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Thomas J. Derrick, Gale Research Fellow in Ancient Glass and Material Culture, Macquarie University

Ancient Romans were obsessed with a plant said to be contraception and aphrodisiac. Then one day, it went extinct

Julius Caesar Nero Pliny Libya Rome
Universal History Archive/Universal Images Group via Getty Images

Roman leader Julius Caesar is said to have kept a stock of it in the treasury. Ancient writer Pliny the Elder says Rome’s Emperor Nero owned the last stalk of it.

And some have suggested rampant extramarital sex in elite Roman circles led to demand outstripping supply, and it dying out altogether.

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