a comprehensive list of everything Pliny the Elder had to say about periods
Pliny's first century encyclopaedia, Natural History, had an entire section on periods. and literally everything he had to say about menstruation was incorrect.
- if you take off your clothes while menstruating , it can stop whirlwinds, lightning and storms at sea
- but it will also kill young plants and vines such as ivy and rue
- on the plus side, if you walk barefoot through a field while menstruating, it will cause all the bugs to fall off the crops
- don't do this too early in the morning or it'll kill all the crops too
- don't touch beehives when menstruating, or the bees will leave
- avoid period sex with during an eclipse because that'll straight up kill the guy
- "matters of a most dreadful and unutterable nature" (worse than the above)
- laundry will turn black while you're boiling it
- cooking or doing the dishes will make the pans greasy and smelly
- touching a razor will blunt it
- looking in the mirror will tarnish it
- but dw if you stare at the back of the mirror for a bit it will go back to normal
- being near a dog while menstruating will drive it mad
- touching pregnant horses will cause them to immediately miscarry
- if it's your first period, even *looking* at the horse will make it miscarry
- on the plus side, this property of period blood means you can mix it into contraceptives to make them more powerful
- anything purple that you touch will immediately become dull
- literally
- even the ash from burned fabric which touched menstrual blood will make your purples fade
- in Judea, specifically Judea, menstrual blood can cut the flow of bitumen
- even swords made of steel can't do that
- relieves gout when spread on it
- mix with rosewater and apply to the temples to soothe a headache
- mix with wool of a black sheep to cure malaria
- put on a cloth and wear in your clothes to cure rabies
- yes that directly contradicts the mad dogs thing
- he wasn't consistent at all
- smear on someone after an epileptic seizure to revive them
- touch facial sores or boils to cure them
- neutralise spells by evil wizards
- simply smear menstrual blood on the doorframe and the curse is gone
luckily all of this can be averted with one weird trick: carry a red mullet fish with you, always
you can read Pliny's menstruation chapter in its entirety here.
Some of these are a shame because period sex during an eclipse sounds like a cool ritual






