overlook Duckworth, 2003; p. 148</ref>
-The term ''mithridate'' has come to refer to any generally all-purpose antidote.{{ref label|1932|3|^}}
+==Formulation==
+[[Aulus Cornelius Celsus]] details one version of the antidote in ''[[De Medicina]]'' (ca. AD 30).  A recent translation is as follows: "But the most famous antidote is that of Mithridates, which that king is said to have taken daily and by it to have rendered his body safe against danger from poison". It contained:
+*[[costmary]], 1–66 grams
+*[[sweet flag]], 20 grams
+*[[hypericum]], 8 grams
+*[[Natural gum]], 8 grams
+*[[Ferula|sagapenum]],<ref>Identified as a fetid gum resin obtained from a species of ''[[Ferula]]''</ref> 8 grams
+*[[acacia]] juice, 8 grams
+*Illyrian [[iris (plant)|iris]] (probably ''I. germanica''),<ref>[http://www.botanical.com/botanical/mgmh/i/irises08.html M. Grieve, A Modern Herbal, 1931]</ref> 8 grams
+*[[cardamom]], 8 grams
+*[[anise]], 12 grams
+*Gallic [[nard (flower)|nard]] (''[[Valeriana]] italica''),<ref>Anthony Dweck, "A listing of the Valerianaceae family", in Medicinal and Aromatic Plants Industrial Profile, 1996 [http://www.dweckdata.com/Published_papers/Valerianaceae.pdf]</ref> 16 grams
+*[[gentian]] root, 16 grams
+*dried [[rose]] leaves, 16 grams
+*[[poppy]]-tears (''[[Papaver rhoeas]]'', a wild poppy with low opiate content),<ref name="molinterv.aspetjournals.org">[http://molinterv.aspetjournals.org/cgi/content/full/6/2/60 Stata Norton, Molecular Interventions 6:60–66, 2006]</ref> 17 grams
+*[[parsley]], 17 grams
+*[[Cinnamomum aromaticum|cassia]], 20–66 grams
+*[[saxifrage]], 20–66 grams
+*[[darnel]], 20–66 grams
+*[[long pepper]], 20–66 grams
+*[[storax]], 21 grams
+*[[castoreum]], 24 grams
+*[[frankincense]], 24 grams
+*[[Cytinus|hypocistis]] juice,<ref>probably th juice of ''Cytinus hypocistis'': [http://www.medherb.com/culpeper_names.html Culpeper, The Complete Herbal, 1654]</ref> 24 grams
+*[[myrrh]], 24 grams
+*[[Opopanax (genus)|opopanax]], 24 grams
+*[[malabathrum]] leaves, 24 grams
+*flower of [[Juncus effusus|round rush]], 24–66 grams
+*[[turpentine]]-resin, 24–66 grams
+*[[galbanum]], 24–66 grams
+*Cretan carrot seeds, 24–66 grams
+*[[nard (flower)|nard]], 25 grams
+*[[opobalsam]], 25 grams
+*[[shepherd's purse]], 25 grams
+*[[rhubarb]] root, 28 grams
+*[[saffron]], 29 grams
+*[[ginger]], 29 grams
+*[[cinnamon]], 29 grams
+The ingredients are then "pounded and taken up in [[honey]]. Against poisoning, a piece the size of an [[almond]] is given in wine. In other affections an amount corresponding in size to an [[Nelumbo nucifera|Egyptian bean]] is sufficient."  Of these ingredients, Illyrian iris, darnel, and rhubarb were not commonly found in other versions of the antidote.<ref name="molinterv.aspetjournals.org"/> However, Celsus' formulation, written 100 years after the death of Mithridates, was one of the first published.  Galen called the antidote "[[theriac]]" and presented versions by Aelius (used by Julius Caesar), [[Andromachus (physician)|Andromachus]] (physician to Nero), Antipater, Nicostratus, and Damocratis.  The Andromachus formulation closely resembles that of Celsus.<ref name="molinterv.aspetjournals.org"/>
+The manufacture of antidotes called mithridate or [[theriac]] (English "treacle") continued into the nineteenth century.  [[Ephraim Chambers]], in his 1728 [[Cyclopaedia, or an Universal Dictionary of Arts and Sciences|Cyclopaedia]], says "Mithridate is one of the capital Medicines in the Apothecaries Shops, being composed of a vast Number of Drugs, as [[Opium]], [[Myrrh]], [[Agarikon|Agaric]], [[Saffron]], [[Ginger]], [[Cinnamon]], [[Spikenard]], [[Frankincense]], [[Castor oil plant|Castor]], [[Black pepper|Pepper]], [[Gentian]], &c.  It is accounted a [[Cordial (medicine)|Cordial]], [[Opiate]], [[Sudorific]], and [[Alexipharmic]]".  [[Petrus Andreas Matthiolus]] considered it more effectual against poisons than [[Venice treacle]], and easier to make.<ref name="Mithridate"/> Late versions of the antidote incorporated dried blood or the dried flesh of lizards or [[Viperidae|viper]]s<ref name="Nature 1989"/> or [[Malabathrum]].<ref>[[Robley Dunglison|Dunglison, Robley]]. 1848. ''Medical lexicon. A dictionary of medical science''.</ref>
 ==Criticism==
-[[Pliny the Elder|Pliny]] (''[[Natural History (Pliny)|Natural History]]'', XXIX.24-25) was skeptical of mithridate and other such theriacs, with their numerous ingredients:
+[[Pliny the Elder|Pliny]] (''[[Natural History (Pliny)|Natural History]]'', XXIX.24–25, ca. AD 77) was skeptical of mithridate and other such [[theriac]]s (panacea potions), with their numerous ingredients:
-:"The Mithridatic antidote is composed of fifty-four ingredients, no two of them having the same weight, while of some is prescribed one sixtieth part of one denarius. Which of the gods, in the name of Truth, fixed these absurd proportions? No human brain could have been sharp enough. It is plainly a showy parade of the art, and a colossal boast of science." {{ref label|ER|6|^}}
+{{quote|The Mithridatic antidote is composed of fifty-four ingredients, no two of them having the same weight, while of some is prescribed one sixtieth part of one denarius. Which of the gods, in the name of Truth, fixed these absurd proportions? No human brain could have been sharp enough. It is plainly a showy parade of the art, and a colossal boast of science.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|url=http://penelope.uchicago.edu/~grout/encyclopaedia_romana/aconite/mithridatum.html|title=Mithridatum|encyclopedia=Encyclopaedia Romana|author=Grout, James|accessdate=2006-01-26}}</ref>}}
 ==In literature==
-In [[A. E. Houseman]]'s collection of [[poetry]] titled ''A Shropshire Lad'', there is a poem about King Mithridates and his antidote's amazing abilities:
+In [[A. E. Housman]]'s collection of poetry titled ''[[A Shropshire Lad]]'' published in 1896, there is a poem about King Mithridates and his antidote's amazing abilities:
+{{poemquote|
-:''There was a king reigned in the East:
-:''There, when kings will sit to feast,
+There was a king reigned in the East:
+There, when kings will sit to feast,
-:''They get their fill before they think
+They get their fill before they think
-:''With poisoned meat and poisoned drink.
+With poisoned meat and poisoned drink.
-:''He gathered all the springs to birth
+He gathered all that springs to birth
-:''From the many-venomed earth;
+From the many-venomed earth;
-:''First a little, thence to more,
+First a little, thence to more,
-:''He sampled all her killing store;
+He sampled all her killing store;
-:''And easy, smiling, seasoned sound,
+And easy, smiling, seasoned sound,
-:''Sate the king when healths went round.
+Sate the king when healths went round.
-:''They put arsenic in his meat
+They put [[arsenic]] in his meat
-:''And stared aghast to watch him eat;
+And stared aghast to watch him eat;
-:''They poured strychnine in his cup
+They poured [[strychnine]] in his cup
-:''And shook to see him drink it up:
-:''They shook, they stared as white’s their shirt:
+And shook to see him drink it up:
+They shook, they stared as white's their shirt:
-:''Them it was their poison hurt.
+Them it was their poison hurt.
-:''--I tell the tale that I heard told.
+—I tell the tale that I heard told.
-:''Mithridates, he died old. {{ref label|ER|6|^}}
+Mithridates, he died old.{{ref label|ER|6|^}}
+}}
+In the Diary of [[Samuel Pepys]], entry for 9th April 1664; Pepys writes at the end of the day “by the help of mithridate slept very well” having been unwell the previous night and also having vomited during the day.
-==References==
-#{{note label|1728|1|^}}{{1728}} "[http://digicoll.library.wisc.edu/cgi-bin/HistSciTech/HistSciTech-idx?type=turn&entity=HistSciTech000900250210&isize=L Mithridate]".
-#{{note label|nature|2|^}}''[[Nature (journal)|Nature]]''. 14 Sept 1989. 115/1.
-#{{note label|1932|3|^}}''Sci. Monthly''. Sept 1932. 244/1.
-#{{note label|1848|4|^}}Dunglison, Robley. 1848. ''Medical lexicon. A dictionary of medical science''.
-#{{note label|1593|5|^}}Kellwaye, Simon. 1593. ''A defensatiue against the plague contayning two partes or treatises...''. 32.
-#{{note label|ER|6|^}}{{cite web|url=http://penelope.uchicago.edu/~grout/encyclopaedia_romana/aconite/mithridatum.html|title=Mithridatum|work=Encyclopaedia Romana|author=Grout, James|accessdate=2006-01-26}}
-#{{note label|getty|7|^}}{{cite web|url=http://www.getty.edu/art/gettyguide/artObjectDetails?artobj=1407|title=Pair of Drug Jars|work=The J. Paul Getty Museum|accessdate=2006-01-26}}
 ==See also==
-*[[Mithridatization]]
+* [[Mithridatism]]
+* [[Theriac]]
+* [[Faroug antidote]]
+* [[Electuary]]
+==References==
+{{Reflist}}
+{{Wiktionary}}
+{{Opioidergics}}
 [[Category:Traditional medicine]]
+[[Category:Lost inventions]]
+[[Category:Mithridates VI Eupator]]