Le silphium - État de la question

Amigues, Suzanne

doi:10.3406/jds.2004.1685

Cited by 11 publications

(16 citation statements)

References 4 publications

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“…The real identity of silphium, however, remains a mystery. Table 1 shows the identifications that have been offered for the plant (for fuller discussion see Amigues, 2004 ).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

When foods become remedies in ancient Greece: The curious case of garlic and other substances

Totelin

2015

Journal of Ethnopharmacology

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Ethnopharmacological relevanceThe debate on the food-drug continuum could benefit from a historical dimension. This study aims at showing this through one case: the food-drug continuum in Greece in the fifth- and fourth-century BCE. I suggest that at the time the boundary between food and drug – and that between dietetics and pharmacology – was rather blurred.Materials and methodsI study definitions of ‘food’ and ‘medicine’ in texts from the fifth- and fourth-century BCE: the Hippocratic texts, the botanical treatises of Theophrastus and the pseudo-Aristotelian Problems. To illustrate these abstract definitions, I focus on two substances: garlic and silphium.Results and discussionThe Hippocratics were writing in a context of increased professionalization and masculinization of medicine, a context in which dietetics became the most prestigious branch of medicine, praised above pharmacology and surgery. While medicine was becoming more specialised, professionalised and masculine, it avoided becoming too conspicuously so. The Hippocratic authors sometimes noted that medical discoveries are serendipitous and can be made by anyone, whether medically trained or not. By doing so, they allowed themselves to integrate common knowledge and practice into their writings.ConclusionIn the context of the professionalization of ancient medicine, the Hippocratic authors started to address the difference between food and medicine. They saw, however, some advantage in acknowledging the continuum between food and medicine. Scholars should avoid drawing too strict a boundary between ancient dietetics and pharmacology and should instead adopt a multi-disciplinary approach to the therapeutics of the Hippocratic texts.

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“…The real identity of silphium, however, remains a mystery. Table 1 shows the identifications that have been offered for the plant (for fuller discussion see Amigues, 2004 ).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

When foods become remedies in ancient Greece: The curious case of garlic and other substances

Totelin

2015

Journal of Ethnopharmacology

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“…Silphium's taxonomic classification has been extensively studied through a multidisciplinary approach, paying special attention to ancient literature and artwork analyzed with a modern scientific perspective. Numerous scholars have conducted this style of research in hopes of identifying silphium or its closest living relative (Sprengel, 1807;Amigues, 2004;Miski, 2021). Silphium's classification as a large Ferula-like species within the Apiaceae family is undisputed amongst modern scholars (Amigues, 2004).…”

Section: Taxonomic Classification Of Silphiummentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Numerous scholars have conducted this style of research in hopes of identifying silphium or its closest living relative (Sprengel, 1807;Amigues, 2004;Miski, 2021). Silphium's classification as a large Ferula-like species within the Apiaceae family is undisputed amongst modern scholars (Amigues, 2004). While we remain skeptical that silphium's closest living relative can be determined with absolute confidence, we recognize that many of the plant's morphological features are broadly accepted in the modern literature, due in part to the combined presence of detailed ancient literary descriptions and artistic depictions of silphium's morphology (Bostock and Riley, 1855;Hort, 1916;Amigues, 2004;Miski, 2021).…”

Section: Taxonomic Classification Of Silphiummentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Silphium's classification as a large Ferula-like species within the Apiaceae family is undisputed amongst modern scholars (Amigues, 2004). While we remain skeptical that silphium's closest living relative can be determined with absolute confidence, we recognize that many of the plant's morphological features are broadly accepted in the modern literature, due in part to the combined presence of detailed ancient literary descriptions and artistic depictions of silphium's morphology (Bostock and Riley, 1855;Hort, 1916;Amigues, 2004;Miski, 2021). The following section, while not an exhaustive overview of current knowledge by any means, highlights the most notable and verifiable traits of the silphium plant and its living relatives.…”

Section: Taxonomic Classification Of Silphiummentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In his renowned work, Naturalis Historia (77 CE), Pliny the Elder famously declared that the once-beloved North African herb, known to the Romans as silphium (Greek silphion), "no longer exists" (Bostock and Riley, 1855), making it the first species in written history to have been knowingly driven to extinction by humankind (Parejko, 2003). Given the overwhelming demand for silphium amongst the ancient Greeks and Romans, numerous scholars have concluded that its disappearance was due primarily to exploitative pressures such as over-harvesting and over-grazing coupled with the general difficulty in regards to its cultivation (Andrews, 1941;Amigues, 2004). While these factors inarguably played major roles in the extinction of silphium, the consequential impact of human-induced environmental changes in Cyrenaica (modern-day eastern Libya) has been largely overlooked in modern investigations of silphium's extinction.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Reassessing the Role of Anthropogenic Climate Change in the Extinction of Silphium

Pollaro¹,

Robertson²

2022

Front. Conserv. Sci.

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The famed ancient herb, known to the Romans as silphium (Greek silphion), is widely regarded as the first recorded instance of human-induced species extinction. Modern scholars have largely credited direct exploitation (e.g., over-harvesting; over-grazing) as the primary cause of silphium's extinction, due to an overwhelming demand for the plant in ancient times. Recent research has revealed strict cold-stratification requirements for the germination of silphium's closest living relatives, revealing the likelihood that silphium shared these same germination requirements. Documented environmental changes in ancient Cyrenaica (e.g., widespread deforestation; cropland expansion) likely resulted in accelerated rates of desertification throughout the region as well as the direct disturbance of silphium's habitat, effectively eliminating the necessary conditions for silphium's successful germination and growth within its native range. Contrary to previous conclusions, this evidence suggests that anthropogenic environmental change was instead the dominant factor in silphium's extinction, marking silphium as the first recorded instance of human-induced climate-based extinction.

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Cyrenaica

Kane

2024

A Companion to the Archaeology of the Roman Empire

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Le silphium - État de la question

Cited by 11 publications

References 4 publications

When foods become remedies in ancient Greece: The curious case of garlic and other substances

When foods become remedies in ancient Greece: The curious case of garlic and other substances

Reassessing the Role of Anthropogenic Climate Change in the Extinction of Silphium

Cyrenaica

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