Physiological reactions to a plant called black henbane were well documented throughout the Ancient Mediterranean world. A bust of Emperor Trajan surrounded by black henbane seends and flowers and a femur discovered by archaeologists (edit Valentina Di Liscia/Hyperallergic) Two new archaeological finds suggest Roman subjects at the northern edge of the ancient empire used a hallucinogenic and poisonous plant called black henbane, the effects of which were described by Greek philosopher Plutarch as “not so properly called drunkenness” but rather “alienation of mind or madness.” Dutch zooarchaeologists Maaike Groot and Martijn van Haasteren and archaeobotanist Laura I. Kooistra published their...