Nettle in Cuisine and Medicine in Selected Ancient and Byzantine Sources

The article deals with the culinary and medical usage of nettle in the light of selected ancient and Byzantine sources. Although nettle, especially young, was said to be a wholesome snack, in ancient Greece and Rome it was mainly eaten by the poor. According to recipes collected in De re coquinaria it could be served as a kind of casserole called patina. Probably it could also be an ingredient of wild vegetable salad. But first of all Greek and Byzantine physicians: Dioscurides, Galen and Aetius of Amida used its leaves, root and seeds in medical treatment. They knew two species of nettles: akalefe (¢kal»fh) and knide (kn…dh). Both were used as medicine for gynaecology and dermatology diseases likewise in curing illnesses of respiratory and digestive system. Many of the medical properties of this herb were known to Pliny the Elder. In Natural History he included among the nettle Lamium album. In his opinion it was an effective medicine for bruises, burns, dislocations, wounds etc