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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