Venefica sorceress
Encyclopedia
A Venefica was a Roman
sorceress who used drugs
, potions, and poison
for several reasons. Venefica means "a female who poisons" in Latin. The word appears in one of Sir Francis Bacon's Essays
,"Of Friendship" in the following lines:
, where a venefica slave is purchased in order to assist in carrying out revenge. The setting of this book is in the declining Roman Empire
around 500 A.D. In this novel, veneficas are defined as "girl slaves who are, from their infancy, fed certain poisons, first in minute amounts, then in increasing doses throughout their upbringing. By the time they are grown to maidenhood, their own bodies are accustomed to these substances and are unharmed by them. However, so virulent is the accumulated poison, that a man who beds with a venefica - or anyone who partakes of any of her juices - dies on the instant."
Ancient Rome
Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....
sorceress who used drugs
DRUGS
Destroy Rebuild Until God Shows are an American post-hardcore band formed in 2010. They released their debut self-titled album on February 22, 2011.- Formation :...
, potions, and poison
Poison
In the context of biology, poisons are substances that can cause disturbances to organisms, usually by chemical reaction or other activity on the molecular scale, when a sufficient quantity is absorbed by an organism....
for several reasons. Venefica means "a female who poisons" in Latin. The word appears in one of Sir Francis Bacon's Essays
Essays (Francis Bacon)
Essayes: Religious Meditations. Places of Perswasion and Disswasion. Seene and Allowed was the first published book by the philosopher, statesman and jurist Francis Bacon. The Essays are written in a wide range of styles, from the plain and unadorned to the epigrammatic...
,"Of Friendship" in the following lines:
"And it seemeth his favour was so great, as Antonius, in a letter which is recited verbatim in one of Cicero’s Philippics, calleth him ‘venefica,’ witch, —as if he had enchanted Caesar."
Other definitions
Venefica under the above definition is found in the book Raptor by Gary JenningsGary Jennings
Gary Jennings was an American author who wrote children's and adult novels. In 1980, after the successful novel Aztec, he specialized in writing adult historical fiction novels.-Biography:...
, where a venefica slave is purchased in order to assist in carrying out revenge. The setting of this book is in the declining Roman Empire
Roman Empire
The Roman Empire was the post-Republican period of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....
around 500 A.D. In this novel, veneficas are defined as "girl slaves who are, from their infancy, fed certain poisons, first in minute amounts, then in increasing doses throughout their upbringing. By the time they are grown to maidenhood, their own bodies are accustomed to these substances and are unharmed by them. However, so virulent is the accumulated poison, that a man who beds with a venefica - or anyone who partakes of any of her juices - dies on the instant."