The ancient rhetorician Polyaenus recorded a number of brilliant escapes in his Strategies of War, a book he dedicated to the joint Roman emperors of the second century, Marcus Aurelius and Lucius Verus. One of the more imaginative concerned Amphiretus the Acanthian, who had been captured by pirates and held for ransom on the island of Lemnos. While in captivity, Amphiretus ate little food, but secretly drank a mixture of saltwater and vermilion. This potion, reported Polyaenus, “gave a [red] tinge to his stools that made his captors believe he was seized with the bloody flux.” Concerned that they would be robbed of their expected ransom money if Amphiretus died, the pirates released him from close confinement and allowed him to exercise outside int eh hope that this might restore his health. The relaxed security allowed Amphiretus to slip away under cover of night, board a fishing boat, and sail back to Acanthum a free man.
Source:
Farquhar, Michael. “Escapes Hatched.” A Treasury of Deception: Liars, Misleaders, Hoodwinkers, and the Extraordinary True Stories of History's Greatest Hoaxes, Fakes and Frauds. Penguin, 2005. 225. Print.
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