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VESSELS FOR WINE.

17. 21.] Leucadium, Coum, Rhodium, Naxium, Mamertinum, Thasium,
Mæconium vel Lydium, Mareoticum, [Hor. Od. i. 37. 14.] &c. Plin. xiv.
Also from its colour or age, Vinum album, nigrum,
6. s. 8, &c.
Vetus, novum, recens, hornum, of the
rubrum, &c. Ib. 9. s. 11, 12.
present year's growth; trimum, three years old; [quadrimum, four
years old, Hor. Od. i. 9.] molle, lene, vetustate edentulum, mellow;
asperum vel austerum, harsh; merum vel meracum, pure, unmixed;
meracius, i. e. fortius, strong, Cic. Nat. D. iii. 31.*

The Romans set down the wine on the second table (alteris mensis), with the dessert (cum bellariis), and before they began drinking poured out libations to the gods, Virg. Æn. i. 736. viii. 278. 283. G. ii. 101. This, by a decree of the senate, was done also in honour of Augustus, after the battle of Actium, Dio. li. 19. Horat. Od. iv. 5. 31.

The wine was brought in to the guests in earthen vases (AMPHORÆ vel Testa) with handles (ansata), hence called DIŌTÆ, Horat. i. 9. 8., or in big-bellied jugs or bottles (AMPULLE) of glass (vitrea), leather (coriaceae), or earth (figline), Plin. Epist. iv. 30. Suet. Domit. 21. Martial. vi. 35. 3. xiv. 110., on each of which were affixed labels or small slips of parchment, (TITULI vel PITTACIA, i. e. schedulæ e membranâ excisæ, vel tabellæ,) giving a short description of the quality and age of the wine; thus, FALERNUM, OPIMIANUM, ANSometimes different NORUM CENTUM, Petron. 34. Juvenal. v. 34. † kinds of wine and of fruit were set before the guests according to their Martial. iii. 49. 82. iv. 86. vi. 11. different rank, Plin. Ep. ii. 6. ‡

"As the must was sometimes allowed to undergo a slight fermentation in close and frevessels, we may easily conceive, that the wine, when freshly drawn, would occasionally gas; possess a certain degree of briskness, from the retained carbonic acid quent allusions of the poets to this property demonstrate, that the ancients were familiar with sparkling and frothing wines, though it does not appear that they intentionally adopted the means of preserving them in this condition. Virg. Æn. i. 738., Henderson, p. 68. Ille impiger hausit Spumantem pateram.'"— +"Among the amphora lately found on the site of the ancient Leptis, and now deposited in the British Museum, is one with the following inscription in vermilion :

L. Cassio
C. Mario
COS.

It had, consequently, been filled with the vintage of the year 647 A. U. C., when Lucius Cassius Longinus and Caius Marius Nepos were consuls; and when Marius himself was contending with Jugurtha for the possession of the adjacent provinces." · Henderson, p. 54.

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"For the more precious wines, the ancients occasionally employed vessels of glass. The bottles, vases, cups, and other articles of that material, which are to be seen in every collection of antiquities, prove that they had brought the manufacture to a great degree of perfection. We know that, for preserving fruits, they certainly gave the preference to glass jars; and at the supper of Trimalcio, so admirably depicted by Petronius, even amphora of glass are said to have been introduced. Whether they were of the full quadrantal measure does not appear; but, in all probability, they were of more moderate dimensions, for we are told by Martial that the choicest Falernian was kept in small glass bottles (Quæque annus coxit opimi, Condantur parvo fusca Falerna vitro,' Ep. ii. 40.): and neither the number of the guests, nor the quality of the liquor, supposing it to have been genuine, would have justified the use of full-sized amphora, on the occasion above alluded to."- Henderson, p.

sentiments

398

MOST REMARKABLE WINES.

make wine keep, they used to boil (decoquere, Virg. G. i. 295.) the must down to one half, when it was called DEFRUTUM [to two thirds, Carenum] to one third, SAPA, Plin. xiv. 9. s. 11.; and to give it a flavour, (ut odor vino contingat, et saporis quædam acumina,) they mixed with it pitch [rosin, turpentine,] and certain herbs; when they were said CONDIRE, MEDICARI vel concinnare vinum, Plin. xiv. 20. s. 25. [xxiii. 1. Martial. Ep. iii. 77.] Columell. xii. 19, 20, 21. Cato de Re Rust. 114, 115.*

Wines were distinguished chiefly from the places where they were produced. In Italy the most remarkable were, Vinum FALErnum, Massicum, Calenum, Cœcubum [Hor. Od. i. 20.], Albānum, Setinum, Surrentinum [Nomentanum, Pucinum], &c. Plin. 23. 1. s. 20. Foreign wines, Chium, [Ariusium, Virg. Bucol. v. 71.] Lesbium, [Hor. Carm. i.

was the case more especially with the Surrentine wine, which continued raw and harsh until about twenty years old, and afterwards improved progressively; seldom contracting any unpleasant bitterness, but retaining its qualities unimpaired to the last, and disputing the palm of excellence with the growths of Falernum. The transmarine wines which were imported into Italy were thought to have attained a moderate age in six or seven years; and such as were strong enough to bear a sea voyage were found to be much improved by it. (Plin. H. N. xiv. 18.)

"The lighter red wines (vina horna, fugacia) were used for common drinking, and would seldom endure longer than from one vintage to another; but in good seasons, they would sometimes be found capable of being preserved beyond the year. Of this description we may suppose the Sabine wine to have been, which Horace calls upon his friend to broach when four years old (Od. I. ix. 7.); although, in general, the proper age of the Sabinum was from seven to fifteen years.

"Wine of a middle age was preferred, as being the most wholesome and grateful; but in those days, as well as ours, it was the fashion to place the highest value on whatever was rarest, and an extravagant sum was often given for wines which were literally not drinkable. Such seems to have been the case with the famous vintage of the year in which L. Opimius Nepos was consul; when, from the great warmth of the summer, all the productions of the earth attained an uncommon degree of perfection. Velleius Paterculus (ii. 7.), who flourished about 150 years afterwards, denies that any of it was to be had in his time; but both Pliny and Martial, who were considerably posterior to that historian, describe it as still inexhausted at the period when they wrote. (H. N. xxiii. 1.) The former, indeed, admits, that it was then reduced to the consistence of honey, and could only be used in small quantity for flavouring other wines, or mixing with water. Reckoning the original price to have been 100 nummi, or sixteen shillings and sixpence, for the amphora, he calculates, that according to the usual rate of Roman interest, a single ounce of this wine, at the time of the third consulate of Caligula, when it had reached its 160th year, must have cost at least one nummus or two-pence; which would make the price of the quart amount to six shillings and sixpence English."- Henderson, p. 70. In the appendix, however, the same writer gives the calculation of Arbuthnot, which raises the price to nineteen shillings and sixpence, which, as he observes, is about the value of a bottle of very old Rhine wine. The former calculation, moreover, does not proceed on the principle of compound interest.

"Accident is said to have led to the discovery of another method of preparing the must. A slave, who had' stolen part of the contents of a cask, adopted the expedient of filling up the deficiency with sea-water, which, on examination, was thought to have improved the flavour of the liquor; and thenceforth the practice of adding salt-water to certain wines became very common among the Greeks. When Horace, however (Serm. ii. 8. 15.), describes the Chian wine at the supper of Nasidienus as being maris expers, he has been generally supposed to allude to its being of inferior quality, from the want of sea-water; whereas he probably meant to insinuate, that it had never travelled on the sea, but was a factitious or home-made wine."― Henderson, p. 43.

VESSELS FOR WINE.

17. 21.] Leucadium, Coum, Rhodium, Naxium, Mamertinum, Thasium, Maconium vel Lydium, Mareoticum, [Hor. Od. i. 37. 14.] &c. Plin. xiv. Also from its colour or age, Vinum album, nigrum, 6. s. 8, &c. Vetus, novum, recens, hornum, of the rubrum, &c. Ib. 9. s. 11, 12. present year's growth; trimum, three years old; [quadrimum, four years old, Hor. Od. i. 9.] molle, lene, vetustate edentulum, mellow; asperum vel austerum, harsh; merum vel merācum, pure, unmixed; meracius, i. e. fortius, strong, Cic. Nat. D. iii. 31.*

The Romans set down the wine on the second table (alteris mensis), with the dessert (cum bellariis), and before they began drinking poured out libations to the gods, Virg. Æn. i. 736. viii. 278. 283. G. ii. 101. This, by a decree of the senate, was done also in honour of Augustus, after the battle of Actium, Dio. li. 19. Horat. Od. iv.

5. 31.

The wine was brought in to the guests in earthen vases (AMPHORÆ vel Testa) with handles (ansata), hence called DIŌTÆ, Horat. i. 9. 8., or in big-bellied jugs or bottles (AMPULLE) of glass (vitrea), leather (coriacea), or earth (figline), Plin. Epist. iv. 30. Suet. Domit. 21. Martial. vi. 35. 3. xiv. 110., on each of which were affixed labels or small slips of parchment, (TITULI vel PITTACIA, i. e. schedule e membraná excise, vel tabellæ,) giving a short description of the quality and age of the wine; thus, FALERNUM, OPIMIANUM, ANSometimes different NORUM CENTUM, Petron. 34. Juvenal. v. 34. + kinds of wine and of fruit were set before the guests according to their different rank, Plin. Ep. ii. 6. ‡ Martial. iii. 49. 82. iv. 86. vi. 11.

"As the must was sometimes allowed to undergo a slight fermentation in close vessels, we may easily conceive, that the wine, when freshly drawn, would occasionally possess a certain degree of briskness, from the retained carbonic acid gas; and frequent allusions of the poets to this property demonstrate, that the ancients were familiar with sparkling and frothing wines, though it does not appear that they intentionally adopted the means of preserving them in this condition. Virg. Æn. i. 738., Ille impiger hausit Spumantem pateram.'"- Henderson, p. 68.

"Among the amphorse lately found on the site of the ancient Leptis, and now deposited in the British Museum, is one with the following inscription in vermilion :

L. Cassio
C. Mario
COS.

It had, consequently, been filled with the vintage of the year 647 A. U. C., when Lucius Cassius Longinus and Caius Marius Nepos were consuls; and when Marius himself was contending with Jugurtha for the possession of the adjacent provinces." Henderson, p. 54.

"For the more precious wines, the ancients occasionally employed vessels of glass. The bottles, vases, cups, and other articles of that material, which are to be seen in every collection of antiquities, prove that they had brought the manufacture to a great degree of perfection. We know that, for preserving fruits, they certainly gave the preference to glass jars; and at the supper of Trimalcio, so admirably depicted by Petronius, even amphora of glass are said to have been introduced. Whether they were of the full quadrantal measure does not appear; but, in all probability, they were of more moderate dimensions, for we are told by Martial that the choicest Falernian was kept in small glass bottles (Quæque annus coxit opimi, Condantur parvo fusca Falerna vitro,' Ep. ii. 40.): and neither the number of the 39 Henguests, nor the quality of the liquor, supposing it to have been genuine, would have justified the use of full-sized amphora, on the occasion above alluded to." derson, p.

sentiments

400

NAMES AND MATERIALS OF DRINKING CUPS.

49. Suet. Cæs. 48. Spartian. Adrian. 17. Juvenal. v. 30. 70.; whence VINUM DOMINICUM, the wine drunk by the master of the house, Petron. 31., and cœnare civiliter, to be on a level with one's guest, Juvenal. v. 112.

The wine was mixed (miscebatur vel temperabatur) with water in a large vase or bowl, called CRATER, v. -ēra, whence it was poured into cups (POCULA), Ovid. Fast. v. 522.

Cups were called by different names; Calices, phialæ, patěræ, canthari, carchesia, ciboria, scyphi, cymbia, scaphia, batiola, cululli, amystides, &c., and made of various materials; of wood, as beech, fagina sc. pocula, Virg. Ecl. iii. 37., of earth, fictilia, of glass, VITREA, [with which they were supplied from Egypt,] Martial. i. 38. Juvenal. ii. 95., which when broken used to be exchanged for brimstone matches (sulphurata ramenta), Martial. i. 42. 4. x. 3. Juvenal. v. 49., of amber, succina, Id. ix. 50., of brass, silver, and gold, sometimes beautifully engraved; hence called TOREUMATA, i. e. vasa sculpta vel cælata, Cic. Verr. ii. 52. iv. 18. Pis. 27., or adorned with figures (signa vel sigilla) affixed to them, called CRUSTÆ or EMBLEMATA, Cic. Ver. iv. 23. Juvenal. i. 76.† Martial. viii. 51. 9., which might be put on and taken off at pleasure (exemptilia), Cic. ibid. 22. 24., or with gems, sometimes taken off the fingers for that purpose, Juvenal. 5. 41., hence called CALICES GEMMATI vel AURUM GEMMATUM, Martial. xiv. 109.

Cups were also made of precious stones, Virg. G. ii. 506.; of crystal, Senec. de Irá, iii. 40. of amethyst and murrha or porcelain (pocula murrhina) [introduced by Pompey], Martial. ix. 60. 13. x. 49. [xiv. 113.] Plin. xxxiii. 1. xxxvii. 2, &c. ‡

notice: - "Longum est altius repetere, nec refert, quemadmodum acciderit, ut homo minime familiaris cœnarem apud quendam, ut sibi videbatur, lautum et diligentem: ut mihi, sordidum simul et sumptuosum : nam sibi et paucis opima quædam, ceteris vilia et minuta ponebat: vinum etiam parvulis lagunculis in tria genera descripserat, non ut potestas eligendi, sed ne jus esset recusandi: et aliud sibi et nobis, aliud minoribus amicis (nam gradatim amicos habet) aliud suis nostrisque libertis. Animadvertit qui mihi proximus recumbebat, et an probarem interrogavit. Negavi. Tu ergo, inquit, quam consuetudinem sequeris? Eadem omnibus pono. Ad cœnam enim, non ad notam (to entertain, not distinguish), invito: cunctisque rebus ex æquo quos mensâ et toro æquavi. Etiamne libertos? Etiam; convictores enim tunc, non libertos, puto. At ille, Magno tibi constat. Minime. Qui fieri potest? quia scilicet liberti mei non idem quod ego bibunt, sed idem ego quod liberti."

*“ Athens claimed the invention, and took the lead in the manufacture of earthenware vases; but the potteries of Samos soon rose into equal repute, and, with those of Saguntum in Spain, and Surrentum, Arretium, and one or two other towns in Italy, furnished the chief supply. They were formed of the purest clay, and distinguished by their extraordinary lightness. To render them impervious, they were coated with a varnish of bitumen, which admitted of a fine polish, and was, besides, very durable; and they were sometimes also imbued with aromatic substances, which imparted a grateful perfume to the liquor drunk out of them." Henderson, p. 114.

+ The figure of a goat in bas relief (as being sacred to Bacchus) was the frequent emblem on drinking-cups: "stantem extra pocula caprum." Juvenal. 1. c.

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Propert. iv. 26. Murrheaque in Parthis pocula cocta focis." "Concerning the nature of these vases, the opinions of antiquaries are exceedingly vague and unsatisfactory. That they were formed from a natural fossil, and not an artificial paste

CYATHUS

DRINKING HEALTH, ETC.

401

Cups were of various forms*; some had handles (ANSÆ Vel NASI), Virg. Ecl. vi. 17. Juvenal. v. 47., usually twisted (TORTILES), Ovid. Ep. xvi. 252., hence called CALICES PTEROTI, i. e. alati vel ansati, Plin. xxxvi. 26. Some had none.

There were slaves, usually beautiful boys (pueri eximiâ facie, Gell. xv. 12.), who waited to mix the wine with water, and to serve it up; for which purpose they used a small goblet [" or, perhaps, ladle." - T.] called CYATHUS, to measure it, Plaut. Pers. v. 2. 16., containing the twelfth part of a sextarius, which is nearly a quart English [therefore about the same as a modern wine glass]. Hence the cups were named from the parts of the Roman AS, according to the number of cyathi which they contained; thus, SEXTANS, a cup which contained two cyathi; TRIENS vel Triental, four [i.e. the third part of the sexturius]; QUADRANS, three, &c. Suet. Aug. 77. Martial. viii. 51. 24. ix. 95. xi. 37. [“ misto quincunce, ii. 1. 8.' - T.] Pers. iii. 100., and those who served with wine were said AD CYATHOS STARE, Suet. Jul. 49., AD CYATHUM STATUI, Hor. Od. 1. 29. 8., or CYATHISSÁRI, Plaut. Men. ii. 2. 29.

They also used a less measure, for filling wine and other liquors, called LIGULA or Lingula, and COCHLEARE, vel -ar, a spoon, the fourth part of a cyathus, Martial. v. 20. viii. 33. 23. xiv. 121.

The strength of wine was sometimes lessened, by making it pass through a strainer with snow in it, COLUM NIVARIUM, Martial. xiv. 103., vel SACCUS NIVARIUS, Ib. 104. Plin. xix. 4. s. 19. 22. s. 28. It was also sometimes cooled by pouring snow-water upon it, Martial. v. 65. xiv. 117. Senec. Ep. 79.†

The Romans used to drink to the health of one another, thus; BENE MIHI, BENE VOBIS, &c. Plaut. Pers. v. i. 20., sometimes in honour of a friend or mistress, Ibid. & Horat. Od. i. 27. 9., and used to take as many cyathi as there were letters in the name, Tibull. ii. 1. 31. Martial. i. 72. [ix. 95.], or as they wished years to them; hence they were said, Ad numerum bibere, Ovid. Fast. iii. 531. A frequent number was three in honour of the Graces; or nine, of the Muses, Horat. Od. iii. 19. 11. Auson. Eidyll. xi. 1. The Greeks drank first in honour of the gods, and then of their friends; hence GRECO MORE BIBERE, Cic. Verr. i. 26. et ibi Ascon. They began with small cups, and ended with larger, Ibid. They used to name the person to whom they handed the cup; thus, PROPINO TIBI, &c. Cic. Tusc. i. 40. Plaut. Stich. v. 4. 26. 30. Ter. Eun. v. 9. 57. Virg. Æn. i. 728. Martial. i. 69. vi. 44. Juvenal. v. 127.

A skeleton was sometimes introduced at feasts in the time of drink

resembling porcelain, as Cardan, Caylus, and Mariette have surmised, is evident from the statement of Pliny, that it was dug from the earth, like rock crystal.”— Henderson, p. 116.

"It is probable that the horns of animals served as the first drinking cups among most nations; and this form was retained in the earliest earthenware vessels, and, as luxury advanced, in those also which were made of the precious metals." Henderson, p. 115.

+"A more elegant method of cooling liquors came into vogue during the reign of Nero, to whom the invention was ascribed; namely, by placing water, which had been previously boiled, in a thin glass vessel surrounded with snow, so that it might be frozen without having its purity impaired.". Henderson, p. 107.

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