X-Nico

2 unusual facts about Marcellus Empiricus


Marcellus Empiricus

Such “magic words” often include nonsense syllables and more-or-less corrupt phrases from “exotic” languages such as Celtic, Aramaic, Coptic, and Hebrew, and are not indications of formal adherence to a religion.

Other ingredients likely to have been rare for Marcellus’s intended audience include cinnamon, cloves, candied tragacanth, Alexandrian niter, and African snails, perhaps the Giant African land snail, which are prescribed live for pulping into a mélange.



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