However, his immunity impeded him from doing so. This antidote and the fact that Mithridates was already immune to many poisons helped him survive countless assassinations till his early 70s. It was in 63 BC that Pompey, the Great, defeated him at last and Mithridates attempted to commit suicide by drinking poison.

Various versions of the original recipe can yet be traced through history. The antidote was in the form of an almond-sized chewable pellet. It was termed Mithridatium and is believed to be fashioned from over 50 different ingredients. Surprisingly, he succeeded in creating this universal antidote. Something that could make any person fully immune to any poison. An antidote that would have the power to cancel the effects of the most dangerous poisons. Why did he do all this? Simply because he aimed to concoct an antidote. Moreover, materials were imported from far and wide places, such as crystallised snake venom from India, arrow poisons from Mesopotamia, stingray spines and jellyfish from Libya, rhubarb from the Volga, scorpions from Egypt, and many more for him. He made a library of books on toxins and antidotes from around the world and created a special garden where he could grow any plant required for his studies. During his rule, he set up various laboratories to continue his study on various toxins. Armed with this remarkable resistance, he also led a coup and won his kingdom back. Over time, he began to increase the dosage and went on to consume progressively more potent and dangerous poisons and venoms.

His reasoning was pretty simple: take the toxins in controlled amounts and make your body resistant to them. Instead of deeming these dangerous, he found that they were the solution to his problem.Īnd so, he began to consume these nature-gifted toxins in small amounts. In the countryside, he found abundant deadly and poisonous plants such as hellebore, monkshood, and rhododendrons animals such as snakes, scorpions, and slugs and minerals like sulfur, arsenic and mercury. Hence, he strove to defend himself against it. The prince knew that upon his return, he would be faced with deadly poisons designed to put him to death. So, Mithridates decided to flee to the wild. Added to this belief, he felt that she ingested poison in his meals. She had begun to favour his brother over him.

Mithridates had a nagging suspicion that his mother was behind his father’s assassination. His son, Mithridates VI was to be the next ruler of Pontus. Mithridates V, the king, had been poisoned at a banquet. Let me take you on a trip to Pontus, 120 BC. Here is the story of a man who, in order to save himself from poisoning, poisoned himself. Well then, what’s the solution? What if you are simply immune to the poison? It just doesn’t affect you. What will you do if it happens to you? Take antidotes? Whoops! All the antidotes are destroyed. We all love reading murder mysteries, don’t we? What weapon killers love to use? Poison, venom, toxin? It is all well till you become the target of the murderer.

Mithridates v universal antidote