Silphium was an extinct Libyan plant renowned for contraception, medicine, and trade. Its disappearance remains a historical ...

Julius Caesar kept a cache of it in the government treasury and the Greeks even put it on their money. It was worth its weight in gold – but no one knows if it still exists. Long ago, in the ancient ...

Way back when, in 631 B.C., a city called Cyrene was founded by Greece. Situated in the northeastern part of modern day Libya, Cyrene eventually became a realm of the Roman Empire. Occupying the ...

Wood is the primary source of raw material for paper production—whether as fresh fiber or recycled material. The silphium plant, a perennial energy crop, is now also being used as an alternative fiber ...

Perfume, tonic – even love potion – silphium was prized by the ancient Romans, but in its success lay the seeds of its own downfall Of all the mysteries of ancient Rome, silphium is among the most ...

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 ...

Silphium is a herb that may have not looked the most pretty or striking, but in the ancient city of Cyrene, the plant soon became as valuable as gold. It is described as having short leaves, tiny ...