Tetrapharmacum, Latinized from the Greek τετραφάρμακος ''tetrapharmakos'' (feminine; also τετραΦάρμακον ''tetrapharmakon'') "the "fourfold drug", was an ancient Greek pharmaceutical compound, a mixture of wax, pine resin, pitch and animal fat, most often pork fat. The word ''

tetrapharmakos Epicurus (, ; ; 341–270 BC) was an ancient Greek philosopher who founded Epicureanism, a highly influential school of philosophy that asserted that philosophy's purpose is to attain as well as to help others attain tranquil lives, character ...

'' has been used metaphorically by 1st-century

Epicureans Epicureanism is a system of philosophy founded 307 BCE based upon the teachings of Epicurus, an ancient Greek philosopher. Epicurus was an atomist and materialist, following in the steps of Democritus. His materialism led him to religious s ...

to refer to the four Κύριαι Δόξαι ("chief doctrines") or remedies for healing the soul.The name cannot be traced further back than Cicero and Philodemos. Pamela Gordon, ''Epicurus in Lycia: The Second-century World of Diogenes of Oenoanda'', University of Michigan Press (1996), p. 61, fn 85, citing A. Angeli, "Compendi, eklogai, tetrapharmakos" (1986), p. 65. Apparently named after this unprepossessing concoction, ''tetrapharmacum'' (or 'tetrafarmacum'') was a complicated and expensive dish in Roman Imperial

cuisine A cuisine is a style of cooking characterized by distinctive ingredients, List of cooking techniques, techniques and Dish (food), dishes, and usually associated with a specific culture or geographic region. Regional food preparation techniques, ...

. It contained

sow Sow or SOW may refer to: * Sowing, the process of planting Female animals * Badger * Bear * Guinea pig * Hedgehog * Suidae ** Wild boar ** Pig Arts, entertainment and media * Sow (band), a musical project of Anna Wildsmith * "Sow", a poem by Sy ...

udder An udder is an organ formed of two or four mammary glands on the females of dairy animals and ruminants such as cattle, goats, and sheep. An udder is equivalent to the breast in primates, elephantine pachyderms and other mammals. The udder is ...

pheasant Pheasants ( ) are birds of several genera within the family Phasianidae in the order Galliformes. Although they can be found all over the world in introduced (and captive) populations, the pheasant genera's native range is restricted to Eura ...

wild boar The wild boar (''Sus scrofa''), also known as the wild swine, common wild pig, Eurasian wild pig, or simply wild pig, is a Suidae, suid native to much of Eurasia and North Africa, and has been introduced to the Americas and Oceania. The speci ...

and

ham Ham is pork from a leg cut that has been preserved by wet or dry curing, with or without smoking."Bacon: Bacon and Ham Curing" in '' Chambers's Encyclopædia''. London: George Newnes, 1961, Vol. 2, p. 39. As a processed meat, the term '' ...

pastry Pastry refers to a variety of Dough, doughs (often enriched with fat or eggs), as well as the sweet and savoury Baking, baked goods made from them. The dough may be accordingly called pastry dough for clarity. Sweetened pastries are often descr ...

. The only surviving source of information on the tetrafarmacum is the ''

Augustan History The ''Historia Augusta'' (English: ''Augustan History'') is a late Roman collection of biographies, written in Latin, of the Roman emperors, their junior colleagues, designated heirs and usurpers from 117 to 284. Supposedly modeled on the sim ...

'', which mentions it three times. All three mentions are credited to the now-lost biography of

Hadrian Hadrian ( ; ; 24 January 76 – 10 July 138) was Roman emperor from 117 to 138. Hadrian was born in Italica, close to modern Seville in Spain, an Italic peoples, Italic settlement in Hispania Baetica; his branch of the Aelia gens, Aelia '' ...

Marius Maximus Lucius Marius Maximus Perpetuus Aurelianus (more commonly known as Marius Maximus) (c. AD 160 – c. AD 230) was a Roman biographer, writing in Latin, who in the early decades of the 3rd century AD wrote a series of biographies of twelve Emperors ...

. According to this source, the Caesar

Lucius Aelius Lucius Aelius Caesar (13 January 101 – 1 January 138) was the father of Emperor Lucius Verus. In 136, he was adopted by the reigning emperor Hadrian and named heir to the throne. He died before Hadrian and thus never became emperor. After Lu ...

(died 138) invented the dish; his senior colleague, the Emperor Hadrian, liked it; a later emperor,

Alexander Severus Marcus Aurelius Severus Alexander (1 October 208 – March 235), also known as Alexander Severus, was Roman emperor from 222 until 235. He was the last emperor from the Severan dynasty. Alexander took power in 222, when he succeeded his slain co ...

, liked it too.

References

Sources

Galen Aelius Galenus or Claudius Galenus (; September 129 – AD), often Anglicization, anglicized as Galen () or Galen of Pergamon, was a Ancient Rome, Roman and Greeks, Greek physician, surgeon, and Philosophy, philosopher. Considered to be one o ...

, ''On the properties of simples'' (vol. 12 p. 328 Kühn). * ''

'' Hadrian 21, Aelius 5, Alexander Severus 30.

References

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Further reading