New cannabis discoveries about people who died nearly 2,000 years ago are rare, but an Italian scientific team has confirmed that a skull in a Roman museum is indeed that of immortal naturalist Pliny the Elder. That's what happened when I reported it. About the ancient Roman world.
The New York Times reported that the skull had been kept for decades at the National Museum of Medical Arts, described as a “treasure trove of medical curiosities.” It was unearthed in excavations in 1900 on the coast of the Gulf of Naples near the ruins of Pompeii, along with some Roman jewelry and regalia. Pliny was killed in the eruption of Mount Vesuvius that destroyed Pompeii in 79 AD, and was said to have died on its fabled coastline, which inevitably led to speculation.
The landowner who discovered the skull likely used it to gain personal notoriety as the person who discovered Pliny's body. After changing hands several times, it was placed in a museum about 70 years ago. It was first recognized as the “skull of Pliny the Elder,'' and later, less ambitiously, as the “skull attributed to Pliny from the excavations at Pompeii.''
The forensic study, which began in 2017, used DNA sequencing and analysis of skull shape to determine that the skull was consistent with what is known from history about Pliny's general profile. Andrea Cionci, leader of the study, called Project Pliny, told the Times: We have a lot of coincidences in our favor, but no data against us. ”
The identity of the skull continues to be debated. The Times ironically quoted Pliny himself. “The only certainty in these matters is that nothing is certain.”
However, there is more certainty about Pliny's role as one of the first scholars in history to document the medicinal properties of the cannabis plant.
Admiral, Adventurer, Naturalist
Born around 23 AD, Gaius Pliny Secundus commanded Imperial Rome's military operations in Germany and was later appointed naval admiral fighting pirates in the Gulf of Naples. In between such adventures, he wrote his classic work “Naturalis Historia” or Natural History (sometimes translated in plural as “Naturae Historia”).
In the words of one historian, “natural history” was “a compendium of ancient knowledge and misinformation.” Among his extensive 37-volume review of the flora and fauna of all parts of Rome, fantastical creations such as griffins and cyclopses are known. However, it was the first compendium of its kind in the Western world and became a standard reference throughout the Middle Ages.
And his intellectual curiosity seems to have influenced his death. This episode is recorded in letters by his nephew and adopted son, who witnessed and survived. This was Pliny the Younger, who was then 17 years old and later became a politician and governor of Bithynia in Asia Minor (modern-day Turkey).
From his command post in the Bay of Naples, he witnessed a huge cloud rising from Mount Vesuvius.
“Seeing the clouds, Pliny decided to get close to them to investigate,” Daisy Dunn, author of Pliny's biography “The Shadow of Vesuvius,” told the New York Times. “After all, he was the author of 37 volumes of natural history books.”
However, as his ship crossed the bay towards Pompeii, it became clear that many people were trapped on the shore as lava rained down on the city from the volcano and ash rained from the sky. According to another work on Pliny – Indagine sulla Scomparsa di un Ammiraglio, or Inquiry into the Death of an Admiral, by the military historian Flavio Russo, this activity, which began as a personal investigation of natural phenomena, became “the most It is said to have become an ancient form of natural disaster relief. Surgery. ”
Unfortunately, it was in vain. By the time his ship reached the stricken coast, Pliny was suffocated by the poisonous gas.
cannabis pharmacopoeia
Despite some questionable or fantastical elements in his works, Pliny has been a great influence. As the Daily Beast points out, some have speculated that he may have been instrumental in encouraging Charles Darwin, a member of the Plinian Society, to develop Darwin's theory of genetic traits.
Pliny's influence on the cannabis pharmacopoeia has only recently become recognized and may be substantial.
The Natural History has many references to what English translators have translated as “hemp.” Pliny specifically mentions its industrial uses, calling it “a plant very useful for the manufacture of rope.”
A footnote to a reference to hemp in the most authoritative translation by British scholar John Bostock, published in 1856, reads “Linnaeus's cannabis.” This is a reference to Carl Linnaeus, an 18th century Swedish botanist known as the father of modern taxonomy, who invented a plant classification system that is still used today.
There's little debate here, considering the Latin word for cannabis is cannabis.
References to medicinal and ecstasy-inducing (in modern parlance “recreational”) uses of this plant are a little more vague.
Chris Bennett, a Canadian chronicler of ancient cannabis use, writes in his book Cannabis and the Soma Solution that Pliny cited the earlier works of the Greek philosopher Democritus (c. 460 – c. 370 BC). He has also described himself as a leading figure in cannabis. the development of the atomic theory of the universe (dramatically proven by 20th century science);
Democritus's lost early writings mention a medicinal herb called theangelis that grows in “Mount Libanus in Syria'' (modern-day Lebanon) and “Babylon and Susa in Persia.'' Democritus writes, in a passage quoted by Pliny, that “the infusion of it gives the wise man the power of divination.” Of course, the Magi were saints and priests of Zoroastrianism, the ancient Persian religion.
Pliny also noted that Democritus mentions diolotophyllis, a plant found in Bactriana (modern-day Afghanistan) and “on the banks of the Boristhenes” (modern-day Russia and the Dnieper in Ukraine). “When myrrh and wine are ingested internally, all kinds of fantastic forms appear and cause the most impertinent laughter.”
As Bennett points out, Bostock's footnotes to both of these esoteric terms identified them as “Indian hemp, Cannabis sativa.”
Christian Retsch lists Theangelis and Geolotophyllis in the section “Psychoactive Plants Not Yet Identified'' in his “Encyclopedia of Psychoactive Plants.'' But Pliny's geographical references dovetail with what we know about the origins of the cannabis plant in Central Asia (the Tibetan Plateau, according to the latest research) and its spread from there across the steppes to Europe and the Middle East. We are doing so.
This made Pliny one of the earliest writers to mention the use of cannabis. Early ones include the Greek historian Herodotus, who noted the use of herbs by the Scythians, the Atrava Veda of India, and the Herbal Compendium of Pengzao by the legendary Chinese emperor Shennong (c. 2800 B.C.E.) .
On a less esoteric note, Pliny also said that an infusion of cannabis root boiled in water “relieves spasmodic joints, gout, and similar severe pains.” He also recommended hemp seed oil as a treatment for ear infections (“bugs”). This was noted in the December 2017 edition of the peer-reviewed quarterly journal Cannabis and Cannabinoid Research, in an article entitled “Cannabis root: A traditional therapy with future potential for treating inflammation and pain.” has been. The article, written by a team led by Natasha R. Rise, a Vancouver physician and cannabis therapy practitioner, states: Joint stiffness, gout, and related symptoms. By the 17th century, various herbalists were recommending cannabis root for the treatment of inflammation, joint pain, gout, and other conditions. ” The roots of the plant contain very little cannabinoids, indicating a link between Pliny and later medical uses of cannabis tinctures. As in the 19th and early 20th centuries. This tradition came to an abrupt end in the United States with federal prohibition in 1937, and was only rediscovered with the rise of the medical marijuana movement about a generation ago.
Pliny the Elder's works certainly show that cannabis use is not a recent innovation, but is deeply rooted in human culture.
