Mithridate is considered to be one of the first antidotes in history and, due to its polyvalent nature, the term became a synonym for universal antidote 2.Īndromachus the Elder (37-68 AD), who was the physician of Nero, and Galen (130-210 AD) tried to improve mithridate, subtracting and adding compounds until arriving at 73 active ingredients whose main purpose was to counteract the toxic effects of minerals and of animal, plant, and fungi poisons. His only recourse was to ask one of his retainers to run him through with a sword.
According to legend, after his defeat by Pompey, he tried to commit suicide by ingesting poison to avoid capture by the Romans, but the mithridate was so potent the poison had no effect. His method was to ingest a small daily dose of mithridate, which he believed generated a kind of “immunity” against toxins. His aim was to protect himself from being poisoned by potentially deadly plants (aconite and others), by stinging or biting by poisonous animals (such as snakes), and by other toxins known at that time. Previously, other physicians had proposed alternatives (such as the alexipharmaca or theriaca of the Greeks), which he perfected in the form of a new product, known as mithridate, a mixture of at least 36 ingredients of vegetable origin (opium, fungi of the genus Agaricus, and other substances) and animal origin (oil of viper venom and other components). To achieve this goal, Mithridates VI did not start from scratch. His father (Mithridates V) had been poisoned to death at a banquet and the convulsed political situation of the time, which was principally due to the expansion of the Roman Republic, made him fear that he would suffer the same fate as his predecessor 1.įor this reason, and to protect himself from possible poisonings, he began to investigate the effect of toxins on criminals and slaves, while testing master formulas that would keep him safe from possible assassination attempts.
It was the year 120 BC, when Eupator Dionysius, better known as Mithridates VI, acceded to the throne of Pontus, a territory on the shores of the Black Sea that today mainly belongs to Turkey.
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