BOOK III.—EPITOME. (continued 2)

53. There is also another imitator of the same wisdom, [163]Pompeianus the Philadelphian; a man not destitute of shrewdness, but still a terrible wordcatcher: and he, conversing with his servant, calling him by name with a loud voice, said—"Strombichides, bring me to the gymnasium those intolerable slippers (he used the word ἀφορήτους, intending it to mean what he had never worn) and my useless (he used the word ἄχρηστος, by which he meant which he had never used) cloak. For I, as soon as I have bound up my beard, shall address my friends. For I have got some roast fish. And bring me a cruet of oil. For first of all we will be crushed (he used the word συντριβησόμεθον, meaning to say we will rub ourselves well), and then we will be utterly destroyed (his word was ἀπολούμεθον, and he meant to say we will have a bath)." And this same sophist, in the month of February, as the Romans call it, (and Juba the Mauritanian says that this month has its name[163:1] from the terrors caused by the spirits under the earth, and from the means used to get rid of those fears, at which season the greatest severity of winter occurs, and it is the custom of them to offer libations for many days to those who are dead:) in the month of February, I say, he said to one of his friends—"It is a long time since you have seen me, because of the heat." And when the festival of the Panathenæa was being celebrated, during which the courts of justice do not assemble, he said—"This is the birthday of the virgin goddess Minerva," (but he pronounced the word ἀλέκτορος, as if he had meant of the cock of Minerva,) "and this day is unjust," (for he [164]called it ἄδικος, though he meant the word to have the sense of being a holiday for the courts of law). And once he called a companion of ours who came back from Delphi without having received an answer from the god, ἄχρηστον, (which never means anything but useless, but he used the word for unanswered). And once when he was making a public display of his eloquence, and going through a long panegyric on the Queen of cities, he said, Most admirable is the Roman dominion, and ἀνυπόστατος (he meant irresistible).[164:1]

54. Such now, my friends, are Ulpian's companions, the sophists; men who call even the thing which the Romans call miliarium, that is to say, a vessel designed to prepare boiling water in, ἰπνολέβης, an oven-kettle; being manufacturers of many names, and far outrunning by many parasangs the Sicilian Dionysius: who called a virgin μένανδρος (from μένω and ἀνὴρ), because she is waiting for a husband; and a pillar μενεκράτης (from μένω and κράτος), because it remains and is strong. And a javelin he called βαλλάντιον, because (ἄντιον βάλλεται) it is thrown against something; and mouse-holes he called μυστήρια, mysteries, (from τηρεῖν τοὺς μῦς) because they keep the mice. And Athanis, in the first book of his History of the Affairs of Sicily, says that the same Dionysius gave an ox the name of γαρότας; and a pig he called ἴακχος. And Alexarchus was a man of the same sort, the brother of Cassander, who was king of Macedonia, who built the city called Uranopolis. And Heraclides Lembus speaks concerning him in the seventh book of his Histories, and says; "Alexarchus, who founded the city Uranopolis, imported many peculiar words and forms of speaking into the language: calling a cock ὀρθροβόας, or he that crows in the morn; and a barber βροτοκέρτης, or one who cuts men; and a drachm he called ἀργυρὶς, a piece of silver; and a chœnix he called ἡμεροτροφὶς, what feeds a man for a day; and a herald he called ἀπύτης, a bawler. And once he wrote a letter to the magistrates of the Cassandrians in this form:[164:2]—Ἀλέξαρχος ὁ μάρμων πρόμοις [165]γαθεῖν. τοὺς ἡλιοκρεῖς οἰῶν οἶδα λιποῦσα θεωτῶν ἔργων κρατήτορας μορσίμῳ τύχᾳ κεκυρωμένας θεοῦ πόγαις χυτλώσαντες αὐτοὺς, καὶ φύλακας ὀριγένεις." But what that letter means I think that even the Pythian Apollo himself could hardly tell. For, as Antiphanes says, in his Cleophanes,—

55. I know too that Simonides the poet, somewhere or other, has called Jupiter Ἀρίσταρχος, (meaning ἄριστος ἄρχων, best of rulers;) and Æschylus calls Pluto Ἀγησίλαος, (from ἄγειν τὸν λαὸν, collecting the people;) and Nicander the Colophonian called the asp, the animal, ἰοχέαιρα, poisonous, (from ἰὸs, poison, and χέω, to emit; though the word is usually applied to Diana in the sense of shooting arrows, because ἰὸs also means an arrow.)

And it is on account of these tricks and others like them that the divine Plato, in his Politics, after having said that some animals live on the dry land, and others in the water, and also, that there are some classes which are fed on dry food, others on moist food, and others which graze, giving the names of ξηροβατικὰ and ὑγροβατικὰ, and again, of ξηροτροφικὰ, ὑγροτροφικὰ and ξηρονομικὰ to the different kinds of animals, according as they live on the land, or in the water, or in the air—adds, by way of exhortation to those manufacturers of names to guard against novelty, the following sentence, word for word:—"And if you take care not to appear too anxious in making new names you will continue to old [166]age with a greater reputation for prudence." But I know that Herodes Atticus, a rhetorician, named the piece of wood which was put through his wheels when he was going in his chariot down steep places, τροχοπέδης, (as a fetter to the wheels.) Although Simaristus, in his Synonymes, had already given this piece of wood the name of ἐποχλεὺς, or the drag. And Sophocles the poet, in some one of his works, called a guardian a bolt, saying—

And, in another place, he has given an anchor the name of ἰσχὰς or the holder, because it κατέχει, holds the ship—

And Demades the orator said that Ægina was the "eyesore of the Peiræus," and that Samos was "a fragment broken off from the city." And he called the young men "the spring of the people;" and the wall he called "the garment of the city;" and a trumpeter he entitled "the common cock of the Athenians." But this word-hunting sophist used all sorts of far more far-fetched expressions. And whence, O Ulpian, did it occur to you to use the word κεχορτασμένος for satiated, when κορέω is the proper verb for that meaning, and χορτάζω means to feed?

56. In reply to this Ulpian said with a cheerful laugh,—But do not bark at me, my friend, and do not be savage with me, putting on a sort of hydrophobia, especially now that this is the season of the dog-days. You ought rather to fawn upon and be gentle towards your messmates, lest we should institute a festival for dog killing, in the place of that one which is celebrated by the Argives. For, my most sagacious gentleman, χορτάζομαι is used by Cratinus in his Ulysses in this way:—

And Menander, in his Trophonius, uses the word χορτασθεὶς in the same sense. And Aristophanes says in his Gerytades—

And Sophocles in his Tyro has—

And Eubulus in his Dolon—

And Sophilus says in his Phylarchus—

And Amphis says in his Uranus—

Now these statements, O Cynulcus, I am able to produce without any preparation; but to-morrow, or the day after, for that (ἔνη) is the name which Hesiod gave to the third day, I will satiate you with blows, if you do not tell me in whose works the word κοιλιοδαίμων, Belly-god, is to be found. And as he made no answer,—But, indeed, I myself will tell you this, O Cynic, that Eupolis called flatterers this, in his play of the same name. But I will postpone any proof of this statement until I have paid you the blows I owe you.

57. And so when every one had been well amused by these jokes,—But, said Ulpian, I will also give you now the statement about paunches which I promised you. For Alexis, in his play which is entitled Ponticus, jesting in a comic manner, says that Callimedon the orator, who was surnamed the Crab (and he was one of those who took part in the affairs of the state in the time of Demosthenes the orator)—

And Callimedon was a man very notorious for his fondness for dainties.

And Antiphanes also speaks of paunches in his Philometor, using these words—

And Euphron says in his Paradidomena—

[168] And Dioxippus in his Antipornoboscus—

And in his Historiographer, he says—

And Eubulus says in his Deucalion—

58. But Lynceus the Samian, the friend of Theophrastus, was acquainted with the use of paunches when eaten with Cyrenaic sauce. And accordingly, writing an account of the Banquet of Ptolemy, he says:—"A certain paunch having been brought round in vinegar and sauce." Antiphanes, too, mentions this sauce in his Unhappy Lovers, speaking of Cyrene—

And how much better a paunch of a castrated animal is, Hipparchus, who wrote the book called The Ægyptian Iliad, tells us in the following words—

And Sopater says in his Hippolytus—

And in his Physiologus he says—

And in his Silphæ he says—

59. But the ancients were not acquainted with the fashion of bringing on paunches, or lettuces, or anything of the sort, before dinner, as is done now. At all events Archestratus, the inventor of made dishes, as he calls himself, says that [169]pledges in drinking, and the use of ointments, are introduced after supper—

But Lynceus, describing the banquet given by Lamia, the female flute-player, when she entertained Demetrius Poliorcetes, represents the guests the moment they come to the banquet as eating all sorts of fish and meat; and in the same way, when speaking of the feast given by Antigonus the king, when celebrating the Aphrodisiac festival, and also one given by King Ptolemy, he speaks of fish as the first course; and then meat.

60. But one may well wonder at Archestratus, who has given us such admirable suggestions and injunctions, and who was a guide in the matter of pleasure to the philosopher Epicurus, when he counsels us wisely, in a manner equal to that of the bard[169:1] of Ascra, that we ought not to mind some people, but only attend to him; and he bids us eat such [170]and such things, differing in no respect from the cook in Damoxenus the comic writer, who says in his Syntrophi—

A. You see me here a most attentive pupil Of Epicurus, wisest of the Greeks, From whom in two years and ten months or less, I scraped together four good Attic talents.

B. What do you mean by this? I pray thee, tell me, Was he a cook, my master? That is news.

A. Ye gods! and what a cook! Believe me, nature Is the beginning and the only source Of all true wisdom. And there is no art At which men labour, which contains more wisdom. So this our art is easy to the man Who has drunk deep of nature's principles; They are his guides: and therefore, when you see A cook who is no scholar, nor has read The subtle lessons of Democritus, (Aye and he must remember them besides,) Laugh at him as an ass; and if you hire one Who knows not Epicurus and his rules, Discharge him straightway. For a cook must know, (I speak the words of sober truth, my friend,) How great the difference is in summer time Between the glaucisk of the winter-season; He must know all the fish the Pleiades Bring to us at their setting; what the solstice, Winter and summer, gives us eatable— For all the changes and the revolutions Are fraught with countless evil to mankind, Such changes do they cause in all their food. Dost thou not understand me? And remember, Whatever is in season must be good.

B. How few observe these rules.

A. From this neglect Come spasms, and the flatulence which ill Beseems a politic guest;—but all the food I give my parties, wholesome is, and good, Digestible and free from flatulence. Therefore its juice is easily dissolved, And penetrates the entire body's pores.

B. Juice, say you? This is not known to Democritus.

A. But all meats out of season make the eater Diseased in his joints.

B. You seem to me, To have studied too the art of medicine.

A. No doubt, and so does every one who seeks Acquaintance with his nature's mysteries. But see now, I do beg you by the gods, How ignorant the present race of cooks are. When thus you find them ignorant of the smell [171] Of all the varied dishes which they dress, And pounding sesame in all their sauce. What can be bad enough for such sad blunderers?

B. You seem to speak as any oracle.

A. What good can e'er arise, where every quality Is jumbled with its opposite in kind, How different soever both may be? Now to discern these things is art and skill, Not to wash dishes nor to smell of smoke. For I do never enter a strange cook-shop, But sit within such a distance as enables My eyes to comprehend what is within. My friends, too, do the same; I tell them all The causes and results. This bit is sour, Away with it; the man is not a cook, Though he perhaps may be a music master: Put in some fire; keep an equal heat. The first dish scarcely suits the rest. Do you Not see the form of th' art?

B. O, great Apollo!

A. What does this seem to you?

B. Pure skill; high art.

A. Then I no dishes place before my guests At random; but while all things correspond I regulate the whole, and will divide The whole as best may suit, in fours, or fives; And will consult each separate division— And satisfy each party. Then again, I stand afar off and directions give; Whence bring you that? what shall you mix with this? See how discordant those two dishes are! Take care and shun such blunders. That will do. Thus Epicurus did arrange his pleasures. Thus wisely did he eat. He, only wise, Saw what was good and what its nature was. The Stoics seek in vain for such discoveries, And know not good nor what the nature may be Of good; and so they have it not; nor know How to impart it to their friends and guests. Enough of this. Do'st not agree with me?

B. Indeed I do, all things are plain to me.

61. Plato, too, in his Joint Deceiver, introduces the father of a young man in great indignation, on the ground that his son's principles and way of living have been injured by his tutor; and he says—

A. You now have been the ruin of my son, You wretch, you have persuaded him t' embark In a course of life quite foreign to his habits And former inclinations. You have taught him To drink i' th' morning, quite beyond his wont.

[172] B. Do you blame me that he has learnt to live?

A. Call you this living?

B. So the wise do say: At all events the allwise Epicurus Tells us that pleasure is the only good.

A. No doubt, and nobody can entertain A different opinion. To live well Must be to rightly live; is it not so? Tell me, I pray thee, hast thou ever seen Any philosopher confused with wine? Or overtaken with those joys of yours?

B. Aye, all of them. Those who lift up their brows, Who look most solemn in the promenades, And in their daily conversation, Who turn their eyes away in high disdain If you put plaice or turbot on their board, Know for all that the fish's daintiest part. Seek out the head, the fins; the sound, the roe, And make men marvel at their gluttony.

62. And in Antiphanes, in his Soldier or in his Tycho, a man is introduced delivering rules in this way, saying—

And he says the same in his Hydria.

63. Now if any one, my friends, were to consider this, he would naturally and reasonably praise the honest Chrysippus, who examined accurately into the nature of Epicurus's philosophy, and said, "That the Gastrology of Archestratus was the metropolis of his philosophy;" which all the epicures of philosophers call the Theogony, as it were, that beautiful [173]epic poem; to whom Theognetus, in his Phasma or in his Miser, says—

64. While Ulpian was continuing to talk in this way, the servants came in bearing on some dishes some crabs bigger than Callimedon, the orator, who, because he was so very fond of this food was himself called the Crab. Accordingly, Alexis, in his Dorcis, or the Flatterer, (as also others of the comic poets do,) hands him down, as a general rule, as being most devoted to fish, saying—

But the taste of the crab is one which many people have been very much devoted to; as may be shown by many passages in different comedies; but at present Aristophanes will suffice, who in the Thesmophoriazusæ speaks as follows—

A. Has any fish been bought? a cuttle-fish, Or a broad squill, or else a polypus; Or roasted mullet, or perhaps some beet-root?

B. Indeed there was not.

A. Or a roach or dace?

B. Nothing of such a sort?

A. Was there no black-pudding, Nor tripe, nor sausage, nor boar's liver fried, No honeycomb, no paunch of pig, no eel, No mighty crab, with which you might recruit The strength of women wearied with long toil?

But by broad squills he must have meant what we call astaci, a kind of crab which Philyllius mentions in his Cities. [174]And Archestratus, in that famous poem of his where he never once mentions the crab by the name of κάραβος, does speak of the ἄστακος. As he does also in the following passage—

And Epicharmus, in his Hebe's Marriage, shows plainly that the ἄστακος spoken of by Archestratus is the same as the κάραβος, speaking as follows—

65. But the carabi, and astaci, and also carides or squills, are each a distinct genus. But the Athenians spell the name ἄστακος with an ο, ὄστακος, just as they also write ὀσταφίδας. But Epicharmus in his Earth and Sea says—

And Speusippus, in the second book of his Similarities, says that of soft-shelled animals the following are nearly like one another. The coracus, the astacus, the nymphe, the arctus, the carcinus, and the pagurus. And Diocles the Carystian says, "Carides, carcini, carabi, and astaci, are pleasant to the taste and diuretic." And Epicharmus has also mentioned the colybdæna in the lines I have quoted above; which Nicander calls the beauty of the sea; but Heraclides in his Cookery Book gives that name to the caris. But Aristotle, in the fifth book of his Parts of Animals, says, "Of soft-shelled animals the carabi, the astaci, the carides, and others of the same sort, are propagated like quadrupeds; and they breed at the beginning of spring; as indeed is no secret to anybody; but at times they breed when the fig begins to ripen.

Now carabi are found in rough and rocky places; but astaci in smooth ground; neither kind in muddy places: on which account there are astaci produced in the Hellespont and about Thasos; and carabi off Cape Sigeum and Mount Athos. But the whole race of crabs is long-lived. But Theophrastus, in his book on Animals who dive in Holes, [175]says that the astaci and carabi and carides all cast off their old age.

66. But concerning carides, Ephorus mentions in his first book that there is a city called Carides near the island of Chios; and he says that it was founded by Macar and those of his companions who were saved out of the deluge which happened in the time of Deucalion; and that to this very day the place is called Carides. But Archestratus, the inventor of made dishes, gives these recommendations—

But Araros in his Campylion has used the word καρῖδα with the penultima circumflexed and long—

And Eubulus says in his Orthane—

Anaxandrides says in his Lycurgus—

And the same poet says in his Pandarus—

And in his Cerkios he says—

And Eubulus says in his Grandmothers—

And Ophelion says in his Callæschrus—

And in his Ialemus we find—

But Eupolis, in his Goats, uses the word with the penultima short, (καρῐ́ δες), thus—

[176] And again in his People he says—

67. Now the carides were so called from the word κάρα, head. For the head takes up the greater part of them. But the Attic writers also use the word short in the same manner, in analogy with the quantity of κάρα, it being, as I said, called caris because of the size of its head; and so, as γραφὶς is derived from γραφὴ, and βολὶς from βολὴ, in like manner is καρὶς from κάρα. But when the penultima is made long the last syllable also is made long, and then the word is like ψηφὶς, and κρηπὶς, and τευθίς.

But concerning these shell-fish, Diphilus the Siphnian writes, "Of all shell-fish the caris, and astacus, and carabus, and carcinus, and lion, being all of the same genus, are distinguished by some differences. And the lion is larger than the astacus; and the carabi are called also grapsæi; but they are more fleshy than the carcini; but the carcinus is heavy and indigestible." But Mnesitheus the Athenian, in his treatise on Comestibles, says, "Carabi and carcini and carides, and such like; these are all indigestible, but still not nearly so much so as other fish: and they are better and more wholesome roast than boiled." But Sophron in his Gynæcea calls carides courides, saying—

And Epicharmus in his Land and Sea says—

And in his Logos and Logina he spells the word κωρίδες with an ω—

And Simonides says—

68. After this conversation there were brought in some dishes of fried liver; wrapped up in what is called the caul, or ἐπίπλοον, which Philetærus in his Tereus calls ἐπιπλοῖον. And Cynulcus looking on said,—Tell us, O wise Ulpian, whether there is such an expression anywhere as "liver rolled up." And he replied,—I will tell you if you will first show me [177]in whose works the word ἐπίπλους is used for the fat and the membrane which covers it. So as they were thus prepared for the discussion, Myrtilus said, The word ἐπίπλους is used by Epicharmus in the Bacchæ—

And again, in his Theari, he says—

And Ion of Chios, in his Epidemiæ, says—

So here, my friend Ulpian, you have plenty of authority for your ἐπίπλους. And you may wrap yourself up in it and burn yourself, and so release us from all these investigations. And, indeed, you ought to bear your own testimony to a liver having been prepared in this way; since you mentioned before, when we were inquiring about ears and feet, what Alexis said in his Crateua, or the Female Druggist. And the whole quotation is serviceable for many purposes, and since you at the moment fail to recollect it, I myself will repeat it to you.

The Comedian says this—

69.

70. But that it was the fashion for liver to be wrapped up in a caul is stated by Hegesander the Delphian in his Memorials, where he says that Metanira the courtesan, having got a piece of the lungs of the animal in the liver which was thus wrapped up, as soon as she had unfolded the outer coat of fat and seen it, cried out—

And perhaps it was because of its being in this state that Crobylus the comic poet called the liver modest; as Alexis also does in his Pseudypobolemæus, speaking as follows—

But Aristophanes uses the diminutive form ἡπάτιον in his Tagenistæ, and so does Alcæus in the Palæstra, and Eubulus in his Deucalion. And the first letter of ἧπαρ and ἡπάτιον must be aspirated. For a synalœpha is used by Archilochus with the aspirate; when he says—

There is also a fish which is called ἥπατος, which Eubulus himself mentions in his Lacedæmonians or Leda, and says that it has no gall in it—

But Hegesander, in his Memorials, says, that the hepatos has in its head two stones, like pearls in brilliancy and colour, and in shape something like a turbot.

71. But Alexis speaks of fried fish in his Demetrius, as he does also in the before-mentioned play. And Eubulus says, in his Orthane—

I have also eaten cuttle-fish fried. But Nicostratus or Philetærus says, in the Antyllus—I never again will venture to eat cuttle-fish which has been dressed in a frying-pan. But Hegemon, in his Philinna, introduces men eating the roe fried, saying—

72. Ulpian was not pleased at this; and being much vexed, he looked at us, and repeating these iambics from the Orthanus of Eubulus, said—

For certainly I well know that he never ate any of these things at his own expense; and I heard as much from one of his own servants, who once quoted me these iambics from the Pornoboscus of Eubulus—

But as the young man was well educated, and that not by Myrtilus, but by some one else, when I asked him how he fell in with the young Myrtilus, he repeated to me these lines from the Neottis of Antiphanes—

73. While Ulpian went on jesting in this manner, Cynulcus cried out—I want some bread; and when I say bread ἄrtos [180]I do not mean Artus king of the Messapians, the Messapians, I mean, in Iapygia, concerning whom there is a treatise among Polemo's works. And Thucydides also mentions him, in his seventh book, and Demetrius the comic writer speaks of him in the drama entitled Sicily, using the following language—

But this is not the time for speaking of that Artus, but of the other, which was discovered by Ceres, surnamed Sito (food), and Simalis. For those are the names under which the Goddess is worshipped by the Syracusans, as Polemo himself reports in his book about Morychus. But in the first book of his treatise addressed to Timæus, he says, that in Scolus, a city of Bœotia, statues are erected to Megalartus (the God or Goddess of great bread), and to Megalomazus (the God or Goddess of abundant corn). So when the loaves were brought, and on them a great quantity of all kinds of food, looking at them, he said—

as Alexis says in his play, The Girl sent to the Well. And so now let us say something about bread.

74. But Pontianus anticipating him, said; Tryphon of Alexandria, in the book entitled the Treatise on Plants, mentions several kinds of loaves; if I can remember them accurately, the leavened loaf, the unleavened loaf, the loaf made of the best wheaten flour, the loaf made of groats, the loaf made of remnants (and this he says is more digestible than that which is made only of the best flour), the loaf made of rye, the loaf made of acorns, the loaf made of millet. The loaf made of groats, said he, is made of oaten groats, for groats are not made of barley. And from a peculiar way of baking or roasting it, there is a loaf called ipnites (or the oven loaf) which Timocles mentions in his Sham Robbers, where he says—

[181] There is another kind called escharites (or the hearth-loaf), and this is mentioned by Antidotus in the Protochorus—

And Crobylus says, in his Strangled Man—

And Lynceus the Samian, in his letter to Diagoras, comparing the eatables in vogue at Athens with those which were used at Rhodes, says—"And moreover, while they talk a great deal about their bread which is to be got in the market, the Rhodians at the beginning and middle of dinner put loaves on the table which are not at all inferior to them; but when they have given over eating and are satisfied, then they introduce a most agreeable dish, which is called the hearth-loaf, the best of all loaves; which is made of sweet things, and compounded so as to be very soft, and it is made up with such an admirable harmony of all the ingredients as to have a most excellent effect; so that often a man who is drunk becomes sober again, and in the same way a man who has just eaten to satiety is made hungry again by eating of it."

There is another kind of loaf called tabyrites, of which Sopater, in his Cnidia, says—The tabyrites loaf was one which fills the cheeks.

There was also a loaf called the achæinas. And this loaf is mentioned by Semus, in the eighth book of his Delias; and he says that is made by the women who celebrate the Thesmophoria. They are loaves of a large size. And the festival is called Megalartia, which is a name given to it by those who carry these loaves, who cry—"Eat a large achæinas, full of fat."

There is another loaf called cribanites, or the pan-loaf. This is mentioned by Aristophanes, in his Old Age. And he introduces a woman selling bread, complaining that her loaves have been taken from her by those who have got rid of the effects of their old age—

A. What was the matter?

B. My hot loaves, my son.

A. Sure you are mad?

B. My nice pan-loaves, my son, So white, so hot. . . . . .

[182] There is another loaf called the encryphias, or secret loaf. And this is mentioned by Nicostratus, in his Hierophant, and Archestratus the inventor of made dishes, whose testimony I will introduce at the proper season.

There is a loaf also called dipyrus, or twice-baked. Eubulus says, in his Ganymede—

And Alcæus says, in his Ganymede—

There is another loaf, called laganum. This is very light, and not very nutritious; and the loaf called apanthracis is even less nutritious still. And Aristophanes mentions the laganum in his Ecclesiazusæ, saying—

And the apanthracis is mentioned by Diocles the Carystian, in the first book of his treatise on Wholesomes, saying—"The apanthracis is more tender than the laganum: and it appears that it is made on the coals, like that called by the Attic writers encryphias, which the Alexandrians consecrate to Saturn, and put them in the temple of Saturn for every one to eat who pleases."

75. And Epicharmus, in his Hebe's Marriage, and in his Muses (and this play is an emendation of the former one), thus enumerates the different kinds of loaves—"The pan-loaf, the homorus, the statites, the encris, the loaf made of meal, the half loaf," which Sophron also mentions in his Female Actors, saying—

And I know, my friends, that the Athenians spell this word with a ρ, writing κρίβανον and κριβανίτης; but Herodotus, in the second book of his history, writes it with a λ, saying κλιβάνῳ διαφανεῖ. And so Sophron said—

And the same writer also speaks of a loaf which he calls πλακίτης, saying in his Gynæcea—

Sophron also mentions tyron bread, or bread compounded with cheese, saying in the play called the Mother-in-law—

And Nicander of Colophon, in his Dialects, calls unleavened bread δάρατος. And Plato the comic writer, in his Long Night, calls large ill-made loaves Cilician, in these words—

And in the drama entitled Menelaus, he calls some loaves agelæi, or common loaves. There is also a loaf mentioned by Alexis, in his Cyprian, which he calls autopyrus—

And Phrynichus, in his Poastriæ, speaks of the same loaves, calling them autopyritæ, saying—

And Sophocles makes mention of a loaf called orindes, in his Triptolemus, which has its name from being made of rice ὄρυζα, or from a grain raised in Æthiopia, which resembles sesamum.

Aristophanes also, in his Tagenistæ, or the Fryers, makes mention of rolls called collabi, and says—

And in a subsequent passage he says—

And these rolls are made of new wheat as Philyllius declares in his Auge—

There is also a kind of loaf called maconidæ, mentioned by Alcman, in his fifteenth book, in these terms—"There were seven couches for the guests, and an equal number of tables of maconidæ loaves, crowned with a white tablecloth, and with sesamum, and in handsome dishes." Chrysocolla are a food made of honey and flax.[183:1]

[184] There is also a kind of loaf called collyra, mentioned by Aristophanes in his Peace—

And in his Holcades he says—

76. There is a loaf also called the obelias, or the penny loaf, so called because it is sold for a penny, as in Alexandria; or else because it is baked on small spits. Aristophanes, in his Farmers, says—

And Pherecrates, in his Forgetful Man, says—

And the men who in the festivals carried these penny rolls on their shoulders were called ὀβελιαφόροι. And Socrates, in his sixth book of his Surnames, says that it was Bacchus who invented the penny roll on his expeditions. There is a roll called etnites, the same which is also named lecithites, according to the statement of Eucrates.

The Messapians call bread πανὸς, and they call satiety πανία, and those things which give a surfeit they call πάνια; at least, those terms are used by Blæsus, in his Mesotriba, and by Archilochus, in his Telephus, and by Rhinthon, in his Amphitryon. And the Romans call bread panis.

Nastus is a name given to a large loaf of leavened bread, according to the statement of Polemarchus and Artemidorus. But the Heracleon is a kind of cheesecake. And Nicostratus says, in his Sofa—

The name of bread among the Ionians was cnestus, as Artemidorus the Ephesian states in his Memorials of Ionia. Thronus was the name of a particular kind of loaf, as it is stated by Neanthes of Cyzicus, in the second book of his Grecian History, where he writes as follows—"But Codrus [185]takes a slice of a loaf of the kind called thronus, and a piece of meat, such as they give to the old men."

There is, among the Elians, a kind of loaf baked on the ashes which they call bacchylus, as Nicander states in the second book of his treatise On Dialects. And Diphilus mentions it in his Woman who went Astray, in these words—

The thing called ἀποπυρίας is also a kind of roll; and that also is baked on the ashes; and by some it is called ζυμίτης, or leavened. Cratinus, in his Effeminate People—

77. And Archestratus, in his Gastronomy, thus speaks of flour and of rolls—

The epicure Archestratus says this; and he counsels us to have a Phœnician or Lydian slave for a baker; for he was not ignorant that the best makers of loaves come from Cappadocia. And he speaks thus—

[186] 78. Antiphanes also speaks of the Athenian loaves as preeminently good, in his Omphale, saying—

This is that Thearion the celebrated baker, whom Plato makes mention of in the Gorgias, joining him and Mithæcus in the same catalogue, writing thus. "Those who have been or are skilful providers for the body you enumerated with great anxiety; Thearion the baker, and Mithæcus who wrote the treatise called the Sicilian Cookery, and Sarambus the innkeeper, saying that they were admirable providers for the body, the one preparing most excellent loaves of bread, and the other preparing meat, and the other wine." And Aristophanes, in the Gerytades and Œolosicon, speaks in this manner—

And Eubulus makes mention of Cyprian loaves as exceedingly good, in his Orthane, using these words—

And Ephippus, in his Diana, makes mention of the κολλίκιοι loaves (and they are the same as the κόλλαβοι) in these terms—

Aristophanes also says, in his Acharnensians—

79. When the conversation had gone on this way, one of the grammarians present, whose name was Arrian, said—This food is as old as the time of Saturn, my friends; for we are not rejoicing in meal, for the city is full of bread, nor in all this catalogue of loaves. But since I have fallen in with another treatise of Chrysippus of Tyana, which is entitled a treatise on the Art of Making Bread; and since I have had experience of the different recipes given in it at the houses [187]of many of my friends, I will proceed to say something myself also on the subject of loaves. The kind of loaf which is called ἀρτοπτίκινος, differs in some respect from that made in a pan, and from that made in an oven. But if you make it with hard leaven, it will be bright and nice, so that it may be eaten dry; but if it be made with a looser leaven, then it will be light but not bright. But the loaf which is made in a pan, and that which is made in an oven, require a softer kind of leaven. And among the Greeks there is a kind of bread which is called tender, being made up with a little milk and oil, and a fair quantity of salt; and one must make the dough for this bread loose. And this kind of loaf is called the Cappadocian, since tender bread is made in the greatest quantities in Cappadocia. But the Syrians call loaves of this kind λαχμὴ; and it is the best bread made in Syria, because it can be eaten hot; and it is like a flower. But there is also a loaf called boletinus, from being made like a mushroom, and the kneading-trough is smeared with poppies plastered over the bottom of it, on which the dough is placed, and by this expedient it is prevented from sticking to the trough while the leaven is mixed in. But when it is put in the oven, then some groats are spread under on a tile, and then the bread is put on it, and it gets a most beautiful colour, like cheese which has been smoked.

There is also a kind of bread called strepticias, which is made up with a little milk, and pepper and a little oil is added, and sometimes suet is substituted. And a little wine, and pepper, and milk, and a little oil, or sometimes suet, is employed in making the cake called artolaganum. But for making the cakes called capuridia tracta, you mix the same ingredients that you do for bread, and the difference is in the baking.

80. So when the mighty sophist of Rome had enunciated these precepts of Aristarchus, Cynulcus said—O Ceres, what a wise man! It is not without reason that the admirable Blepsias has pupils as the sand of the sea in number, and has amassed wealth from this excellent wisdom of his, beyond all that was acquired by Gorgias or Protagoras. So that I am afraid, by the goddesses, to say whether he himself is blind, or whether those who have entrusted his pupils to him have all but one eye, so as scarcely to be able to see, numerous [188]as they are. Happy are they, or rather blessed ought I to call them, whose masters treat them to such divine lectures. And in reply to this Magnus, a man fond of the table, and very much inclined to praise this grammarian to excess, because of the abundance of his learning, said—But ye—

as Eubulus says—did not your father Diogenes, once when he was eagerly eating a cheesecake at a banquet, say to some one who put the question to him, that he was eating bread excellently well made? But as for you, you

as the same poet, Eubulus, says, you keep on speaking without ever giving place to others; and you are never quiet until some one throws you a crust or a bone, as he would do to a dog. How do you come to know that cubi (I do not mean those which you are continually handling) are a kind of loaf, square, seasoned with anise, and cheese, and oil, as Heraclides says in his Cookery Book? But Blepsias overlooked this kind, as also he did the thargelus, which some call the thalysius. But Crates, in the second book of his treatise on the Attic Dialect, says that the thargelus is the first loaf made after the carrying home of the harvest. The loaf made of sesame he had never seen, nor that which is called anastatus, which is made for the Arrephori.[188:1] There is also a loaf called the pyramus, made of sesame, and perhaps being the same as the sesamites. But Trypho mentions all these different kinds in the first book of his treatise on Plants, as he also does those which are called thiagones. And these last are loaves made for the gods in Ætolia. There are also loaves called dramices and araxis among the Athamanes.

81. And the writers of books on dialects give lists of the names of different loaves. Seleucus speaks of one called dramis, which bears this name among the Macedonians; and of another called daratus by the Thessalians. And he speaks of the etnites, saying that it is the same as the lecithites, [189]that is to say, made of the yolks of eggs and of pulse. And he says that the loaf called ἐρικίτης, has its name from being made of wheat crushed (ἐρηριγμένος), and not sifted, and of groats. And Amerias speaks of a loaf called xeropyrites, made of pure wheat, and nothing else; and so does Timachidas. But Nicander says that thiagones is the name given by the Ætolians to those loaves which are made for the gods. The Egyptians have a bread which is rather bitter, which they call cyllastis. And Aristophanes speaks of it in his Danaides, saying—

Hecatæus, too, and Herodotus mention it; and so does Phanodemus, in the seventh book of his Attic History. But Nicander of Thyatira says, that it is bread made of barley which is called cyllastis by the Egyptians. Alexis calls dirty loaves phæi, in his Cyprian, saying—

A. Then you are come at last?

B. Scarce could I find Of well-baked loaves enough——

A. A plague upon you; But what now have you got?

B. I bring with me Sixteen, a goodly number; eight of them Tempting and white, and just as many phæi.

And Seleucus says that there is a very closely made hot bread which is called blema. And Philemon, in the first book of his Oracles, "Useful Things of Every Kind," says—that bread made of unsifted wheat, and containing the bran and everything, is called πυρνός. He says, too, that there are loaves which are called blomilii, which have divisions in them, which the Romans call quadrati. And that bread made of bran is called brattime, which Amerias and Timachidas call euconon or teuconon. But Philetas, in his Miscellanies, says that there is a kind of loaf which is called spoleus, which is only eaten by relations when assembled together.

82. Now you may find barley-cakes mentioned in his writings by Tryphon, and by many other authors. Among the Athenians it is called phystes, not being too closely kneaded. There is also the cardamale, and the berex, and the tolype, and the Achilleum; and perhaps that is a cake which is made of the Achillean barley. Then there is the [190]thridakina, so named from lettuce; the œnutta, so called from wine; the melitutta, from honey; and the crinon, the name of which is derived from the lily, which last is also the name of a choral dance, mentioned by Apollophanes, in the Dalis. But the cakes called thridaciscæ by Alcman, are the same as the Attic thridacinæ. But Alcman speaks thus—

And Sosibius, in the third book of his essay on Alcman, says, that cribana is a name given to a peculiar kind of cheesecake, in shape like a breast. But the barley cake, which is given in sacrifices to be tasted by the sacrificers, is called hygea. And there is also one kind of barley cake which is called by Hesiod amolgæa.

And he calls it the cake of the shepherds, and very strengthening. For the word ἀμολγὸς means that which is in the greatest vigour. But I may fairly beg to be excused from giving a regular list (for I have not a very unimpeachable memory) of all the kinds of biscuits and cakes which Aristomenes the Athenian speaks of in the third book of his treatise on Things pertaining to the Sacred Ceremonies. And we ourselves were acquainted with that man, though we were young, and he was older than we. And he was an actor in the Old Comedy, a freedman of that most accomplished king Adrian, and called by him the Attic partridge.

And Ulpian said—By whom is the word freedman (ἀπελεύθερος) ever used? And when some one replied that there was a play with that title—namely, the Freedman of Phrynichus, and that Menander, in his Beaten Slave, had the word freedwoman (ἀπελευθέρα), and was proceeding to mention other instances; he asked again—What is the difference between ἀπελεύθερος[190:1] and ἐξελεύθερος. However, it was agreed upon to postpone this part of the discussion for the present.

83. And Galen, when we were just about to lay hands on the loaves, said—We will not begin supper until you have heard what the sons of the Asclepiadæ have said about loaves, and cheesecakes, and meal, and flour. Diphilus the Siphnian, [191]in his treatise on What is Wholesome to be eaten by People in Health and by Invalids, says, "Loaves made of wheat are by far more nutritious and by far more digestible than those made of barley, and are in every respect superior to them; and the next best are those which are made of similago; and next to those come the loaves made of sifted flour, and next to them those called syncomisti, which are made of unsifted meal;—for these appear to be more nutritious." But Philistion the Locrian says "that the loaves made of similago are superior to those made of groats, as far as their strengthening properties go; and next to them he ranks loaves made of groats, then those made of sifted flour. But the rolls made of bran give a much less wholesome juice, and are by far less nutritious. And all bread is more digestible when eaten hot than cold, and it is also more digestible then, and affords a pleasanter and more wholesome juice; nevertheless, hot bread is apt to cause flatulence, though it is not the less digestible for that; while cold bread is filling and indigestible. But bread which is very stale and cold is less nutritious, and is apt to cause constipation of the bowels, and affords a very unpleasant juice. The bread called encryphiasis is heavy and difficult of digestion, because it is not baked in an equal manner; but that which is called ipnites and caminites is indigestible and apt to disagree with people. That called escharites, and that which is fried, is more easily secreted because of the admixture of oil in it, but is not so good for the stomach, on account of the smell which there is about it. But the bread called 'the clibanites' has every possible good quality; for it gives a pleasant and wholesome juice, and is good for the stomach, and is digestible, and agrees exceedingly well with every one, for it never clogs the bowels, and never relaxes them too much."

But Andreas the physician says that there are loaves in Sicily made of the sycamine, and that those who eat them lose their hair and become bald. Mnesitheus says "that wheat-bread is more digestible than barley-bread, and that those which are made with the straw in them are exceedingly nutritious; for they are the most easily digested of all food. But bread which is made of rye, if it be eaten in any quantity, is heavy and difficult of digestion; on which account those who eat it do not keep their health." But you should know that corn [192]which has not been exposed to the fire, and which has not been ground, causes flatulence, and heaviness, and vertigo, and headache.

84. After all this conversation it seemed good to go to supper. And when the Uræum was carried round, Leonidas said, "Euthydemus the Athenian, my friends, in his treatise on Pickles, says that Hesiod has said with respect to every kind of pickle—

Now these verses appear to me to be the work of some cook rather than of that most accomplished Hesiod; for how is it possible for him to have spoken of Parium or Byzantium, and still more of Tarentum and the Bruttii and the Campanians, when he was many years more ancient than any of these places or tribes? So it seems to me that they are the verses of Euthydemus himself."

And Dionysiocles said, "Whoever wrote the verses, my good Leonidas, is a matter which you all, as being grammarians of the highest reputation, are very capable of deciding. But since the discussion is turning upon pickles and salt fish, concerning which I recollect a proverb which was thought deserving of being quoted by Charchus the Solensian,—

[193] I too myself will say a word on the subject, which is not unconnected with my own art.

85. Diocles the Carystian, in his treatise on the Wholesomes, as it is entitled, says, "Of all salt-fish which are destitute of fat, the best is the horæum; and of all that are fat, the best is the tunny-fish." But Icesius says, "that neither the pelamydes nor the horæa are easily secreted by the stomach; and that the younger tunnies are similar in most respects to the cybii, but that they have a great superiority over those which are called horæa." And he says the same of the Byzantine horæa, in comparison with those which are caught in other places. And he says "that not only the tunnies, but that all other fish caught at Byzantium is superior to that which is caught elsewhere."

To this Daphnus the Ephesian added,—Archestratus, who sailed round the whole world for the sake of finding out what was good to eat, and what pleasures he could derive from the use of his inferior members, says—

But that epicure Archestratus has omitted to enumerate the pickle-juice called elephantine, which is spoken of by Crates the comic poet, in his Samians; who says of it—

But that the elephantine pickle of Crates was very celebrated Aristophanes bears witness, in his Thesmophoriazusæ, in these words—

86. And there was another kind, which Alexis calls raw pickle, in his Apeglaucomenos. And the same poet, in his Wicked Woman, introduces a cook talking about the preparation of salt-fish and pickled fish, in the following verses:—

And, in his Apeglaucomenos, a man being asked for his contribution to the feast, says—

A. Indeed you shall not half a farthing draw From me, unless you name each separate dish.

B. That reasonable is.

A. Well, bring a slate And pencil; now your items.

B. First, there is Raw pickled fish, and that will fivepence cost.

A. What next?

B. Some mussels, sevenpence for them.

A. Well, there's no harm in that. What follows next?

B. A pennyworth of urchins of the sea.

A. Still I can find no fault.

B. The next in order Is fine dish of cabbage, which you said . . .

A. Well, that will do.

B. For that I paid just twopence.

A. What was't I said?

B. A cybium for threepence.

A. But are you sure you've nought embezzled here?

B. My friend, you've no experience of the market; You know not how the grubs devour the greens.

A. But how is that a reason for your charging A double price for salt-fish?

B. The greengrocer Is also a salt-fishmonger; go and ask him. [195] A conger, tenpence.

A. That is not too much. What next?

B. I bought a roast fish for a drachma.

A. Bah! how he runs on now towards the end, As if a fever had o'ertaken him.

B. Then add the wine, of which I bought three gallons When you were drunk, ten obols for each gallon.

87. And Icesius says, in the second book of his treatise on the Materials of Nourishment, that pelamydes are a large kind of cybium. And Posidippus speaks of the cybium, in his Transformed. But Euthydemus, in his treatise on Salt Fish, says that the fish called the Delcanus is so named from the river Delcon, where it is taken; and then, when pickled and salted, it is very good indeed for the stomach. But Dorion, in his book on Fishes, calls the leptinus the lebianus, and says, "that some people say that is the same fish as the delcanus; and that the ceracinus is called by many people the saperdes; and that the best are those which come from the Palus Mæotis. And he says that the mullet which are caught about Abdera are excellent; and next to them, those which are caught near Sinope; and that they, when pickled and salted, are very good for the stomach. But those, he says, which are called mulli are by some people called agnotidia, and by some platistaci, though they are all the same fish; as also is the chellares. For that he, being but one fish, has received a great variety of names; for that he is called a bacchus, and an oniscus, and a chellares. And those of the larger size are called platistaci, and those of middle size mulli, and those which are but small are called agnotidia. But Aristophanes also mentions the mulli, in his Holcades—

88. When Dionysiocles was silent upon this, Varus the grammarian said,—But Antiphanes the poet, also, in his Deucalion, mentions these kinds of pickled salt-fish, where he says—

And in his Parasite he says—

And Nicostratus or Philetærus, in his Antyllus, says—

And a little further on, he proceeds—

After this Ulpian, looking upon Plutarch, chimed in,—It seems to me that no one, in all that has been said, has included the Mendesian fish, which are so much fancied by you gentlemen of Alexandria; though I should have thought that a mad dog would scarcely touch them; nor has any one mentioned the hemineri or half-fresh fish, which you think so good, nor the pickled shads. And Plutarch replied,—The heminerus, as far as I know, does not differ from the half-pickled fish which have been already mentioned, and which your elegant Archestratus speaks of; but, however, Sopater the Paphian has mentioned the heminerus, in his Slave of Mystacus, saying—

And the same man includes the Mendesian in his list—

And all those who have tried, know that these dishes are by far more delicate and agreeable than the vegetables and figs which you make such a fuss about. Tell us now also, whether the word τάριχος is used in the masculine gender by the Attic writers; for we know it is by Epicharmus.

89. And while Ulpian was thinking this over with himself, Myrtilus, anticipating him, said,—Cratinus, in his Dionysalexander, has—

(where he uses τάριχοι as masculine;) and Plato, in his Jupiter Illtreated, says—

And Aristophanes says, in his Daitaleis—

And Crates says, in his Beasts—

But the noun is formed in a very singular manner by Hermippus, in his Female Bread-Sellers—

And Sophocles says, in his Phineus—

Aristophanes has also treated us to a diminutive form of the word, in his Peace—

And Cephisodorus says, in his Pig—

And Pherecrates, in his Deserters, has—

Epicharmus also uses the word in the masculine gender, ὁ τάριχος. And Herodotus does the same in his ninth book; where he says—"The salt-fish (οἱ τάριχοι) lying on the fire, leaped about and quivered." And the proverbs, too, in which the word occurs, have it in the masculine gender:—

But the Attic writers often use it as a neuter word; and the genitive case, as they use it, is τοῦ ταρίχους. Chionides says, in his Beggars—

And the dative is ταρίχει, like ξίφει—

And Menander uses it τάριχος, in the accusative case, in his Man selecting an Arbitrator—

[198] But when the word is masculine the genitive case does not end with σ.

90. The Athenians were so fond of pickled fish that they enrolled as citizens the sons of Chærephilus the seller of salt-fish; as Alexis tells us, in his Epidaurus, when he says—

And when Timocles once saw them on horseback, he said that two tunny-fish were among the Satyrs. And Hyperides the orator mentions them too. And Antiphanes speaks of Euthynus the seller of pickled fish, in his Couris, in these terms:—

And Alexis, in his Hippiscus, and again in his Soraci, makes mention of Phidippus; and he too was a dealer in salt-fish—

91. And while we were eating the salt-fish and getting very anxious to drink, Daphnus said, holding up both his hands,—Heraclides of Tarentum, my friends, in his treatise entitled The Banquet, says, "It is good to take a moderate quantity of food before drinking, and especially to eat such dishes as one is accustomed to; for from the eating of things which have not been eaten for a long time the wine is apt to be turned sour, so as not to sit on the stomach, and many twinges and spasms are often originated. But some people think that these also are bad for the stomach; I mean, all kinds of vegetables and salted fish, since they possess qualities apt to cause pangs; but that glutinous and invigorating food is the most wholesome,—being ignorant that a great many of the things which assist the secretions are, on the contrary, very good for the stomach; among which is the plant called sisarum, (which Epicharmus speaks of, in his Agrostinus, and also in his Earth and Sea; and so does Diocles, in the first book of his treatise on the Wholesomes;) and asparagus and white beet, (for the black beet is apt to check the secretions,) and cockles, and solens, and sea mussels, and chemæ, and periwinkles, and perfect pickles, and salt-fish, which are void of [199]smell, and many kinds of juicy fishes. And it is good that, before the main dinner, there should be served up what is called salad, and beet-root, and salt-fish, in order that by having the edge of our appetite taken off we may go with less eagerness to what is not equally nutritious. But at the beginning of dinner it is best to avoid abundant draughts; for they are bad as generating too great a secretion of humours in the body.

"But the Macedonians, according to the statement of Ephippus the Olynthian, in his treatise Concerning the Burial of Alexander and Hephæstion, had no notion of moderation in drinking, but started off at once with enormous draughts before eating, so as to be drunk before the first course was off the table, and to be unable to enjoy the rest of the banquet."

92. But Diphilus the Siphnian says, "The salt pickles which are made of fish, whether caught in the sea, or in the lake, or in the river, are not very nourishing, nor very juicy, but are inflammatory, and act strongly on the bowels, and are provocative of desire. But the best of them are those which are made of animals devoid of fat, such as cybia, and horæa, and other kinds like them. And of fat fish, the best are the different kinds of tunny, and the young of the tunny; for the old ones are larger and harsher to the taste; and above all, the Byzantine tunnies are so. But the tunny, says he, is the same as the larger pelamys, the small kind of which is the same as the cybium, to which species the horæum also belongs. But the sarda is of very nearly the same size as the colias. And the scombrus is a light fish, and one which the stomach easily gets rid of; but the colias is a glutinous fish, very like a squill, and apt to give twinges, and has an inferior juice, but nevertheless is nutritious. And the best are those which are called the Amyclæan, and the Spanish, which is also called the Saxitan; for they are lighter and sweeter."

But Strabo, in the third book of his work on Geography, says that near the Islands of Hercules,[199:1] and off the city of Carthagena, is a city named Sexitania, from which the salt-fish above-mentioned derive their name; and there is another city called Scombroaria, so called from the scombri which are caught in its neighbourhood, and of them the best sauce is made. But there are also fish which are called melandryæ, [200]which are mentioned by Epicharmus also, in his Ulysses the Deserter, in this way—

But the melandrys is the largest description of tunny, as Pamphilus explains in his treatise on Names; and that when preserved is very rich and oily.

93. "But the raw pickle called omotarichum," says Diphilus, "is called by some people cetema. It is a heavy sticky food, and moreover very indigestible. But the river coracinus, which some people call the peltes, the one from the Nile, I mean, which the people at Alexandria have a peculiar name for, and call the heminerus, is rather fat, and has a juice which is far from disagreeable; it is fleshy, nutritious, easily digestible, not apt to disagree with one, and in every respect superior to the mullet. Now the roe of every fish, whether fresh or dried and salted, is indigestible and apt to disagree. And the most so of all is the roe of the more oily and larger fish; for that remains harder for a long time, and is not decomposed. But it is not disagreeable to the taste when seasoned with salt and roasted. Every one, however, ought to soak dried and salted fish until the water becomes free from smell, and sweet. But dried sea-fish when boiled becomes sweeter; and they are sweeter too when eaten hot than cold." And Mnesitheus the Athenian, in his treatise on Comestibles, says, "Those juices which are salt, and those which are sweet, all have an effect in relaxing the bowels; but those which are sharp and harsh are strongly diuretic. Those too which are bitter are generally diuretic, but some of them also relax the bowels. Those which are sour, however, check the secretions."

And Xenophon, that most accomplished of writers, in his treatise entitled Hiero, or the Tyrant, abuses all such food, and says, "For what, said Hiero, have you never noticed all the multitudinous contrivances which are set before tyrants, acid, and harsh, and sour; and whatever else there can be of the same kind?—To be sure I have, said Simonides, and all those things appeared to me to be very contrary to the natural taste of any man. And do you think, said Hiero, that these dishes are anything else but the fancies of a diseased and vitiated taste; since those who eat with appetite, you [201]well know, have no need of these contrivances and provocatives?"

94. After this had been said, Cynulcus asked for some spiced and boiled water to drink; saying that he must wash down all those salt arguments with sweet drink. And Ulpian said to him with some indignation, and slapping his pillow with his hand,—How long will it be before you leave off your barbarian tricks? Will you never stop till I am forced to leave the party and go away, being unable to digest all your absurd speeches? And he replied,—Now that I am at Rome, the Sovereign City, I use the language of the natives habitually; for among the ancient poets, and among those prose writers who pique themselves on the purity of their Greek, you may find some Persian nouns, because of their having got into a habit of using them in conversation. As for instance, one finds mention made of parasangs, and astandæ, and angari (couriers), and a schœnus or perch, which last word is used either as a masculine or feminine noun, and it is a measure on the road, which retains even to this day that Persian name with many people. I know, too, that many of the Attic writers affect to imitate Macedonian expressions, on account of the great intercourse that there was between Attica and Macedonia. But it would be better, in my opinion,

than to fall into your power. For I could not say, to drink the water of bulls; as to which you do not know what it is. Nor do you know that even among the very best poets and prose writers there are some things said which are not quite allowable. Accordingly Cephisodorus, the pupil of Isocrates the orator, in the third of his treatises addressed to Aristotle, says that a man might find several things expressed incorrectly by the other poets and sophists; as for instance, the expression used by Archilochus, That every man was immodest; and that apophthegm of Theodorus, That a man ought to get all he can, but to praise equality and moderation; and also, the celebrated line of Euripides about the tongue[201:1] having spoken; and even, by Sophocles, the lines which occur in the Æthiopians—

And in another place the same poet says—

And in Homer, we find Juno represented as plotting against Jupiter, and Mars committing adultery. And for these sentiments and speeches those writers are universally blamed.

95. If therefore I have committed any errors, O you hunter of fine names and words, do not be too angry with me; for, according to Timotheus of Miletus, the poet,—

And Antiphanes says, in his Alcestis—

And I will prove to you, that the ancients were acquainted with the water which is called dicoctas, in order that you may not be indignant again, when I speak of boiled and spiced water. For, according to the Pseudheracles of Pherecrates—

But do not grudge, I entreat you, said Ulpian, to explain to me what is the nature of that Bull's water which you spoke of; for I have a great thirst for such words. And Cynulcus said,—But I pledge you, according to your fancy; you thirst for words, taking a desire from Alexis, out of his Female Pythagorean,

But it was Sophocles, my friend, who spoke of Bull's water, in his Ægeus, from the river Taurus near Trœzen, in the neighbourhood of which there is a fountain called Hyoëssa.

[203] 96. But the ancients did also at times use very cold water in their draughts before dinner. But I will not tell you, unless you first teach me, whether the ancients were in the habit of drinking warm water at their banquets. For if their cups got their name[203:1] from what took place in reference to them, and if they were set before the guests full of mixed liquors, then they certainly did not contain warm drink, and were not put on the fire like kettles. For that they were in the habit of drinking warm water Eupolis proves, in his Demi—

And Antiphanes says, in his Omphale—

And, in his Anointing Woman, (but this play is attributed to Alexis also,) he says—

And Plato, in the fourth book of his Polity, says—"Desire in the mind must be much the same as thirst is in the body. Now, a man feels thirst for hot water or for cold; or for much water or for a little; or perhaps, in a word, for some particular drink. And if there be any heat combined with the thirst, then that will give a desire for cold water; but if a sensation of cold be united with it, that will engender a wish for warm water. And if by reason of the violence of the cause the thirst be great, that will give a desire for an abundant draught; but if the thirst be small, then the man will wish for but a small draught. But the thirst itself is not a desire of anything except of the thing itself, namely, drinking. And hunger, again, is not a desire of anything else except food."

And Semus the Delian, in the second book of his Nesias, or treatise on Islands, says that in the island of Cimolus, cold [204]places are prepared by being dug out against the summer, where people may put down vessels full of warm water, and then draw them up again in no respect different from snow. But warm water is called by the Athenians metaceras, a word used by Sophilus, in his Androcles. And Alexis says, in his Locrians—

And Philemon, in his Corinthian Women, uses the same word. And Amphis says, in his Bath—

97. And as the Cynic was proceeding to heap other proofs on these, Pontianus said,—The ancients, my friends, were in the habit also of drinking very cold water. At all events Alexis says, in his Parasite—

And Hermippus, in his Cercopes, calls water drawn from wells φρεατιαῖον ὕδωρ. Moreover, that men used to drink melted snow too, is shown by Alexis, in his Woman eating Mandragora—

And Dexicrates, in the play entitled The Men deceived by Themselves, says—

[205] And Euthycles, in his Prodigal Men, or The Letter, says—

And that excellent writer Xenophon, in his Memorabilia, shows that he was acquainted with the fashion of drinking snow. But Chares of Mitylene, in his History of Alexander, has told us how we are to proceed in order to keep snow, when he is relating the siege of the Indian city Petra. For he says that Alexander dug thirty large trenches close to one another, and filled them with snow, and then he heaped on the snow branches of oak; for that in that way snow would last a long time.

98. And that they used to cool wine, for the sake of drinking it in a colder state, is asserted by Strattis, in his Psychastæ, or Cold Hunters—

And Lysippus says, in his Bacchæ—

A. Hermon, what is the matter? Where are we?

B. Nothing's the matter, only that your father Has just dropt down into the well to cool himself, As men cool wine in summer.

And Diphilus says, in his Little Monument—

And Protagoras in the second book of his Comic Histories, relating the voyage of king Antiochus down the river, says something about the contrivances for procuring cold water, in these terms:—"For during the day they expose it to the sun, and then at night they skim off the thickest part which rises to the surface, and expose the rest to the air, in large earthen ewers, on the highest parts of the house, and two slaves are kept sprinkling the vessels with water the whole night. And at daybreak they bring them down, and again they skim off the sediment, making the water very thin, and exceedingly wholesome, and then they immerse the ewers in straw, and after that they use the water, which has become so cold as not to require snow to cool it." And Anaxilas speaks of water from cisterns, in his Flute Player, using the following expressions:—