TOXICOLOGY IN ANTIQUITY. 2ND EDITION

1. The Prehistory of Poison Arrows
2. Beetle and Plant Arrow Poisons of the San People of Southern Africa
3. Toxicology in Ancient Egypt
4. The Death of Cleopatra: Suicide by Snakebite or Poisoned by Her Enemies?
5. Kohl Use in Antiquity: Effects on the Eye
6. Nicander, Thêriaka, and Alexipharmaka: Venoms, Poisons, and Literature
7. The Case Against Socrates and His Execution
8. Murder, Execution, and Suicide in Ancient Greece and Rome
9. The Oracle at Delphi: The Pythia and the Pneuma, Intoxicating Gas Finds, and Hypotheses
10. Alexander the Great: A Questionable Death
11. Mithridates of Pontus and His Universal Antidote
12. Theriaca Magna: The Glorious Cure-All Remedy
13. The gates to hell in antiquity and their relation to geogenic CO2 emissions
14. Lead Poisoning and the Downfall of Rome: Reality or Myth?
15. Poisons, Poisoners, and Poisoning in Ancient Rome
16. Chemical and Biological Warfare in Antiquity
17. Asclepius and the Snake as Toxicological Symbols in Ancient Greece and Rome
18. Anthropogenic Air Pollution in Ancient Times
19. Poisoning in Ancient Rome: Images and Rules
20. “Gleaming and Deadly White”: Toxic Cosmetics in the Roman World
21. Cherchez la femme: three infamous poisoners of ancient Rome
22. Did Hannibal really poison himself?
23. Drugs, Suppositories, and Cult Worship in Antiquity
24. Entheogens in Ancient Times: Wine and the Rituals of Dionysus
25. Entheogens (Psychedelic Drugs) and the Ancient Mystery Religions
26. Ancient Mystery Initiation: Toxic Priestesses and Vaginal Communion
27. Harmful Botanicals
28. Pearl, an Ancient Antidote of Eastern Origin
29. Rhetoric, Demons, and the Poisoner's Tongue in Judaism and Early Christianity
30. Poisonous Medicine in Ancient China
31. Toxicity of Ayurvedic Medicines and Safety Concerns: Ancient and Modern Perspectives
32. The Venomous Virgin: Fact or Fantasy?
33. Mushroom Intoxication in Mesoamerica

• Provides the historical background for understanding modern toxicology
• Illustrates the ways previous civilizations learned to distinguish safe from hazardous substances, how to avoid the hazardous substances and how to use them against enemies
• Explores the way famous historical figures used toxins
• New chapters focus on evidence of the use of toxins derived from religious texts

Author
Philip Wexler, National Library of Medicine’s (NLM) Toxicology and Environmental Health Information Program, Bethesda, MD, USA