Assassination is usually defined as politically inspired murder. The term is probably derived from the Arabic word for hemp (Hashish), which was apparently used by Hasan-ban-Sabah (c. 1034–1124) to induce motivation in his followers. These "hashishins" or assassins were assigned to carry out political and other murders, usually at the cost of their own lives. Thus, at the etymological level, there is already a connection between assassination and compounds derived from nature.
Biochemicals in the context of assassination involve mostly plant-derived drugs or toxins. They can be organic compounds such as alkaloids, diterpenes, cardiac and cynogenic glycosides, nitro-containing compounds, oxalates, resins, certain proteins and amino acids. A selection of these biochemicals were effectively used in assassination attempts throughout history.
The ancient civilizations of the Near East, Greece and Rome developed the use of poisons in political homicide to a high degree of efficiency. In classical Rome, mushroom poisons were expertly administered by Agrippina (a.d.16–a.d. 59.), wife of Emperor Claudius and mother of Nero. She successfully disposed of several political rivals, including Marcus Silanus who was to succeed Claudius, and eventually Claudius himself. Agrippina probably employed the properties of the amanita species, which contain amanitin polypeptides that produce degenerative changes in the liver, kidney, and cardiac muscles. In ancient Egypt, Queen Cleopatra in her search for a suitable suicide compound became familiar with the properties of henbane (Hyoscyanus niger ) and belladonna (Atropa belladonna ), although she judged death by these plants to be rapid, but painful. Cleopatra was also disappointed with Strychnos nux-vomita (a tree whose seeds yield strychnine). Strychnine causes stimulation of the central nervous system, produces generalized convulsions, and distorted facial features at death. The latter did not suit Cleopatra, who eventually settled for the bite of an asp (Egyptian cobra), which produced a more serene and prompt death worthy of a queen.
Hemlock is another notorious biochemical used in political murders. The hemlock plant contains coniine, an alkaloid, and was used to execute the Greek philosopher Socrates (c.479 B.C. –399 B.C. ). The drug causes progressive motor paralysis extending upwards from the extremities until death results from respiratory failure. Some of the deadliest political poisons were concocted by the alchemists of the Middle Ages. La Cantrella was a secret assassination weapon used by Cesare Borgia (1476–1507) and Lucrezia Borgia (1480–1519) to despatch their enemies. Even today, its exact composition is not known, but it was most probably a mixture of naturally derived copper, arsenic and crude phosphorus.
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