14-08-2016, 11:52 PM
Don,
The main point of the theriac link is to show that it has a history that spans from the Classical and Hellenistic periods to the Renaissance and beyond - just to show that the manufacture and use of this medication would be contemporary with just about any proposed date of VMs creation. The formulation provided is just that, not a proposed match to VMs chronology. Did you see the formulation in the article on mithridate? Perhaps it's a somewhat better list. And at this point a few specific ingredients may not matter too much. There are probably going to be a number of formulations that differ in their details. And they can be compared as they are discovered.
As Linda noted just above, a number of the ingredients are spices. However as far as having active ingredients that actually cure disease or function as an antidote of some kind, I can't say. There's always the placebo effect and the body's ability of heal itself, as long as the medication isn't fatal. And of course, there is the potential presence of sufficient opium to relieve pain, meaning the patient will feel better (be cured?), even if s/he dies anyway.
The main point of the theriac link is to show that it has a history that spans from the Classical and Hellenistic periods to the Renaissance and beyond - just to show that the manufacture and use of this medication would be contemporary with just about any proposed date of VMs creation. The formulation provided is just that, not a proposed match to VMs chronology. Did you see the formulation in the article on mithridate? Perhaps it's a somewhat better list. And at this point a few specific ingredients may not matter too much. There are probably going to be a number of formulations that differ in their details. And they can be compared as they are discovered.
As Linda noted just above, a number of the ingredients are spices. However as far as having active ingredients that actually cure disease or function as an antidote of some kind, I can't say. There's always the placebo effect and the body's ability of heal itself, as long as the medication isn't fatal. And of course, there is the potential presence of sufficient opium to relieve pain, meaning the patient will feel better (be cured?), even if s/he dies anyway.