Technologies of Knowledge

Abstract

This article presents an overview of the main questions in the history of Greek and Roman pharmacology and botany. It presents the actors in the transmission of pharmacological and botanical knowledge in antiquity and discusses how they established their authority through claims to expertise and effective treatments. It shows that much of that transmission occurred orally, and that attitudes toward the written word in general, and recipes in particular, were ambivalent. Next the article examines the question of efficacy from a cross-cultural and anthropological point of view. It notes that the notion of efficacy is culturally bound and asks whether it is possible to use ancient texts for bioprospecting, that is, to find “new” remedies. It calls for more collaborative studies involving historians, scientific archaeologists, and (ethno)-pharmacists.

Once again on the Empress Zoe: Women, dermatology, cosmetics, and materia medica (medical matter) in the ancient world

“…13 It is possible that, in both cases, the feminine name hides male authorship and the "commercial" dynamics of a competence that is more desirable if attributed to female knowledge, better if of very high social status: it is a mechanism that, in waves, returns in the history of medicine until more recent times, as well testified, for example, by the famous case of the works attributed to Trotula de Ruggiero. 14,15 In any case, the "female" tradition transmitted under the names of Metrodora, Cleopatra, Pelagia, Elephantis, Lais, Salpe, Sotira, Spendousa, Aquilia, Antiochia, Originea, Samithra, Xanite is received by the Byzantine encyclopedists more freely than the classical tradition: the use of these "alternative" sources seems to fill the void left by Galen in the treatment of women's disorders and responds to the socially growing needs for health and beauty in a changing world (Buzzi-Calà).…”

“…It is possible that, in both cases, the feminine name hides male authorship and the “commercial” dynamics of a competence that is more desirable if attributed to female knowledge, better if of very high social status: it is a mechanism that, in waves, returns in the history of medicine until more recent times, as well testified, for example, by the famous case of the works attributed to Trotula de Ruggiero. 14 , 15 …”

Everyday Knowledge and Apothecary Craft: Pharmacopoeias of Ancient Northwestern Honduras

“…The appetite of a possessing spirit might be fed as though it is that of the human patient (Shack [1971(Shack [ ] 1997 and the food that nourishes one person may cause sickness in another (Meigs 1987). Healthcare practitioners may derive medicines from plants with no known 'active ingredients' (Lentz et al 1998), that instead carry psychological or spiritual potency (similarly to descriptions by Insoll 2011, 192;Lo et al 2015;Totelin 2016;Van der Veen & Morales 2015;Zucconi 2019). That is to say, not all plants used as medicine have significant phytochemical potency, or have efficacy solely through chemically based pharmacological interactions.…”

“…The application of various medical treatments is dependent on many factors, including the bodily learning of such practices as decoction-making and salve application (Kunow 2003;Totelin 2009, 298;. The transmission of apothecary practices is negotiated between skill levels, execution and 'success' of reception (Etkin 1988;Hopkins et al 2015;Lo et al 2015;Totelin 2016;similarly to de Certeau 1984, 57 andGiddens 1979, 40). Apothecary skills, like other practices, retain some fixity as they are passed along and learned, but may also be transformed and innovated over multiple iterations or during a single performance of medical practice (Carlson 2001;Kunow 2003;Hopkins et al 2015;Totelin 2009;similarly to Butler 1988).…”

“…Given the potential leeway in apothecary practice, quality control in the past-as much as the present-would be an ongoing issue. Ultimate 'intelligibility' of medical treatments is dictated by the skilful execution of a medical act, and the degree to which it confers particular meanings or experiences to the subject-not only quantitative measures of biological health (Hopkins et al 2015;Lo et al 2015;Totelin 2016). That is, the severity of the malady and the belief in the efficacy of the treatment affect the reception of the medicine, not only the skill and competency of the medical practitioner who prepared it.…”