GALEN ON ANTIDOTES

BOOK 1

Edition Chartier Vol. 13 [867. 868.] Basel Edition Vol. 2 (424. 425.)

...Moorish people, as well as those who inhabit the region opposite them. Dioscorides A famous Greek physician and pharmacologist (c. 40–90 AD) whose work "De Materia Medica" was the standard reference for over 1,500 years. and others have accurately recorded which medicines are best produced in each country.

As I stated, we must prepare these items ourselves in the way I have directed. This is particularly important if we live in Rome, a city where vast amounts of supplies arrive from every nation each year. Some materials grow naturally in Italy, while others are manufactured there. For instance, in Dicaearchia The ancient Greek name for Puteoli, modern Pozzuoli near Naples. It was the primary commercial port for Rome., now known as Puteoli, they produce verdigris aerugo: a green pigment or medicinal crust formed by the weathering of copper, white lead cerusa: a lead-based pigment used in cosmetics and medicine, often produced by exposing lead to vinegar vapors, copper, copper scales lepis chalkou: the flakes that fall off hot copper when it is hammered; used for their drying properties, and various other substances. In Rome itself, litharge lithargyros: literally "silver-stone," it is lead monoxide formed as a byproduct during the refining of silver; it was used in plasters and ointments is manufactured.

Other supplies are brought in almost every day. Great quantities are imported every year during the summer from Sicily, Great Libya The region of North Africa encompassing modern Libya and parts of Tunisia., and Crete. In Crete, the Emperor supports professional herbalists at his own expense. These men send large quantities of supplies, not only for the Emperor's private use but for the entire city of Rome. They ship these in full containers called plekta plekta: from the Greek for "woven"; these were sturdy baskets made from willow branches used for transporting delicate botanical samples, so named because they are made from woven willow twigs. These goods are also exported from Crete to many other nations, so that the products of that island are never in short supply.