Eye Balls in Rome

In 1974 researchers unearthed...or unwatered?...a ship wreck of the coast of Tuscany. It was later determined that the wreck was a Roman vessel from about the year 130 BC (to place this in the historical record, the hey day of Sparta and Athens was 300 years passed, Alexander's Empire 200 years gone, and the Roman Republic on the rise after the collapse of Carthage in the Punic Wars). The wreck revealed the typical artifacts, bowls and such, except for a small box

The box itself was largely gone, only the remnants gave clue that it had ever been a box (not sure that sentence works) but what it contained lay in the ruin. Within were a cup, some vials and a small tin can with lid called a pyxis. The pyxis held five small pills or tablets. The tablets had a variety of properties, including zinc. Archeologists have, by cross referencing ancient sources, determined that zinc was used to treat irritation to the eyes according to an article just published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science (the Abstract, full article you must pay for, here).

It seems the tablet was laid upon the eye and water poured over it in order to dissolve the tablet. Some question the findings, though it sounds highly plausible.

Romans are us and we are them after all.

Leonidas needed some of these tablets after this fracas...