Theriac

Theriac, also called Confectio Andromacha or Electuarium Anodynum cum opio was a famous drug used as panaceum, initially an antidote for snake bites and poison and last resort drug for patients in terminal stages. When opium was added, it became an effective pain killer. The recipe was first devised by the ancient Greeks (Mithridatum), completed by emperor Nero’s personal physician, and perfected by the Venetians during the late Middle Ages and the Early Modern Period. The preparation there was a public spectacle and a matter of state.

Theriac contained up to 40 ingredients, its preparation lasted up to 12 years, and was thus extremely expensive. It contained, among others, opium and viper flesh. In Transylvania it was used until the nineteenth century and was brought in by Italian merchants. The History of Pharmacy Collection in Cluj contained one labeled glass jar for Theriaca, dated to the nineteenth century, and two eighteenth-century metal cases with the product.

peasant-preparing-an-ointment-to-protect-against-snakes-from-the-theriaca-of-nicander-of-colophon

"Theriaca" apothecary jar sold in Transylvania (Baia Mare, the pharmacy of Szendey Antal) in the nineteenth century

Eighteenth-century cases with Theriaca, sold by apothecaries in Transylvania

The public preparation of the theriac in Venice

Historically about OPIUM

Theriaca jar

Peasant preparing an ointment to protect against snakes from the theriaca of Nicander of Colophon (tenth century A.D.)

 Opium is the dry latex obtained through cutting the poppy seed pod (Papaver somniferum) and thus it was also known as the milk or the tears of the poppy (lachryma papaveris). The substance contains morphine and codeine and has been used since the earliest times as analgesic, anesthetic, and sedative, either to medical ends or during rituals.

Since Antiquity opium has been a traditional ingredient in theriaca-type remedies – a famous concoction used as panaceum and antidote against animal bites and poison. Theriaca contained around 40 ingredients, its preparation could last several years, and was extremely expensive.

Laudanum is the term consecrated since the sixteenth century for opium tincture, discovered by the famous German alchemist Paracelsus. It was used for centuries as it was a very popular, even if temporary remedy for coughing, diarrhea, and pain in general. At the same time, laudanum was cheaper than alcoholic drinks, taxed extra, and was available without prescription – in fact a widely accessible narcotic.

Opium and Theriaca apothecary jars from the History of Pharmacy Collection in Cluj-Napoca

The recreational use of opium, as a drug, started in China in the fifteenth century, flourished during the seventeenth, and triggered severe bans, commercial controls, and even wars.

The History of Pharmacy Collection in Cluj-Napoca includes a number of pharmaceutical jars from the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries for the storage of opium powder, extract, and tincture, but also for the expensive theriaca, that also included opium among its ingredients.