Today, drug barons like Pablo Escobar and Griselda Blanco are known for revolutionizing the
international drug trade but if one wants to know who invented this trade, they would have to travel
thousands of years back in time. Traces of drug trades between various early civilizations can be
found as far as 1600 BC. Welcome to Nutty History and let’s find out what ancient Narcos were like
in Greek and Roman civilization. The taboo around mentioning recreational drugs is nothing new in
history. That is why there’s not a lot of mention of this in ancient records, and those mentions are
only a few. One will find historical mentions of drugs mostly in medicinal and religious contexts,
but what about for recreational purposes? Now that doesn’t mean ancients weren’t a fan of being high
as a kite, for there were more than a dozen ways to alternate reality for oneself. Thanks
to advancements in archaeology, translation, and science in the last two decades there is insight
available on what drug abuse would have been like in ancient civilizations. The two drugs that stood
out in the drug trade in ancient Greece and Rome were Opium and Cannabis. But, at home,
Ergot was a drug of its own kind. The fungus called Ergot has played a surprisingly stealthy
but substantial role in the Salem Witch trials, the French revolution, and the Dancing Plague.
Even back in ancient Greece, as far as 1600 BC, it is believed that a cult called Demeter and
Persephone used ergot to induce visions. The goal was to awaken the "Eleusinian Mysteries." They
convened at Eleusis in ancient Greece every year to perform secret religious rites in observance
of Persephone descending to Hades before returning to the living world and reuniting with Demeter,
her mother and the goddess of fertility. To attain the Eleusinian Mysterious, one was required to
consume kykeon, a hallucinogenic beverage. Drinking Ergot laced kykeon was described as
a spiritual progression and they believed it unlocked the experience of death and rebirth.
It’s hard to conclude if ergot from locally-grown barley was the active psychotropic ingredient in
kykeon or not but some historians point to it as a possibility for its vision-inducing qualities.
There is a reason the term “poppy” appears a lot in fantasy novels written in modern times
concerning medicinal and recreational usage. For ancient Romans and Greeks,
it was certainly more than just a pretty plant and it was perfectly legal! One can observe its
prevalent use as a motif on statues and engravings to see how common poppy was popped by the
population of Rome and Greece. Archaeologists have discovered that as early as 1600 BC,
the ancient world was constructing small flasks in the shape of poppy capsules that is the
bulging ball under the flower’s petal that yields opium. It's not hard to guess why these flasks
were made in such peculiar shape and what their function was but thanks to forensic analysis,
the residuals in excavated capsules have confirmed that these flasks were meant to carry not only
opium but a variety of psychoactive substances. Excavations have revealed that these jars and
capsules were found throughout the Levant, Egypt, and the Middle East. The uniformity in design
confirms that these were mass-produced under organized manufacturing units. It is believed
that opium must have arrived in Ancient Greece through Mesopotamia and Egypt. Egypt was quite big
on opium cultivation and a number of varieties of Egyptian Opium were available in Ancient Greece.
In the Classical era, the extract of the plant was known as ‘Opium Thebiacum’
after the city of Waset, which the Greeks knew as Thebes. Another version, Opium Cyrenaicum,
was a slightly different version of the plant that happened to grow to the west in Libya.
Apart from importing a lot of opium, Ancient Greeks grew their own as well.
Dioscorides wrote about the opium harvesting technique in detail.
He suggested that to make opium, farmers must wait until the dew has dried away to cut lightly with a
knife around the top of the plant. They must take care not to cut the inside. Instead, cut straight
down on the outside of the capsule. When fluid comes out, wipe it with a finger onto a spoon.
Upon returning, one can harvest more of the residue after it has thickened,
and yet more the following day. With Romans, the usage of opium saw evolution. Citizens of Rome
used opium-made cretic wine as a sleep aid. For good times, they consumed meconium, a drink made
of poppy leaves which could be considered as a watered-down version of the drug. Moreover, opium
was not just legal but easily accessible on the streets of Rome. It could be purchased as small
tablets in specialist stalls in most marketplaces. Who says the past wasn’t progressive?
Just like today, back in Ancient Greece and Rome while some drugs in controlled use were legal,
several drugs were actually illegal. In Capua, for example, drug sellers were found in a
notorious area called the Seplasia. The place had such a bad reputation that Seplasia became
a synonym for mind-altering drugs, perfumes, and ointments. Drugs that were commonly found in such
black markets were quite exotic and powerful. Deadly Nightshade was so trippy that it was
often associated with pseudo arts of magic and potion-making. Some credit about relating Deadly
Nightshade with mystical powers goes to Poet Ovid who associated the herb with witches and warlocks
in his poems. The reason this drug was not easily accessible was that even a slight excess of dosage
could cause death. But if consumed in precise amounts, Deadly Nightshade was potent enough to
cause hallucination for days. Henbane was another drug that was notorious as a magical herb. No
wonder it has another name “stinking nightshade” making it a little off-putting cousin of a deadly
nightshade. It was commonly used as a medicinal drug rather than recreational. Henbane was the
supplementary drug that serious junkies would consume along with a cocktail of a hallucinogenic
to imitate the feeling of being drunk. The drug was consumed by both inhaling it and ingestion.
Mad Honey is a specific honey that is extracted from rhododendron flowers. The people of Ancient
Anatolia were the first to discover that the neurotoxins in this specific honey cause altered
consciousness, delirium, and nausea. One of the earliest accounts of mad honey comes from
the Greek historian, philosopher, and commander Xenophon of Athens. In his chronicle The Anabasis,
he wrote that his army was traveling along the shores of the Black Sea in 401 BCE when they
decided to feast on some local honey. A few hours later, they became disoriented and began vomiting
and had diarrhea. Now, in any case, this would have resulted in a plague but to their surprise
the next day, the whole army was fine and traveled back home to Greece. Unfortunately, the Roman army
of Pompey the Great wasn’t as lucky in 67 BC. During Pompey’s invasion of the Black Sea region,
his army got tempted by the mad honey’s honeycombs strategically placed on the route by the locals.
While one thousand Roman soldiers feasted and got high on toxic honey, King Mithridates made
short work of Pompey’s invasion and sent them back home with their tails between their legs.
As we have mentioned earlier, drugs are often skipped in the existing historical records and
literature from Ancient Greece and Rome. However, there are rare cases when they are not only
mentioned but also acted as an important element in the plot. Homer was specifically liberal about
the depiction of Drugs in The Odyssey. In one instance, he narrated how Helen of Troy liked to
‘dope’ her wine with a “happy drug” that can take away her painful memories and
bite of anger. According to Homer, this drug was so potent that under its effect one wouldn’t feel
any sort of sorrow, guilt, or remorse. Even if their family was murdered in front of them,
one would still be calm and happy under the effect of this drug. There were also drugs
that could be considered ancient performance enhancers. Performance enhancers have always
been in demand among males throughout history. In Homer’s The Odyssey, Odysseus had to drag his crew
away from the land of the lotus-eaters. These were no ordinary lotuses, but a specific breed called
Blue Lotus. The psychoactive alkaloid in blue lotuses causes mild euphoria and tranquility,
combined with increased libido. A perfect combination for having a great time in bed.
No wonder those sailors weren’t happy about their King leading them away from such land.
Interestingly, hemp was used as narcotics long before opium in Europe.
The mysterious Yamnaya people of Central Asia brought it to Europe with them and the plant
has been in northern and central Europe for over 5,000 years. Hemp ropes and fabrics are
used to even this day but archaeologists also found braziers with burned cannabis which shows
that early Greeks were smoking hemp happily. The Greek physician Dioscorides was perhaps
not so approving of cannabis and found it rather hampering when it comes to a consumer’s sex life.
He even recommended cannabis to reduce sexual desires for those who could not control their
urges in inappropriate times. Roman philosopher Pliny the Elder called cannabis the “laughing
weed” and suggested it as a toxifying ingredient for the wine on special occasions. Romans were
actually quite fond of cannabis and called it the “merriment supplement” to make parties
and social gatherings more fun, and if we believe Herodotus, Greeks didn’t disagree about it either.
Despite being very liberal about abusing narcotics,
Greeks and Romans were also aware of their adverse effects. They knew very well what
could happen in case of overdosing especially in the case of drugs like Deadly Nightshade.
Dioscorides warned bluntly in his writings that drugs will kill you if done excessively.
However, there is another side to this story. Killing oneself was more accepted and normal
back in those days. People would buy drugs specifically for these reasons. While Opium was
commonly used as sleeping pills, people would also mix poppy juice with hemlock to have an eternal
sleep and never wake up again. That does put the whole free drug market scenario in a bad light
don’t you think? Tell us in the comments, what do you think about Greek and Romans' love for drugs?
Were they right to legalize it or not? And check out the stories of these modern world
Narcos on the screen to watch next. And as always thanks for watching Nutty History.