The Byzantines were particularly interested in plants, mainly for their use in preparing drugs.

The recording of herbs went back to antiquity: Nicander of Colophon (2nd century BC) wrote two books on the subject - Theriaca, describing plants for the treatment of dangerous animal bites, and Alexipharmaca, where he refers to drugs that save the lives of those suffering from food poisoning or other poisons. At the same time, the first book of botany was written by Crateuas, a rhizotomist (a person who gathers roots to make drugs), providing an alphabetical list of plants and their properties together with colour drawings of roots and leaves for recognition purposes.

Later, in Late Antiquity, Dioscorides (1st century AD) recorded the therapeutic and pharmaceutical properties of Mediterranean plants in his five-volume work De Materia Medica, which served as a model for later medieval and modern illustrated books of botany. The most famous copy, decorated with miniatures of plants drawn ​​in Constantinople in 512, is kept in the National Library of Vienna.

In the 10th century, Emperor Constantine VII commissioned Geoponica (Agricultural Pursuits), an unoriginal work that simply compiled information and advice on agriculture, such as vine cultivation and wine production, olive and fruit tree cultivation, ornamental plants and vegetables, and the control of pests, vermin and reptiles, etc. The Geoponica was written in plain language, with many features of everyday speech. In some instances the advice given was not scientific, but popular lore on practical remedies, superstitions and magic. For example, it reports that a certain species of vine could be used as an antidote for dog bites (popular medicine), that grapes should be harvested when the moon is in the constellation of Cancer, Leo, Libra, Scorpio, Capricorn or Aquarius (superstition), and that the way to rid vineyards of bugs is to burn women’s hair as incense (a form of magic). As if to kill two birds with one stone, this last advice was also said to be of use for women prone to miscarriage!

It is at this time that knowledge of plants appears to have been systematized all over the known world: entire paragraphs of Geoponica were taken from Persian texts, while several Greek works were translated into Arabic and Persian, and Byzantine Greek and Arab names of plants and herbs were gathered in specialist dictionaries.

Specialist books on healthy eating were also written at this time, based on earlier medical works such as those by the famous ancient physician Hippocrates. These gave instructions on which foods should be consumed for good health according to the month of the year. One of them was even dedicated to Emperor Michael VII Ducas - doctor and astrologer Simeon Seth’s Properties of Food, containing 228 plant and animal foods.

Late Byzantium saw the compilation of specialist botanical dictionaries, such as the lexicon by Neophytos Prodrominos, a monk from Constantinople, and an anthology by Demetrios Pepagomenos, a famed doctor in the capital, which lists therapeutic plants in alphabetical order, one for each letter of the alphabet. Poets and writers also dealt with plants and herbs in a humorous way, as can be seen in four humorous poems by Manuel Philes entitled On Wheat Ears, On Grapes, On Rose and On Pomegranate, which he dedicated to no less a person than the Emperor. The satirical work Porikologos centres on a trial taking place in the kingdom of plants: King Quince, along with Logothete Apple, Protovestiarios Bitter Orange, Drungarios Lemon and other officials hear Grape accuse certain nobles of conspiring against the king’s authority. At the trial, Mother Superior Olive, Monastery Chamberlain Lentil, Sister Raisin and others appear as witnesses for the prosecution, while Onion takes on Grape’s defence. Eventually, when it emerges that the accusations are slanderous, the guilty party is punished by being hung from a crooked stem, to be cut down at harvest time and crushed in presses. Grape’s blood is to be consumed as wine by people who get drunk, talk nonsense, lose their balance and make fools of themselves. At the end the plants marvel at the king’s wisdom and justice, wishing him happiness and a long life. Although it is now impossible to see who the people behind the characters in this merry tale are, the author’s message remains clear. The moral of the story is that drinking is bad, and that people should be careful not to drink too much wine.