BOOK XIV.

THE NATURAL HISTORY OF THE FRUIT TREES.

CHAPS. 1 & 2. (1.)—THE NATURE OF THE VINE. ITS MODE OF FRUCTIFICATION.

Those which have been hitherto mentioned, are, nearly all of them,

exotic trees, which it is impossible to rear in any other than

their native soil, and which are not to be naturalized in strange

countries.[1096] It is now for us to speak of the more ordinary kinds,

of all of which Italy may be looked upon as more particularly the

parent.[1097] Those who are well acquainted with the subject, must only

bear in mind that for the present we content ourselves with merely

stating the different varieties of these trees, and not the mode of

cultivating them, although there is no doubt that the characteristics

of a tree depend very considerably upon its cultivation. At this fact

I cannot sufficiently express my astonishment, that of some trees all

memory has utterly perished, and that the very names of some, of which

we find various authors making mention, have wholly disappeared.[1098]

And yet who does not readily admit that now, when intercommunications

have been opened between all parts of the world, thanks to the majestic

sway of the Roman empire, civilization and the arts of life have made a

rapid progress, owing to the interchange of commodities and the common

enjoyment by all of the blessings of peace, while at the same time a

multitude of objects which formerly lay concealed, are now revealed

for our indiscriminate use?

Still, by Hercules! at the present day there are none to be found who

have any acquaintance with much that has been handed down to us by the

ancient writers; so much more comprehensive was the diligent research

of our forefathers, or else so much more happily employed was their

industry. It is a thousand years ago since Hesiod,[1099] at the very

dawn, so to say, of literature, first gave precepts for the guidance

of the agriculturist, an example which has since been followed by no

small number of writers. Hence have originated considerable labours

for ourselves, seeing that we have not only to enquire into the

discoveries of modern times, but to ascertain as well what was known to

the ancients, and this, too, in the very midst of that oblivion which

the heedlessness of the present day has so greatly tended to generate.

What causes then are we to assign for this lethargy, other than those

feelings which we find actuating the public in general throughout all

the world? New manners and usages, no doubt, have now come into vogue,

and the minds of men are occupied with subjects of a totally different

nature; the arts of avarice, in fact, are the only ones that are now

cultivated.

In days gone by, the sway and the destinies of states were bounded by

their own narrow limits, and consequently the genius of the people was

similarly circumscribed as well, through a sort of niggardliness that

was thus displayed by Fortune: hence it became with them a matter of

absolute necessity to employ the advantages of the understanding: kings

innumerable received the homage of the arts, and in making a display

of the extent of their resources, gave the highest rank to those arts,

entertaining the opinion that it was through them that they should

ensure immortality. Hence it was that due rewards, and the various

works of civilization, were displayed in such vast abundance in those

times. For these later ages, the enlarged boundaries of the habitable

world, and the vast extent of our empire, have been a positive injury.

Since the Censor has been chosen for the extent of his property,

since the judge has been selected according to the magnitude of his

fortune, since it has become the fashion to consider that nothing

reflects a higher merit upon the magistrate and the general than a

large estate, since the being destitute of heirs[1100] has begun

to confer upon persons the very highest power and influence, since

legacy-hunting[1101] has become the most lucrative of all professions,

and since it has been considered that the only real pleasures are those

of possessing, all the true enjoyments of life have been utterly lost

sight of, and all those arts which have derived the name of liberal,

from liberty,[1102] that greatest blessing of life, have come to

deserve the contrary appellation, servility alone being the passport to

profit.

This servility each one has his own peculiar way of making most

agreeable, and of putting in practice in reference to others, the

motives and the hopes of all tending to the one great object, the

acquisition of wealth: indeed, we may everywhere behold men even

of naturally excellent qualities preferring to foster the vicious

inclinations of others rather than cultivate their own talents. We

may therefore conclude, by Hercules! that pleasure has now begun to

live, and that life, truly so called, has ceased to be.[1103] As to

ourselves, however, we shall continue our researches into matters now

lost in oblivion, nor shall we be deterred from pursuing our task by

the trivial nature[1104] of some of our details, a consideration which

has in no way influenced us in our description of the animal world. And

yet we find that Virgil, that most admirable poet, has allowed this

to influence him, in his omission to enlarge upon the beauties of the

garden; for, happy and graceful poet as he is, he has only culled what

we may call the flower of his subject: indeed, we find that he has only

named[1105] in all some fifteen varieties of the grape, three of the

olive, the same number of the pear, and the citron of Assyria, and has

passed over the rest in silence altogether.

(2). With what then ought we to begin in preference to the vine, the

superiority in which has been so peculiarly conceded to Italy, that

in this one blessing we may pronounce her to have surpassed those of

all other nations of the earth, with the sole exception of those that

bear the various perfumes? and even there, when the vine is in flower,

there is not a perfume known which in exquisite sweetness can surpass

it. The vine has been justly reckoned[1106] by the ancients among the

trees, on account of its remarkable size. In the city of Populonium,

we see a statue of Jupiter formed of the trunk of a single vine, which

has for ages remained proof against all decay; and at Massilia, there

is a patera made of the same wood. At Metapontum, the temple of Juno

has long stood supported by pillars formed of the like material; and

even at the present day we ascend to the roof of the temple of Diana at

Ephesus, by stairs constructed, it is said, of the trunk of a single

vine, that was brought from Cyprus; the vines of that island often

attaining a most remarkable size. There is not a wood in existence of

a more lasting nature than this; I am strongly inclined, however, to

be of opinion that the material of which these various articles were

constructed was the wild vine.

CHAP. 3.—THE NATURE OF THE GRAPE, AND THE CULTIVATION OF THE VINE.

The cultivated vine is kept down by pruning every year, and all the

strength of the tree is drawn as much as possible into the shoots, or

else thrown downwards to the sets;[1107] indeed, it is only allowed to

expand with the view of ensuring an abundant supply of juice, a result

which is obtained in various modes according to the peculiarities of

the climate and the nature of the soil. In Campania they attach[1108]

the vine to the poplar: embracing the tree to which it is thus wedded,

the vine grasps the branches with its amorous arms, and as it climbs,

holds on with its knotted trunk, till it has reached the very summit;

the height being sometimes so stupendous that the vintager when hired

is wont to stipulate for his funeral pile and a grave at the owner’s

expense. The vine keeps continually on the increase, and it is quite

impossible to separate the two, or rather, I may say, to tear them

asunder. Valerianus Cornelius has regarded it as one of the most

remarkable facts that could be transmitted to posterity, that single

vines have been known to surround villas and country-houses with

their shoots and creeping tendrils ever on the stretch. At Rome, in

the porticoes of Livia, a single vine, with its leaf-clad trellises,

protects with its shade the walks in the open air; the fruit of it

yields twelve amphoræ of must.[1109]

Everywhere we find the vine overtopping the elm even, and we read that

Cineas,[1110] the ambassador of King Pyrrhus, when admiring the great

height of the vines at Aricia, wittily making allusion to the peculiar

rough taste of wine, remarked that it was with very good reason that

they had hung the parent of it on so lofty a gibbet. There is a tree

in that part of Italy which lies beyond the Padus,[1111] known as the

“rumpotinus,”[1112] or sometimes by the name of “opulus,” the broad

circular[1113] storeys of which are covered with vines, whose branches

wind upwards in a serpentine form to the part where the boughs finally

divide,[1114] and then, throwing out their tendrils, disperse them in

every direction among the straight and finger-like twigs which project

from the branches. There are vines also, about as tall as a man of

moderate height, which are supported by props, and, as they throw out

their bristling tendrils, form whole vineyards: while others, again, in

their inordinate love for climbing, combined with skill on the part of

the proprietor, will cover even the very centre[1115] of the court-yard

with their shoots and foliage. So numerous are the varieties of the

vine which even Italy alone presents.

In some of the provinces the vine is able to stand of itself without

anything to support it, drawing in its bending branches, and making

up in its thickness for its stunted size. In other places, again,

the winds will not allow of this mode of culture, as in Africa, for

instance, and various parts of the province of Gallia Narbonensis.

These vines, being prevented from growing beyond the first branches,

and hence always retaining a resemblance to those plants which stand

in need of the hoe, trail along the ground just like them, and every

here and there suck[1116] up the juices from the earth to fill their

grapes: it is in consequence of this, that in the interior of Africa

the clusters[1117] are known to exceed the body of an infant in size.

The wine of no country is more acid than those of Africa, but there is

nowhere to be found a grape that is more agreeable for its firmness,

a circumstance which may very probably have given rise to its name of

the “hard grape.”[1118] As to the varieties of the grape, although they

are rendered innumerable by the size, the colour, and the flavour of

the berry, they are multiplied even still more by the wines that they

produce. In one part they are lustrous with a rich purple colour, while

in another, again, they glow with a rosy tint, or else are glossy with

their verdant hue. The grapes that are merely white or black are the

common sorts. The bumastus[1119] swells out in form like a breast,

while that known as the “dactylus,”[1120] has a berry of remarkable

length. Nature, too, displays such varieties in these productions of

hers, that small grapes are often to be found adhering to the largest

vines, but of surpassing sweetness; they are known by the name of

“leptorragæ.”[1121] Some, again, will keep throughout the winter, if

care is taken to hang them to the ceiling[1122] with a string; while

others, again, will keep by virtue of their own natural freshness

and vigour, if put into earthen jars, which are then enclosed in

dolia,[1123] and covered up with the fermenting husks of grapes. Some

grapes receive from the smoke of the blacksmith’s forge that remarkable

flavour which it is also known to impart to wines: it was the high name

of the Emperor Tiberius that brought into such great repute the grapes

that had been smoked in the smithies of Africa. Before his time the

highest rank at table was assigned to the grapes of Rhætia,[1124] and

to those growing in the territory of Verona.

Raisins of the sun have the name of “passi,” from having been

submitted[1125] to the influence of the sun. It is not uncommon to

preserve grapes in must, and so make them drunk with their own juices;

while there are some that are all the sweeter for being placed in must

after it has been boiled; others, again, are left to hang on the parent

tree till a new crop has made its appearance, by which time they have

become as clear and as transparent[1126] as glass. Astringent pitch,

if poured upon the footstalk of the grape, will impart to it all that

body and that firmness which, when placed in dolia or amphoræ, it gives

to wine. More recently, too, there has been discovered a vine which

produces a fruit that imparts to its wine a strong flavour of pitch:

it is the famous grape that confers such celebrity on the territory of

Vienne,[1127] and of which several varieties have recently enriched the

territories of the Arverni, the Sequani, and the Helvii:[1128] it was

unknown in the time of the poet Virgil, who has now been dead these

ninety years.[1129]

In addition to these particulars, need I make mention of the fact that

the vine[1130] has been introduced into the camp and placed in the

centurion’s hand for the preservation of the supreme authority and

command? that this is the high reward which summons the lagging ranks

to the eagles raised aloft,[1131] and that even in chastisement for

faults it tends to reflect honour upon the punishment?[1132] It was

the vineyard, too, that first afforded a notion,[1133] the practical

utility of which has been experienced in many a siege. Among the

medicinal preparations, too, the vine holds so high a place, that

its very wines taken by themselves are efficacious as remedies for

disease.[1134]

CHAP. 4. (2.)—NINETY-ONE VARIETIES OF THE VINE.

Democritus, who has declared that he was acquainted with every

variety of the grape known in Greece, is the only person who has

been of opinion that every kind could be enumerated; but, on the

other hand, the rest of the authors have stated that they are quite

innumerable[1135] and of infinite extent, an assertion the truth of

which will be more evident, if we only consider the vast number of

wines. I shall not attempt, then, to speak of every kind of vine, but

only of those that are the most remarkable, seeing that the varieties

are very nearly as numberless as the districts in which they grow. It

will suffice, then, to point out those which are the most remarkable

among the vines, or else are peculiar for some wonderful property.

The very highest rank is given to the Aminean[1136] grape, on

account of the body and durability of its wine, which improves with

old age. There are five varieties of the Aminean grape; of these,

the smaller germana, or “sister” grape, has a smaller berry than

the rest, and flowers more strongly, being able to bear up against

rain and tempestuous weather; a thing that is not the case with the

larger germana, though it is less exposed to danger when attached to

a tree than when supported only by a trellis. Another kind, again,

has obtained the name of the “gemella,” or “twin” grape, because

the clusters always grow[1137] in couples: the flavour of the wine

is extremely rough, but it is remarkable for its strength. Of these

several varieties the smaller one suffers from the south wind, but

receives nutriment from all the others, upon Mount Vesuvius, for

instance, and the hills of Surrentum: in the other parts of Italy it is

never grown except attached to trees. The fifth kind is that known as

the lanata, or “woolly” grape; so that we need not be surprised at the

wool-bearing trees[1138] of the Seres or the Indians, for this grape

is covered with a woolly down of remarkable thickness. It is the first

of the Aminean vines that ripens, but the grape decays with remarkable

rapidity.

The second rank belongs to the vines of Nomentum,[1139] the wood of

which is red, from which circumstance the vines have received from some

the name of “rubellæ.” The grapes of this vine produce less wine than

usual, in consequence of the extraordinary quantity of husk and lees

they throw off: but the vine is remarkably strong, is well able to

stand the frost, and is apt to receive more detriment from drought than

from rain, from heat than from cold; hence it is that those are looked

upon as the best that are grown in cold and moist localities. That

variety which has the smallest grape is considered the most fruitful:

the one which has a jagged leaf is less productive.

The vine known as the “apiana,”[1140] has received that name from the

bee, an insect which is remarkably fond of it: there are two varieties

of this vine. This grape, too, is covered in its young state with a

kind of down; the main difference between the two varieties is, that

the one ripens more rapidly than the other, though this last ripens

with considerable quickness. A cold locality is not at all hurtful to

them, although there is no grape that ripens sooner: these grapes,

however, very soon rot in the rain. The wines produced by this grape

are sweet at first, but contract a rough flavour in the course of

years. This vine is cultivated more than any other in Etruria. Thus far

we have made mention of the more celebrated vines among those which are

peculiar and indigenous to Italy; the rest have been introduced from

Chios or Thasos.

The small Greek[1141] grape is not inferior to the Aminean for the

excellence of its quality: the berry is remarkably thin-skinned,

and the cluster so extremely small,[1142] that it is not worth

while cultivating it, except on a soil of remarkable richness. The

eugenia,[1143] so called from its high qualities, has been introduced

into the Alban territory from the hills of Tauromenium:[1144] it is

found, however, to thrive only there, for if transplanted elsewhere it

degenerates immediately: in fact, there is in some vines so strong an

attachment to their native soil, that they leave behind them all their

high repute, and are never transplanted in their full entirety. This is

the case, too, with the Rhætian and the Allobrogian grapes, of which

we have made mention above as the pitch-flavoured[1145] grape; these

are justly deemed excellent in their own country, while elsewhere

they are held in no esteem at all. Still, however, in consequence of

their remarkable fertility, they make up for quality by abundance: the

eugenia thrives in spots which are scorching hot, the Rhætian vine in

places of a more moderate temperature, and the Allobrogian in cold,

exposed situations, the fruit being of a black colour, and ripened by

the agency of frost.

The wines produced from the vines of which we have hitherto made

mention, even though the grapes are black, become, all of them, when

old, of a white[1146] complexion. The other vines are of no note in

particular, though sometimes, thanks to some peculiarity either in

the climate or the soil, the wines produced from them attain a mature

old age; such, for instance, as the Fecenian[1147] vine, and the

Biturigian,[1148] which blossoms at the same time with it, but has

not so many grapes. The blossoms of these last-mentioned vines are

not liable to receive injury, both because they are naturally but

transitory, and have the power of resisting the action of both wind and

storm; still, however, those that grow in cold spots are considered

superior to those produced in a warm site, and those found in moist

places superior to those grown in dry, thirsty localities.

The vine known as the “visula”[1149] * * * * more than abundance of

fruit, being unable to endure the extreme variations of the atmosphere,

though it is very well able to stand a continuation of either cold or

heat. Of this last kind the smaller one is the best, but difficult to

please in its choice; in a rich earth it is apt to rot, while in a thin

soil it will come to nothing at all: in its fastidiousness it requires

a soil of middling quality, and hence it is that it is so commonly

found on the hills of the Sabine territory. Its grape is unsightly in

appearance, but has a very pleasant flavour: if it is not gathered at

the very moment that it is ripe, it will fall, even before it decays.

The extreme size of the leaves, and its natural hardiness, are its

great protection against the disastrous effects of hail.

The grapes known as “helvolæ”[1150] are remarkable for the peculiarity

of their colour, which is a sort of midway between purple and black,

but varies so frequently that it has made some persons give them the

name of “varianæ.” Of the two sorts of helvolæ, the black is the one

generally preferred: they both of them produce every other year, but

the wine is best when the vintage has been less abundant.

The vine that is known as the “precia”[1151] is also divided into

two varieties, distinguished by the size of the grape. These vines

produce a vast quantity of wood, and the grape is very good for

preserving in jars;[1152] the leaves are similar in appearance to that

of parsley.[1153] The people of Dyrrhachium hold in high esteem the

vine known as the “basilica,” the same which in Spain is called the

“cocolobis.”[1154] The grapes of this vine grow in thin clusters, and

it can stand great heat, and the south winds. The wine produced from

it is apt to fly to the head:[1155] the produce of the vine is very

large. The people in Spain distinguish two kinds of this vine, the one

with the oblong, the other with the round grape; they gather this fruit

the very last of all. The sweeter the cocolobis is, the more it is

valued; but even if it has a rough taste, the wine will become sweet by

keeping, while, on the other hand, that which was sweet at first, will

acquire a certain roughness; it is in this last state that the wine is

thought to rival that of Alba.[1156] It is said that the juice of this

grape is remarkably efficacious when drunk as a specific for diseases

of the bladder.

The “albuelis”[1157] produces most of its fruit at the top of the

tree, the visula at the bottom; hence, when planted around the same

tree, in consequence of these peculiarities in their nature, they bear

between them a two-fold crop. One of the black grape vines has been

called the “inerticula,”[1158] though it might with more propriety have

been styled the “sobria;”[1159] the wine from it is remarkably good,

and more particularly when old; but though strong, it is productive

of no ill effects, and, indeed, is the only wine that will not cause

intoxication.

The abundance of their produce again recommends other vines to us,

and, in the first place, that known as the “helvennaca.”[1160] Of

this vine there are two kinds; the larger, which is by some called

the “long” helvennaca, and the smaller kind, which is known as the

“emarcum,”[1161] not so prolific as the first, but producing a wine of

more agreeable flavour; it is distinguished by its rounded leaf, but

they are both of them of slender make. It is requisite to place forks

beneath these vines for the support of their branches, as otherwise

it would be quite impossible for them to support the weight of their

produce: they receive nutriment from the breezes that blow from the

sea, and foggy weather is injurious to them. There is not one among

the vines that manifests a greater aversion to Italy, for there it

becomes comparatively leafless and stunted, and soon decays, while the

wine which it produces there will not keep beyond the summer: no vine,

however, thrives better in a poor soil. Græcinus, who has copied from

the works of Cornelius Celsus, gives it as his opinion that it is not

that the nature of this vine is repugnant to the climate of Italy, but

that it is the mode of cultivating it that is wrong, and the anxiety

to force it to put forth its shoots; a mode of treatment, he thinks,

which absorbs all its fertility, unless the soil in which it is planted

happens to be remarkably rich, and by its support prevents it from

being exhausted. It is said that this vine is never carbuncled,[1162]

a remarkable quality, if, indeed, it really is the fact that there is

any vine in existence that is exempt from the natural influences of the

climate.

The spionia, by some called the “spinea,”[1163] is able to bear heat

very well, and thrives in the autumn and rainy weather: indeed, it

is the only one among all the vines that does well amid fogs, for

which reason it is peculiar to the territory of Ravenna.[1164] The

venicula[1165] is one of those that blossom the strongest, and its

grapes are particularly well adapted for preserving in jars. The

Campanians, however, prefer to give it the name of “scircula,” while

others, again, call it “stacula.” Tarracina has a vine known as the

“numisiana;” it has no qualities of its own, but has characteristics

just according to the nature of the soil in which it is planted: the

wine, however, if kept in the earthen casks[1166] of Surrentum, is

remarkable for its goodness, that is to say, as far south as Vesuvius.

On arriving in that district, we find the Murgentina,[1167] the very

best among all those that come from Sicily. Some, indeed, call the

vine “Pompeiana”[1168] and it is more particularly fruitful when grown

in Latium, just as the “horconia”[1169] is productive nowhere but in

Campania. Of a contrary nature is the vine known as the “argeica,”

and by Virgil called “argitis:”[1170] it makes the ground all the

more[1171] productive, and is remarkably stout in its resistance to

rain and the effects of old age, though it will hardly produce wine

every year; it is remarkable for the abundant crops which it bears,

though the grapes are held but in small esteem for eating. The vine

known as the “metica” lasts well for years, and offers a successful

resistance to all changes of weather; the grape is black, and the wine

assumes a tawny hue when old.

(3.) The varieties that have been mentioned thus far are those that

are generally known; the others belong to peculiar countries or

individual localities, or else are of a mixed nature, the produce of

grafting. Thus the vine known as the “Tudernis,”[1172] is peculiar to

the districts of Etruria, and so too is the vine that bears the name of

“Florentia.” At Arretium the talpona, the etesiaca, and the consemina,

are particularly excellent.[1173] The talpona,[1174] which is a black

grape, produces a pale, straw-coloured[1175] must: the etesiaca[1176]

is apt to deceive; the more the wine it produces the better the

quality, but it is a remarkable fact, that just as it has reached that

point its fecundity ceases altogether. The consemina[1177] bears a

black grape, but its wine will not keep, though the grape itself is a

most excellent keeper; it is gathered fifteen days later than any other

kind of grape: this vine is very fruitful, but its grape is only good

for eating. The leaves of this tree, like those of the wild vine, turn

the colour of blood just before the fall: the same is the case also

with some[1178] other varieties, but it is a proof that they are of

very inferior quality.

The irtiola[1179] is a vine peculiar to Umbria and the territories

of Mevania and Picenum, while the pumula[1180] belongs to Amiternum.

In the same districts we find the vine called bannanica,[1181]

which is very deceptive, though the people are remarkably fond of

its fruit. The municipal town of Pompeii has given its name to the

Pompeia,[1182] although it is to be found in greater abundance in

the territory of Clusium. The Tiburina, also, is so called from the

municipal town of Tibûr[1183], although it is in this district that

they have lately discovered the grape known as the “oleaginea,” from

its strong resemblance to an olive: this being the very last kind of

grape that has been introduced. The Sabines and the Laurentes are the

only people acquainted with the vinaciola.[1184] As to the vines of

Mount Gaurus,[1185] I am aware that, as they have been transplanted

from the Falernian territory, they bear the name of “Falernian;” but

it is a fact that the Falernian vine, when transplanted, rapidly

degenerates. Some persons, too, have made out a Tarentine variety, with

a grape of remarkable sweetness: the grapes of the “capnios,”[1186] the

“bucconiatis,”[1187] and the “tarrupia,” grow on the hills of Thurii,

and are never gathered till after the frost commences. Pisæ enjoys the

Parian vine, and Mutina the prusinian,[1188] with a black grape, the

wine of which turns pale within four years. It is a very remarkable

thing, but there is a grape here that turns round with the sun, in its

diurnal motion, a circumstance from which it has received the name of

“streptos.”[1189] In Italy, the Gallic vine is a great favourite,

while beyond the Alps that of Picenum[1190] is preferred. Virgil has

made mention[1191] of the Thasian vine, the Mareotis, the lagea, and

several other foreign varieties, which are not to be found in Italy.

There are some vines, again, that are remarkable, not for their wine,

but for their grapes, such, for instance, as the ambrosia,[1192] one

of the “duracinus,”[1193] kind, a grape which requires no potting, but

will keep perfectly well if left on the vine, so remarkable is the

strength with which it is endowed for withstanding the effects of cold,

heat, and stormy weather. The “orthampelos,”[1194] too, is a vine that

requires neither tree nor stay, as it is well able to sustain its own

weight. This, however, is not the case with the “dactylis,”[1195] the

stem of which is no thicker than the finger. The “columbina”[1196] is

one of those with the finest clusters, and still more so is the purple

“bimammia;” it does not bear in clusters,[1197] but only secondary

bunches. There is the tripedanea,[1198] too, a name which it owes to

the length of its clusters, and the scirpula,[1199] with its shrivelled

berry; the Rhætica,[1200] too, so called in the Maritime Alps, though

very different from the grape of that name which is so highly esteemed,

and of which we have previously spoken; for in this variety the

clusters are small, the grapes lie closely packed, and it produces but

a poor wine. It has, however, the thinnest skin of all the grapes, and

a single stone,[1201] of very diminutive size, which is known as the

“Chian;”[1202] one or two of the grapes on the cluster are remarkably

large. There is also the black Aminean, to which the name of Syriaca is

given: the Spanish vine, too, the very best of all those of inferior

quality.

The grapes that are known as escariæ,[1203] are grown on trellises.

Of the duracinus[1204] kind, there are those known as the white and

the black varieties; the bumastus, too, is similarly distinguished

in colour. Among the vines too, that have not as yet been mentioned,

there are the Ægian and the Rhodian[1205] kinds, as also the uncialis,

so called, it would seem, from its grape being an ounce in weight.

There is the picina[1206] too, the blackest[1207] grape known, and

the stephanitis,[1208] the clusters of which Nature, in a sportive

mood, has arranged in the form of a garland, the leaves being

interspersed[1209] among the grapes; there are the grapes, too, known

as the “forenses,”[1210] and which quickly come to maturity, recommend

themselves to the buyer by their good looks, and are easily carried

from place to place.

On the other hand, those known as the “cinerea”[1211] are condemned

by their very looks, and so are the rabuscula[1212] and the

asinusca;[1213] the produce of the alopecis,[1214] which resembles in

colour a fox’s tail, is held in less disesteem. The Alexandrina[1215]

is the name of a vine that grows in the vicinity of Phalacra: it

is of stunted growth, and has branches a cubit in length; the grape

is black, about the size of a bean, with a berry that is soft, and

remarkably small: the clusters hang in a slanting direction, and

are remarkably sweet; the leaves are small and round, without any

division.[1216] Within the last seven years there has been introduced

at Alba Helvia,[1217] in the province of Gallia Narbonensis, a vine

which blossoms but a single day, and is consequently proof against all

accidents: the name given to it is “Narbonica,” and it is now planted

throughout the whole of that province.

CHAP. 5. (4.)—REMARKABLE FACTS CONNECTED WITH THE CULTURE OF THE VINE.

The elder Cato, who was rendered more particularly illustrious by his

triumph[1218] and the censorship, and even more so by his literary

fame, and the precepts which he has given to the Roman people upon

every subject of utility, and the proper methods of cultivation in

particular; a man who, by the universal confession, was the first

husbandman of his age and without a rival—has mentioned a few varieties

only of the vine, the very names of some of which are by this utterly

forgotten.[1219] His statement on this subject deserves our separate

consideration, and requires to be quoted at length, in order that we

may make ourselves acquainted with the different varieties of this tree

that were held in the highest esteem in the year of the City of Rome

600, about the time of the capture of Carthage and Corinth, the period

of his death: it will show too, what great advances civilization has

made in the last two hundred and thirty years. The following are the

remarks which he has made on the subject of the vine and the grape.

“Where the site is considered to be most favourable to the growth of

the vine, and exposed to the warmth of the sun, you will do well to

plant the small[1220] Aminean, as well as the two eugenia,[1221] and

the smaller helvia.[1222] On the other hand, where the soil is of a

denser nature or more exposed to fogs, the greater Aminean should be

planted, or else the Murgentine,[1223] or the Apician of Lucania. The

other varieties of the grape are, for the most part, adapted to any

kind of soil; they are best preserved in a lora.[1224] The best for

keeping by hanging, are the duracinus kind, the greater Aminean, and

the Scantian;[1225] these, too, will make excellent raisins for keeping

if dried at the blacksmith’s forge.” There are no precepts in the Latin

language on this subject more ancient than these, so near are we to the

very commencement of all our practical knowledge! The Aminean grape, of

which mention has been made above, is by Varro called the “Scantian.”

In our own times we have but few instances of any consummate skill

that has been manifested in reference to this subject: the less excuse

then should we have for omitting any particular which may tend to

throw a light upon the profits that may be derived from the culture

of the vine, a point which on all occasions is regarded as one of

primary importance. Acilius Sthenelus, a man of plebeian rank, and

the son of a freedman, acquired very considerable repute from the

cultivation of a vineyard in the territory of Nomentum, not more than

sixty jugera in extent, and which he finally sold for four hundred

thousand sesterces. Vetulenus Ægialus too, a freedman as well, acquired

very considerable note in the district of Liternum,[1226] in Campania,

and, indeed, received a more extensive share of the public favour,

from the fact that he cultivated the spot which had been the place

of exile of Scipio Africanus.[1227] The greatest celebrity of all,

however, was that which, by the agency of the same Sthenelus, was

accorded to Rhemmius Palæmon, who was also equally famous as a learned

grammarian. This person bought, some twenty years ago, an estate at

the price of six hundred thousand sesterces in the same district of

Nomentum, about ten miles distant from the City of Rome. The low

price of property[1228] in the suburbs, on every side of the City,

is well known; but in that quarter in particular, it had declined

to a most remarkable extent; for the estate which he purchased had

become deteriorated by long-continued neglect, in addition to which

it was situate in the very worst part of a by no means favourite

locality.[1229] Such was the nature of the property of which he thus

undertook the cultivation, not, indeed, with any commendable views or

intentions at first, but merely in that spirit of vanity for which he

was notorious in so remarkable a degree. The vineyards were all duly

dressed afresh, and hoed, under the superintendence of Sthenelus; the

result of which was that Palæmon, while thus playing the husbandman,

brought this estate to such an almost incredible pitch of perfection,

that at the end of eight years the vintage, as it hung on the trees,

was knocked down to a purchaser for the sum of four hundred thousand

sesterces; while all the world was running to behold the heaps upon

heaps of grapes to be seen in these vineyards. The neighbours, by way

of finding some excuse for their own indolence, gave all the credit of

this remarkable success to Palæmon’s profound erudition; and at last

Annæus Seneca,[1230] who both held the highest rank in the learned

world, and an amount of power and influence which at last proved too

much for him—this same Seneca, who was far from being an admirer of

frivolity, was seized with such vast admiration of this estate, as not

to feel ashamed at conceding this victory to a man who was otherwise

the object of his hatred, and who would be sure to make the very most

of it, by giving him four times the original cost for those very

vineyards, and that within ten years from the time that he had taken

them under his management. This was an example of good husbandry worthy

to be put in practice upon the lands of Cæcuba and of Setia; for since

then these same lands have many a time produced as much as seven culei

to the jugerum, or in other words, one hundred and forty amphoræ of

must. That no one, however, may entertain the belief that ancient times

were surpassed on this occasion, I would remark that the same Cato has

stated in his writings, that the proper return was seven culei to the

jugerum: all of them so many instances only tending most convincingly

to prove that the sea, which in our rashness we trespass upon, does

not make a more bounteous return to the merchant, no, not even the

merchandize that we seek on the shores of the Red and the Indian Seas,

than does a well-tilled homestead to the agriculturist.

CHAP. 6.—THE MOST ANCIENT WINES.

The wine of Maronea,[1231] on the coast of Thrace, appears to have been

the most celebrated in ancient times, as we learn from the writings

of Homer. I dismiss, however, all the fabulous stories and various

traditions which we find relative to its origin, except, indeed, the

one which states that Aristæus,[1232] a native of the same country, was

the first person that mixed honey[1233] with wine, natural productions,

both of them, of the highest degree of excellence. Homer[1234] has

stated that the Maronean wine was mixed with water in the proportion

of twenty measures of water to one of wine. The wine that is still

produced in the same district retains all its former strength, and a

degree of vigour that is quite insuperable.[1235] Mucianus, who thrice

held the consulship, and one of our most recent authors, when in that

part of the world was witness himself to the fact, that with one

sextarius of this wine it was the custom to mix no less than eighty

sextarii of water: he states, also, that this wine is black,[1236] has

a strong bouquet, and is all the richer for being old.

The Pramnian wine, too, which Homer[1237] has also similarly eulogized,

still retains its ancient fame: it is grown in the territory of Smyrna,

in the vicinity of the shrine of the Mother[1238] of the Gods.

Among the other wines now known, we do not find any that enjoyed

a high reputation in ancient times. In the year of the consulship

of L. Opimius, when C. Gracchus,[1239] the tribune of the people,

engaging in sedition, was slain, the growth of every wine was of the

very highest quality. In that year, the weather was remarkable for

its sereneness, and the ripening of the grape, the “coctura,”[1240]

as they call it, was fully effected by the heat of the sun. This

was in the year of the City 633. There are wines still preserved of

this year’s growth, nearly two hundred years ago; they have assumed

the consistency of honey, with a rough taste; for such, in fact, is

the nature of wines, that, when extremely old, it is impossible to

drink them in a pure state; and they require to be mixed with water,

as long keeping renders them intolerably bitter.[1241] A very small

quantity of the Opimian wine, mixed with them, will suffice for the

seasoning of other wines. Let us suppose, according to the estimated

value of these wines in those days, that the original price of them

was one hundred sesterces per amphora: if we add to this six per cent.

per annum, a legal and moderate interest, we shall then be able to

ascertain what was the exact price of the twelfth part of an amphora

at the beginning of the reign of Caius Cæsar, the son of Germanicus,

one hundred and sixty years after that consulship. In relation to this

fact, we have a remarkable instance,[1242] when we call to mind the

life of Pomponius Secundus, the poet, and the banquet which he gave to

that prince[1243]—so enormous is the capital that lies buried in our

cellars of wine! Indeed, there is no one thing, the value of which more

sensibly increases up to the twentieth year, or which decreases with

greater rapidity after that period, supposing that the value of it is

not by that time greatly enhanced.[1244] Very rarely, indeed, up to the

present day, has it been known for a single[1245] piece of wine to cost

a thousand sesterces, except, indeed, when such a sum may have been

paid in a fit of extravagance and debauchery. The people of Vienne,

it is said, are the only ones who have set a higher price than this

upon their “picata,” wines, the various kinds of which we have already

mentioned;[1246] and this, it is thought, they only do, vying with each

other, and influenced by a sort of national self-esteem. This wine,

drunk in a cool state, is generally thought to be of a colder[1247]

temperature than any other.

CHAP. 7. (5.)—THE NATURE OF WINES.

It is the property of wine, when drunk, to cause a feeling of warmth in

the interior of the viscera, and, when poured upon the exterior of the

body, to be cool and refreshing. It will not be foreign to my purpose

on the present occasion to state the advice which Androcydes, a man

famous for his wisdom, wrote to Alexander the Great, with the view of

putting a check on his intemperance: “When you are about to drink wine,

O king!” said he, “remember that you are about to drink the blood of

the earth: hemlock is a poison to man, wine a poison[1248] to hemlock.”

And if Alexander had only followed this advice, he certainly would not

have had to answer for slaying his friends[1249] in his drunken fits.

In fact, we may feel ourselves quite justified in saying that there is

nothing more useful than wine for strengthening the body, while, at the

same time, there is nothing more pernicious as a luxury, if we are not

on our guard against excess.

CHAP. 8. (6.)—FIFTY KINDS OF GENEROUS WINES.

Who can entertain a doubt that some kinds of wine are more agreeable

to the palate than others, or that even out of the very same vat[1250]

there are occasionally produced wines that are by no means of equal

goodness, the one being much superior to the other, whether it is

that it is owing to the cask,[1251] or to some other fortuitous

circumstance? Let each person, therefore, constitute himself his

own judge as to which kind it is that occupies the pre-eminence.

Livia[1252] Augusta, who lived to her eighty-second year,[1253]

attributed her longevity to the wine of Pucinum,[1254] as she never

drank any other. This wine is grown near a bay of the Adriatic, not

far from Mount Timavus, upon a piece of elevated rocky ground, where

the sea-breeze ripens a few grapes, the produce of which supplies a

few amphoræ: there is not a wine that is deemed superior to this for

medicinal purposes. I am strongly of opinion that this is the same

wine, the produce of the Adriatic Gulf, upon which the Greeks have

bestowed such wonderful encomiums, under the name of Prætetianum.

The late Emperor Augustus preferred the Setinum to all others, and

nearly all the emperors that have succeeded him have followed his

example, having learnt from actual experience that there is no danger

of indigestion and flatulence resulting from the use of this liquor:

this wine is grown in the country[1255] that lies just above Forum

Appii.[1256] In former times the Cæcubum enjoyed the reputation of

being the most generous of all the wines; it was grown in some marshy

swamps, planted with poplars, in the vicinity[1257] of the Gulf of

Amyclæ. This vineyard has, however, now disappeared, the result of the

carelessness of the cultivator, combined with its own limited extent,

and the works on the canal which Nero commenced, in order to provide a

navigation from Lake Avernus to Ostia.

The second rank belonged to the wine of the Falernian territory, of

which the Faustianum was the most choice variety; the result of the

care and skill employed upon its cultivation. This, however, has also

degenerated very considerably, in consequence of the growers being

more solicitous about quantity[1258] than quality. The Falernian[1259]

vineyards begin at the bridge of Campania, on the left-hand as you

journey towards the Urbana Colonia of Sylla, which was lately a

township of the city of Capua. As to the Faustian vineyards, they

extend about four miles from a village near Cædiciæ,[1260] the same

village being six miles from Sinuessa. There is now no wine known that

ranks higher than the Falernian; it is the only one, too, among all

the wines that takes fire on the application of flame.[1261] There are

three varieties of it—the rough, the sweet, and the thin. Some persons

make the following distinctions: the Caucinum, they say, grows on the

summit of this range of hills, the Faustianum on the middle slopes, and

the Falernum at the foot: the fact, too, should not be omitted, that

none of the grapes that produce these more famous wines have by any

means an agreeable flavour.

To the third[1262] rank belonged the various wines of Alba, in the

vicinity of the City, remarkable for their sweetness, and sometimes,

though rarely, rough[1263] as well: the Surrentine[1264] wines, also,

the growth of only stayed vines, which are especially recommended

to invalids for their thinness and their wholesomeness. Tiberius

Cæsar used to say that the physicians had conspired thus to dignify

the Surrentinum, which was, in fact, only another name for generous

vinegar; while Caius Cæsar, who succeeded him, gave it the name of

“noble vappa.”[1265] Vying in reputation with these are the Massic

wines, from the spots which look from Mount Gaurus towards Puteoli and

Baiæ.[1266] As to the wines of Stata, in the vicinity of Falernum,

there is no doubt that they formerly held the very highest rank, a fact

which proves very clearly that every district has its own peculiar

epochs, just as all other things have their rise and their decadence.

The Calenian[1267] wines, too, from the same neighbourhood, used to be

preferred to those last mentioned, as also the Fundanian,[1268] the

produce of vines grown on stays, or else attached to shrubs. The wines,

too, of Veliternum[1269] and Priverna,[1270] which were grown in the

vicinity of the City, used to be highly esteemed. As to that produced

at Signia,[1271] it is by far too rough to be used as a wine, but is

very useful as an astringent, and is consequently reckoned among the

medicines for that purpose.

The fourth rank, at the public banquets, was given by the late Emperor

Julius—he was the first, in fact, that brought them into favour, as we

find stated in his Letters[1272]—to the Mamertine wines, the produce of

the country in the vicinity of Messana,[1273] in Sicily. The finest of

these was the Potulanum,[1274] so called from its original cultivator,

and grown on the spots that lie nearest to the mainland of Italy.

The Tauromenitanum also, a wine of Sicily, enjoys a high repute, and

flaggons[1275] of it are occasionally passed off for Mamertinum.

Among the other wines, we find mentioned upon the Upper Sea those of

Prætutia and Ancona, as also those known as the “Palmensia,”[1276]

not improbably because the cluster springs from a single shoot.[1277]

In the interior we find the wines of Cæsena[1278] and that known as

the Mæcenatian,[1279] while in the territory of Verona there are the

Rhætian wines, only inferior, in the estimation of Virgil, to the

Falernian.[1280] Then, too, at the bottom of the Gulf[1281] we find

the wines of Adria.[1282] On the shores of the Lower Sea there are the

Latiniensian[1283] wines, the Graviscan,[1284] and the Statonian:[1285]

in Etruria, the wines of Luna bear away the palm, and those of

Genua[1286] in Liguria. Massilia, which lies between the Pyrenees and

the Alps, produces two varieties of wine, one of which is richer and

thicker than the other, and is used for seasoning other wines, being

generally known as “succosum.”[1287] The reputation of the wine of

Beterræ[1288] does not extend beyond the Gallic territories;[1289] and

as for the others that are produced in Gallia Narbonensis, nothing can

be positively stated, for the growers of that country have absolutely

established manufactories for the purposes of adulteration, where they

give a dark hue to their wines by the agency of smoke; I only wish I

could say, too, that they do not employ various herbs and noxious drugs

for the same purpose;[1290] indeed, these dealers are even known to

use aloes for the purpose of heightening the flavour and improving the

colour of their wines.

The regions of Italy that are at a greater distance from the

Ausonian Sea, are not without their wines of note, such as those of

Tarentum,[1291] Servitia,[1292] and Consentia,[1293] and those, again,

of Tempsa, Babia, and Lucania, among which the wines of Thurii hold

the pre-eminence. But the most celebrated of all of them, owing to the

fact that Messala[1294] used to drink it, and was indebted to it for

his excellent health, was the wine of Lagara,[1295] which was grown not

far from Grumentum.[1296] In Campania, more recently, new growths under

new names have gained considerable credit, either owing to careful

cultivation, or else to some other fortuitous circumstances: thus, for

instance, we find four miles from Neapolis the Trebellian,[1297] near

Capua the Cauline,[1298] wine, and the wine of Trebula[1299] grown in

the territory so called, though but of a common sort: Campania boasts

of all these, as well as of her Trifoline[1300] wines. As to the wines

of Pompeii,[1301] they have arrived at their full perfection in ten

years, after which they gain nothing by age: they are found also to

be productive of headache, which often lasts so long as the sixth

hour[1302] of the next day.

These illustrations, if I am not greatly mistaken, will go far to prove

that it is the land and the soil that is of primary importance, and not

the grape, and that it is quite superfluous to attempt to enumerate all

the varieties of every kind, seeing that the same vine, transplanted

to several places, is productive of features and characteristics of

quite opposite natures. The vineyards of Laletanum[1303] in Spain[1304]

are remarkable for the abundance of wine they produce, while those of

Tarraco[1305] and of Lauron[1306] are esteemed for the choice qualities

of their wines: those, too, of the Balearic Isles[1307] are often put

in comparison with the very choicest growths of Italy.

I am by no means unaware that most of my readers will be of opinion

that I have omitted a vast number of wines, seeing that every one has

his own peculiar choice; so much so, that wherever we go, we hear the

same story told, to the effect that one of the freedmen of the late

Emperor Augustus, who was remarkable for his judgment and his refined

taste in wines, while employed in tasting for his master’s table,

made this observation to the master of the house where the emperor

was staying, in reference to some wine the growth of that particular

country: “The taste of this wine,” said he, “is new to me, and it is

by no means of first-rate quality; the emperor, however, you will see,

will drink of no other.”[1308] Indeed I have no wish to deny that there

may be other wines deserving of a very high reputation, but those which

I have already enumerated are the varieties upon the excellence of

which the world is at present agreed.

CHAP. 9. (7.)—THIRTY-EIGHT VARIETIES OF FOREIGN WINES.

We will now, in a similar manner, give a description of the varieties

found in the parts beyond sea. After the wines mentioned by Homer,

and of which we have already spoken,[1309] those held in the highest

esteem were the wines of Thasos and Chios,[1310] and of the latter

more particularly the sort known as “Arvisium.”[1311] By the side of

these has been placed the wine of Lesbos,[1312] upon the authority of

Erasistratus, a famous physician, who flourished about the year of

the City of Rome 450. At the present day, the most esteemed of all

is the wine of Clazomenæ,[1313] since they have learned to season

it more sparingly with sea-water. The wine of Lesbos has naturally

a taste of sea-water. That from Mount Tmolus[1314] is not so much

esteemed by itself[1315] for its qualities as a wine, as for its

peculiar sweetness. It is on account of this that it is mixed with

other wines, for the purpose of modifying their harsh flavour, by

imparting to them a portion of its own sweetness; while at the same

time it gives them age, for immediately after the mixture they

appear to be much older than they really are. Next in esteem after

these are the wines of Sicyon,[1316] Cyprus,[1317] Telmessus,[1318]

Tripolis,[1319] Berytus,[1320] Tyre,[1321] and Sebennys; this last is

grown in Egypt, being the produce of three varieties of grape of the

very highest quality, known as the Thasian,[1322] the æthalus,[1323]

and the peuce.[1324] Next in rank are the hippodamantian[1325] wine,

the Mystic,[1326] the cantharite,[1327] the protropum[1328] of

Cnidos, the wine of the catacecaumene,[1329] the Petritan,[1330] and

the Myconian;[1331] as to the Mesogitic,[1332] it has been found to

give head-ache, while that of Ephesus is far from wholesome, being

seasoned with sea-water and defrutum.[1333] It is said that the wine

of Apamea[1334] is remarkably well adapted for making mulsum,[1335]

like that of Prætutia in Italy: for this is a quality peculiar to

only certain kinds of wine, the mixture of two sweet liquids being in

general not attended with good results. The protagion[1336] is quite

gone out of date, a wine which the school of Asclepiades has reckoned

as next in merit to those of Italy. The physician Apollodorus, in the

work which he wrote recommending King Ptolemy what wines in particular

to drink—for in his time the wines of Italy were not generally

known—has spoken in high terms of that of Naspercene in Pontus, next

to which he places the Oretic,[1337] and then the Œneatian,[1338] the

Leucadian,[1339] the Ambraciotic,[1340] and the Peparethian,[1341] to

which last he gives the preference over all the rest, though he states

that it enjoyed an inferior reputation, from the fact of its not being

considered fit for drinking until it had been kept six years.

CHAP. 10. (8.)—SEVEN KINDS OF SALTED WINES.

Thus far we have treated of wines, the goodness of which is due to

the country of their growth. In Greece the wine that is known by the

name of “bion,” and which is administered for its curative qualities

in several maladies (as we shall have occasion to remark when we come

to speak on the subject of Medicine[1342]), has been justly held in

the very highest esteem. This wine is made in the following manner:

the grapes are plucked before they are quite ripe, and then dried

in a hot sun: for three days they are turned three times a day, and

on the fourth day they are pressed, after which the juice is put in

casks,[1343] and left to acquire age in the heat of the sun.[1344]

The people of Cos mix sea-water in large quantities with their wines,

an invention which they first learned from a slave, who adopted this

method of supplying the deficiency that had been caused by his thievish

propensities. When this is mixed with white must, the mixture receives

the name of “leucocoum.”[1345] In other countries again, they follow

a similar plan in making a wine called “tethalassomenon.”[1346] They

make a wine also known as “thalassites,”[1347] by placing vessels full

of must in the sea, a method which quickly imparts to the wine all the

qualities of old age.[1348] In our own country too, Cato has shown the

method of making Italian wine into Coan: in addition to the modes of

preparation above stated, he tells us that it must be left exposed four

years to the heat of the sun, in order to bring it to maturity. The

Rhodian[1349] wine is similar to that of Cos, and the Phorinean is of a

still salter flavour. It is generally thought that all the wines from

beyond sea arrive at their middle state of maturity in the course of

six[1350] or seven years.

CHAP. 11. (9.)—EIGHTEEN VARIETIES OF SWEET WINE. RAISIN-WINE AND

HEPSEMA.

All the luscious wines have but little[1351] aroma: the thinner the

wine the more aroma it has. The colours of wines are four, white,[1352]

brown,[1353] blood-coloured,[1354] and black.[1355] Psythium[1356]

and melampsythium[1357] are varieties of raisin-wine which have the

peculiar flavour of the grape, and not that of wine. Scybelites[1358]

is a wine grown in Galatia, and Aluntium[1359] is a wine of Sicily,

both of which have the flavour of mulsum.[1360] As to siræum, by some

known as “hepsema,” and which in our language is called “sapa,”[1361]

it is a product of art and not of Nature, being prepared from must

boiled down to one-third: when must is boiled down to one-half only, we

give it the name of “defrutum.” All these mixtures have been devised

for the adulteration of honey.[1362] As to those varieties which we

have previously mentioned, their merits depend upon the grape, and the

soil in which it is grown. Next after the raisin-wine of Crete,[1363]

those of Cilicia and Africa are held in the highest esteem, both in

Italy as well as the adjoining provinces. It is well known that it is

made of a grape to which the Greeks have given the name of “stica,”

and which by us is called “apiana:”[1364] it is also made of the

scirpula.[1365] The grapes are left on the vine to dry in the sun, or

else are boiled in the dolium.[1366] Some persons make this wine of

the sweet and early white[1367] grape: they leave the grapes to dry in

the sun, until they have lost pretty nearly half their weight, after

which they crush them and subject them to a gentle pressure. They

then draw off the juice, and add to the pulp that is left an equal

quantity of well-water, the product of which is raisin-wine of second

quality.[1368] The more careful makers not only do this, but take care

also after drying the grapes to remove the stalks, and then steep the

raisins in wine of good quality until they swell, after which they

press them. This kind of raisin-wine is preferred to all others: with

the addition of water, they follow the same plan in making the wine of

second quality.

The liquor to which the Greeks give the name of “aigleucos,”[1369] is

of middle quality, between the sirops and what is properly called wine;

with us it is called “semper mustum.”[1370] It is only made by using

great precaution, and taking care that the must does not ferment;[1371]

such being the state of the must in its transformation into wine. To

attain this object, the must is taken from the vat and put into casks,

which are immediately plunged into water, and there left to remain

until the winter solstice is past, and frosty weather has made its

appearance. There is another kind, again, of natural aigleucos, which

is known in the province of Narbonensis by the name of “dulce,”[1372]

and more particularly in the district of the Vocontii. In order to make

it, they keep the grape hanging on the tree for a considerable time,

taking care to twist the stalk. Some, again, make an incision in the

bearing shoot, as deep as the pith, while others leave the grapes to

dry on tiles. The only grape, however, that is used in these various

processes is that of the vine known as the “helvennaca.”[1373]

Some persons add to the list of these sweet wines that known as

“diachyton.”[1374] It is made by drying grapes in the sun, and then

placing them for seven days in a closed place upon hurdles, some seven

feet from the ground, care being taken to protect them at night from

the dews: on the eighth day they are trodden out: this method, it is

said, produces a liquor of exquisite bouquet and flavour. The liquor

known as melitites[1375] is also one of the sweet wines: it differs

from mulsum, in being made of must; to five congii of rough-flavoured

must they put one congius of honey, and one cyathus of salt, and

they are then brought to a gentle boil: this mixture is of a rough

flavour. Among these varieties, I ought to place what is known as

“protropum;”[1376] such being the name given by some to the must

that runs spontaneously from the grapes before they are trodden out.

Directly it flows it is put into flaggons, and allowed to ferment;

after which it is left to ripen for forty days in a summer sun, about

the rising of the Dog-star.

CHAP. 12. (10.)—THREE VARIETIES OF SECOND-RATE WINE.

Those cannot properly be termed wines, which by the Greeks are known

under the name of “deuteria,”[1377] and to which, in common with Cato,

we in Italy give the name of “lora,”[1378] being made from the husks of

grapes steeped in water. Still, however, this beverage is reckoned as

making one of the “labourers’”[1379] wines. There are three varieties

of it: the first[1380] is made in the following manner:—After the

must is drawn off, one-tenth of its amount in water is added to the

husks, which are then left to soak a day and a night, and then are

again subjected to pressure. A second kind, that which the Greeks are

in the habit of making, is prepared by adding one-third in water of

the quantity of must that has been drawn off, and after submitting the

pulp to pressure, the result is reduced by boiling to one-third of

its original quantity. A third kind, again, is pressed out from the

wine-lees; Cato gives it the name of “fæcatum.”[1381] None of these

beverages, however, will keep for more than a single year.

CHAP. 13. (11.)—AT WHAT PERIOD GENEROUS WINES WERE FIRST COMMONLY MADE

IN ITALY.

While treating of these various details, it occurs to me to mention

that of the eighty different kinds throughout the whole earth, which

may with propriety be reckoned in the class of generous[1382] wines,

fully two-thirds[1383] are the produce of Italy, which consequently

in this respect far surpasses any other country: and on tracing this

subject somewhat higher up, the fact suggests itself, that the wines

of Italy have not been in any great favour from an early period, their

high repute having only been acquired since the six hundredth year of

the City.

CHAP. 14. (12.)—THE INSPECTION OF WINE ORDERED BY KING ROMULUS.

Romulus made libations, not with wine but with milk; a fact which is

fully established by the religious rites which owe their foundation

to him, and are observed even to the present day. The Posthumian

Law, promulgated by King Numa, has an injunction to the following

effect:—“Sprinkle not the funeral pyre with wine;” a law to which he

gave his sanction, no doubt, in consequence of the remarkable scarcity

of that commodity in those days. By the same law, he also pronounced it

illegal to make a libation to the gods of wine that was the produce of

an unpruned vine, his object being to compel the husbandmen to prune

their vines; a duty which they showed themselves reluctant to perform,

in consequence of the danger which attended climbing the trees.[1384]

M. Varro informs us, that Mezentius, the king of Etruria, succoured the

Rutuli against the Latini, upon condition that he should receive all

the wine that was then in the territory of Latium.

(13.) At Rome it was not lawful for women to drink wine. Among the

various anecdotes connected with this subject, we find that the wife

of Egnatius Mecenius[1385] was slain by her husband with a stick,

because she had drunk some wine from the vat, and that he was absolved

from the murder by Romulus. Fabius Pictor, in his Book of Annals, has

stated that a certain lady, for having opened a purse in which the

keys of the wine-cellar were kept, was starved to death by her family:

and Cato tells us, that it was the usage for the male relatives to

give the females a kiss, in order to ascertain whether they smelt of

“temetum;” for it was by that name that wine was then known, whence our

word “temulentia,” signifying drunkenness. Cn. Domitius, the judge,

once gave it as his opinion, that a certain woman appeared to him to

have drunk more wine than was requisite for her health, and without the

knowledge of her husband, for which reason he condemned her to lose her

dower. For a very long time there was the greatest economy manifested

at Rome in the use of this article. L. Papirius,[1386] the general,

who, on one occasion, commanded against the Samnites, when about to

engage, vowed an offering to Jupiter of a small cupfull of wine, if

he should gain the victory. In fact, among the gifts presented to the

gods, we find mention made of offerings of sextarii of milk, but never

of wine.

The same Cato, while on his voyage to Spain, from which he afterwards

returned triumphant,[1387] would drink of no other wine but that which

was served out to the rowers—very different, indeed, to the conduct

of those who are in the habit of giving to their guests even inferior

wine[1388] to that which they drink themselves, or else contrive to

substitute inferior in the course of the repast.[1389]

CHAP. 15.—WINES DRUNK BY THE ANCIENT ROMANS.

The wines that were the most esteemed among the ancient Romans were

those perfumed with myrrh,[1390] as mentioned in the play of Plautus,

entitled the “Persian,”[1391] though we find it there stated that

calamus[1392] ought to be added to it. Hence it is, that some persons

are of opinion that they were particularly fond of aromatites:[1393]

but Fabius Dossennus quite decides the question, in the following

line:—“I sent them good wine, myrrh-wine;”[1394] and in his play called

“Acharistio,” we find these words—“Bread and pearled barley, myrrh-wine

too.” I find, too, that Scævola and L. Ælius, and Ateius Capito,

were of the same opinion; and then we read in the play known as the

“Pseudolus:”[1395]—“But if it is requisite for him to draw forth what

is sweet from the place, has he aught of that?” to which Charinus makes

answer, “Do you ask the question? He has myrrh wine, raisin wine,

defrutum,[1396] and honey;” from which it would appear that myrrh wine

was not only reckoned among the wines, but among the sweet wines too.

CHAP. 16. (14.)—SOME REMARKABLE FACTS CONNECTED WITH WINE-LOFTS. THE

OPIMIAN WINE.

The fact of the existence of the Opimian wine gives undoubted proof

that there were wine-lofts,[1397] and that wine was racked off in

the year of Rome 633, Italy being already alive to the blessings

she enjoyed. Still, however, the several varieties that are now so

celebrated were not so in those days; and hence it is that all the

wines that were grown at that period have only the one general name

of “Opimian” wines, from the then consul Opimius. So, too, for a long

time afterwards, and, indeed, so late as the times of our grandfathers,

the wines from beyond sea were held in the highest esteem, even though

Falernian was already known, a fact which we learn from the line of

the Comic writer,[1398] “I shall draw five cups of Thasian and two of

Falernian.”

P. Licinius Crassus, and L. Julius Cæsar, who were Censors in the year

from the Building of the City 665, issued an edict forbidding the sale

of either Greek or Aminean wine at a higher price than eight asses the

quadrantal[1399]—for such, in fact, are the exact words of the edict.

Indeed, the Greek wines were so highly valued, that not more than a

single cup was served to a guest during the repast.

CHAP. 17.—AT WHAT PERIOD FOUR KINDS OF WINE WERE FIRST SERVED AT TABLE.

M. Varro gives us the following statement as to the wines that were

held in the highest esteem at table in his day: “L. Lucullus, when

a boy, never saw an entertainment at his father’s house, however

sumptuous it might be, at which Greek wine was handed round more than

once during the repast: whereas he himself, when he returned from Asia,

distributed as a largess among the people more than a hundred thousand

congiaria[1400] of the same wine. C. Sentius, whom we have seen Prætor,

used to say that Chian wine never entered his house until his physician

prescribed it to him for the cardiac[1401] disease. On the other hand,

Hortensius left ten thousand casks of it to his heir.” Such is the

statement made by Varro.

(15.) And besides, is it not a well-known fact that Cæsar, when

Dictator, at the banquet given on the occasion of his triumph, allotted

to each table an amphora of Falernian and a cadus of Chian? On the

occasion, too, of his triumph for his victories in Spain, he put before

the guests both Chian as well as Falernian; and again, at the banquet

given on his third consulship,[1402] he gave Falernian, Chian, Lesbian,

and Mamertine; indeed, it is generally agreed that this was the first

occasion on which four different kinds of wine were served at table. It

was after this, then, that all the other sorts came into such very high

repute, somewhere about the year of the City 700.

CHAP. 18. (16.)—THE USES OF THE WILD VINE. WHAT JUICES ARE NATURALLY

THE COLDEST OF ALL.

I am not surprised, then, that for these many ages there have been

invented almost innumerable varieties of artificial wines, of which

I shall now make some mention; they are all of them employed for

medicinal purposes. We have already stated in a former Book how

omphacium,[1403] which is used for unguents, is made. The liquor known

as “œnanthinum” is made from the wild vine,[1404] two pounds of the

flowers of which are steeped in a cadus of must, and are then changed

at the end of thirty days. In addition to this, the root and the husks

of the grapes are employed in dressing leather. The grapes, too, a

little after the blossom has gone off, are singularly efficacious as a

specific for cooling the feverish heat of the body in certain maladies,

being, it is said, of a nature remarkable for extreme coldness. A

portion of these grapes wither away, in consequence of the heat, before

the rest, which are thence called solstitial[1405] grapes; indeed, the

whole of them never attain maturity; if one of these grapes, in an

unripe state, is given to a barn-door fowl to eat, it is productive of

a dislike to grapes for the future.[1406]

CHAP. 19.—SIXTY-SIX VARIETIES OF ARTIFICIAL WINE.

The first of the artificial wines has wine for its basis; it is called

“adynamon,”[1407] and is made in the following manner. Twenty sextarii

of white must are boiled down with half that quantity of water, until

the amount of the water is lost by evaporation. Some persons mix with

the must ten sextarii of sea-water and an equal quantity of rain-water,

and leave the whole to evaporate in the sun for forty days. This

beverage is given to invalids to whom it is apprehended that wine may

prove injurious.

The next kind of artificial wine is that made of the ripe grain of

millet;[1408] a pound and a quarter of it with the straw is steeped in

two congii of must, and the mixture is poured off at the end of six

months. We have already stated[1409] how various kinds of wine are made

from the tree, the shrub, and the herb, respectively known as the lotus.

From fruit, too, the following wines are made, to the list of which we

shall only add some necessary explanations:—First of all, we find the

fruit of the palm[1410] employed for this purpose by the Parthians

as well as the Indians, and, indeed, throughout all the countries of

the East. A modius of the kind of ripe date called “chydææ”[1411]

is added to three congii of water, and after being steeped for some

time, they are subjected to pressure. Sycites[1412] is a preparation

similarly made from figs: some persons call it “palmiprimum,”[1413]

others, again, “catorchites:” if sweetness is not the maker’s object,

instead of water there is added the same quantity of husk juice[1414]

of grapes. Of the Cyprian fig[1415] a very excellent vinegar, too, is

made, and of that of Alexandria[1416] a still superior.

A wine is made, too, of the pods of the Syrian carob,[1417] of pears,

and of all kinds of apples. That known as “rhoites”[1418] is made from

pomegranates, and other varieties are prepared from cornels, medlars,

sorb apples, dried mulberries, and pine-nuts[1419] these last are left

to steep in must, and are then pressed; the others produce a sweet

liquor of themselves. We shall have occasion before long to show how

Cato[1420] has pointed out the method of making myrtites:[1421] the

Greeks, however, adopt a different method in making it. They first boil

tender sprigs of myrtle with the leaves on in white must, and after

pounding them, boil down one pound of the mixture in three congii of

must, until it is reduced to a couple of congii. The beverage that is

prepared in this manner with the berries of wild myrtle is known as

“myrtidanum;”[1422] it will stain the hands.

Among the garden plants we find wines made of the following kinds: the

radish, asparagus, cunila, origanum, parsley-seed, abrotonum,[1423]

wild mint, rue,[1424] catmint,[1425] wild thyme,[1426] and

horehound.[1427] A couple of handfuls of these ingredients are put

into a cadus of must, as also one sextarius of sapa,[1428] and half a

sextarius of sea-water. A wine is made of the naphew[1429] turnip by

adding two drachms of naphew to two sextarii of must. A wine is made

also from the roots of squills.[1430] Among the flowers, that of the

rose furnishes a wine: the leaves are put in a linen cloth and then

pounded, after which they are thrown into must with a small weight

attached to make them sink to the bottom, the proportion being forty

drachms of leaves to twenty sextarii of must; the vessel in which it is

kept must not be opened before the end of three months. A wine, too, is

made of Gallic nard,[1431] and another kind of the wild[1432] variety

of that plant.

I find, also, that various kinds of aromatites[1433] are prepared,

differing but very little in their mode of composition from that of

the unguents, being made in the first instance, as I have already

stated,[1434] of myrrh, and then at a later period of Celtic

nard,[1435] calamus, and aspalathus,[1436] of which cakes are made,

and are then thrown into either must or sweet wine. Others, again,

make these wines of calamus, scented rush,[1437] costus,[1438] Syrian

nard,[1439] amomum,[1440] cassia,[1441] cinnamon, saffron,[1442]

palm-dates, and foal-foot,[1443] all of which are made up into cakes

in a similar manner. Other persons, again, put half a pound of nard

and malobathrum[1444] to two congii of must; and it is in this manner

that at the present day, with the addition of pepper and honey, the

wines are made by some known as confection wines,[1445] and by others

as peppered[1446] wines. We find mention made of nectarites also, a

beverage extracted from a herb known to some as “helenion,”[1447] to

others as “Medica,”[1448] and to others, again, as symphyton,[1449]

Idæa, Orestion, or nectaria, the root of which is added in the

proportion of forty drachms to six sextarii of must, being first

similarly placed in a linen cloth.

As to other kinds of herbs, we find wormwood wine,[1450] made of Pontic

wormwood in the proportion of one pound to forty sextarii of must,

which is then boiled down until it is reduced to one third, or else of

slips of wormwood put in wine. In a similar manner, hyssop wine[1451]

is made of Cilician hyssop,[1452] by adding three ounces of it to two

congii of must, or else by pounding three ounces of hyssop, and adding

them to one congius of must. Both of these wines may be made also in

another method, by sowing these plants around the roots of vines. It

is in this manner, too, that Cato tells us how to make hellebore[1453]

wine from black hellebore; and a similar method is used for making

scammony[1454] wine. The vine has a remarkable propensity[1455] of

contracting the flavour of any plant that may happen to be growing near

it; and hence it is that in the marshy lands of Patavium, the grape

has the peculiar flavour of the willow. So, in like manner, we find at

Thasos hellebore planted among the vines, or else wild cucumber, or

scammony; the wine that is produced from these vines is known by the

name of “phthorium,” it being productive of abortion.

Wines are made, too, of other herbs, the nature of which will be

mentioned in their respective places, the stœchas[1456] for instance,

the root of gentian,[1457] tragoriganum,[1458] dittany,[1459]

foal-foot,[1460] daucus,[1461] elelisphacus,[1462] panax,[1463]

acorus,[1464] conyza,[1465] thyme,[1466] mandragore,[1467] and sweet

rush.[1468] We find the names mentioned, also, of scyzinum,[1469]

itæomelis, and lectisphagites, compounds of which the receipt is now

lost.

The wines that are made from the shrubs are mostly extracted from the

two kinds of cedar,[1470] the cypress,[1471] the laurel,[1472] the

juniper,[1473] the terebinth,[1474] and in Gaul the lentisk.[1475] To

make these wines, they boil either the berries or the new wood of the

shrub in must. They employ, also, the wood of the dwarf olive,[1476]

the ground-pine,[1477] and the germander[1478] for a similar purpose,

adding at the same time ten drachms of the flower to a congius of must.

CHAP. 20. (17.)—HYDROMELI, OR MELICRATON.

There is a wine also made solely of honey and water.[1479] For this

purpose it is recommended that rain-water[1480] should be kept for a

period of five years. Those who shew greater skill, content themselves

with taking the water just after it has fallen, and boiling it down to

one third, to which they then add one third in quantity of old honey,

and keep the mixture exposed to the rays of a hot sun[1481] for forty

days after the rising of the Dog-star; others, however, rack it off

in the course of ten days, and tightly cork the vessels in which it

is kept. This beverage is known as “hydromeli,” and with age acquires

the flavour of wine. It is nowhere more highly esteemed than in

Phrygia.[1482]

CHAP. 21.—OXYMELI.

Vinegar[1483] even has been mixed with honey; nothing, in fact, has

been left untried by man. To this mixture the name of oxymeli has been

given; it is compounded of ten pounds of honey, five semi-sextarii of

old vinegar, one pound of sea-salt, and five sextarii of rain-water.

This is boiled gently till the mixture has bubbled in the pot some

ten times,[1484] after which it is drawn off, and kept till it is

old;[1485] all these wines, however, are condemned[1486] by Themison,

an author of high authority. And really, by Hercules! the use of them

does appear to be somewhat forced,[1487] unless, indeed, we are ready

to maintain that these aromatic wines are so many compounds taught us

by Nature, as well as those that are manufactured of perfumes, or that

shrubs and plants have been generated only for the purpose of being

swallowed in drink. However, all these particulars, when known, are

curious and interesting, and show how successfully the human intellect

has pried into every secret.

None of these wines, however, will keep beyond a year,[1488] with the

sole exception of those which we have spoken of as requiring age; many

of these, indeed, there can be no doubt, do not improve after being

kept so little as thirty days.

CHAP. 22. (18.)—TWELVE KINDS OF WINE WITH MIRACULOUS PROPERTIES.

There are some miraculous properties, too, in certain wines. It is

said that in Arcadia there is a wine grown which is productive of

fruitfulness[1489] in women, and of madness in men; while in Achaia,

and more especially in the vicinity of Carynia, there is a wine which

causes abortion; an effect which is equally produced if a woman in a

state of pregnancy happens only to eat a grape of the vine from which

it is grown, although in taste it is in no way different from ordinary

grapes: again, it is confidently asserted that those who drink the

wine of Trœzen never bear children. Thasos, it is said, produces two

varieties of wine with quite opposite properties. By one kind sleep

is produced,[1490] by the other it is prevented. There is also in the

same island a vine known as the “theriaca,”[1491] the wine and grapes

of which are a cure for the bites of serpents. The libanian vine[1492]

also produces a wine with the smell of frankincense, with which they

make libations to the gods, while, on the other hand, the produce of

that known as “aspendios,”[1493] is banished from all the altars: it is

said, too, that this last vine is never touched by any bird.

The Egyptians call by the name of “Thasian,”[1494] a certain grape of

that country, remarkable for its sweetness and its laxative qualities.

On the other hand, there is in Lycia a certain grape which proves

astringent to the stomach when relaxed. Egypt has a wine, too, known

as “ecbolas,”[1495] which is productive of abortion. There are some

wines, which at the rising of the Dog-star change their nature in the

wine-lofts[1496] where they are kept, and afterwards recover[1497]

their original quality. The same is the case, too, with wines when

carried across the seas: those that are able to withstand the motion of

the waves, appear afterwards to be twice as old[1498] as they really

are.

CHAP. 23. (19.)—WHAT WINES IT IS NOT LAWFUL TO USE IN THE SACRED RITES.

As religion is the great basis of the ordinary usages of life, I shall

here remark that it is considered improper to offer libations to the

gods with any wines which are the produce of an unpruned vine, or of

one that has been struck by lightning, or near to which a dead man has

been hung, or of grapes that have been trodden out by sore feet, or

made of must from husks that have been cut,[1499] or from grapes that

have been polluted by the fall of any unclean thing upon them. The

Greek wines are excluded also from the sacred ministrations, because

they contain a portion of water.

The vine itself is sometimes eaten; the tops of the shoots[1500] are

taken off and boiled, and are then pickled in vinegar[1501] and brine.

CHAP. 24.—HOW MUST IS USUALLY PREPARED.

It will be as well now to make some mention of the methods used in

preparing wines; indeed, several of the Greeks have written separate

treatises on this subject, and have made a complete art of it, such,

for instance, as Euphronius, Aristomachus, Commiades, and Hicesius. The

people of Africa are in the habit of neutralizing such acidity[1502]

as may be found with gypsum, and in some parts with lime. The people

of Greece, on the other hand, impart briskness to their wines when too

flat, with potters’ earth, pounded marble, salt, or sea-water; while

in Italy, again, brown pitch is used for that purpose in some parts,

and it is the universal practice both there as well as in the adjoining

provinces to season their new wines with resin: sometimes, too, they

season them with old wine-lees or vinegar.[1503] They make various

medicaments, also, for this purpose with the must itself. They boil it

down till it becomes quite sweet, and has lost a considerable portion

of its strength; though thus prepared, they say it will never last

beyond a single year. In some places they boil down the must till it

becomes sapa,[1504] and then mix it with their wines for the purpose of

modifying their harshness. Both for these kinds of wines, as, indeed,

all others, they always employ vessels which have themselves received

an inner coat of pitch; the method of preparing them will be set forth

in a succeeding Book.[1505]

CHAP. 25. (20.)—PITCH AND RESIN.

Of the trees from which pitch and resin distil, there are some which

grow in the East, and others in Europe: the province of Asia,[1506]

which lies between the two, has also some of both kinds. In the East,

the very best commodity of this kind, and of the finest quality, is

that produced by the terebinth,[1507] and, next to it, that from

the lentisk,[1508] which is also known as the mastich. The next in

quality to these is the juice of the cypress,[1509] being of a more

acrid flavour than any other. All the above juices are liquid and of

a resinous nature only, but that of the cedar[1510] is comparatively

thick, and of a proper consistency for making pitch. The Arabian

resin[1511] is of a pale colour, has an acrid smell, and its fumes are

stifling to those employed in boiling it. That of Judæa is of a harder

nature, and has a stronger smell than that from the terebinth[1512]

even. The Syrian[1513] resin has all the appearance of Attic honey, but

that of Cyprus is superior to any other; it is the colour of honey, and

is of a soft, fleshy nature. The resin of Colophon[1514] is yellower

than the other varieties, but when pounded it turns white; it has a

stifling smell, for which reason the perfumers do not employ it. That

prepared in Asia from the produce of the pitch-tree is very white, and

is known by the name of “spagas.”

All the resins are soluble in oil;[1515] some persons are of

opinion also that potters’ chalk may be so dissolved:[1516] I feel

ashamed[1517] to avow that the principal esteem in which the resins are

held among us is as depilatories for taking the hair off men’s bodies.

The method used for seasoning wines is to sprinkle pitch in the must

during the first fermentation, which never lasts beyond nine days at

the most, so that a bouquet is imparted to the wine,[1518] with, in

some degree, its own peculiar piquancy of flavour. It is generally

considered, that this is done most effectually by the use of raw

flower[1519] of resin, which imparts a considerable degree of briskness

to wine: while, on the other hand, it is thought that crapula[1520]

itself, if mixed, tends to mitigate the harshness of the wine and

subdue its asperity, and when the wine is thin and flat, to give it

additional strength and body. It is in Liguria more particularly,

and the districts in the vicinity of the Padus, that the utility

is recognized of mixing crapula with the must, in doing which the

following rule is adopted: with wines of a strong and generous nature

they mix a larger quantity, while with those that are poor and thin

they use it more sparingly. There are some who would have the wine

seasoned with both crapula and flower of resin at the same time.[1521]

Pitch too, when used for this purpose, has much the same properties as

must when so employed.

In some places, the must is subject to a spontaneous fermentation a

second time: when this unfortunately happens it loses all its flavour,

and then receives the name of “vappa,”[1522] a word which is applied as

an opprobrious appellation even to worthless men of degenerate spirit:

in vinegar, on the other hand, notwithstanding its tart and acrid

taste, there are very considerable virtues, and without it we should

miss many of the comforts[1523] of civilized life.

In addition to what we have already stated, the treatment and

preparation of wines are the object of such remarkable attention, that

we find some persons employing ashes, and others gypsum and other

substances of which we have already[1524] spoken, for the purpose of

improving its condition: the ashes,[1525] however, of the shoots of

vines or of the wood of the quercus, are in general preferred for this

purpose. It is recommended also, to take sea-water far out at sea,

and to keep it in reserve,[1526] to be employed for this purpose: at

all events, it ought to be taken up in the night and during the summer

solstice, while the north-east wind is blowing; but if taken at the

time of the vintage, it should be boiled before being used.

The pitch most highly esteemed in Italy for preparing vessels for

storing wine, is that which comes from Bruttium. It is made from the

resin that distils from the pitch-tree; that which is used in Spain

is held in but little esteem, being the produce of the wild pine; it

is bitter, dry, and of a disagreeable smell. While speaking of the

wild trees in a succeeding Book,[1527] we shall make mention of the

different varieties of pitch, and the methods used in preparing it. The

defects in resin, besides those which[1528] we have already mentioned,

are a certain degree of acridity, or a peculiar smoky flavour, while

the great fault in pitch is the being over-burnt. The ordinary test of

its goodness is a certain luminous appearance when broken to pieces; it

ought to stick, too, to the teeth, with a pleasant, tart flavour.

In Asia, the pitch which is most esteemed is that of Mount Ida,

in Greece of Pieria; but Virgil[1529] gives the preference to the

Narycian[1530] pitch. The more careful makers mix with the wine black

mastich, which comes from Pontus,[1531] and resembles bitumen in

appearance, as also iris[1532]-root and oil. As to coating the vessels

with wax, it has been found that the wine is apt to turn acid:[1533] it

is a better plan to put wine in vessels that have held vinegar, than in

those which have previously contained sweet wine or mulsum. Cato[1534]

recommends that wines should be got up—_concinnari_ is his word—by

putting of lie-ashes boiled down with defrutum, one-fortieth part to

the culeus, or else a pound and a half of salt, with pounded marble as

well: he makes mention of sulphur also, but only gives the very last

place to resin. When the fermentation of the wine is coming to an end,

he recommends the addition of the must to which he gives the name of

“tortivum,”[1535] meaning that which is pressed out the very last of

all. For the purpose of colouring wine we also add certain substances

as a sort of pigment, and these have a tendency to give it a body as

well. By such poisonous sophistications is this beverage compelled to

suit our tastes, and then we are surprised that it is injurious in its

effects!

It is a proof that wine is beginning to turn bad, if a plate of lead,

on being put in it, changes its colour.[1536]

CHAP. 26.—VINEGAR—LEES OF WINE.

It is a peculiarity of wine, among the liquids, to become mouldy, or

else to turn to vinegar. There are whole volumes which treat of the

various methods of preventing this.

The lees of wine when dried will take fire and burn without the

addition of fuel: the ashes so produced have very much the nature

of nitre,[1537] and similar virtues; the more so, indeed, the more

unctuous they are to the touch.

CHAP. 27. (21.)—WINE-VESSELS—WINE-CELLARS.

The various methods of keeping and storing wines in the cellar are very

different. In the vicinity of the Alps, they put their wines in wooden

vessels hooped around;[1538] during their cold winters, they even keep

lighted fires, to protect the wines from the effects of the cold. It is

a singular thing to mention, but still it has been occasionally seen,

that these vessels have burst asunder, and there has stood the wine in

frozen masses; a miracle almost, as it is not ordinarily the nature of

wine to freeze, cold having only the effect of benumbing it. In more

temperate climates, they place their wines in dolia,[1539] which they

bury in the earth, either covering them entirely or in part, according

to the temperature. Sometimes, again, they expose their wines in the

open air, while at others they are placed beneath sheds for protection

from the atmosphere.

The following are among the rules given for the proper management of

wines:—One side of the wine-cellar, or, at all events, the windows,

ought to face the north-east, or at least due east. All dunghills and

roots of trees, and everything of a repulsive smell, ought to be kept

at as great a distance as possible, wine being very apt to contract

an odour. Fig-trees too, either wild or cultivated, ought not to be

planted in the vicinity. Intervals should also be left between the

vessels, in order to prevent infection, in case of any of them turning

bad, wine being remarkably apt to become tainted. The shape, too, of

the vessels is of considerable importance: those that are broad and

bellying[1540] are not so good.[1541] We find it recommended too, to

pitch them immediately after the rising of the Dog-star, and then to

wash them either with sea or salt water, after which they should be

sprinkled with the ashes of tree-shoots or else with potters’ earth;

they ought then to be cleaned out, and perfumed with myrrh, a thing

which ought to be frequently done to the wine-cellars as well. Weak,

thin wines should be kept[1542] in dolia sunk in the ground, while

those in which the stronger ones are kept should be more exposed to

the air. The vessels ought on no account to be entirely filled, room

being left for seasoning, by mixing either raisin wine or else defrutum

flavoured with saffron; old pitch and sapa are sometimes used for the

same purpose. The lids, too, of the dolia ought to be seasoned in a

similar manner, with the addition of mastich and Bruttian pitch.

It is strongly recommended never to open the vessels, except in fine

weather; nor yet while a south wind is blowing, or at a full moon.

The flower[1543] of wine when white is looked upon as a good sign;

but when it is red, it is bad, unless that should happen to be the

colour of the wine. The vessels, too, should not be hot to the touch,

nor should the covers throw out a sort of sweat. When wine very soon

flowers on the surface and emits an odour, it is a sign that it will

not keep.

As to defrutum and sapa, it is recommended to commence boiling

them when there is no moon to be seen, or, in other words, at the

conjunction of that planet, and at no other time. Leaden[1544] vessels

should be used for this purpose, and not copper[1545] ones, and walnuts

are generally thrown into them, from a notion that they absorb[1546]

the smoke. In Campania they expose the very finest wines in casks in

the open air, it being the opinion that it tends to improve the wine if

it is exposed to the action of the sun and moon, the rain and the winds.

CHAP. 28. (22.)—DRUNKENNESS.

If any one will take the trouble duly to consider the matter, he

will find that upon no one subject is the industry of man kept more

constantly on the alert than upon the making of wine; as if Nature had

not given us water as a beverage, the one, in fact, of which all other

animals make use. We, on the other hand, even go so far as to make our

very beasts of burden drink[1547] wine: so vast are our efforts, so

vast our labours, and so boundless the cost which we thus lavish upon

a liquid which deprives man of his reason and drives him to frenzy and

to the commission of a thousand crimes! So great, however, are its

attractions, that a great part of mankind are of opinion that there

is nothing else in life worth living for. Nay, what is even more than

this, that we may be enabled to swallow all the more, we have adopted

the plan of diminishing its strength by pressing it through[1548]

filters of cloth, and have devised numerous inventions whereby to

create an artificial thirst. To promote drinking, we find that even

poisonous mixtures have been invented, and some men are known to take a

dose of hemlock before they begin to drink, that they may have the fear

of death before them to make them take their wine:[1549] others, again,

take powdered pumice[1550] for the same purpose, and various other

mixtures, which I should feel quite ashamed any further to enlarge upon.

We see the more prudent among those who are given to this habit have

themselves parboiled in hot-baths, from whence they are carried away

half dead. Others there are, again, who cannot wait till they have

got to the banqueting couch,[1551] no, not so much as till they have

got their shirt on,[1552] but all naked and panting as they are, the

instant they leave the bath they seize hold of large vessels filled

with wine, to show off, as it were, their mighty powers, and so gulp

down the whole of the contents only to vomit them up again the very

next moment. This they will repeat, too, a second and even a third

time, just as though they had only been begotten for the purpose of

wasting wine, and as if that liquor could not be thrown away without

having first passed through the human body. It is to encourage habits

such as these that we have introduced the athletic exercises[1553] of

other countries, such as rolling in the mud, for instance, and throwing

the arms back to show off a brawny neck and chest. Of all these

exercises, thirst, it is said, is the chief and primary object.

And then, too, what vessels are employed for holding wine! carved

all over with the representations of adulterous intrigues, as if, in

fact, drunkenness itself was not sufficiently capable of teaching us

lessons of lustfulness. Thus we see wines quaffed out of impurities,

and inebriety invited even by the hope of a reward,—invited, did I

say?—may the gods forgive me for saying so, purchased outright. We

find one person induced to drink upon the condition that he shall have

as much to eat as he has previously drunk, while another has to quaff

as many cups as he has thrown points on the dice. Then it is that the

roving, insatiate eyes are setting a price upon the matron’s chastity;

and yet, heavy as they are with wine, they do not fail to betray their

designs to her husband. Then it is that all the secrets of the mind

are revealed; one man is heard to disclose the provisions of his will,

another lets fall some expression of fatal import, and so fails to keep

to himself words which will be sure to come home to him with a cut

throat. And how many a man has met his death in this fashion! Indeed,

it has become quite a common proverb, that “in wine[1554] there is

truth.”

Should he, however, fortunately escape all these dangers, the drunkard

never beholds the rising sun, by which his life of drinking is made

all the shorter. From wine, too, comes that pallid hue,[1555] those

drooping eyelids, those sore eyes, those tremulous hands, unable to

hold with steadiness the overflowing vessel, condign punishment in the

shape of sleep agitated by Furies during the restless night, and, the

supreme reward of inebriety, those dreams of monstrous lustfulness and

of forbidden delights. Then on the next day there is the breath reeking

of the wine-cask, and a nearly total obliviousness of everything, from

the annihilation of the powers of the memory. And this, too, is what

they call “seizing the moments of life!”[1556] whereas, in reality,

while other men lose the day that has gone before, the drinker has

already lost the one that is to come.

They first began, in the reign of Tiberius Claudius, some forty years

ago, to drink fasting, and to take whets of wine before meals; an

outlandish[1557] fashion, however, and only patronized by physicians

who wished to recommend themselves by the introduction of some novelty

or other.

It is in the exercise of their drinking powers that the Parthians look

for their share of fame, and it was in this that Alcibiades among

the Greeks earned his great repute. Among ourselves, too, Novellius

Torquatus of Mediolanum, a man who held all the honours of the state

from the prefecture to the pro-consulate, could drink off three

congii[1558] at a single draught, a feat from which he obtained the

surname of “Tricongius:” this he did before the eyes of the Emperor

Tiberius, and to his extreme surprise and astonishment, a man who in

his old age was very morose,[1559] and indeed very cruel in general;

though in his younger days he himself had been too much addicted to

wine. Indeed it was owing to that recommendation that it was generally

thought that L. Piso was selected by him to have the charge and

custody[1560] of the City of Rome; he having kept up a drinking-bout at

the residence of Tiberius, just after he had become emperor, two days

and two nights without intermission. In no point, too, was it generally

said that Drusus Cæsar took after his father Tiberius more than

this.[1561] Torquatus had the rather uncommon glory—for this science,

too, is regulated by peculiar laws of its own—of never being known to

stammer in his speech, or to relieve the stomach by vomiting or urine,

while engaged in drinking. He was always on duty at the morning guard,

was able to empty the largest vessel at a single draught, and yet to

take more ordinary cups in addition than any one else; he was always

to be implicitly depended upon, too, for being able to drink without

taking breath and without ever spitting, or so much as leaving enough

at the bottom of the cup to make a plash upon the pavement;[1562] thus

showing himself an exact observer of the regulations which have been

made to prevent all shirking on the part of drinkers.

Tergilla reproaches Cicero, the son of Marcus Cicero, with being

in the habit of taking off a couple of congii at a single draught,

and with having thrown a cup, when in a state of drunkenness, at

M. Agrippa;[1563] such, in fact, being the ordinary results of

intoxication. But it is not to be wondered at that Cicero was desirous

in this respect to eclipse the fame of M. Antonius, the murderer of his

father; a man who had, before the time of the younger Cicero, shown

himself so extremely anxious to maintain the superiority in this kind

of qualification, that he had even gone so far as to publish a book

upon the subject of his own drunkenness.[1564] Daring in this work

to speak in his own defence, he has proved very satisfactorily, to

my thinking, how many were the evils he had inflicted upon the world

through this same vice of drunkenness. It was but a short time before

the battle of Actium that he vomited forth this book of his, from

which we have no great difficulty in coming to the conclusion, that

drunk as he already was with the blood of his fellow-citizens, the only

result was that he thirsted for it all the more. For, in fact, such is

the infallible characteristic of drunkenness, the more a person is in

the habit of drinking, the more eager he is for drink; and the remark

of the Scythian ambassador is as true as it is well known—the more the

Parthians drank, the thirstier they were for it.

CHAP. 29.—LIQUORS WITH THE STRENGTH OF WINE MADE FROM WATER AND CORN.

The people of the Western world have also their intoxicating drinks,

made from corn steeped in water.[1565] These beverages are prepared

in different ways throughout Gaul and the provinces of Spain; under

different names, too, though in their results they are the same. The

Spanish provinces have even taught us the fact that these liquors are

capable of being kept till they have attained a considerable age.

Egypt,[1566] too, has invented for its use a very similar beverage

made from corn; indeed, in no part of the world is drunkenness ever

at a loss. And then, besides, they take these drinks unmixed, and do

not dilute them with water, the way that wine is modified; and yet, by

Hercules! one really might have supposed that there the earth produced

nothing but corn for the people’s use. Alas! what wondrous skill, and

yet how misplaced! means have absolutely been discovered for getting

drunk upon water even.

There are two liquids that are peculiarly grateful to the human body,

wine within and oil without; both of them the produce of trees, and

most excellent in their respective kinds. Oil, indeed, we may pronounce

an absolute necessary, nor has mankind been slow to employ all the

arts of invention in the manufacture of it. How much more ingenious,

however, man has shown himself in devising various kinds of drink will

be evident from the fact, that there are no less than one hundred and

ninety-five different kinds of it; indeed, if all the varieties are

reckoned, they will amount to nearly double that number. The various

kinds of oil are much less numerous—we shall proceed to give an account

of them in the following Book.

SUMMARY.—Remarkable facts, narratives, and observations, five

hundred and ten.

ROMAN AUTHORS QUOTED.—Cornelius Valerianus,[1567] Virgil,[1568]

Celsus,[1569] Cato the Censor,[1570] Saserna,[1571] father and son,

Scrofa,[1572] M. Varro,[1573] D. Silanus,[1574] Fabius Pictor,[1575]

Trogus,[1576] Hyginus,[1577] Flaccus Verrius,[1578] Græcinus,[1579]

Julius Atticus,[1580] Columella,[1581] Massurius Sabinus,[1582]

Fenestella,[1583] Tergilla,[1584] Maccius Plautus,[1585] Flavius,[1586]

Dossennus,[1587] Scævola,[1588] Ælius,[1589] Ateius Capito,[1590]

Cotta Messalinus,[1591] L. Piso,[1592] Pompeius Lenæus,[1593]

Fabianus,[1594] Sextius Niger,[1595] Vibius Rufus.[1596]

FOREIGN AUTHORS QUOTED.—Hesiod,[1597] Theophrastus,[1598]

Aristotle,[1599] Democritus,[1600] King Hiero,[1601] King Attalus

Philometor,[1602] Archytas,[1603] Xenophon,[1604] Amphilochus[1605]

of Athens, Anaxipolis[1606] of Thasos, Apollodorus[1607] of

Lemnos, Aristophanes[1608] of Miletus, Antigonus[1609] of

Cymæ, Agathocles[1610] of Chios, Apollonius[1611] of Pergamus,

Aristander[1612] of Athens, Botrys[1613] of Athens, Bacchius[1614] of

Miletus, Bion[1615] of Soli, Chærea[1616] of Athens, Chæristus[1617]

of Athens, Diodorus[1618] of Priene, Dion[1619] of Colophon,

Epigenes[1620] of Rhodes, Euagon[1621] of Thasos, Euphronius[1622]

of Athens, Androtion[1623] who wrote on agriculture, Æschrion[1624]

who wrote on agriculture, Lysimachus[1625] who wrote on agriculture,

Dionysius[1626] who translated Mago, Diophanes[1627] who made an

Epitome of the work of Dionysius, Asclepiades[1628] the Physician,

Onesicritus,[1629] King Juba.[1630]