Barbarian warriors in ancient Roman times may have used stimulants to aid their performance in battle, a study has proposed.
The practice is suggested by small, spoon-like objects fitted to warriors’ belts that have been found at various sites in northern Europe, according to the study published in the journal Praehistorische Zeitschrift.
The authors conclude that the spoon-like fittings may have served as dispensers of stimulants for Germanic warriors going into battle.
In antiquity, the term “barbarian” referred to non-Roman peoples, often from tribes or cultures outside the territory Rome controlled, such as Germanic, Celtic and Hunnic groups.
Stanisław Kontny for Praehistorische Zeitschrift
Compounds with stimulating effects have been used by humans for millennia, sometimes in war for the purposes of alleviating fear or increasing alertness.
While there is significant evidence for the widespread use of narcotics in ancient Greece and Rome, the same cannot be said for the people living in the “barbarian” lands of Europe, who were traditionally presumed to have made little use of drugs other than alcohol.
“We therefore asked ourselves whether the consumption of stimulants in the barbarian world of the Roman period was indeed absent. For while ancient sources inform us about the widespread drinking of various alcoholic beverages, which is also confirmed by archaeological finds, they are silent about the consumption of other stimulants,” the authors wrote in the study.
Given the dearth of direct evidence for stimulant use among the barbarians of Europe, the researchers decided to look for indirect clues.
In the latest study, the research team identified and categorized numerous small, spoon-shaped objects found at dozens of northern European sites dating to the Roman period. These primarily consisted of marsh sites and graves in Scandinavia, Germany and Poland.
The objects have handles attached to either a concave bowl or a flat disk, measuring 10 to 20 millimeters across. While they were attached to belts, they do not appear to have played a role in the functioning of these clothing items.
The study also revealed that all of the objects were found together with equipment used in warfare. Their form and size appear to exclude the possibility that they were used as cosmetic utensils or medical instruments, according to the researchers.
The authors suggest that barbarian warriors may have used these objects to measure the right dose of a given stimulant.
The researchers then examined the question of which stimulants could have been available to the Germanic communities of the Roman period. They found that Germanic peoples of the time likely would have had access to a wide range of substances that are capable of providing a stimulant effect, such as poppy, hops, hemp, henbane, belladonna and various fungi. These could have been consumed in liquid form—dissolved in alcohol, for example—or in powdered form.
The authors suggest that the use of stimulants by Germanic people may have been extensive during conflicts in the Roman period.
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