Thériaque, pharmacie et politique dans l'Italie moderne

The State Drug. Theriac, Pharmacy, and Politics in Early Modern Italy

Barbara Di Gennaro Splendore



Harvard University Press

ISBN 9780674299788
Publication date: 08/19/2025

From the 1490s, one of the most influential remedies to circulate in Europe was the “wonder drug” theriac. Although it had been in use for centuries, theriac gained special importance in the Renaissance, when Italy became a major hub of its production and export. A quintessential example of Galenic pharmacy, theriac was used to treat everything from venomous bites and poisons to headaches, sore throats, fevers, palsy, and heart problems. Examining this pivotal period in the history of medicine, Barbara Di Gennaro Splendore shows how a panacea became a vehicle for political power as well as intellectual and commercial competition.