Several months ago a small (15mm) Greek bronze coin came my
way that has resisted identification until now (thanks to Dane Kurth). It turns
out is a coin from Cyrene in Cyrenaica with the helmeted head of Athena on one
side while on the other are two stalks of the silphium plant emerging from a single base (BMC Cyrene
202-3).
It is, for me, the silphium plant that is of interest. The
exact identity of silphium is unclear. It is commonly believed to be a
now-extinct plant of the genus Ferula, perhaps a variety of giant fennel. It was
used in classical antiquity as a rich seasoning and also as a medicine. It was
the essential item of trade from the ancient North African city of Cyrene, and
was so critical to the Cyrenian economy that most of their coins bore a picture
of the plant. The valuable product was the plant's resin.
Many medical uses were ascribed to the plant. It was said
that it could be used to treat cough, sore throat, fever, indigestion, aches
and pains, warts, and all kinds of maladies. It has been speculated that the
plant may also have functioned as a contraceptive, based partly on Pliny's
statement that it could be used "to promote the menstrual discharge".
Many species in the parsley family have estrogenic properties, and some, such
as wild carrot, have been found to work as abortifacients (chemicals that
terminate a pregnancy). Given this, it is quite possible that the plant was
pharmacologically active in the prevention or termination of pregnancy.
The cause of silphium's extinction is not entirely known. Overgrazing
combined with overharvesting may have led to its extinction. It may be that when
Roman provincial governors took over power from Greek colonists they
over-farmed silphium and rendered the soil unable to yield the type that was
said to be of such medicinal value. Theophrastus reports that the type of
ferula specifically referred to as "silphium" was odd in that it grew
only in the wild and could not be successfully grown as a crop in tilled soil. Pliny
reported that the last known stalk of silphium found in Cyrenaica was given to
the Emperor Nero "as a curiosity".
