The Opium Addiction of Marcus Aurelius

Philosophical Issues in the Addictions

“…Administered opium by his physician Galen, Marcus' seemingly bottomless appetite for the drug was recorded in Galen's notes, and remarked upon by his contemporaries, with his withdrawal symptoms at one point conspicuously affecting the course of a military campaign (Africa, 1961;Trancas, Borja Santos & Patrício, 2004).…”

Was Plotinus Influenced by Opium?

“…He reported that Marcus Aurelius was in the habit of taking a daily dose of such a theriac; at one stage, when the Emperor found himself becoming drowsy at his duties, the poppy-juice was omitted from the concoction for a time, but it was soon included again to help the Emperor to sleep. 22 Galen also recorded the fact that, as the second century drew to a close, Severus released opium for common use.23 There is thus every reason to believe that opium was coming to be more and more widely employed as the third century began, and the probability is correspondingly increased that it was included in the presumably complex mixtures with which Plotinus was dosed.…”