The Honey Of Madness In The Pontic Mountains

The Pontic Mountains in northern Anatolia gained a fearsome reputation in the ancient Greek and Roman world. Curiously enough, the region’s notoriety was in large part due to its not-so-sweet honey. In fact, several ancient armies unfortunately discovered that some of the honey produced in the Pontic Mountains could be poisonous and mind altering.

In Greece, the mad honey of the Pontic Mountains was popularized by Xenophon, an Athenian philosopher, historian and mercenary, who personally encountered the honey while serving with a famous mercenary company, known as the Ten Thousand. A Persian prince named Cyrus the Younger hired the mercenary company in 401 BCE for a failed revolt against King Artaxerxes II. When Cyrus was killed and his revolt crushed, the Greek mercenaries found themselves alone and unwelcome in the vicinity of Babylonia. While being pursued by Persian forces and ambushed by local tribes, the Greeks weaved their way through Mesopotamia and Armenia to reach the Pontic Mountains, from which they could see the Black Sea. Nearby was the Greek-inhabited coastal city of Trapezus, but the Greeks could not reach it in a single day, and would have to camp in the mountains for several days until they neared the coast.

After having defeated a militia of Colchians, the mercenaries encountered very little resistance during their march to Trapezus. They took a detour to some villages on the mountainside, and no one stopped the Greeks from helping themselves to the local supplies. In particular, the mercenaries were delighted to find an abundance of beehives and honeycomb around the villages. Yet, the honey would turn out to be potentially more dangerous than local militias. Xenophon vividly described the scene that occurred after the Greeks ate their fill of the honey:

“all the men who ate honeycomb became deranged, suffered from vomiting and diarrhea, and were too weak to stand up. Those who had eaten a little behaved as though they were drunk, while those who had eaten a lot behaved like madmen, or even like people on the point of death. The ground was so thickly covered with supine men that it looked like the aftermath of a defeat, and morale plummeted” (Anabasis, Book 4, section 8).

Fortunately for Xenophon and the Greek mercenaries, the worst effects of the honey wore off after 24 hours, and the group was able to resume their march to Trapezus after a few more days of rest. Several centuries later, however, a Roman army in the region had less luck with the honey.

According to the Roman geographer and historian, Strabo (c. 64 BCE-21+ CE), Pompey the Great lost a portion of his army to the effects of the mad honey in the Pontic Mountains. In 66 BCE, he had been assigned to command Roman forces against King Mithridates VI in Pontus. When Mithridates committed suicide in 63 BCE, Pompey had a fairly free hand in reorganizing the region.

One particular community in the Pontic Mountains gave Pompey difficulty. Strabo identified this group as the Heptacometae, which he believed was linked to a certain Mossynoeci people that Xenophon and the Ten Thousand encountered centuries earlier. According to Strabo, the Heptacometae weaponized the poisonous honey of the Pontic Mountains and successfully used it in war against a portion of Pompey’s army. Strabo wrote:

“The Heptacometae cut down three maniples of Pompey's army when they were passing through the mountainous country; for they mixed bowls of the crazing honey which is yielded by the tree-twigs, and placed them in the roads, and then, when the soldiers drank the mixture and lost their senses, they attacked them and easily disposed of them” (Geography, Book 12, chapter 3, section 18).

Interestingly, scientists in the late 19th century claimed to have solved the mystery of the honey. In a 1889 study, the maddening properties in the Pontic honey were attributed to andromedotoxin that bees picked up from a local variety of yellow-flower rhododendron (Rhododendron luteum). Honey produced in May and June from bees in regions dominated by the Pontic rhododendrons apparently had a concentration of andromedotoxin that was high enough to make it dangerous to consume.

Written by C. Keith Hansley

Picture Attribution: (Cupid the Honey Thief by Albrecht Dürer (1471–1528), [Public Domain] via Creative Commons).

Sources:

• Anabasis Kyrou (The Expedition/Upcountry March of Cyrus) by Xenophon and translated by Robin Waterfield. New York: Oxford University Press, 2005.
• http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Strabo/12C*.html#ref45
• https://www.britannica.com/biography/Pompey-the-Great

Suicide In The Family—Cato The Younger And Porcia Catonis

(Left: The suicide of Cato the Younger by Charles Le Brun  (1619–1690), [Public Domain] via Creative Commons. Right: The Suicide of Porcia by Pierre Mignard  (1612–1695), [Public Domain] via Creative Commons)

Marcus Porcius Cato, better known as Cato the Younger (95-46 BCE), was a brilliant Roman statesman who spent his life fighting against corruption and defending the status quo of the Roman Republic against prospective dictators, such as Julius Caesar and Pompey. The interesting life and accomplishments of Cato deserve (and will get) an article of their own, but for now, all that really needs to be known about Cato is that he was, along with Cicero, one of the key politicians in the Roman Senate that sided against Julius Caesar during the long Roman Civil Wars.

In 46 BCE, Cato must have known that the Roman Republic, as he knew it, was coming to an end. Pompey the Great had already been defeated by Caesar and was assassinated in Egypt. The other extremely skilled general, Labienus, had just lost a major battle in North Africa against Caesar at Thapsus (read about how Caesar prepared for Thapsus, HERE). From his position in Utica, located in modern day Tunisia, Cato could only observe as the Roman Republic fell, once again, into the hands of a dictator.

While most of Caesar’s armed opponents fled to Spain after the Battle of Thapsus, Cato remained where he was in Utica. There, the hopeless politician decided to end his life, no matter what it took to get the job done. The accounts of Cato’s suicide given by Plutarch, Dio Cassius and Julius Caesar, himself, leave behind a very grisly and disturbing scene.

After the Battle of Thapsus, the usually charismatic and gregarious Cato shockingly became bizarrely introverted and calm. He checked that the finances of Utica were all tidy, and then withdrew from governing the city.

Cato’s friends and family, suspicious of the statesman’s sudden change of character, followed him home and kept a constant watch on the man. They even searched Cato’s home, locking away all the dangerous instruments they could find. Nevertheless, Cato somehow found a knife.

On a certain day, after having just finished an evening meal with his comrades, Cato retired to his room to read. That night, it is said he read Cicero’s entire Phaedo, a collection of arguments for the immortality of the soul. After reading his final book, Cato produced a knife that he had managed to hide from his friends and vigorously stabbed himself in the gut. Losing strength and consciousness, Cato fell to the floor with enough force to alert his nearby friends.

The already wary friends and family rushed into the room, staunched the bleeding and quickly brought in a doctor to stich up the knife-wound. Miraculously, the doctor stabilized the statesman. Cato, however, eventually regained consciousness, and he was determined to die. With his own two hands, he ripped open the doctor’s stitches and brought about his death by yanking out his own innards, one handful at a time.

After Cato’s suicide, his young daughter, named Porcia Catonis, married a certain zealot for the Republic named Brutus. Once married, she reportedly joined the conspiracy to assassinate Julius Caesar, and her husband, Brutus, was one of the men who stabbed the dictator to death on the Ides of March in 44 BCE. Brutus, however, was hunted down by Caesar’s successors in the next generation of the Roman Civil War by 42 BCE, and he committed suicide as Octavian and Mark Antony closed in. His wife, Porcia Catonis (Cato’s daughter), also allegedly committed suicide around this time. The most popular accounts of her death either involve suicide by sealing herself in a room with noxious smoke, or by gruesomely swallowing live coals.

Written by C. Keith Hansley

Sources:

• War Commentaries by Gaius Julius Caesar and Aulus Hirtius, translated by W. A. McDevitte and W. S. Bohn, 2014.
• Julius Caesar by Philip Freeman. New York: Simon & Schuster Paperbacks, 2008. 
• https://www.britannica.com/biography/Marcus-Porcius-Cato-Roman-senator-95-46-BC 
• http://listverse.com/2011/10/20/15-interesting-women-of-ancient-rome/ 
• https://philosophy-of-cbt.com/2013/12/11/lady-stoics-1-porcia-catonis/ 
• http://www.onthisday.com/people/porcia-catonis  

Julius Caesar Had Tamed Elephants Shipped From Italy To Calm His Men And Horses In Preparation For His Battles In North Africa

(Caesar painted by Lionel Royer (1852–1926) cropped into the painting: An elephant keeper riding his elephant, c. 1825, [Public Domain] via Creative Commons)

In 48 BCE, Pompey the Great fled to Egypt after he lost the Battle of Pharsalus. Yet, instead of finding asylum in the autonomous Kingdom of Egypt, Pompey was assassinated by the Egyptians in an attempt to gain the favor of Julius Caesar. With Pompey’s death, the main military adversary against Caesar in the Roman civil war was gone, but the war was far from over. Despite the absence of their leader, Pompey’s officers and allies continued to fight for the Roman Republic, or just simply against Julius Caesar. Though Caesar’s adversaries were spread throughout the empire, many of the greatest Pompeian leaders—Titus Labienus, Metellus Scipio and King Juba I—had gathered their forces together in North Africa.

After securing Egypt for his ally Cleopatra and defeating a hostile army from Pontus, Julius Caesar turned his attention to the Pompeians (or Optimates) amassed in North Africa. Caesar began his campaign against Labienus, Scipio and King Juba around 47 BCE when he landed his legions somewhere in modern Tunisia.

The war, however, would not be simple. Labienus and Scipio were both very able Roman generals and King Juba not only had some of the best horsemen in the Mediterranean, but he also fielded war elephants. Also, as usual, Julius Caesar’s forces were outnumbered.

To win the war in Africa, Caesar had to rely on his own military genius, as well as the extraordinary battlefield experience that his elite and hardened legions had gained through years of continuous war. Yet, the enemies in Africa had weapons that Caesar’s legions had never seen in action before—the elephants. The legions were experienced thoroughly in how to fight infantry and horsemen, but the elephants understandably unnerved even the most battle-tested troops, not to mention the horses.

To remedy this, Julius Caesar sent word to Italy requesting that some tamed elephants be shipped to his camp. When the animals arrived, the camp basically became a petting zoo. Soldiers were invited to approach the tamed elephants and touch them. With the elephants accessible to the soldiers, Caesar’s men learned what the beasts could and could not do, and they were instructed where to attack the elephants during battle for the most effect. Likewise, the horses were brought near the elephants so they would become familiar with the sight, smell and sounds of the strange creature, so that the cavalry would not waver in battle.  According to Caesar in his War Commentaries, the petting zoo ploy “succeeded to a wonder” (African War Commentaries, 72).

With the confidence of Caesar’s forces regained, the Pompeian leaders were doomed. Julius Caesar intentionally let himself be attacked at the defensible region of Thapsus in 46 BCE. There, his men ferociously charged the enemy, causing elephants and soldiers, alike, to run amuck and scatter.

The battle was another huge event in Julius Caesar’s path to victory. Scipio was killed in the battle and King Juba committed suicide soon after it was over. Cato, a key politician of the Roman Republic, also killed himself in the aftermath of the battle. The only major Pompeian officer involved in Thapsus who survived the year was Labienus, who would die a year later fighting Caesar’s forces in Spain.

Written by C. Keith Hansley.

Sources:

• War Commentaries by Gaius Julius Caesar and Aulus Hirtius, translated by W. A. McDevitte and W. S. Bohn, 2014.  
• Julius Caesar by Philip Freeman. New York: Simon & Schuster Paperbacks, 2008.

Julius Caesar’s Bread Warfare At Dyrrachium

(Caesar painted by Lionel Royer (1852–1926) cropped behind a Pompeii market fresco, all [Public Domain] via Creative Commons)

In 48 BCE, while the civil war between Julius Caesar and Gnaeus Pompey was still in full swing, the two brilliant generals found themselves in a stalemate at Dyrrachium, located in modern day Albania. Pompey was the first to set up camp at Dyrrachium. When Julius Caesar arrived, he naturally decided to implement one of his specialties—siege warfare. Despite Caesar having far fewer men than Pompey, the Caesarian forces began construction of a large messy, semi-circular wall around Pompey’s position, cutting him off from all land-based escape routes. In response, Pompey created his own defensive wall.

 With the armies of Caesar and Pompey positioned behind opposing fortified walls, a waiting game ensued. Both sides hoped that their rations could last until their enemy began to starve, or a breach in the wall was found or created. The stalemate caused trouble for both Pompey and Caesar. In Pompey’s camp, food had been well stocked, but fodder for horses began to run low and safe water became scarce. On Caesar’s side, securing food was the main issue hindering the troops.

In his Commentaries on the Civil War, however, Julius Caesar recounted how one of his camps along the wall at Dyrrachium alleviated their food crisis with some clever cooking. The men under the command of one of Caesar’s officers, named Valerius, were fairly well off—they had access to cattle and milk. In addition, the soldiers discovered a nearby source of edible roots, which Julius Caesar called chara. With milk and chara roots present in ample quantities, some curious soldier mixed the two ingredients in a culinary experiment and found that the chara roots could be baked into something resembling a loaf of bread.

With the production of their chara bread, Caesar’s men were kept reasonably well fed. They also seemed to have loaves to spare, for Caesar wrote that his men would sometimes throw the chara bread at Pompey’s forces (sometimes tossing loaves over Pompey’s walls) to prove that they still had food and the siege would not be ending anytime soon.

Nevertheless, in walling off Pompey’s camp, Caesar had to spread his men thin, creating vulnerabilities. Pompey attacked a weak point in his enemy’s wall—a part still under construction—and broke free from the siege, dealing Julius Caesar one of his most clear defeats of the Civil War.

Written by C. Keith Hansley.

Sources:

• War Commentaries by Gaius Julius Caesar and Aulus Hirtius, translated by W. A. McDevitte and W. S. Bohn, 2014.  
• Julius Caesar by Philip Freeman. New York: Simon & Schuster Paperbacks, 2008.
• http://www.unrv.com/fall-republic/battle-of-dyrrhachium.php 
• http://www.livius.org/articles/battle/siege-of-dyrrhachium-48-48-bce/ 
• http://www.historyofwar.org/articles/battles_dyrrhachium.html 
• https://www.warhistoryonline.com/featured/history-forget-savior-hero-like-hendrik-drogt.html 

Almost Every Major Figure Tied to the Roman Civil War Between Caesar and Pompey Died A Violent Death

(Cato, Cicero, Pompey, Brutus, Caesar, Crassus, Cleopatra, Mark Antony)

The 1^st century BCE was a bloody time in history. This was especially the case for people who were involved in Julius Caesar’s rise and fall in Rome. Assassination, death in battle and suicide were common ends for the numerous people playing the dangerous game of imperial politics.

One of the first deaths of Caesar’s political partners was that of Crassus in 53 BCE, who died under a volley of arrows launched by skilled Parthian archers. That was the first death of a member of the First Triumvirate between Caesar, Pompey and Crassus. From there, Caesar’s alliances only continued to deteriorate. One of his best generals, Labienus, left his side to the faction of Pompey and the conservative senators, Cato and Cicero.

Caesar fought an intense war against Pompey, in which he was continuously outnumbered in battles from one side of the Mediterranean to the other. Despite the setbacks, Caesar’s ability to always do the unexpected, and the resolve of his elite, veteran troops allowed him to repeatedly put Pompey on the defensive. When Pompey lost a major battle to Caesar at Pharsalus, he fled to Egypt. When Pompey arrived, the Egyptians, wishing to gain the support of Caesar, had Pompey assassinated in 48 BCE.

Though Pompey was dead, the war was not over for Caesar. He invaded North Africa and defeated a combination of Roman and Numidian forces. Hearing of Caesar’s victories, Cato felt his cause was hopeless. Rather than be pardoned or punished by Caesar he attempted suicide—he gutted himself with a knife in 46 BCE, but his friends found him and were somehow able to stitch him back together. Cato survived that attempt, but when he regained consciousness, he tore at his stitches and succeeded in killing himself.

There were still legions hostile to Caesar in Spain. Caesar defeated them, and in the process, killed his former war friend, Labienus, at the Battle of Munda in 45 BCE. With Spain pacified, Caesar could enjoy power. He had very little time to experience sole rule of Rome, however, for he was assassinated in 44 BCE.

Upon Caesar’s death, his admirers and loyalists took power in a Second Triumvirate. Octavian, Caesar’s grand-nephew (and adopted son), allied with Caesar’s trusted military aid, Mark Antony and the politician Marcus Aemilius Lepidus.

The Second Triumvirate hunted down the assassins who killed Caesar and also eliminated some of the people who criticized the deceased dictator. The great statesman and orator, Cicero, was assassinated in 43 BCE, and the main conspirators, Brutus and Cassius, who killed Caesar, were hunted down and driven to commit suicide after being defeated in battle at Philippi in 42 BCE.

The bloodshed continued in 31 BCE, when Octavian declared war on Cleopatra and Mark Antony. After Octavian’s victory in the Battle of Actium, Mark Antony committed suicide, and Cleopatra followed his example, soon after. With his competitors to power dead, Octavian named himself Augustus and became the first emperor of Rome.

Written by C. Keith Hansley
thehistorianshut.com

Source:

• Julius Caesar by Philip Freeman. New York: Simon & Schuster Paperbacks, 2008.

Julius Caesar Brought A Mime With Him On An Invasion

(Caesar Photo: Bust of Julius Caesar, remastered photograph from Alfred von Domaszewski Geschichte der Romischen Kaiser Verlag von Quelle & Meyer in Leipzig 1914, [Public Domain] via Creative Commons)

In 48 BCE, Pompey was assassinated in Egypt, leaving Julius Caesar as the sole surviving member of the former First Triumvirate that had dominated Roman politics. Though Caesar’s greatest military foe was dead, a massive coalition of soldiers and politicians still resisted Caesar’s rule.

Caesar arrived in Egypt shortly after the death of Pompey. There, he ended the ongoing Civil War between the Cleopatra and her brother (more specifically her brother’s advisors) in a bloody bout of urban warfare, and then moved north to crush an upstart king in Pontus. Only then, did Caesar return to Rome in 47 BCE.

While Caesar was cleaning up the east of his empire and enjoying the city of Rome, his enemies were gathering in North Africa and Spain. When Caesar had calmed Rome to a reasonable level, he began planning an invasion of Africa, where Labienus (a former officer of Caesar’s from the wars in Gaul) had gathered much of Pompey’s remaining forces. There, however, was a problem for Caesar—his men were superstitious about this upcoming campaign.

In the ranks of Labienus’ army was a descendant of the Punic War hero, Scipio Africanus, who defeated one of Rome’s greatest enemies, Hannibal Barca. Caesar’s men were wary of invading Africa with a Scipio on the opposing side. Caesar quickly found a remedy to raise the spirits of his troops—a Scipio of their own. To counteract the Scipio in Labienus’ force, Caesar hired Scipio Salvito, a professional mime, to accompany his army on their voyage to Africa.

With their morale boosted, Caesar’s men defeated Labienus in a massacre near the town of Thapsus in 46 BCE. After that, he defeated his enemies in Spain, and returned to Rome to fall prey to the hidden blades of treacherous friends and forgiven enemies in 44 BCE.

Written by C. Keith Hansley
thehistorianshut.com

Source:

• Julius Caesar by Philip Freeman. New York: Simon & Schuster Paperbacks, 2008.