The apothecary is an old man who sells medicines, and he also has the illegal poison Romeo needs to kill himself. Romeo offers the apothecary a large amount of money to break the law and sell him the poison. The apothecary says "my poverty but not my will consents." Which means, he really doesn't want to sell the poison to Romeo, but his is poor and needs the money. This poison is strong enough to kill twenty men, and Romeo uses it to join Juliet, who he thinks is already dead.