The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Deipnosophists or Banquet of the Learned of Athenæus, by C. D. Yonge.

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THE

DEIPNOSOPHISTS

OR

BANQUET OF THE LEARNED

OF

ATHENÆUS.

By C. D. YONGE, B.A.

WITH AN APPENDIX OF POETICAL FRAGMENTS,
RENDERED INTO ENGLISH VERSE BY VARIOUS AUTHORS,
AND A GENERAL INDEX.

LONDON:
HENRY G. BOHN, YORK STREET, COVENT GARDEN.
MDCCCLIV.

LONDON:
R. CLAY, PRINTER, BREAD STREET HILL.

PREFACE.

The author of the Deipnosophists was an Egyptian, born in Naucratis, a town on the left side of the Canopic Mouth of the Nile. The age in which he lived is somewhat uncertain, but his work, at least the latter portion of it, must have been written after the death of Ulpian the lawyer, which happened A. D. 228.

Athenæus appears to have been imbued with a great love of learning, in the pursuit of which he indulged in the most extensive and multifarious reading; and the principal value of his work is, that by its copious quotations it preserves to us large fragments from the ancient poets, which would otherwise have perished. There are also one or two curious and interesting extracts in prose; such, for instance, as the account of the gigantic ship built by Ptolemæus Philopator, extracted from a lost work of Callixenus of Rhodes.

The work commences, in imitation of Plato's Phædo, with a dialogue, in which Athenæus and Timocrates supply the place of Phædo and Echecrates. The former relates to his friend the conversation which passed at a banquet given at the house of Laurentius, a noble Roman, between some of the guests, the best known of whom are Galen and Ulpian.

[iv] The first two books, and portions of the third, eleventh, and fifteenth, exist only in an Epitome, of which both the date and author are unknown. It soon, however, became more common than the original work, and eventually in a great degree superseded it. Indeed Bentley has proved that the only knowledge which, in the time of Eustathius, existed of Athenæus, was through its medium.

Athenæus was also the author of a book entitled, "On the Kings of Syria," of which no portion has come down to us.

The text which has been adopted in the present translation is that of Schweighäuser.

CONTENTS.

^**^* The first two Books, and a portion of the third, as is known to the scholar, exist only in Epitome.

BOOK I.—EPITOME.

1. Athenæus is the author of this book; and in it he is discoursing with Timocrates: and the name of the book is the Deipnosophists. In this work Laurentius is introduced, a Roman, a man of distinguished fortune, giving a banquet in his own house to men of the highest eminence for every kind of learning and accomplishment; and there is no sort of gentlemanly knowledge which he does not mention in the conversation which he attributes to them; for he has put down in his book, fish, and their uses, and the meaning of their names; and he has described divers kinds of vegetables, and animals of all sorts. He has introduced also men who have written histories, and poets, and, in short, clever men of all sorts; and he discusses musical instruments, and quotes ten thousand jokes: he talks of the different kinds of drinking cups, and of the riches of kings, and the size of ships, and numbers of other things which I cannot easily enumerate, and the day would fail me if I endeavoured to go through them separately.

And the arrangement of the conversation is an imitation of a sumptuous banquet; and the plan of the book follows the arrangement of the conversation. This, then, is the delicious feast of words which this admirable master of the [2]feast, Athenæus, has prepared for us; and gradually surpassing himself, like the orator at Athens, as he warms with his subject, he bounds on towards the end of the book in noble strides.

2. And the Deipnosophists who were present at this banquet were, Masyrius, an expounder of the law, and one who had been no superficial student of every sort of learning; Magnus . . . [Myrtilus] a poet; a man who in other branches of learning was inferior to no one, and who had devoted himself in no careless manner to the whole circle of arts and learning; for in everything which he discussed, he appeared as if that was the sole thing which he had studied; so great and so various was his learning from his childhood. And he was an iambic poet, inferior to no one who has ever lived since the time of Archilochus. There were present also Plutarchus, and Leonidas of Elis, and Æmilianus the Mauritanian, and Zöilus, all the most admirable of grammarians.

And of philosophers there were present Pontianus and Democritus, both of Nicomedia; men superior to all their contemporaries in the extent and variety of their learning; and Philadelphus of Ptolemais, a man who had not only been bred up from his infancy in philosophical speculation, but who was also a man of the highest reputation in every part of his life. Of the Cynics, there was one whom he calls Cynulcus, who had not only two white dogs following him, as they did Telemachus when he went to the assembly, but a more numerous pack than even Actæon had. And of rhetoricians there was a whole troop, in no respect inferior to the Cynics. And these last, as well, indeed, as every one else who ever opened his mouth, were run down by Uppianus the Tyrian, who, on account of the everlasting questions which he keeps putting every hour in the streets, and walks, and booksellers' shops, and baths, has got a name by which he is better known than by his real one, Ceitouceitus. This man had a rule of his own, to eat nothing without saying κεῖται; ἢ οὐ κεῖται; In this way, "Can we say of the word ὥρα, that it κεῖται, or is applicable to any part of the day? And is the word μέθυσος, or drunk, applicable to a man? Can the word μήτρα, or paunch, be applied to any eatable food? Is the name σύαγρος a compound word applicable to a boar?"—And of physicians there were present Daphnus [3]the Ephesian, a man holy both in his art and by his manners, a man of no slight insight into the principles of the Academic school; and Galenus of Pergamos, who has published such numbers of philosophical and medical works as to surpass all those who preceded him, and who is inferior to none of the guests in the eloquence of his descriptions. And Rufinus of Mylæa.—And of musicians, Alcides of Alexandria, was present. So that the whole party was so numerous that the catalogue looks rather like a muster-roll of soldiers, than the list of a dinner party.

3. And Athenæus dramatises his dialogue in imitation of the manner of Plato. And thus he begins:—

4. Then after a little while he proceeds to the praises of Laurentius, and says that he, being a man of a munificent spirit, and one who collected numbers of learned men about him, feasted them not only with other things, but also with conversation, at one time proposing questions deserving of investigation, and at another asking for information himself; not suggesting subjects without examination, or in any random manner, but as far as was possible with a critical and Socratic discernment; so that every one marvelled at the systematic character of his questions. And he says, too, that he was appointed superintendant of the temples and sacrifices by that best of all sovereigns Marcus;[3:2] and that he was no less conversant with the literature of the Greeks than with that of [4]his own countrymen. And he calls him a sort of Asteropæus,[4:1] equally acquainted with both languages. And he says that he was well versed in all the religious ceremonies instituted by Romulus, who gave his name to the city, and by Numa Pompilius; and that he is learned in all the laws of politics; and that he has arrived at all this learning solely from the study of ancient decrees and resolutions; and from the collection of the laws which (as Eupolis, the comic writer, says of the poems of Pindar) are already reduced to silence by the disinclination of the multitude for elegant learning. He had also, says he, such a library of ancient Greek books, as to exceed in that respect all those who are remarkable for such collections; such as Polycrates of Samos, and Pisistratus who was tyrant of Athens, and Euclides who was himself also an Athenian, and Nicorrates the Samian, and even the kings of Pergamos, and Euripides the poet, and Aristotle the philosopher, and Nelius his librarian; from whom they say that our countryman Ptolemæus, surnamed Philadelphus, bought them all, and transported them with all those which he had collected at Athens and at Rhodes to his own beautiful Alexandria. So that a man may fairly quote the verses of Antiphanes and apply them to him:—

You court the heav'nly muse with ceaseless zeal,
And seek to open all the varied stores
Of high philosophy.

Nor less renown'd his hand essays
To wake the muse's choicest lays,
Such as the social feast around
Full oft our tuneful band inspire.

And when inviting people to his feasts, he causes Rome to be looked upon as the common country of all of them. For who can regret what he has left in his own country, while dwelling with a man who thus opens his house to all his friends. For as Apollodorus the comic poet says:—

Whene'er you cross the threshhold of a friend,
How welcome you may be needs no long time
To feel assured of; blithe the porter looks,
[5] The house-dog wags his tail, and rubs his nose
Against your legs; and servants hasten quick,
Unbidden all, since their lord's secret wish
Is known full well, to place an easy chair
To rest your weary limbs.

5. It would be a good thing if other rich men were like him; since when a man acts in a different manner, people are apt to say to him, "Why are you so mean? Your tents are full of wine."

Call the elders to the feast,
Such a course befits you best.

Such as this was the magnanimity of the great Alexander. And Conon, after he had conquered the Lacedæmonians in the sea-fight off Cnidus, and fortified the Piræus, sacrificed a real hecatomb, which deserved the name, and feasted all the Athenians. And Alcibiades, who conquered in the chariot race at the Olympic games, getting the first, and second, and fourth prizes, (for which victories Euripides wrote a triumphal ode,) having sacrificed to Olympian Jupiter, feasted the whole assembly. And Leophron did the same at the Olympic games, Simonides of Ceos writing a triumphal ode for him. And Empedocles of Agrigentum, having gained the victory in the horse race at the Olympic games, as he was himself a Pythagorean, and as such one who abstained from meat, made an image of an ox of myrrh, and frankincense, and the most expensive spices, and distributed it among all who came to that festival. And Ion of Chios, having gained the tragic crown at Athens, gave a pot of Chian wine to every Athenian citizen. For Antiphanes says:—

For why should any man wealth desire,
And seek to pile his treasures higher,
If it were not to aid his friends in their need,
And to gain for himself love's and gratitude's meed?
For all can drink and all can eat,
And it is not only the richest meat,
Or the oldest wine in the well-chased bowl
Which can banish hunger and thirst from the soul.

And Xenophanes of Chalcedon, and Speusippus the Academic philosopher, and Aristotle, have all written drinking songs.

And in the same manner Gellias of Agrigentum, being a very hospitable man, and very attentive to all his guests, gave a tunic and cloak to every one of five hundred horsemen who once came to him from Gela in the winter season.

[6] 6. The sophist uses the word Dinnerchaser, on which Clearchus says that Charmus the Syracusan adopted some little versicles and proverbs very neatly to whatever was put on the table. As on seeing a fish, he says:—

I come from the salt depths of Ægeus' sea.

Hail holy heralds (κήρυκες), messengers of Jove.

Crooked ways, and nothing sound.

O charming sight; hence with the vulgar crowd.

Beauty when unadorn'd, adorn'd the most.

Many such men then as these, he says, were present at Laurentius's supper; bringing books out of their bags, as their contribution to the picnic. And he says also that Charmus, having something ready for everything that was served up, as has been already said, appeared to the Massenians to be a most accomplished man; as also did Calliphanes, who was called the son of Parabrycon, who having copied out the beginnings of many poems and other writings, recollected three or four stanzas of each, aiming at a reputation for extensive learning. And many other men had in their mouths turbots caught in the Sicilian sea, and swimming eels, and the trail of the tunny-fish of Pachynum, and kids from Melos, and mullets from Symæthus. And, of dishes of less repute, there were cockles from Pelorum, anchovies from Lipara, turnips from Mantinea, rape from Thebes, and beet-root from the Ascræans. And Cleanthes the Tarentine, as Clearchus says, said everything while the drinking lasted, in metres. And so did Pamphilus the Sicilian, in this way:—

Give me a cup of sack, that partridge leg,
Likewise a pot, or else at least a cheesecake.

Being, says he, men with fair means, and not forced to earn their dinner with their hands,—

Bringing baskets full of votes.

[7] 7. Archestratus the Syracusan or Geloan, in his work to which Chrysippus gives the title of Gastronomy, but Lynceus and Callimachus of Hedypathy, that is Pleasure, and which Clearchus calls Deipnology, and others Cookery, (but it is an epic poem, beginning,

Here to all Greece I open wisdom's store;)

A numerous party may sit round a table,
But not more than three, four, or five on one sofa;
For else it would be a disorderly Babel,
Like the hireling piratical band of a rover.

But he does not know that at the feast recorded by Plato there were eight and twenty guests present.

How keenly they watch for a feast in the town,
And, asked or not, they are sure to go down;

Such are the men the state at public cost
Should gladly feed;

Treat them like flies at the Olympic games
And hang them up an ox to feast upon.

Winter produces this, that summer bears;

says the bard of Syracuse.[7:1] So that it is not easy to put all sorts of things on the table at one time; but it is easy to talk of all kinds of subjects at any time. Other men have written descriptions of feasts; and Tinachidas of Rhodes has done so in an epic poem of eleven books or more; and Numenius the Heraclean, the pupil of Dieuchas the physician; and Metreas of Pitane, the man who wrote parodies; and Hegemon of Thasos, surnamed Phacè, whom some men reckon among the writers of the Old Comedy. And Artemidorus, the false Aristophanes, collected a number of sayings relating to cookery. And Plato, the comic writer, mentions in his Phaon the banquet of Philoxenus the Leucadian.

A good large flat dish is not bad,
But a pan is better when 'tis to be had.

Never cut up a sardine
Or mackarel of silv'ry sheen,
Lest the gods should scorn a sinner
Such as you, and spoil your dinner;
But dress them whole and serve them up,
And so you shall most richly sup.
Good sized polypus in season
Should be boil'd,—to roast them's treason;
But if early and not big,
Roast them; boil'd ain't worth a fig.
Mullets, though the taste is good,
Are by far too weakening food;
And the ills it brings to master
You will need a scorpion plaster.

9. And it is from this Philoxenus that the Philoxenean cheesecakes are named; and Chrysippus says of him, "I know an epicure, who carried his disregard of his neighbours to such an extent, that he would at the bath openly put in his hand to accustom it to the warm water, and who would rinse out his mouth with warm water, in order to be less affected by heat. And they said that he used to gain over the cooks to set very hot dishes before him, so that he might have them all to himself, as no one else could keep up with him. And they tell the same story about Philoxenus of Cythera, and about Archytas, and many more, one of whom is represented by Cromylus, the comic writer, as saying:—

I've fingers Idæan [8:1] to take up hot meat,
And a throat to devour it too;
Curries and devils are my sweetest treat,
Not more like a man than a flue.

[9] But Clearchus says that Philoxenus would, after he had bathed, both when in his own country and in other cities, go round to men's houses, with his slaves following him, carrying oil, and wine, and pickle juice, and vinegar, and other condiments; and that so, going into other persons' houses, he would season what was dressed for them, putting in whatever was requisite; and then, when he had finished his labours, he would join the banquet. He, having sailed to Ephesus, finding the market empty, asked the reason; and learning that everything had been bought up for a wedding feast, bathed, and without any invitation went to the bridegroom's house, and then after the banquet he sang a wedding song, which began—

O Marriage, greatest of the gods,

in such a manner as to delight every one, for he was a dithyrambic poet. And the bridegroom said, "Philoxenus, are you going to dine here to-morrow?" "Certainly," said he, "if no one sells any meat in the market."

10. But Theophilus says:—"We should not act like Philoxenus, the son of Eryxis; for he, blaming, as it seems, the niggardliness of nature, wished to have the neck of a crane for the purposes of enjoyment. But it would be better still to wish to be altogether a horse, or an ox, or a camel, or an elephant; for in the case of those animals the desires and pleasures are greater and more vehement; for they limit their enjoyments only by their power. And Clearchus says that Melanthius did pray in this way, saying, "Melanthius seems to have been wiser than Tithonus; for this last, having desired immortality, is hung up in a basket; being deprived of every sort of pleasure by old age. But Melanthius, being devoted to pleasure, prayed to have the neck of an ostrich, in order to dwell as long as possible on sweet things."

The same Clearchus says that Pithyllus, who was called Tenthes, not only had a covering to his tongue made of skin, but that he also wrapped up his tongue for the sake of luxury, and then that he rubbed it clean again with the skin of a fish. And he is the first of the epicures who is said to have eaten his meat with fingerstalls on, in order to convey it to his mouth as warm as possible. And others call Philoxenus Philicthus;[9:1] but Aristotle simply calls him Philodeipnus,[9:2] [10]writing in this way:—"Those who make harangues to the multitude, spend the whole day in looking at jugglers and mountebanks, and men who arrive from the Phasis or the Borysthenes; having never read a book in their lives except The Banquet of Philoxenus, and not all of that."

11. But Phanias says that Philoxenus of Cythera, a poet, being exceedingly fond of eating, once when he was supping with Dionysius, and saw a large mullet put before him and a small one before himself, took his up in his hands and put it to his ear; and, when Dionysius asked him why he did so, Philoxenus said that he was writing Galatea, and so he wished to ask the fish some of the news in the kingdom of Nereus; and that the fish which he was asking said that he knew nothing about it, as he had been caught young; but that the one which was set before Dionysius was older, and was well acquainted with everything which he wished to know. On which Dionysius laughed, and sent him the mullet which had been set before himself. And Dionysius was very fond of drinking with Philoxenus, but when he detected him in trying to seduce Galatea, whom he himself was in love with, he threw him into the stone quarries; and while there he wrote the Cyclops, constructing the fable with reference to what had happened to himself; representing Dionysius as the Cyclops, and the flute-player as Galatea, and himself as Ulysses.

12. About the time of Tiberius there lived a man named Apicius; very rich and luxurious; from whom several kinds of cheesecakes are called Apician. He spent myriads of drachms on his belly, living chiefly at Minturnæ, a city of Campania, eating very expensive crawfish, which are found in that place superior in size to those of Smyrna, or even to the crabs of Alexandria. Hearing too that they were very large in Africa, he sailed thither, without waiting a single day, and suffered exceedingly on his voyage. But when he came near the place, before he disembarked from the ship, (for his arrival made a great noise among the Africans,) the fishermen came alongside in their boats and brought him some very fine crawfish; and he, when he saw them, asked if they had any finer; and when they said that there were none finer than those which they brought, he, recollecting those at Minturnæ, ordered the master of the ship to sail back the same way into Italy, without going near the land. But Aristoxenus, [11]the philosopher of Cyrene, a real devotee of the philosophy of his country, (from whom, hams cured in a particular way are called Aristoxeni,) out of his prodigious luxury used to syringe the lettuces which grew in his garden with mead in the evening, and then, when he picked them in the morning, he would say that he was eating green cheesecakes, which were sent up to him by the Earth.

13. When the emperor Trajan was in Parthia, at a distance of many days' journey from the sea, Apicius sent him fresh oysters, which he had kept so by a clever contrivance of his own; real oysters, not like the sham anchovies which the cook of Nicomedes, king of the Bithynians, made in imitation of the real fish, and set before the king, when he expressed a wish for anchovies, (and he too at the time was a long way from the sea.) And in Euphron, the comic writer, a cook says:—

14. Archilochus, the Parian poet, says of Pericles, that he would often come to a banquet without being invited, after the fashion of the Myconians. But it seems to me that the Myconians are calumniated as sordid and covetous because of their poverty, and because they live in a barren island. At all events Cratinus calls Ischomachus of Myconos sordid.

You come and drink full cups of Chian wine,
And yet give no return for them, nor wait
[12] To be invited, as a friend would do.
Your belly is your god, and thus misleads
Your better sense to acts of shamelessness.

We have invited two unequall'd men,
Philocrates and eke Philocrates.
For that one man I always count as two,
I don't know that I might not e'en say three.
They say that once when he was ask'd to dinner,
To come when first the dial gave a shade
Of twenty feet, he with the lark uprose,
Measuring the shadow of the morning sun,
Which gave a shade of twenty feet and two.
Off to his host he went, and pardon begg'd
For having been detain'd by business;
A man who came at daybreak to his dinner!

A man who comes late to a feast,
At which he has nothing to pay,
Will be sure if in battle he's press'd,
To run like a coward away.

Never shun a banquet gay,
Where the cost on others falls;
Let them, if they like it, pay
For your breakfasts, dinners, balls.

More blest than all the gods is he,
Whom every one is glad to see,
Who from all care and cost is free.

Happy am I, who never have cause
To be anxious for meat to put in my jaws.

I prepared all these quotations beforehand, and so came to the dinner, having studied beforehand in order to be able to pay my host a rent, as it were, for my entertainment.

For bards make offerings which give no smoke.

The ancients had a word, μονοφαγεῖν, applied to those who eat alone. And so Antiphanes says:—

But if you sulk, μονοφαγῶν,
Why must I, too, eat alone?

And if she's a μονοφάγος, plague take her,
I'd guard against her as a base housebreaker.

[13] 15. Dioscorides, with respect to the laws praised in Homer, says, "The poet, seeing that temperance was the most desirable virtue for young men, and also the first of all virtues, and one which was becoming to every one; and that which, as it were, was the guide to all other virtues, wishing to implant it from the very beginning in every one, in order that men might devote their leisure to and expend their energies on honourable pursuits, and might become inclined to do good to, and to share their good things with others; appointed a simple and independent mode of life to every one; considering that those desires and pleasures which had reference to eating and drinking were those of the greater power, and of the highest estimation, and moreover innate in all men; and that those men who continued orderly and temperate in respect of them, would also be temperate and well regulated in other matters. Accordingly, he laid down a simple mode of life for every one, and enjoined the same system indifferently to kings and private individuals, and young men and old, saying:—

The tables in fair order spread,
They heap the glittering canisters with bread,
Viands of simple kinds allure the taste,
Of wholesome sort, a plentiful repast.[13:1]

Their meat being all roasted, and chiefly beef; and he never sets before his heroes anything except such dishes as these, either at a sacred festival, or at a marriage feast, or at any other sort of convivial meeting. And this, too, though he often represents Agamemnon as feasting the chiefs. And Menelaus makes a feast on the occasion of the marriage of his daughter Hermione; and again on the occasion of the marriage of his son; and also when Telemachus comes to him—

The table groan'd beneath a chine of beef,
With which the hungry heroes quell'd their grief.[13:2]

For Homer never puts rissoles, or forcemeat, or cheesecakes, or omelettes before his princes, but meat such as was calculated to make them vigorous in body and mind. And so too Agamemnon feasted Ajax after his single combat with Hector, on a rumpsteak; and in the same way he gives Nestor, who was now of advanced age, and Phœnix too, a roast sirloin of [14]beef. And Homer describes Alcinous, who was a man of a very luxurious way of life, as having the same dinner; wishing by these descriptions to turn us away from intemperate indulgence of our appetites. And when Nestor, who was also a king and had many subjects, sacrificed to Neptune on the sea-shore, on behalf of his own dearest and most valued friends, it was beef that he offered him. For that is the holiest and most acceptable sacrifice to the gods, which is offered to them by religious and well-disposed men. And Alcinous, when feasting the luxurious Phæacians, and when entertaining Ulysses, and displaying to him all the arrangements of his house and garden, and showing him the general tenor of his life, gives him just the same dinner. And in the same way the poet represents the suitors, though the most insolent of men and wholly devoted to luxury, neither eating fish, nor game, nor cheesecakes; but embracing as far as he could all culinary artifices, and all the most stimulating food, as Menander calls it, and especially such as are called amatory dishes, (as Chrysippus says in his Treatise on Honour and Pleasure,) the preparation of which is something laborious.

16. Priam also, as the poet represents him, reproaches his sons for looking for unusual delicacies; and calls them

The wholesale murderers of lambs and kids.[14:1]

Philochorus, too, relates that a prohibition was issued at Athens against any one tasting lamb which had not been shorn, on an occasion when the breed of sheep appeared to be failing. And Homer, though he speaks of the Hellespont as abounding in fish, and though he represents the Phæacians as especially addicted to navigation, and though he knew of many harbours in Ithaca, and many islands close to it, in which there were large flocks of fishes and of wild birds; and though he enumerates among the riches of the deep the fact of its producing fish, still never once represents either fish or game as being put on the table to eat. And in the same way he never represents fruit as set before any one, although there was abundance of it; and although he is fond of speaking of it, and although he speaks of it as being supplied without end. For he says, "Pears upon pears," and so on. Moreover, he does not represent his heroes as crowned, or anointed, or using [15]perfumes; but he portrays even his kings as scorning all such things, and devoting themselves to the maintenance of freedom and independence.

In the same way he allots to the gods a very simple way of life, and plain food, namely, nectar and ambrosia; and he represents men as paying them honour with the materials of their feasts; making no mention of frankincense, or myrrh, or garlands, or luxury of this sort. And he does not describe them as indulging in even this plain food to an immoderate extent; but like the most skilful physicians he abhors satiety.

But when their thirst and hunger were appeased;[15:1]

then, having satisfied their desires, they went forth to athletic exercises; amusing themselves with quoits and throwing of javelins, practising in their sport such arts as were capable of useful application. And they listened to harp players who celebrated the exploits of bygone heroes with poetry and song.

17. So that it is not at all wonderful that men who lived in such a way as they did were healthy and vigorous both in mind and body. And he, pointing out how wholesome and useful a thing moderation is, and how it contributes to the general good, has represented Nestor, the wisest of the Greeks, as bringing wine to Machaon the physician when wounded in the right shoulder, though wine is not at all good for inflammations; and that, too, was Pramnian wine, which we know to be very strong and nutritious. And he brings it to him too, not as a relief from thirst, but to drink of abundantly; (at all events, when he has drank a good draught of it, he recommends him to repeat it.)

Sit now, and drink your fill,

A shoeing-horn for further draughts of wine;[15:2]

though in other places he does say that wine relaxes and enervates the strength. And in the case of Hector, Hecuba, thinking that then he will remain in the city all the rest of the day, invites him to drink and to pour libations, encouraging him to abandon himself to pleasure. But he, as he is going out to action, puts off the drinking. And she, indeed, praises wine without ceasing; but he, when he comes in out [16]of breath, will not have any. And she urges him to pour a libation and then to drink, but he, as he is all covered with blood, thinks it impiety.

Homer knew also the use and advantages of wine, when he said that if a man drank it in too large draughts it did harm. And he was acquainted, too, with many different ways of mixing it. For else Achilles would not have bade his attendants to mix it for him with more wine than usual, if there had not been some settled proportion in which it was usually mixed. But perhaps he was not aware that wine was very digestible without any admixture of solid food, which is a thing known to the physicians by their art; and, therefore, in the case of people with heartburn they mix something to eat with the wine, in order to retain its power. But Homer gives Machaon meal and cheese with his wine; and represents Ulysses as connecting the advantages to be derived from food and wine with one another when he says—

Strengthen'd with wine and meat, a man goes forth:[16:1]

There, too, were casks of old and luscious wine.[16:2]

18. Homer, too, represents the virgins and women washing the strangers, knowing that men who have been brought up in right principles will not give way to undue warmth or violence; and accordingly the women are treated with proper respect. And this was a custom of the ancients; and so too the daughters of Cocalus wash Minos on his arrival in Sicily, as if it was a usual thing to do. On the other hand, the poet, wishing to disparage drunkenness, represents the Cyclops, great as he was, destroyed through inebriety by a man of small stature, and also Eurytian the Centaur. And he relates how the men at Circe's court were transformed into lions and wolves, from a too eager pursuit of pleasure. But Ulysses was saved from following the advice of Mercury, by means of which he comes off unhurt. But he makes Elpenor, a man given to drinking and luxury, fall down a precipice. And Antinous, though he says to Ulysses—

Luscious wine will be your bane,[16:3]

could not himself abstain from drinking, owing to which he was wounded and slain while still having hold of the goblet. [17]He represents the Greeks also as drinking hard when sailing away from Troy, and on that account quarrelling with one another, and in consequence perishing. And he relates that Æneas, the most eminent of the Trojans for wisdom, was led away by the manner in which he had talked, and bragged, and made promises to the Trojans, while engaged in drinking, so as to encounter the mighty Achilles, and was nearly killed. And Agamemnon says somewhere about drunkenness—

Disastrous folly led me thus astray,
Or wine's excess, or madness sent from Jove:

placing madness and drunkenness in the same boat. And Dioscorides, too, the pupil of Isocrates, quoted these verses with the same object, saying, "And Achilles, when reproaching Agamemnon, addresses him—

Tyrant, with sense and courage quell'd by wine."

This was the way in which the sophist of Thessalia argued, from whence came the term, a Sicilian proverb, and Athenæus is, perhaps, playing on the proverb.

19. As to the meals the heroes took in Homer, there was first of all breakfast, which he calls ἄριστον, which he mentions once in the Odyssey,

Ulysses and the swineherd, noble man,
First lit the fire, and breakfast then began.[17:1]

Then quickly they prepared to break their fast.[17:2]

But this was the morning meal, which we call ἀκρατισμὸς, because we soak crusts of bread in pure wine (ἄκρατος), and eat them, as Antiphanes says—

While the cook the ἄριστον prepares.

Then when you have done your business,
Come and share my ἀκρατισμὸς.

I'll stop awhile to breakfast, then I'll come,
When I a slice or two of bread have eaten.

But Philemon says that the ancients took the following [18]meals—ἀκράτισμα, ἄριστον, ἑσπέρισμα, or the afternoon meal, and δεῖπνον, supper; calling the ἀκρατισμὸς breakfast, and ἄριστον [18:1] luncheon, and δεῖπνον the meal which came after luncheon. And the same order of names occur in Æschylus, where Palamedes is introduced, saying—

The different officers I then appointed,
And bade them recollect the soldiers' meals,
In number three, first breakfast, and then dinner,
Supper the third.

And come thou δειελιήσας.[18:2]

That which some call δειλινὸν is between what we call ἄριστον and δεῖπνον; and ἄριστον in Homer, that which is taken in the morning, δεῖπνον is what is taken at noon, which we call ἄριστον, and δόρπον is the name for the evening meal. Sometimes, then, ἄριστον is synonymous with δεῖπνον; for somewhere or other Homer says—

δεῖπνον they took, then arm'd them for the fray.

For making their δεῖπνον immediately after sunrise, they then advance to battle.

20. In Homer they eat sitting down; but some think that a separate table was set before each of the feasters. At all events, they say a polished table was set before Mentes when he came to Telemachus, arriving after tables were already laid for the feast. However, this is not very clearly proved, for Minerva may have taken her food at Telemachus's table. But all along the banqueting-room full tables were laid out, as is even now the custom among many nations of the barbarians,

Laden with all dainty dishes,

Bore off the feast, and clear'd the lofty hall,
Removed the goblets and the tables all.

[19] The feast which he mentions as taking place in the palace of Menelaus is of a peculiar character; for there he represents the guests as conversing during the banquet; and then they wash their hands and return to the board, and proceed to supper after having indulged their grief. But the line in the last book of the Iliad, which is usually read,

He eat and drank, while still the table stood,

He eat and drank still, while the table stood,

or else there would be blame implied for what Achilles was doing at the moment; for how could it be decent that a table should be laid before Achilles, as before a party of revellers, down the whole length of a banqueting-room? Bread, then, was placed on the table in baskets, and the rest of the meal consisted wholly of roast meat. But Homer never speaks of broth, Antiphanes says,

He never boil'd the legs or haunches,
But roasted brains and roasted paunches,
As did his sires of old.

21. And portions of the meat were then distributed among the guests; from which circumstances he speaks of "equal feasts," because of their equal division. And he calls suppers δαῖτας, from the word δατέομαι, to divide, since not only was the meat distributed in that way, but the wine also.

Their hunger was appeased,
And strength recruited by the equal feast.[19:1]

Come, then, Achilles, share this equal feast.[19:2]

From these passages Zenodotus got the idea that δαῖτα ἐΐσην meant a good feast; for as food is a necessary good to men, he says that he, by extension of the meaning of the word, called it ἐΐσην. But men in the early times, as they had not food in sufficient abundance, the moment any appeared, rushed on it all at once, and tore it to pieces with violence, and even took it away from others who had it; and this disorderly behaviour gave rise to bloodshed. And it is from this that very probably the word ἀτασθαλία originated, because it was in θάλιαι, another name for banquets, that men first offended against one another. But when, by the bounty [20]of Ceres, food became abundant, then they distributed an equal portion to each individual, and so banquets became orderly entertainments. Then came the invention of wine and of sweetmeats, which were also distributed equally: and cups, too, were given to men to drink out of, and these cups all held the same quantity. And as food was called δαὶς, from δαίεσθαι, that is, from being divided, so he who roasted the meat was called δαιτρὸς, because it was he who gave each guest an equal portion. We must remark that the poet uses the word δαὶς only of what is eaten by men, and never applies it to beasts; so that it was out of ignorance of the force of this word that Zenodotus, in his edition writes:—

αὐτοὺς δὲ ἑλώρια τεῦχε κύνεσσιν
οἰωνοῖσί τε δαῖτα,[20:1]

calling the food of the vultures and other birds by this name, though it is man alone who has come to an equal division after his previous violence, on which account it is his food alone that is called δαὶς, and the portion given to him is called μοῖρα. But the feasters mentioned in Homer did not carry home the fragments, but when they were satisfied they left them with the givers of the feast; and the housekeeper took them in order, if any stranger arrived, to have something to give him.

22. Now Homer represents the men of his time as eating fish and birds: at all events, in Sicily the companions of Ulysses catch

All fish and birds, and all that come to hand
With barbed hooks.[20:2]

But as the hooks were not forged in Sicily, but were brought by them in their vessel; it is plain that they were fond of and skilful in catching fish. And again, the poet compares the companions of Ulysses, who were seized by Sylla, to fish caught with a long rod and thrown out of doors; and he speaks more accurately concerning this act than those who have written poems or treatises professedly on the subject. I refer to Cæcilius of Argos, and Numenius of Heraclea, and Pancrates the Arcadian, and Posidonius the Corinthian, and Oppianus the Cilician, who lived a short time ago; for we [21]know of all those men as writers of heroic poems about fishing. And of prose essayists on the subject we have Seleucus of Tarsus, and Leonidas of Byzantium, and Agathocles of Atracia. But he never expressly mentions such food at his banquets, just as he also forbears to speak of the meat of young animals, as such food was hardly considered suitable to the dignity of heroes of reputation. However, they did eat not only fish, but oysters; though this sort of food is neither very wholesome nor very nice, but the oysters lie at the bottom of the sea, and one cannot get at them by any other means, except by diving to the bottom.

An active man is he, and dives with ease;[21:1]

as he says of a man who could have collected enough to satisfy many men, while hunting for oysters.

23. Before each one of the guests in Homer is placed a separate cup. Demodocus has a basket and a table and a cup placed before him,

To drink whene'er his soul desired.[21:2]

Again the goblets are crowned with drink; that is to say, they are filled so that the liquor stands above the brim, and the cups have a sort of crown of wine on them. Now the cupbearers filled them so for the sake of the omen; and then they pour out

πᾶσιν, ἐπαρξάμενοι δεπάεσσιν,[21:3]

the word πᾶσιν referring not to the cups but to the men. Accordingly Alcinous says to Pontonous,

Let all around the due libation pay
To Jove, who guides the wanderer on his way;[21:4]

All drink the juice that glads the heart of man.

And due honour is paid at those banquets to all the most eminent men. Accordingly, Tydides is honoured with great quantities of meat and wine; and Ajax receives the compliment of a whole chine of beef. And the kings are treated in the same way:—

A rump of beef they set before the king:[21:5]

[22] that is, before Menelaus. And in like manner he honours Idomeneus and Agamemnon

With ever brimming cups of rosy wine.[22:1]

And Sarpedon, among the Lycians, receives the same respect, and has the highest seat, and the most meat.

They had also a way of saluting in drinking one another's health; and so even the gods,

In golden goblets pledged each other's health;

that is, they took one another by the right hand while drinking. And so some one δείδεκτ' Ἀχιλλέα, which is the same as if he had said ἐδεξιοῦτο, that is, took him by the right hand. He drank to him, proffering him the goblet in his right hand. They also gave some of their own portion to those to whom they wished to show attention; as, Ulysses having cut off a piece of chine of beef which was set before himself, sent it to Demodocus.

24. They also availed themselves at their banquets of the services of minstrels and dancers; as the suitors did, and in the palace of Menelaus

A band amid the joyous circle sings
High airs attempered to the vocal strings;
While, warbling to the varied strain, advance
Two sprightly youths to form the bounding dance.[22:2]

And though Homer uses μολπὴ, warbling, here, he is really speaking only of the exercise of the dance. But the race of bards in those days was modest and orderly, cultivating a disposition like that of philosophers. And accordingly Agamemnon leaves his bard as a guardian and counsellor to Clytæmnestra: who, first of all, going through all the virtues of women, endeavoured to inspire her with an ambition of excelling in virtuous and ladylike habits; and, after that, by supplying her with agreeable occupation, sought to prevent her inclinations from going astray after evil thoughts: so that Ægisthus could not seduce the woman till he had murdered the bard on a desert island. And the same is the character of that bard who sings under compulsion before the suitors; who bitterly reproached them for laying plots against Penelope. We find too that using one general [23]term, Homer calls all bards objects of veneration among men.

Therefore the holy Muse their honour guards
In every land, and loves the race of bards.[23:1]

And Demodocus the bard of the Phæacians sings of the intrigue between Mars and Venus; not because he approves of such behaviour, but for the purpose of dissuading his hearers from the indulgence of such passions, knowing that they have been brought up in a luxurious way, and therefore relating to them tales not inconsistent with their own manners, for the purpose of pointing out to them the evil of them, and persuading them to avoid such conduct. And Phemius sings to the suitors, in compliance with their desire, the tale of the return of the Greeks from Troy; and the sirens sing to Ulysses what they think will be most agreeable to him, saying what they think most akin to his own ambition and extensive learning. We know, say they,

Whate'er beneath the sun's bright journey lies,
Oh stay and learn new wisdom from the wise.[23:2]

25. The dances spoken of in Homer are partly those of tumblers and partly those of ball-players; the invention of which last kind Agallis, the Corcyrean authoress, who wrote on grammar, attributes to Nausicaa, paying a compliment to her own countrywoman; but Dicæarchus attributes it to the Sicyonians. But Hippasus gives the credit of both this and gymnastic exercises to the Lacedæmonians. However, Nausicaa is the only one of his heroines whom Homer introduces playing at ball. Demoteles, the brother of Theognis the Chian sophist, was eminent for his skill in this game; and a man of the name of Chærephanes, who once kept following a debauched young man, and did not speak to him, but prevented him from misbehaving. And when he said, "Chærephanes, you may make your own terms with me, if you will only desist from following me;" "Do you think," said he, "that I want to speak to you?" "If you do not," said he, "why do you follow me?" "I like to look at you," he replied, "but I do not approve of your conduct."

The thing called φούλλικλον, which appears to have been a kind of small ball, was invented by Atticus the Neapolitan, the tutor in gymnastics of the great Pompey. And in the [24]game of ball the variation called ἁρπαστὸν used to be called φαινίνδα and I think that the best of all the games of ball.

26. There is a great deal of exertion and labour in a game of ball, and it causes great straining of the neck and shoulders. Antiphanes says,

Wretch that I am, my neck's so stiff;

The player takes the ball elate,
And gives it safely to his mate,
Avoids the blows of th' other side,
And shouts to see them hitting wide;
List to the cries, "Hit here," "hit there,"
"Too far," "too high," "that is not fair,"—
See every man with ardour burns
To make good strokes and quick returns.

And it was called φαινίνδα from the rapid motion of those who played, or else because its inventor, as Juba the Mauritanian says, was Phænestius, a master of gymnastics. And Antiphanes,

To play Phæninda at Phænestius' school.

And those who played paid great attention to elegance of motion and attitude; and accordingly Demoxenus says:—

A youth I saw was playing ball,
Seventeen years of age and tall;
From Cos he came, and well I wot
The Gods look kindly on that spot.
For when he took the ball or threw it,
So pleased were all of us to view it,
We all cried out; so great his grace,
Such frank good humour in his face,
That every time he spoke or moved,
All felt as if that youth they loved.
Sure ne'er before had these eyes seen,
Nor ever since, so fair a mien;
Had I staid long most sad my plight
Had been to lose my wits outright,
And even now the recollection
Disturbs my senses' calm reflection.

Ctesibius also of Chalcis, a philosopher, was no bad player. And there were many of the friends of Antigonus the king who used to take their coats off and play ball with him. Timocrates, too, the Lacedæmonian, wrote a book on playing ball.

27. But the Phæacians in Homer had a dance also [25]unconnected with ball playing; and they danced very cleverly, alternating in figures with one another. That is what is meant by the expression,

In frequent interchanges,

while others stood by and made a clapping noise with their fore-fingers, which is called ληκεῖν. The poet was acquainted also with the art of dancing so as to keep time with singing. And while Demodocus was singing, youths just entering on manhood were dancing; and in the book which is called the Manufacture of the Arms, a boy played the harp,

Danced round and sung in soft well measured tune.

And in these passages the allusion is to that which is called the hyporchematic [25:1] style, which flourished in the time of Xenodemus and Pindar. And this kind of dance is an imitation of actions which are explained by words, and is what the elegant Xenophon represents as having taken place, in his Anabasis, at the banquet given by Seuthes the Thracian. He says:

"After libations were made, and the guests had sung a pæan, there rose up first the Thracians, and danced in arms to the music of a flute, and jumped up very high, with light jumps, and used their swords. And at last one of them strikes another, so that it seemed to every one that the man was wounded. And he fell down in a very clever manner, and all the bystanders raised an outcry. And he who struck him having stripped him of his arms, went out singing Sitalces. And others of the Thracians carried out his antagonist as if he were dead; but in reality, he was not hurt. After this some Ænianians and Magnesians rose up, who danced the dance called Carpæa, they too being in armour. And the fashion of that dance was like this: One man, having laid aside his arms, is sowing, and driving a yoke of oxen, constantly looking round as if he were afraid. Then there comes up a robber; but the sower, as soon as he sees him, snatches up his arms and fights in defence of his team in regular time to the music of the flute. And at last the robber, having [26]bound the man, carries off the team; but sometimes the sower conquers the robber, and then binding him alongside his oxen, he ties his hands behind him, and drives him forward. And one man," says he, "danced the Persian dance, and rattling one shield against another, fell down, and rose up again: and he did all this in time to the music of a flute. And the Arcadians rising up, all moved in time, being clothed in armour, the flute-players playing the tune suited to an armed march; and they sung the pæan, and danced."

28. The heroes used also flutes and pipes. At all events Agamemnon hears "the voice of flutes and pipes," which however he never introduced into banquets, except that in the Manufacture [26:1] of Arms, he mentions the flute on the occasion of a marriage-feast. But flutes he attributes to the barbarians. Accordingly, the Trojans had "the voice of flutes and pipes," and they made libations, when they got up from the feast, making them to Mercury, and not, as they did afterwards, to Jupiter the Finisher. For Mercury appears to be the patron of sleep: they drop libations to him also on their tongues when they depart from a banquet, and the tongues are especially allotted to him, as being the instruments of eloquence.

Homer was acquainted also with a variety of meats. At all events he uses the expression "various meats," and

Meats such as godlike kings rejoice to taste.

He was acquainted, too, with everything that is thought luxurious even in our age. And accordingly the palace of Menelaus is the most splendid of houses. And Polybius describes the palace of one of the Spanish kings as being something similar in its appointments and splendour, saying that he was ambitious of imitating the luxury of the Phæacians, except as far as there stood in the middle of the palace huge silver and golden goblets full of wine made of barley. But Homer, when describing the situation and condition of Calypso's house, represents Mercury as astonished; and in his descriptions the life of the Phæacians is wholly devoted to pleasure:

We ever love the banquet rich,
The music of the lyre,

How goodly seems it, etc. etc.

How goodly seems it ever to employ
Far from all ills man's social days in joy,
The plenteous board high heap'd with cates divine,
While tuneful songs bid flow the generous wine.[27:1]

When he says "far from all ills," he means where folly is not allowed to exhibit itself; for it would be impossible for the Phæacians to be anything but wise, inasmuch as they are very dear to the gods, as Nausicaa says.

29. In Homer, too, the suitors amused themselves in front of the doors of the palace with dice; not having learnt how to play at dice from Diodorus of Megalopolis, or from Theodorus, or from Leon of Mitylene, who was descended from Athenian ancestors: and was absolutely invincible at dice, as Phanias says. But Apion of Alexandria says that he had heard from Cteson of Ithaca what sort of game the game of dice, as played by the suitors, was. For the suitors being a hundred and eight in number, arranged their pieces opposite to one another in equal numbers, they themselves also being divided into two equal parties, so that there were on each side fifty-four; and between the men there was a small space left empty. And in this middle space they placed one man, which they called Penelope. And they made this the mark, to see if any one of them could hit it with his man; and then, when they had cast lots, he who drew the lot aimed at it. Then if any one hit it and drove Penelope forward out of her place, then he put down his own man in the place of that which had been hit and moved from its place. After which, standing up again, he shot his other man at Penelope in the place in which she was the second time. And if he hit her again without touching any one of the other men, he won the game, and had great hopes that he should be the man to marry her. He says too that Eurymachus gained the greatest number of victories in this game, and was very sanguine about his marriage. And in consequence of their luxury the suitors had such tender hands that they were not able to bend the bow; and even their servants were a very luxurious set.

[28] Homer, too, speaks of the smell of perfumes as something very admirable:—

Spirit divine! whose exhalation greets
The sense of gods with more than mortal sweets.[28:1]

He speaks, too, of splendid beds; and such is the bed which Arete orders her handmaids to prepare for Ulysses. And Nestor makes it a boast to Telemachus that he is well provided with such things.

30. But some of the other poets have spoken of the habits of expense, and indolence of their own time as existing also at the time of the Trojan war; and, so Æschylus very improperly introduces the Greeks as so drunk as to break their vessels about one another's heads; and he says—

This is the man who threw so well
The vessel with an evil smell,
And miss'd me not, but dash'd to shivers
The pot too full of steaming rivers
Against my head, which now, alas! sir,
Gives other smells besides macassar.

He in his anger threw too well
The vessel with an evil smell
Against my head, and fill'd the room
With something not much like perfume;
So that I swear I nearly fainted
With the foul steam the vessel vented.

I hate the ways of Sparta's line,
And would rather fry my dinner;
He who first invented wine
Made poor man a greater sinner,
And through him the greater need is
Of the arts of Palamedes.[28:2]

But in Homer the chiefs banquet in Agamemnon's tent in a very orderly manner; and if in the Odyssey Achilles and Ulysses dispute and Agamemnon exults, still their rivalry with one another is advantageous, since what they are discussing is whether Troy is to be taken by stratagem, or by open-hand fighting. And he does not represent even the [29]suitors as drunk, nor has he ever made his heroes guilty of such disorderly conduct as Æschylus and Sophocles have, though he does speak of the foot of an ox being thrown at Ulysses.

31. And his heroes sit at their banquets, and do not lie down. And this was sometimes the case at the feasts of Alexander the king, as Dures says. For he once, when giving a feast to his captains to the number of six thousand, made them sit upon silver chairs and couches, having covered them with purple covers. And Hegesander says that it was not the custom in Macedonia for any one to lie down at a banquet, unless he had slain a boar which had escaped beyond the line of nets; but with that exception, every one sat at supper. And so Cassander, when he was thirty-five years of age, supped with his father in a sitting posture, not being able to perform the above-mentioned exploit, though he was of man's estate, and a gallant hunter.

But Homer, who has always an eye to propriety, has not introduced his heroes feasting on anything except meat, and that too they dressed for themselves. For it caused neither ridicule nor shame to see them preparing and cooking their own food: for they studied to be able to wait upon themselves; and they prided themselves, says Chrysippus, on their dexterity in such matters. And accordingly Ulysses boasts of being a better hand than any one else at making a fire and cutting up meat. And in the book of the Iliad called The Prayers,[29:1] Patroclus acts as cupbearer, and Achilles prepares the supper. And when Menelaus celebrates a marriage feast, Megapenthes the bridegroom acts as cupbearer. But now we have come to such a pitch of effeminacy as to lie down while at our meals.

32. And lately baths too have been introduced; things which formerly men would not have permitted to exist inside a city. And Antiphanes points out their injurious character:

Plague take the bath! just see the plight
In which the thing has left me;
It seems t' have boil'd me up, and quite
Of strength, and nerve bereft me.
Don't touch me, curst was he who taught a
Man to soak in boiling water.

As to mischievous habits, if you ask my vote,
I say there are two common kinds of self-slaughter,
One, constantly pouring strong wine down your throat,
T'other plunging in up to your throat in hot water.

But now the refinements of cooks and perfumers have increased so much, that Alexis says that even if a man could bathe in a bath of perfume he would not be content. And all the manufactories of sweetmeats are in great vigour, and such plans are devised for intercourse between people, that some have proposed even to stuff the sofas and chairs with sponge, as on the idea that that will make the occupiers more amorous. And Theophrastus says that some contrivances are of wondrous efficacy in such matters; and Phylarchus confirms him, by reference to some of the presents which Sandrocottus, the king of the Indians, sent to Seleucus; which were to act like charms in producing a wonderful degree of affection, while some, on the contrary, were to banish love. Music, too, has been cultivated now, in a way which is a great perversion of its legitimate use: and extravagance has descended even to our clothes and shoes.

33. But Homer, though he was well acquainted with the nature of perfume, has never introduced any of his heroes as perfumed except Paris; when he says, "glittering with beauty," as in another place he says that Venus—

With every beauty every feature arms,
Bids her checks glow, and lights up all her charms.[30:1]

Nor does he ever represent them as wearing crowns, although by some of his similes and metaphors he shows that he knew of garlands. At all events he speaks of

That lovely isle crown'd by the foaming waves,[30:2]

For all around the crown of battle swells.[30:3]

We must remark, too, that in the Odyssey he represents his characters as washing their hands before they partake of food. But in the Iliad there is no trace of such a custom. For the life described in the Odyssey is that of men living easily and luxuriously owing to the peace; on which account the men [31]of that time indulged their bodies with baths and washings. And that is the reason why in that state of things they play at dice, and dance, and play ball. But Herodotus is mistaken when he says that those sports were invented in the time of Atys to amuse the people during the famine. For the heroic times are older than Atys. And the men living in the time of the Iliad are almost constantly crying out—

Raise the battle cry so clear,
Prelude to the warlike spear.

34. Now to go back to what we were saying before. The Athenians made Aristonicus the Carystian, who used to play at ball with Alexander the king, a freeman of their city on account of his skill, and they erected a statue to him. And even in later times the Greeks considered all handicraft trades of much less importance than inventions which had any reference to amusement. And the people of Histiæa, and of Oreum, erected in their theatre a brazen statue holding a die in its hand to Theodorus the juggler. And on the same principle the Milesians erected one to Archelaus the harp-player. But at Thebes there is no statue to Pindar, though there is one to Cleon the singer, on which there is the inscription—

Stranger, thou seest Pytheas' tuneful son,
While living oft with vict'ry's garlands crown'd,
Sweet singer, though on earth his race is run,
E'en the high heavens with his name resound.

Polemo relates that when Alexander razed Thebes to the ground, one man who escaped hid some gold in the garments of this statue, as they were hollow; and then when the city was restored he returned and recovered his money after a lapse of thirty years. But Herodotus, the logomime as he was called, and Archelaus the dancer, according to Hegesander, were more honoured by Antiochus the king than any others of his friends. And Antiochus his father made the sons of Sostratus the flute-player his body guards.

35. And Matreas, the strolling player of Alexandria, was admired by both Greeks and Romans; and he said that he was cherishing a beast which was eating itself. So that even now it is disputed what that beast of Matreas's was. He used to propose ridiculous questions in parody of the doubts raised by Aristotle, and then he read them in public; as "Why is the [32]sun said to set, and not to dive?" "why are sponges said to suck up, and not to drink?" and "why do we say of a tetradrachm that it καταλλάττεται,[32:1] when we never speak of its getting in a passion?" And the Athenians gave Pothimos the puppet-master the use of the very stage on which Euripides had exhibited his noble dramas. And they also erected a statue of Euripides in the theatre next to the statue of Æschylus. Xenophon the conjuror, too, was very popular among them, who left behind him a pupil of the name of Cratisthenes, a citizen of Phlias; a man who used to make fire spout up of its own accord, and who contrived many other extraordinary sights, so as almost to make men discredit the evidence of their own senses. And Nymphodorus the conjuror was another such; a man who having quarrelled with the people of Rhegium, as Duris relates, was the first man who turned them into ridicule as cowards. And Eudicus the buffoon gained great credit by imitating wrestlers and boxers, as Aristoxenus relates. Straton of Tarentum, also, had many admirers; he was a mimic of the dithyrambic poets; and so had Œnonas the Italian, who mimicked the harp-players; and who gave representations of the Cyclops trying to sing, and of Ulysses when shipwrecked, speaking in a clownish fashion. And Diopeithes the Locrian, according to the account of Phanodemus, when he came to Thebes, fastened round his waist bladders full of wine and milk, and then, squeezing them, pretended that he was drawing up those liquids out of his mouth. And Noëmon gained a great reputation for the same sort of tricks.

There were also in Alexander's court the following jugglers, who had all a great name. Scymnus of Tarentum, and Philistides of Syracuse, and Heraclitus of Mitylene. And there were too some strolling players of high repute, such as Cephisodorus and Pantaleon. And Xenophon makes mention also of Philip the buffoon.

36. Rome may fairly be called the nation of the world. And he will not be far out who pronounces the city of the Romans an epitome of the whole earth; for in it you may see every other city arranged collectively, and many also separately; for instance, there you may see the golden city of the [33]Alexandrians, the beautiful metropolis of Antioch, the surpassing beauty of Nicomedia; and besides all these that most glorious of all the cities which Jupiter has ever displayed, I mean Athens. And not only one day, but all the days in an entire year, would be too short for a man who should attempt to enumerate all the cities which might be enumerated as discernible in that uranopolis of the Romans, the city of Rome; so numerous are they.—For indeed some entire nations are settled there, as the Cappadocians, the Scythians, the people of Pontus, and many others. And all these nations, being so to say the entire population of the world, called the dancer who was so famous in our time Memphis, comparing him, on account of the elegance of his movements, to the most royal and honourable of cities; a city of which Bacchylides sings—

Memphis, which winter dares not to assail,
And lotus-crowned Nile.

As for the Pythagorean philosophy, Athenæus explains that to us, and shows us everything in silence more intelligibly than others who undertake to teach the arts which require talking.

37. Now of tragic dancing, as it was called, such as it existed in his time, Bathyllus of Alexandria was the first introducer; whom Seleucus describes as having been a legitimate dancer. This Bathyllus, according to the account of Aristonicus, and Pylades too, who has written a treatise on dancing, composed the Italian dance from the comic one which was called κόρδαξ, and from the tragic dance which was called ἐμμέλεια, and from the Satyric dance which was called σίκιννις, (from which also the Satyrs were called σικιννισταί,) the inventor of which was a barbarian named Sicinnus, though some say that Sicinnus was a Cretan. Now, the dance invented by Pylades was stately, pathetic, and laborious; but that of Bathyllus was in a merrier style; for he added to his a kind of ode to Apollo. But Sophocles, in addition to being eminent for personal beauty, was very accomplished in music and dancing, having been instructed in those arts while a boy by Lamprus, and after the naval victory of Salamis, he having no clothes on, but only being anointed with oil, danced round the trophy erected on that occasion to the music of the lyre, but some say that he had his tunic on; and when he exhibited his Thamyris he himself played the harp; and he also played at [34]ball with great skill when he exhibited his Nausicaa. And Socrates the Wise was very fond of the dance Memphis; and as he was often caught dancing, as Xenophon relates, he said to his friends that dancing was a gymnastic exercise for every limb; for the ancients used the word ὀρχέομαι for every sort of motion and agitation. Anacreon says—

The fair-hair'd maids of mighty Jove
Danced lightly in the mystic grove;

This strange occurrence makes my heart to dance.

38. And Hermippus says, that Theophrastus used to come to the walks at a regular hour, carefully and beautifully dressed; and that then he would sit down and enter upon an argument, indulging in every sort of motion and gesture imaginable; so that once while imitating an epicure he even put out his tongue and licked his lips.

Those men were very careful to put on their clothes neatly; and they ridiculed those who did not do so. Plato, in the Theætetus, speaks of "a man who has capacity to manage everything cleverly and perfectly, but who has no idea how to put on even proper clothes like a gentleman, and who has no notion of the propriety of language, so as to be able to celebrate the life of gods and men in a becoming manner." And Sappho jests upon Andromeda:—

Sure by some milkmaid you've been taught
To dress, whose gown is all too short
To reach her sturdy ancles.

Don't let your gown fall down too low,
Nor pull it up too high to show
Your legs in clownish fashion.

And Hermippus says, that Theocritus of Chios used to blame the way in which Anaximenes used to wrap his cloak round him as a boorish style of dressing. And Callistratus the pupil of Aristophanes, in one of his writings, attacked Aristarchus severely for not being neatly dressed, on the ground, that attention to those minutiæ is no trifling indication of a man's abilities and good sense. On which account Alexis says—

'Tis a sure sign of a degraded nature,
To walk along the street in sloven's guise;
Having the means of neatness: which costs nothing;
[35] Is subject to no tax; requires no change;
And creditable is to him who uses it,
And pleasant to all those who witness it.
Who then would ever disregard this rule,
That wishes to be thought a man of sense?

39. But Æschylus was not only the inventor of becoming and dignified dress, which the hierophants and torch-bearers of the sacred festivals imitated; but he also invented many figures in dancing, and taught them to the dancers of the chorus. And Chamæleon states that he first arranged the choruses, not using the ordinary dancing-masters, but himself arranging the figures of the dancers for the chorus; and altogether that he took the whole arrangement of his tragedies on himself. And he himself acted in his own plays very fairly. And accordingly, Aristophanes (and we may well trust the comic writers in what they say of the tragedians) represents Æschylus himself as saying—

I myself taught those dances to the chorus,
Which pleased so much when erst they danced before us.

And again, he says, "I recollect that when I saw 'The Phrygians,' when the men came on who were uniting with Priam in his petition for the ransom of his son, some danced in this way, some in that, all at random." Telesis, or Telestes, (whichever was his right name,) the dancing-master, invented many figures, and taught men to use the action of their hands, so as to give expression to what they said. Phillis the Delian, a musician, says, that the ancient harp-players moved their countenances but little, but their feet very much, imitating the march of troops or the dancing of a chorus. Accordingly Aristotle says, that Telestes the director of Æschylus's choruses was so great a master of his art, that in managing the choruses of the Seven Generals against Thebes, he made all the transactions plain by dancing. They say, too, that the old poets, Thespis, Pratinas, Carcinus, and Phrynichus, were called dancing poets, because they not only made their dramas depend upon the dancing of the chorus, but because, besides directing the exhibition of their own plays, they also taught dancing to all who wished to learn. But Æschylus was often drunk when he wrote his tragedies, if we may trust Chamæleon: and accordingly Sophocles reproached him, saying, that even when he did what was right he did not know that he was doing so.

[36] 40. Now the national dances are the following:—the Lacedæmonian, the Trœzenian, the Epizephyrian, the Cretan, the Ionian, the Mantinean, which Aristoxenus considers as the best of all, on account of its movement of the hands. And dancing was considered so creditable an employment, and one requiring so much talent, that Pindar calls Apollo a dancer:—

Prince of dancers, prince of grace,
Hail, Phœbus of the silver quiver.

How deftly Phœbus strikes the golden lyre,
While strength and grace each moving limb inspire!

and Eumelus, or Arctinus, the Corinthian, somewhere or other introduces Jupiter himself as dancing, saying—

And gracefully amid the dancing throng,
The sire of gods and mortals moved along.

But Theophrastus says that Andron of Catana, a flute-player, was the first person who invented motions of the body keeping time to music, while he played on the flute to the dancers; from whom dancing among the ancients was called Sicelizing. And that he was followed by Cleophantus of Thebes. Among the dancers of reputation there was Bulbus, mentioned by Cratinus and Callias; and Zeno the Cretan, who was in high favour with Artaxerxes, mentioned by Ctesias. Alexander also, in his letter to Philoxenus, mentions Theodorus and Chrysippus.

41. The Temple of the Muses is called by Timon the Phliasian, the satiric writer, the basket, by which term he means to ridicule the philosophers who frequent it, as if they were fattened up in a hen-coop, like valuable birds:—

Ægypt has its mad recluses,
Book-bewilder'd anchorites,
In the hen-coop of the Muses
Keeping up their endless fights.

. . . . till these table orators got cured of their diarrhœa of words; a pack of men, who from their itch for talking appear to me to have forgotten the Pythian oracle, which Chamæleon quotes—

Three weeks ere Sirius burns up the wheat,
And three weeks after, seek the cool retreat
Of shady house, and better your condition
By taking Bacchus for your sole physician.

[37] And so Mnesitheus the Athenian says that the Pythia enjoined the Athenians to honour Bacchus the physician. But Alcæus, the Mitylenæan poet, says—

Steep your heart in rosy wine, for see, the dogstar is in view;
Lest by heat and thirst oppress'd you should the season's fury rue.

Fill me, boy, a sparkling cup;
See, the dogstar's coming up.

And Eupolis says that Callias was compelled to drink by Protagoras, in order that his lungs might not be melted away before the dogdays. But at such a time I not only feel my lungs dried up, but I may almost say my heart too. And Antiphanes says—

And so, says he, they, disputing about the dogstar, had plenty to drink. Thus the word βρέχω, to moisten or soak, is often applied to drinking. And so Antiphanes says—

Eating much may bring on choking,
Unless you take a turn at soaking.

42. Now the verb ἀναπίπτω, meaning to fall back, has properly reference to the mind, meaning to despair, to be out of heart. Thucydides says in his first book, "When they are defeated they are least of all people inclined to ἀναπίπτειν." And Cratinus uses the same expression of rowers—

Ply your oars and bend your backs.

And Xenophon in his Œconomics says, "Why is it that rowers are not troublesome to one another, except because they sit in regular order, and bend forward in regular order, and (ἀναπίπτουσιν) lean back in regular order?"—The word ἀνακεῖσθαι is properly applied to a statue, on which account they used to laugh at those who used the word of the guests at a feast, for whom the proper expression was κατακεῖμαι. [38]Accordingly Diphilus puts into the mouth of a man at a feast—

I for a while sat down (ἀνεκείμην):

and his friend, not approving of such an expression, says, Ἀνάκεισο. And Philippides has—

I supped too ἀνακειμένος in his house.

What, was he giving a dinner to a statue?

But the word κατακεῖσθαι is used, and also κατακεκλῖσθαι, of reclining at meals: as Xenophon and Plato prove in their essays called the Banquet. Alexis too says—

'Tis hard before one's supper to lie down,
For if one does one cannot go to sleep;
Nor give much heed to aught that may be said;
One's thoughts being fix'd on what there'll be to eat.

Not but what the word ἀνακεῖσθαι is used in this sense, though rarely. The satyr in Sophocles says—

If I catch fire I'll leap with a mighty
Spring upon Hercules, as ἀνακεῖται.

And Aristotle says, when speaking of the laws of the Tyrrhenians, "But the Tyrrhenians sup, ἀνακειμένοι with the women under the same covering." Theopompus also says—

Then we the goblets fill'd with mighty wine,
On delicate couches κατακειμένος,
Singing in turn old songs of Telamon.

I have been here κατακειμένος a long time.

Ἀνέπεσε (which is the same as ἀνέκειτο)
Breathing forth long and deep and heavy breath.

After that I bade her ἀναπεσεῖν by my side.

43. The ancients, too, used the word πάσασθαι for to taste. And so Phœnix says to Achilles, "You would not πάσασθαι anything in any one else's house. And in another place we find—

When, they ἐπάσαντο the entrails:

for they only taste the entrails, so that a great multitude [39]might have a taste of what exists in but a small quantity. And Priam says to Achilles—

Now I have tasted food, (πασάμην.)

For it was natural for a man suffering under such calamities as his, only just to taste food, for his grief would not permit him to go so far as to satisfy his hunger. And therefore, he who did not touch food at all is called "fasting," ἄπαστος. But the poet never uses the word πάσασθαι of those who eat their fill; but in their case he uses words which express satiety:—

But when their minds were pleased (τάρφθεν) with wholesome food;

When they had ceased to wish for meat and drink.

But more modern writers use the word πάσασθαι for being satisfied. Callimachus says—

I should like to satiate
(πάσασθαι) myself with thyme;

They roasted their game in the ashes and ate it,
(ἐπάσαντο) at least they all did who could get it.

44. We find in the Theban bard the expression, "glueing them together as one would glue one piece of wood to another."

Seleucus says that the expression so common in Homer, δαῖτα θάλειαν, is the same as δίαιτα by a slight alteration of the arrangement of the letters; for he thinks that is too violent a change to consider it as derived from δαίσασθαι.

Carystius of Pergamos relates that the Corcyrean women sing to this day when playing at ball. And in Homer, it is not only men who play, but women also. And they used to play at quoits also, and at throwing the javelin, with some grace:—

They threw the quoit, and hurl'd the playful spear.

For any amusement takes away the feeling of ennui. And young men prosecute hunting as a sort of practice against the dangers of war; and there is no sort of chase which they avoid; and the consequence is that they are more vigorous and healthy than they otherwise would be.

As when they stand firm as unshaken towers,
And face the foe, and pour forth darts in showers.

[40] The men of those times were acquainted with baths also of all sorts, as a relief from fatigue. Refreshing themselves after toil by bathing in the sea; which of all baths is the best for the sinews; and having relaxed the excessive strains of their muscles in the bath, they then anointed themselves with ointment, in order to prevent their bodies from becoming too rigid as the water evaporated. And so the men who returned from a reconnoissance,

Wash'd off their heat in Neptune's briny tides,
And bathed their heads, and legs, and brawny sides.[40:1]

They to the polish'd marble baths repair,
Anoint with fresh perfumes their flowing hair,
And seek the banquet hall.

There was another way, too, of refreshing themselves and getting rid of their fatigue, by pouring water over the head:—

Then o'er their heads and necks the cooling stream
The handmaids pour'd;[40:2]

for baths, in which the whole body is immersed, as the water surrounds all the pores on every side, prevents the escape of the perspiration, just as if a sieve were thrown into the water. For then nothing goes through the sieve, unless you lift it up out of the water, and so allow its pores, if one may call them so, to open, and make a passage through; as Aristotle says in his problems of natural philosophy, when he asks, "Why do men in a perspiration, when they come into warm or cold water no longer perspire, until they leave the bath again?"

45. Vegetables also were set before the ancient heroes when they supped. And that they were acquainted with the use of vegetables is plain from the expression,

He went down to the furthest bed
In the well-order'd garden.

There was the onion, too, to season wine.

Figs after figs grow old, pears after pears.

There many a beauteous tree appears—
Pomegranates, apples, figs, and pears.

And those which are adapted for being cut down for timber he calls tall, distinguishing the epithets which he applies to each by their respective uses:—

There tall trees adorn the grove,
The ash, and pine that towers above.

And the use of these trees was older than the Trojan war. And Tantalus, even after he is dead, is not cured of his fancy for these fruits; as the god, to punish him, waves such before his eyes (just as men lead on irrational animals by holding branches in front of them), and then prevents him from enjoying them, the moment he begins to entertain a hope of doing so. And Ulysses reminds Laertes of what he gave him when he was a child: "You gave me thirteen pears"—and so on.

46. And that they used to eat fish, Sarpedon proves plainly, when he compares the being taken prisoner to fish caught in a large net. Yet Eubulus, jesting in the way that the comic writers allow themselves, says—

I pray you, where in Homer is the chief
Who e'er eat fish, or anything but beef?
And, though, so much of liberty they boasted,
Their meat was never anything but roasted.

Nor did those heroes allow the birds the free enjoyment of the air; setting traps and nets for thrushes and doves. And they practised the art of taking birds, and, suspending a dove by a small string to the mast of a ship, then shot arrows at it from a distance, as is shown in the book describing the funeral games. But Homer passed over the use of vegetables, and fish, and birds, lest to mention them should seem like praising gluttony, thinking besides there would be a want of decorum in dwelling on the preparation of such things, which he considered beneath the dignity of gods and heroes. But that they did in reality eat their meat boiled as well as roasted, he shows when he says—

But as a caldron boils with melting fat
Of well-fed pig;

[42] and the foot of the ox which was thrown at Ulysses proves it too, for no one ever roasts oxen's feet. And the line too—

Then many a well-fill'd dish was duly set
On the full board, with every kind of meat;

as this not only speaks of the variety of meats, such as birds, pigs, kids, and beef; but it also speaks of the way in which they were dressed as having varied, and not having been all of one kind, but carefully arranged. So that you may see here the origin of the Sicilian and Sybaritic and Italian ways of giving feasts, and the Chian fashion also. For the Chians are reported not to have been less studious than the other nations just mentioned in the art of dressing their meat. Timocles says—

The Chians
Are splendid hands at dressing viands.

And in Homer, not only the young men, but the old men too, such as Phœnix and Nestor, sleep with the women; and Menelaus is the only man who has no woman allotted to him, inasmuch as he had collected the whole expedition for the sake of his wife, who had been carried away from him.

Ancient wine and modern songs.

Inconsistent it seems for a fair one to praise
Old wine, and to say that such never can cloy;
But bring her a man who has seen his best days,
And she'd rather put up with a whiskerless boy.

And Alexis says very nearly the same thing word for word; only using the word little instead of never. Though in reality old wine is not only more pleasant, but also better for health; for it aids digestion more; and being thinner it is itself more digestible; it also invigorates the body; and makes the blood red and fluid, and produces untroubled sleep. But Homer praises that wine most which will admit of a copious admixture of water; as the Maronean. And old wine will allow of more water being added to it, because its very age has added heat to it. And some men say, that the flight of Bacchus to the sea is emblematic of the making of wine, as it was practised long ago; because wine is very [43]sweet when sea-water is poured into it. And Homer praising dark-coloured wine, often calls it αἴθοψ. For the dark-coloured wine is the strongest, and it remains in the system of the drinkers of it longer than any other. But Theopompus says, that black wine was first made among the Chians; and, that the Chians were the first people who imparted the knowledge of planting and tending vines to the rest of mankind, having learnt it from Œnopion the son of Bacchus, who was the original colonizer of their island. But white wine is weak and thin; but yellow wine is very digestible, being of a more drying nature.

48. Respecting the Italian wines, Galen is represented by this sophist as saying, that the Falernian wine is fit to drink from the time that it is ten or fifteen years old, till it is twenty; but after that time it falls off, and is apt to give headaches, and affects the nervous system. There are two kinds of Falernian wine, the dry and the sweet. The sweet wine is made when the south wind blows through the vineyard; which also makes it darker in colour. But that which is not made at this time is dry and yellow. Of the Alban wine there are also two kinds, one sweet and one sour; and both are in their prime after they are fifteen years old. The wine of Surrentum begins to be drinkable when five-and-twenty years old; for as it has no oil of any sort in it, and is very thin, it is a long time ripening: and when it is old it is nearly the only wine that is wholesome to be drunk for a continuance. But the Rhegian wine, being richer than the Surrentine, may be used as soon as it is fifteen years old. The wine of Privernum too is very good, being thinner than the Rhegian wine, and one which does not take much effect on the head. And the Formian wine is like it; and is a wine which soon comes to its prime; it is, however, a richer wine than the other. But the Trifoline wine is slower ripening, and has a more earthy taste than the Surrentine. The Setine is a wine of the first class, like the Falernian wine, but lighter, and not so apt to make a man drunk. The wine of Tibur is thin, and evaporates easily, being at its best as soon as it is ten years old. Still it is better as it gets older. The Labican wine is sweet and oily to the taste, being something between the Falernian and the Alban: and you may drink that when it is ten years old. There is the Gauran wine too, a scarce and very fine wine, and [44]likewise very powerful and oily; more so indeed than the wine of Præneste or of Tibur. The Marsic is a very dry wine; and very good for the stomach. Around Cumæ in Campania there is a wine made which is called Ulban, a light wine, fit to be drunk when five years old. The wine of Ancona is a fine wine, and rather oily. The Buxentine is like the Alban, as far as being rather sour; but it is a strong wine, and good for the stomach. The Veliternian wine is very sweet to drink and good for the stomach; but it has this peculiarity, that it does not taste like a pure wine, but always has an appearance as if some other was mixed with it. The Calenian wine is light, and better for the stomach than the Falernian. The Cæcuban is a noble wine, full of strength and easily affecting the head; but it does not come to its prime till after many years. The Fundan wine is strong, and nutritious, and affects the head and stomach, on which account it is not much used at banquets. But the Sabine wine is lighter than any of these, and is fit to be drunk from the time that it is seven years old till it is fifteen; and the Signine wine is available at six years old, but as it gets older it is far more valuable. The wine of Nomentum gets in season very early, and can be drunk as soon as it is five years old; it is not very sweet, and not very thin; but that of Spoletum is very sweet to the taste, and has a golden colour. The wine of Capua is in many respects like the Surrentine wine. The Barbine is very dry and continually improving. The Caucine too is a noble wine, and resembles the Falernian. The wine of Venafrum is good for the stomach, and light. The Trebellian wine, which is made round Naples, is of moderate strength, good for the stomach, and pleasant to the taste. The Erbulian wine is at first dark coloured, but in a few years it becomes white; and it is a very light and delicate wine. That of Marseilles is a fine wine, but it is scarce, and thick, with a good deal of body. The Tarentine, and all the other wines of that district, are delicate wines, without very much strength or body, sweet, and good for the stomach. The Mamertine is a foreign wine, made out of Italy. There is also another wine, made in Sicily, and called Iotaline; it is a sweet wine and light, but there is some strength in it.

Among the Indians a deity is worshipped, according to the [45]account of Chares of Mitylene, who is called Soroadeus; which name, as interpreted in Greek, means Winemaker.

49. Antiphanes, that witty man, catalogues all the things which are peculiar to each city thus:—

Cooks come from Elis, pots from Argos,
Corinth blankets sends in barges,
Phlius wine, and Sicyon fish,
While cheese is a Sicilian dish.
Ægium sends flute-playing maids;
Perfumers ply their dainty trades
At Athens, under Pallas' eye;
Bœotia sends us eels to fry.

Tell me, ye Muses, who th' Olympic height
Cheer with your holy songs and presence bright;
Tell me what blessings Bacchus gave to man,
Since first his vessel o'er the waters ran.
Ox-hides from Libya's coasts, and juicy kail:
The narrow sea, still vocal with the wail
Of lost Leander's bride, the tunny sends,
And our first meal with kipper'd salmon mends.
Groats come from Italy, and ribs of beef;
While Thrace sends many a lie and many a thief.
Still do the Spartans scratch their sides in vain,
Mad with the itching of th' Odrysian pain.
Then Syracuse gives cheese and well-fed pigs;
Fair Athens olives sends, and luscious figs.
Cursed of all islands let Corcyra be,
Where no especial excellence we see.
Sails come from Egypt, and this paper too;
Incense from Syria; Crete upholds to view
The cypress tall; and, dear to mighty Jove,
In Paphlagonia grows the almond grove.
The elephant sends its teeth from Afric's sands;
Pears and fat sheep grow on Eubœa's lands;
Rhodes sends us raisins, and beguiles the night
With figs that make our dreams and slumbers light;
From Phrygia slaves, allies from Arca's land;
The Pagasæan ports their hirelings brand;
Phœnicia sends us dates across the billows,
And Carthage, carpets rich, and well-stuff'd pillows.

Give me the noble Spartan hound
With whose deep voice Eurotas' banks resound;
While the dark rocks
Of Scyrus give the choicest flocks
[46] Of milky goats; and, prompt at war's alarms,
Brave Argos burnishes the well-proved arms,
The Sicels build the rapid car,
And the fierce Thebans urge the chariot to the war.[46:1]

Know ye the land of the fair Proserpine,
Where the cottabus splashes the ominous wine;
Where the lightest and handsomest cars . . . .
* * * * *
And what can for tired limbs compare
With the soft and yielding Thessalian chair?
But no town with Miletus vies
In the bridal bed's rich canopies.
But none the golden bowl can chase,
Or give to brass such varied grace,
As that renowned hardy race
That dwells by Arno's tide;
Phœnicia, mother of the arts,
Letters to learned men imparts;
Thebes scaled the mountain's side,
Bade the tough ash its trunk to yield,
And fill'd with cars the battle-field;
While Carians, masters of the seas,
First launch'd the boat to woo the breeze.
Offspring of clay and furnace bright,
The choicest porcelain clear and light
Boasts, as its birth-place, of the towers
Which Neptune's and Minerva's powers
From ills and dangers shield;
Which beat back war's barbaric wave
When Mede and Persian found a grave
In Marathon's undying field.

And indeed the pottery of Attica is deservedly praised. But Eubulus says, "Cnidian pots, Sicilian platters, and Megarian jars." And Antiphanes enumerates "mustard, and also scammony juice from Cyprus; cardamums from Miletus; onions from Samothrace; cabbages, kail, and assafœtida from Carthage; thyme from Hymettus, and marjoram from Tenedos."

51. The Persian king used to drink no other wine but that called the Chalybonian, which Posidonius says is made in Damascus of Syria, from vines which were planted there by the Persians; and at Issa, which is an island in the Adriatic, Agatharchides says that wine is made which is superior to every other wine whatever. The Chian and Thasian wines [47]are mentioned by Epilycus; who says that "the Chian and the Thasian wine must be strained." And also,—

For all the ills that men endure,
Thasian is a certain cure;
For any head or stomach ache,
Thasian wine I always take,
And think it, as I home am reeling,
A present from the God of healing.

Clearchus speaks of "Lesbian wine, which Maro himself appears to me to have been the maker of."

All wise men think
The Lesbian is the nicest wine to drink.

His whole thoughts every day incline
To drink what rich and rosy wine
From Thasos and from Lesbos comes,
And dainty cakes and sugarplums.

Hail, O Bacchus, ever dear,
You who from Lesbos drove dull care
With sparkling rosy wine;
He who would give one glass away,
Too vile on cheerful earth to stay,
Shall be no friend of mine.

Oh how luscious, oh how fine
Is the Pramnian Lesbian wine!
All who 're brave, and all who 're wise,
Much the wine of Lesbos prize.

There is good meat, and plenteous dainty cheer;
And Thasian wine, perfumes, and garlands here;
Venus loves comfort; but where folks are poor,
The merry goddess ever shuns their door.

In Thasian wine or Chian soak your throttle,
Or take of Lesbian an old cobwebb'd bottle.

Give me some Psithian nectar, rich and neat,
To cool my thirst, and quench the burning heat.

[48] 52. Thesmophorius of Trœzene entitles the second Θεσμοφοριάζουσαι of Aristophanes Θεσμοφοριάσασαι. In that play the poet speaks of Peparethian wine:—

Shun, my boy, the Pramnian cup,
Nor Thasian drink, nor Chian sup;
Nor let your glass with Peparethian brighten—
For bachelors that liquor's too exciting.

As sweet as
Wine from Leucas or Miletus.

When a libation to the gods you make,
Let your wine worthy be, and ripe and old;
Whose hoary locks droop o'er his purple lake,
Such as in Lesbos' sea-girt isle is sold.
Phœnicia doth a generous liquor bear,
But still the Lesbian I would rather quaff;
For though through age the former rich appear,
You'll find its fragrance will with use go off.

But Lesbian is the true ambrosial juice,
And so the gods, whose home's Olympus, think it;
And if some rather the Phœnician choose,
Let them, as long as they don't make you drink it.

The Thasian isle, too, noble wine doth grow,
When passing years have made its flavour mellow,
And other places too; still all I know
Is that the Lesbian liquor has no fellow.

I need not stop to tell you all the names
Of towns which in the generous contest vie,
Each for itself the vict'ry hotly claims;
But still the Lesbian wine beats all, say I.

53. Ephippus, too, mentions the Phœnician wine, saying, "Nuts, pomegranates, dates, and other sweetmeats, and small casks of Phœnician wine." And again,—

A cask of good Phœnician wine was tapp'd.

Xenophon, too, mentions it in his Anabasis. The Mendæan wine is mentioned by Cratinus:—

When a man tastes Mendæan wine,
How rich, says he, how sweet, how fine!
I wonder where it can be bought, or
What's the right quantity of water.

And Hermippus somewhere introduces Bacchus as mentioning several different kinds of wine:—

[49] Mendæan wine such as the gods distil,
And sweet Magnesian, cures for every ill,
And Thasian, redolent of mild perfume;
But of them all the most inviting bloom
Mantles above old Homer's Chian glass;
That wine doth all its rivals far surpass.
There is a wine, which Saprian they call,
Soon as the seals from whose rich hogshead fall,
Violets and roses mix their lovely scent,
And hyacinths, in one rich fragrance blent;
You might believe Jove's nectar sparkled there,
With such ambrosial odour reeks the air.
This is the wine I'll to my friends disclose;
The Peparethian trash may suit my foes.

And Phanias the Eresian poet says that the Mendæans are in the habit of syringing the grapes with opening medicine, even while still on the vine; and that this makes the wine soft.

54. Themistocles received from the king of Persia Lampsacus, to supply him with wine; Magnesia, for bread; Myus, for meat; and Percope and Palæscepsis were to provide him with bedclothes and garments. The king moreover enjoined him to wear a cloak such as is worn by the barbarians, as he had previously bade Demaratus do; and he gave him the same presents as he had formerly given to Demaratus, and added also a robe such as is worn by the sons-in-law of the king, on condition of his never reassuming the Greek attire. And Cyrus the Great gave Pytharchus of Cyzicus, being a friend of his, seven cities, as is related by Agathocles of Babylon; namely, Pedasus, and Olympius, and Cama, and Tium, and Sceptra, and Artypsus, and Tortyra. But he, being made insolent and having his head turned by this liberality, attempted to make himself tyrant of his country, and collected an army for that purpose. On which the people of Cyzicus went out to battle against him, and attacked him eagerly, and so preserved their liberties.

Among the people of Lampsacus Priapus is held in high honour, being the same as Bacchus, and having this name Priapus only as an epithet, just as Thriambus and Dithyrambus are.

The Mitylenæans have a sweet wine which they call πρόδρομος, and others call it πρότροπος.

[50] Thurium gives the olive juice,
Lentils Gela's fields produce;
Icarian wine well merits praise,
And figs which the Cimolians raise.

The Pramnian wine, too, according to Eparchides, is produced in Icarus. It is a peculiar kind of wine; and it is neither sweet nor thick, but dry and hard, and of extraordinary strength; and Aristophanes says that the Athenians did not like it, for that "the Athenian people did not like hard and sour poets, nor hard Pramnian wines, which contract the eyebrows and the stomach; but they prefer a fragrant wine, ripe, and flavoured like nectar." For Semus says that there is in Icarus a rock called the Pramnian rock; and near it is a great mountain, from which the Pramnian wine has its name, and some call it a medicinal wine. Now Icarus used formerly to be called the Fishy Icarus, from the number of fish around it; just as the Echinades had their name from the sea-urchins, and the promontory Sepias from the number of cuttle-fish which are taken near it. And in like manner the Lagussæ islands are so called from λαγὼς, a hare, as being full of hares. And other islands are called Phycussæ, and Lopadussæ, for similar reasons. And according to Eparchides, the vine which produces the Icarian Pramnian wine, is called by the strangers the Holy vine, and by the people of Œnoe the Dionysiac vine. And Œnoe is a city in the island.

But Didymus says that the Pramnian wine comes from a vine called Pramnian; and some say that the name means merely dark-coloured. But others affirm that it is a generic name for wine suitable for long keeping, as being παραμένιος, that is to say, such as can be kept. And some say that it is so called from πραΰνειν τὸ μένος, mollifying anger, because those who drink it become good-humoured.

56. Amphis praises also the wine which comes from the city of Acanthus, saying,—

And foreign wine was there; for that from Corinth
Is painful drinking.

Drinking deep draughts of harsh Eubœan wine.

The Naxian wine is compared by Archilochus to nectar. And he says in some one of his poems—

My spear finds corn, my spear finds wine,
From Ismarus; on my spear I dine,
And on it, when fatigued, recline.

The black Sciathian wine mix'd half and half,
Invites the traveller to halt and quaff.

He pledged him in a cup of Bibline wine.

While it has its name from some district which is called by a similar appellation. And Philyllius says,—

I'll give you Lesbian, Chian wine,
Thasian, Mendæan, and Bibline;
Sweet wines, but none so strong and heady
As that you shall next day feel seedy.

But Epicharmus says that it is named from some mountains of a similar name. And Armenidas says that there is a district of Thrace called the Biblian, the same which was afterwards called Tisara, and Œsyma. And it was very natural for Thrace to be admired as a country producing fine wines; and indeed all the adjacent country deserves the same character.

Full of rich wine the ships from Lemnos came.

But Hippias the Rhegian says that the wine called the creeper was also called Biblian; and that Pollis the Argive, who was king of Syracuse, was the first person who brought it to Syracuse from Italy. And if that be true, probably the sweet wine which among the Sicilians is called Pollian, is the same as the Bibline wine. There is an ancient oracle:—

Drink wine where lees abound, since Fate has not
Placed you amid Anthedon's flowery plains,
Or in the streets of sacred Hypera,
Where purer wine abounds.

[52]And there was a vine among the people of Trœzene, (as Aristotle says, in his book on their polity,) called Anthedonian, and another called Hyperian; from men of the name of Anthus and Hyperus, just as the Althephian vine is named after a man of the name of Althephias, one of the descendants of Alpheus.

57. Alcman somewhere speaks of a wine as free from fire, and smelling of flowers, which is produced from the Five Hills, a place about seven furlongs from Sparta. And he mentions another wine which comes from Denthiades, a small fortress, and another from Œnus, and another from Onoglæ and Stathmi. And these places are all near Pitane. Accordingly, he says, "And wine from Œnus, or from Denthis, or from Carystus, or from Onoglæ, or from Stathmi." The Carystian wine is that which comes from Carystus in Laconia, on the borders of Arcadia. And he calls it "free from fire," as not having been boiled; for they often used boiled wines. Polybius says that there was an admirable wine made at Capua; which was called ἀναδενδρίτης, to which no other wine was at all comparable. But Alciphron of the Mæander says, that there was a mountain village near the Ephesian territories, which was formerly called Latona's, but is now called Latorea, from Latorea the Amazon; and that there also Pramnian wine is made. Timachidas the Rhodian calls a wine made at Rhodes ὑπόχυτος, or the adulterated wine, being near akin to sweet wine. But that wine is called γλύξις which goes through no process of decoction.

There is also a Rhodian wine, which Polyzelus calls αὐτίτης:[52:1] and another which Plato the comic writer calls καπνίας;[52:2] and this wine is made in the greatest perfection at Beneventum, a city in Italy. But the wine Amphis is spoken of as a very poor wine by Sosicrates. The ancients used also a certain wine made of spices, which they called τρίμμα. But Theophrastus, in his History of Plants, says, that a wine is made in Heræa in Arcadia which, when it is drunk, drives men out of their senses, and makes women inclined to pregnancy: and that around Cerunia in Achaia there is a kind of vine, from which a wine is made which has a tendency to cause abortion in pregnant women; and if they eat the grapes too, says he, they miscarry;—and the Trœzenian wine, he says, makes those who drink it barren: and at Thasos, [53]says he, they make a wine which produces sleep, and another which causes those who drink it to keep awake.

58. But concerning the manufacture of scented wine, Phanias of Eresus says, "There is infused into the wine one portion of sea-water to fifty of wine, and that becomes scented wine." And again he says, "Scented wine is made stronger of young than of old vines;" and he subjoins, "Having trodden on the unripe grapes they put the wine away, and it becomes scented." But Theophrastus says, that "the wine at Thasos, which is given in the prytaneum, is wonderfully delicious; for it is well seasoned; for they knead up dough with honey, and put that into the earthen jars; so that the wine receives fragrance from itself, and sweetness from the honey." And he proceeds to say, "If any one mixes harsh wine which has no smell with soft and fragrant wine, such, for instance, as the Heraclean wine with that of Erythræ, softness is derived from the one, and wholesomeness from the other." And the Myrtite or Myrrhine wine is spoken of by Posidippus:—

A tasteless, dry, and foolish wine
I consider the myrrhine.

Hermes, too, is mentioned by Strattis as the name of a drink. And Chæreas says, that a wine is made in Babylon which is called nectar.

'Tis not enough to mix your wine with taste,
Unless sweet converse seasons the repast;
And Bacchus' gifts well such regard deserve,
That we should e'en the stones of grapes preserve.

59. Now of wines some are white, some yellow, and some red. The white is the thinnest in its nature, diuretic, and warm; and being a promoter of digestion it causes a heat in the head; for it is a wine which has a tendency to move upwards. But of red wine that which is not sweet is very nutritious, and is astringent; but that which is sweet (as is the case with even white and yellow wine also) is the most nutritious of all: for it softens all the ducts and passages, and thickens the fluid parts of the body, and does not at all confuse the head. For in reality the nature of sweet wine lingers about the ribs, and engenders spittle, as Diocles and Praxagoras assert. But Mnesitheus the Athenian says, "Red wine is the most nutritious; but white is the most diuretic and the thinnest; and the [54]yellow is a dry wine, and that which most assists in the digestion of the food."

Now the wines which have been very carefully prepared with sea-water never cause headaches; and they open the bowels, and sometimes gripe the stomach, and produce flatulency, and assist in the digestion of food. Of this character is the Myndian wine, and that of Halicarnassus. And so Menippus the Cynic calls Myndus "brine-drinking." The Coan wine too has a good deal of sea-water in it. The Rhodian has not so much sea-water; but a great deal of that wine is good for nothing. Wine made in the islands is very good to drink, and not at all ill-calculated for daily use. But Cnidian wine makes blood, is nutritious, and keeps the bowels in a healthy state; though if it is drunk in great quantities it relaxes the stomach. The Lesbian wine is less astringent, and more diuretic. But the Chian is a nicer wine; and of all the Chian wine, that called the Aryusian is the best. And of this there are three varieties: for there is a dry kind, and a sweet kind; and that the flavour of which is between the two is called autocratic, that is, self-mixed. Now the dry kind is pleasant to the taste, nutritious, and more diuretic than the others; but the sweet kind is nutritious, filling, and apt to soften the bowels. The autocratic wine in its effects also is something between the two. But, generally speaking, the Chian wine is digestible, nutritious, a producer of good blood, mild, and filling, inasmuch as it has a great deal of body. But the nicest of all wines are the Alban and Falernian wines of Italy; but these, if they have been kept a length of time and are old, acquire a medicinal effect, and rapidly produce a sensation of heaviness. But the wine called Adrian relieves any oppression of the breath, is very digestible, and wholly free from all unpleasant consequences; but these wines require to be made with rapidity, and then to be set in an open place, so as to allow the thicker portions of their body to evaporate. But the best wine to keep a length of time is the Corcyrean. The Zacynthian and Leucadian wines also are apt to be bad for the head, because they contain chalk. There is a wine from Cilicia, called Abates, which has no effect except that of relaxing the bowels. But hard water, such as that from springs, or from rain if it is filtered, and has stood some time, agrees very well with Coan and Myndian and Halicarnassian wine, [55]and indeed with every wine which has plenty of salt-water in it. And accordingly these wines are of the greatest use at Athens and Sicyon, because the waters in those cities are harsh. But for those wines which have no sea-water, and which are of a more astringent nature, especially for the Chian and Lesbian wine, the purest water is the most suitable.

Oh thou my tongue, whom silence long hath bound,
How wilt thou bear this tale of thine t' unfold?
Hard is their fate to whom compulsion stern
Leaves no alternative; which now compels thee
To open what thy lord would fain conceal.

60. The Mareotic wine, which comes from Alexandria, had its name from a fountain in the district of Alexandria called Marea; and from a town of the same name which was close to it; which was formerly a place of great importance, but is now reduced to a petty village. And the fountain and town derived their name from Maro, who was one of the companions of Bacchus in his expedition. And there are many vines in that country, which produce grapes very good to eat when raw, and the wine which is made from them is excellent. For it is white, and sweet, and good for the breath, and digestible, and then, it never produces any ill effect on the head, and is diuretic. And still better than this is the wine called Tæniotic. The word ταινία means a riband; and there is in that district a long narrow riband of land, the wines produced from which are of a slightly green colour, with something oily in them, which is quickly dissolved when it is mixed with water; just as the Attic honey is dissolved by the same process. This Tæniotic wine, in addition to being sweet, has something aromatic in it, of a slightly astringent character. But there are vines near the Nile in great quantities as far as the river extends; and there are many peculiarities in those vines, both as to their colour and as to their use. However, the best of all the wines made in that district is that made near the city of Antylla (which is not far from Alexandria), the revenues from which the kings of those ages, both the Egyptian and Persian kings, used to give to their wives for pin-money. But the wine which is made in the Thebais, especially that near the city Coptos, is light, and easy of digestion, and also so great an assistant in [56]the digestion of the rest of one's food, that it is given to people in fevers without injury.

You praise yourself, as does Astydamas, woman!

61. Theopompus the Chian says, that the vine is found at Olympia, near the Alpheus; and that there is a place about eight furlongs from Elis where the natives at the time of the Dionysian games close up three empty brazen vessels, and seal them in the presence of all the people round about; and at a subsequent time they open them and find them full of wine. But Hellanicus says, that the vine was first discovered in Plinthina, a city of Egypt; on which account Dion, the academic philosopher, calls the Egyptians fond of wine and fond of drinking: and also, that as subsidiary to wine, in the case of those who, on account of their poverty, could not get wine, there was introduced a custom of drinking beer made of barley; and moreover, that those who drank this beer were so pleased with it that they sung and danced, and did everything like men drunk with wine. Now Aristotle says, that men who are drunk with wine show it in their faces; but that those who have drunk too much beer fall back and go to sleep; for wine is stimulating, but beer has a tendency to stupefy.

62. Now that the Egyptians really are fond of wine this is a proof, that they are the only people among whom it is a custom at their feasts to eat boiled cabbages before all the rest of their food; and even to this very time they do so. And many people add cabbage seed to potions which they prepare as preventives against drunkenness. And wherever a vineyard has cabbages growing in it, there the wine is weaker. On which account the citizens of Sybaris also, as Timæus says, used to eat cabbages before drinking. And so Alexis says—

Last evening you were drinking deep,
So now your head aches. Go to sleep;
Take some boil'd cabbage when you wake;
And there's an end of your headache.

Wife, quick! some cabbage boil, of virtues healing,
That I may rid me of this seedy feeling.

[57] For the ancients used to call cabbage ῥάφανος. And so Apollodorus of Carystus expressly says—

We call it ῥάφανος, and strangers κράμβη;
But sure to women they must both the same be.

If you butter and cabbage eat,
All distempers you will beat,
Driving off all headaches horrid,
And clouds which hover round your forehead.

Instead of cabbage, acorns boil to-morrow,
Which equally rid you of all your sorrow.

When one's been drunk, the best relief I know
Is stern misfortune's unexpected blow;
For that at once all languor will dispel,
As sure as cabbage.

And Theophrastus also speaks of the effect which the cabbage produces, saying that the vine as long as it lives always turns away from the smell of cabbage.

FOOTNOTES:

BOOK II.

1. The conversation which you reported to me did not allow me to give up a considerable portion of the day to sleep, as it was of a very varied nature.

Œneus pour'd the juice divine
In hollow cups, and call'd it wine.

'Twas Œneus, master, gave his name to wine.

But Hecatæus of Miletus says, that the vine was discovered in Ætolia; and adds, "Orestheus, the son of Deucalion, came to Ætolia to endeavour to obtain the kingdom; and while he was there, a bitch which he had brought forth a stalk: and he ordered it to be buried in the ground, and from it [58]there sprang up a vine loaded with grapes. On which account he called his son Phytius. And he had a son named Œneus, who was so called from the vines: for the ancient Greeks," says he, "called vines οἶναι. Now Œneus was the father of Ætolus." But Plato in his Cratylus, inquiring into the etymology of the word oἶnos, says, that it is equivalent to οἰόνους, as filling the mind, νοῦς, with ὄιησις, or self-conceit. Perhaps, however, the word may be derived from ὄνησις, succour. For Homer, giving as it were the derivation of the word, speaks nearly after this fashion—

And then you will be succour'd (ὀνήσεαι) if you drink.

No better remedies than wine there are,
O king, to drive away soul-eating care.

O Bacchus, to all wise men dear,
How very kind you do appear;
You make the lowly-hearted proud,
And bid the gloomy laugh aloud;
You fill the feeble man with daring,
And cowards strut and bray past bearing.

Good store of wine which makes men talk.

Laughter and wisdom and prudence and learning.

Youth of indomitable might,
With head of bull; the loveliest wight
Who ever rank'd as Love's esquire,
Filling men with strength and fire.

Great was the blessing, when the gods did show
Sweet wine to those who how to use it know;
But where bad men its righteous use pervert,
To such, I trow, it will be rather hurt.
For to the first it nourishment supplies,
Strengthens their bodies, and their minds makes wise;
A wholesome physic 'tis when mix'd with potions,
Heals wounds as well as plasters or cold lotions.
[59] Wine to our daily feasts brings cheerful laughter,
When mix'd with proper quantities of water;
Men saucy get if one-third wine they quaff;
While downright madness flows from half-and-half;
And neat wine mind and body too destroys;
While moderation wise secures our joys.
And well the oracle takes this position,
That Bacchus is all people's best physician.

Let them three parts of wine all duly season
With nine of water, who'd preserve their reason;
The first gives health, the second sweet desires,
The third tranquillity and sleep inspires.
These are the wholesome draughts which wise men please,
Who from the banquet home return in peace.
From a fourth measure insolence proceeds;
Uproar a fifth, a sixth wild licence breeds;
A seventh brings black eyes and livid bruises,
The eighth the constable next introduces;
Black gall and hatred lurk the ninth beneath,
The tenth is madness, arms, and fearful death;
For too much wine pour'd in one little vessel,
Trips up all those who seek with it to wrestle.

And Panyasis the epic poet allots the first cup of wine to the Graces, the Hours, and Bacchus; the second to Venus, and again to Bacchus; the third to Insolence and Destruction. And so he says—

O'er the first glass the Graces three preside,
And with the smiling Hours the palm divide;
Next Bacchus, parent of the sacred vine,
And Venus, loveliest daughter of the brine,
Smile on the second cup, which cheers the heart,
And bids the drinker home in peace depart.
But the third cup is waste and sad excess,
Parent of wrongs, denier of redress;
Oh, who can tell what evils may befall
When Strife and Insult rage throughout the hall?
[60] Content thee, then, my friend, with glasses twain;
Then to your home and tender wife again;
While your companions, with unaching heads,
By your example taught, will seek their beds.
But riot will be bred by too much wine,
A mournful ending for a feast divine;
While, then, you live, your thirst in bounds confine.

For Insolence and Ruin follow it.

Drinking is sire of blows and violence.

From which some have said that the pedigree of Bacchus and of Insolence were the same.

Man's nature doth in much resemble wine:
For young men and new wine do both need age
To ripen their too warm unseason'd strength,
And let their violence evaporate.
But when the grosser portions are worked off,
And all the froth is skimm'd, then both are good;
The wine is drinkable, the man is wise,
And both in future pleasant while they last.

Wine is like fire when 'tis to man applied,
Or like the storm that sweeps the Libyan tide;
The furious wind the lowest depths can reach,
And wine robs man of knowledge, sense, and speech.

Wine is like fire, an aid and sweet relief,
Wards off all ills, and comforts every grief;
Wine can of every feast the joys enhance,
It kindles soft desire, it leads the dance.
Think not then, childlike, much of solid food,
But stick to wine, the only real good.

Good wine's the gift which God has given
To man alone beneath the heaven;
Of dance and song the genial sire,
Of friendship gay and soft desire;
Yet rule it with a tighten'd rein,
Nor moderate wisdom's rules disdain;
For when uncheck'd there's nought runs faster,—
A useful slave, but cruel master.

5. Timæus of Tauromenium relates that there was a certain house at Agrigentum called the Trireme, on this account:—Some young men got drunk in it, and got so mad when excited by the wine, as to think that they were sailing in a trireme, and that they were being tossed about on the sea in a violent storm; and so completely did they lose their senses, that they threw all the furniture, and all the sofas and chairs and beds, out of window, as if they were throwing them into the sea, fancying that the captain had ordered them to lighten the ship because of the storm. And though a crowd collected round the house and began to plunder what was thrown out, even that did not cure the young men of their frenzy. And the next day, when the prætors came to the house, there were the young men still lying, sea-sick as they said; and, when the magistrates questioned them, they replied that they had been in great danger from a storm, and had consequently been compelled to lighten the ship by throwing all their superfluous cargo into the sea. And while the magistrates marvelled at the bewilderment of the men, one of them, who seemed to be older than the rest, said, "I, O Tritons, was so frightened that I threw myself down under the benches, and lay there as low down and as much out of sight as I could." And the magistrates forgave their folly, and dismissed them with a reproof, and a warning not to indulge in too much wine in future. And they, professing to be much obliged to them, said, "If we arrive in port after having escaped this terrible storm, we will erect in our own country statues of you as our saviours in a conspicuous place, along with those of the other gods of the sea, as having appeared to us at a seasonable time." And from this circumstance that house was called the Trireme.

6. But Philochorus says that men who drink hard do not only show what sort of disposition they themselves are of, but [62]do also reveal in their chattering the characters of every one else whom they know. Whence comes the proverb,

Wine and truth;[62:1]

Wine lays bare the heart of man.

And so in the contests of Bacchus the prize of victory is a tripod: and we have a proverb of those who speak truth, that "they are speaking from the tripod;" in which the tripod meant is the cup of Bacchus. For there were among the ancients two kinds of tripods, each of which, as it happened, bore the name of λέβης, or bowl; one, which was used to be put on the fire, being a sort of kettle for bathing, as Æschylus says—

They pour'd the water in a three-legg'd bowl,
Which always has its place upon the fire:

And seven fireless tripods.

And in these last they mixed wine; and it is this last tripod that is the tripod of truth; and it is considered appropriate to Apollo, because of the truth of his prophetic art; and to Bacchus, because of the truth which people speak when drunk. And Semus the Delian says—"A brazen tripod, not the Pythian one, but that which they now call a bowl. And of these bowls some were never put on the fire, and men mixed their wine in them; and the others held water for baths, and in them they warmed the water, putting them on the fire; and of these some had ears, and having their bottom supported by three feet they were called tripods."

A. That load of wine makes you a chatterer.

B. That's why they say that drunken men speak truth.

There are only two secrets a man cannot keep,
One when he's in love, t' other when he's drunk deep:
For these facts are so proved by his tongue or his eyes,
That we see it more plainly the more he denies.

7. And Philochorus relates that Amphictyon, the king of the Athenians, having learnt of Bacchus the art of mixing wine, [63]was the first man who ever did mix it: and that it is owing to him that men who have been drinking on his system can walk straight afterwards, when before they used to blunder about after drinking sheer wine: and on this account he erected an altar to the Straight Bacchus in the temple of the Seasons; for they are the Nymphs who cherish the fruit of the vine. And near it he built also an altar to the Nymphs, as a memorial to all who use mixed drink; for the Nymphs are said to have been the nurses of Bacchus. And he made a law to bring an unmixed wine after meals only just enough to taste, as a token of the power of the Good Deity. But the rest of the wine was put on the table ready mixed, in whatever quantity any one chose. And then he enjoined the guests to invoke in addition the name of Jupiter the Saviour, for the sake of instructing and reminding the drinkers that by drinking in that fashion they would be preserved from injury. But Plato, in his second book of the Laws, says that the use of wine is to be encouraged for the sake of health. But on account of the look which habitual drunkards get, they liken Bacchus to a bull; and to a leopard, because he excites drunkards to acts of violence. And Alcæus says—

Wine sometimes than honey sweeter,
Sometimes more than nettles bitter.

Some men, too, are apt to get in a rage when drunk; and they are like a bull. Euripides says—

Fierce bulls, their passion with their horns displaying.

And some men, from their quarrelsome disposition when drunk, are like wild beasts, on which account it is that Bacchus is likened to a leopard.

8. Well was it then that Ariston the Chian said that that was the most agreeable drink which partook at the same time of both sweetness and fragrance; for which reason some people prepare what is called nectar about the Olympus which is in Lydia, mixing wine and honeycombs and the most fragrant flowers together. Though I am aware indeed that Anaxandrides says that nectar is not the drink, but the meat of the gods:—

Nectar I eat, and well do gnaw it;
Ambrosia drink, (you never saw it);
I act as cupbearer to Jove,
And chat to Juno—not of love;
[64] And oftentimes I sit by Venus,
With marplot none to come between us.

Nectar they eat at will.

The goblets rich were with ambrosia crown'd,
Which Hermes bore to all the gods around.

But Homer was acquainted with nectar as the drink of the gods. And Ibycus says that ambrosia is nine times as sweet as honey; stating expressly that honey has just one-ninth part of the power of ambrosia as far as sweetness goes.

One fond of wine must be an honest man;
For Bacchus, for his double mother famed,
Loves not bad men, nor uninstructed clowns,

says Alexis. He adds, moreover, that wine makes all men who drink much of it fond of talking. And the author of the Epigram on Cratinus says—

If with water you fill up your glasses,
You'll never write anything wise
But wine is the horse of Parnassus,
That carries a bard to the skies.

And this was Cratinus's thought,
Who was ne'er with one bottle content,
But stuck to his cups as he ought,
And to Bacchus his heart and voice lent.

His house all with garlands did shine,
And with ivy he circled his brow,
To show he nought worshipp'd but wine,
As, if he still lived, he'd do now.

Polemo says that in Munychia a hero is honoured of the name of Acratopotes:[64:1] and that among the Spartans statues of the heroes Matton and Ceraon were erected by some cooks in the hall of the Phiditia.[64:2] And in Achaia a hero is honoured called Deipneus, having his name from δεῖπνον, a supper. But from a dry meal there arise no jokes, nor extempore poems, though, on the other hand, such an one does not cause any boasting or insolence of mind; so that it is well said—

Where are the empty boasts which Lemnos heard
When season'd dishes press'd the ample board,
When the rich goblets overflow'd with wine?

[65] though Aristarchus the grammarian put a mark against the line which represents the Greeks as getting insolent through much eating. For he said that it was not every sort of cheerfulness and satiety which engendered boasting and jesting and ridiculous actions; but that these things proceeded only from such revelling as made men beside themselves, and inclined them to falsehood,—from drunkenness, in fact.

Sweet force, from wine proceeding,
Now warms my soul with love,
And on my spirit leading,
With hopes my heart does move.

It drives dull care away,
And laughs at walls and towers;
And bids us think and say,
That all the world is ours.

The man who drinks plenty of wine,
Will never for wealth be wishing;
For his cellar's a ceaseless mine,
And an undisturb'd heart he is rich in.

Drinking is a cure for woe.

Fruit of the field, which makes the heart to leap.

Let generous food supplies of strength produce,
Let rising spirits flow from sprightly juice,
Let their warm heads with scenes of battle glow,[65:1]

11. It is in consequence of wine that both comedy and tragedy were discovered in Icarium, a village of Attica; and it was at the time of the grape harvest that these inventions were first introduced, from which comedy was at first called τρυγῳδία.

Gave men the wine which every grief dispels;
Where wine is not, there Venus never dwells,
Nor any other thing which men hold dear.

Gave men the vine which cures all mortal grief,
Parent of genial wine.

"For," says Antiphanes, "a man who continually fills [66]himself with wine becomes indifferent and careless; but he who drinks but little is very meditative." And Alexis says—

I'm not beside myself with drink; nor have I so much taken
As not to be quite understood by those to whom I'm speaking.

But Seleucus says that it was not an ancient custom to indulge in wine or any other luxury to excess, except, indeed, on the occasion of some sacred festival; which is the origin of the names θοῖναι, and θάλιαι, and μέθαι—Θοῖναι meaning that men thought it right διὰ θεοὺς οἰνοῦσθαι, to drink wine on account of the gods; θάλιαι meaning that χάριν θεῶν ἡλίζοντο, they assembled and met together in honour of the gods. And this comes to the same as the Homeric expression δαῖτα θάλειαν. And Aristotle says that the word μεθύειν is derived from the fact that men used wine μετὰ τὸ θύειν after sacrificing.

Those who with humble gifts approach the gods,
May often holier be, than those who load
The groaning altars with whole hecatombs;

and the word τέλος, which he employs in the first line, means "sacrifice." And Homer uses the same word when he says—

God holds no sacrifice in more esteem,
Than hearts where pious joy and pleasure beam.[66:1]

And we call those festivals which are of greater magnitude and which are celebrated with certain mysterious traditions, τελεταὶ, on account of the expense which is lavished on them. For the word τελέω means to spend. And men who spend a great deal are called πολυτελεῖς; and those who spend but little are called εὐτελεῖς. Alexis says—

Those who with fair prosperity are bless'd,
Should always keep themselves before the world;
Glad to display the bounty of the gods.
For they, the givers of all good, deserve
A holy gratitude; and they will have it.
But if, when they their gifts have shower'd, they see
The objects of their bounty live like churls,
Useless to all around them; who can wonder
If they recall what seems so ill bestow'd?

13. A man is not fond of wine who has been used from his earliest years to drink water. But—

'Tis sweet, at a banquet or festival meeting,
To chat o'er one's wine, when the guests have done eating,

[67]It has not occurred to any one of you to say a word about water, though wine is made of it, and though Pindar, the most grandiloquent of poets, has said that "water is the best of all things." And Homer, too, the most divine of all poets, recognised it as a most nutritious thing, when he spoke of a grove of poplars nourished by the water. He also praises its transparent nature—

Four fountains flow'd with clearest water white;[67:1]

and the water which is of a lighter nature, and of greater value, he calls "lovely:" at all events he calls the Titaresius lovely which falls into the Peneus. And he mentions also some water as especially good for washing; and Praxagoras of Cos, following his example, speaks of a water as beauteous—

Beauteous it flows, to wash all dirt away.

And he distinguishes also between sweet water and brackish (πλατὺς) water; though when he calls the Hellespont πλατὺς, he uses the word in the sense of broad. But with respect to sweet water, he says—

Near the sweet waters then our ships we stay'd.[67:2]

14. He was acquainted too with the effect which warm water has on wounds: at all events he describes Eurypylus's wounds as being washed with it; and yet, if the object was to stop the hæmorrhage, cold water would have been useful, since that contracts and closes up wounds; but with the view of relieving the pain, he bathes these with warm water, which has a soothing effect. And in Homer the word λιαρὸς is used for what we call θερμὸς, warm. And he shows that plainly enough in what he says about the fountains of the Scamander, saying—

Next by Scamander's double source they bound,
Where two famed fountains burst the parted ground;
This warm, through scorching clefts is seen to rise,
With exhalations steaming to the skies.[67:3]

Can we call that only warm from which a steam of fire, and a fiery smoke arises? But of the other source he says—

That, the green banks in summer's heat o'erflows,
Like crystal clear, and cold as winter's snows.

And he often speaks of men newly wounded being bathed in warm water. In the case of Agamemnon he says—

With his warm blood still welling from the wound.[67:4]

[68] And in the case of a stag fleeing after it had been wounded, he says, in a sort of paraphrase—

While his warm blood and mighty limbs were strong.[68:1]

The Athenians call χλιαρὸν, which is properly lukewarm, μετάκερας, as Eratosthenes uses the word, saying, "Watery by nature, and lukewarm, μετάκερας."

15. And of other waters, those which come from rocks he calls "dark," as being quite useless; and he prefers to all others the waters of springs, and those which rise to the surface from a great depth, and through rich soil. As also Hesiod says—

A ceaseless spring of clear untroubled flow.

Ambrosial water, like fresh honey sweet,
Which from Tilphossa's lovely fountains flows;

(Tilphossa is a fountain in Bœotia;) and Aristophanes says that Tiresias died from drinking of it, as at his advanced age he was unable to bear its extreme cold. And Theophrastus, in his book on Waters, says that the water of the Nile is the most productive and the sweetest of all waters, and that it is also very relaxing to the bowels of those who drink it, as it has in it a mixture of nitre. And again, in his book on Plants, he says that there is in some places water which has a procreative tendency; as for instance at Thespiæ: and at Pyrrha there is a water which causes barrenness. But it happened once when there was a drought in the district around the Nile, that the water of that river became unwholesome, and many of the Egyptians died. Theophrastus states, moreover, that not only do bitter waters sometimes change their nature, but that salt water does so too, and sometimes whole rivers do so; as in the case of the fountain in Cithæron, near which there is a temple of Jupiter; and of that in Cairo, near which there is a temple of Neptune: and the reason is, that many thunderbolts fall in those countries.

16. But there are some waters which have a good deal of body in them, and are of considerable weight; as that in Trœzen,—for that gives the mouths of those who taste it a feeling of fulness. And the waters near the mines in Pangæum, in winter, weigh ninety-six drachms to half a pint, but in summer they only weigh forty-six. For the cold contracts and condenses it; on which account that which is used in [69]hour-glasses does not make the hours in winter the same as those in summer, but longer; for the flow is slower on account of the increased density of the water. And he says that the same is the case in Egypt, though the air there is softer. Brackish water is more earthy, and requires more working; as also does sea-water, the nature of which is warmer, and which is not exposed to the same changes as river-water. And there is one salt spring which is of invincible hardness,—I mean that of Arethusa. But as a general rule heavy waters are worse, and so are hard and cold waters, for the same reason; for they are not so easily prepared for use, some because they are very earthy, and some from the excess of cold. But those waters which are quickly warmed are light and wholesome. And in Crannon there is a spring of a gentle warmth, which keeps wine which is mixed with it of the same temperature for two or three days. But flowing waters, and waters from aqueducts, are, as a general rule, better than stagnant ones, being softer because of the collisions to which they are subjected; and on this account water derived from snow appears to be good, because its more drinkable qualities are brought to the surface, and are exposed to the influence of the air; and for the same reason they think it better than rain-water: and on the same ground, too, they prefer water from ice, because it is lighter; and the proof is, that ice is itself lighter than the rest of the water. But very cold water is hard, as being earthy; but that with much body in it, when it is warmed, is susceptible of greater heat, and when it is cold, descends to a more intense cold. And for the same reason water on the mountains is better to drink than water in the plains; for there is in such less admixture of earthy matter. And it is from the earthy particles present that waters vary in colour: at all events, the water of the lake at Babylon is red for some days after it is drawn; and that of the Borysthenes is for some time of a violet or dark colour, although it is unusually thin in quality; and a proof of this is, that at the point where it meets the Hypanis its waters flow above those of the latter while the north winds prevail.

17. And in many places there are fountains, some of which are good for drinking, and have a vinous flavour; as for instance, one in Paphlagonia, which they say the natives come to for the express purpose of drinking. Some, again, are salt, with [70]a rather bitter flavour; as some among the Sicani in Sicily. And in the Carthaginian dominions there is a fountain on which there is something which floats resembling oil, but darker in colour, which they skim off and make into balls, and use for their sheep and cattle; and in other districts, too, there are fountains of a greasy nature,—like the one in Asia concerning which Alexander wrote a letter, saying that he had found a fountain of oil. And of waters which are warm by nature some are sweet, as that at Ægæ in Cilicia, and that at Pagasæ, and that at Larissa in the Troas, and that near Magnesia, and that in Melos, and that in Lipara, and that in Prusa,—the Prusa, I mean, near Mount Olympus in Mysia,—which is called the Royal fountain. But that in Asia near Tralles, and those near the river Characometes, and near the city of Mysia, are so oily that those who bathe in them have no need of oil. And there is a similar fountain in the village of Dascylum. There is also one at Carura of an exceeding dryness and heat: and there is another near Menoscome, which is a village in Phrygia, of a rougher and a more nitrous quality; as there is too in a village in Phrygia, called The Lion's Village. And there is a spring near Dorylæum, which is very delicious to drink; but those which are at Baiæ or Baium, a harbour in Italy, are utterly undrinkable.

18. I myself weighed the water which comes from the fountain called Pirene in Corinth, and found it lighter than any other water in Greece. For I did not believe Antiphanes the comic writer, who says that in many respects Attica is superior to all other districts, and also that it has the best water of any; for he says:—

Eubulus, the writer of comedies, somewhere or other says that Chæremon the tragedian called water the body of the river:—

But when we pass'd the folds, and cross'd the water,
The river's lucid body, all our troops
In the pure crystal bathed their weary limbs.

[71] There is a fountain in Tenos the water of which cannot be mixed with wine. And Herodotus, in his fourth book, says that the Hypanis, at a distance of five days' journey from its head, is thin and sweet to the taste; but that four days' journey further on it becomes bitter, because some bitter spring falls into it. And Theopompus says that near the river Erigone all the water is sour; and that those who drink of it become intoxicated, just like men who have drunk wine.

19. But Aristobulus of Cassandra says that there is a fountain in Miletus called the Achillean, the stream of which is very sweet, while the sediment is brackish: this is the water in which the Milesians say that their hero bathed when he had slain Trambelus the king of the Leleges. And they say, too, that the water in Cappadocia never becomes putrid, but there is a great deal in that district, of an admirable quality, though it has no outlet unless it flows underground. And Ptolemy the king, in the Seventh Book of his Commentaries, says that as you go to Corinth through the district called Contoporia, when you have got to the top of the mountain there is a fountain whose waters are colder than snow, so that many people are afraid to drink of it lest they should be frozen; but he says that he drank of it himself. And Phylarchus states that at Cleitor there is a spring which gives those who drink of it a distaste for the smell of wine. And Clearchus tells us that water is called white, like milk; and that wine is called red, like nectar; and that honey and oil are called yellow, and that the juice which is extracted from the myrtle-berry is black. Eubulus says that "water makes those who drink nothing else very ingenious,

But wine obscures and clouds the mind;"

20. Athenæus then, having delivered this lecture on water, like a rhetorician, stopped awhile, and then began again.

There is, I take it, often sense in wine,
And those are stupid who on water dine.

Take the hair, it well is written,
Of the dog by whom you're bitten.
Work off one wine by his brother,
And one labour with another;
[72] Horns with horns, and noise with noise,
One crier with his fellow's voice;
Insult with insult, war with war,
Faction with faction, care with care;
Cook with cook, and strife with strife,
Business with business, wife with wife.

The ancients applied the word ἄκρατον even to unmixed water. Sophron says—

Pour unmix'd water (ὕδωρ ἄκρατον) in the cup.

21. Phylarchus says that Theodorus the Larissæan was a water-drinker; the man, I mean, who was always so hostile to king Antigonus. He asserts also that all the Spaniards drink water, though they are the richest of all men, for they have the greatest abundance of gold and silver in their country. And he says, too, that they eat only once a day, out of stinginess, though they wear most expensive clothes. And Aristotle or Theophrastus speaks of a man named Philinus as never having taken any drink or solid food whatever, except milk alone, during the whole of his life. And Pythermus, in his account of the tyrants of Piræus, mentions Glaucon as having been a water-drinker. And Hegesander the Delphian says that Anchimolus and Moschus, sophists who lived in Elis, were water-drinkers all their lives; and that they ate nothing but figs, and for all that, were quite as healthy and vigorous as any one else; but that their perspiration had such an offensive smell, that every one avoided them at the baths. And Matris the Athenian, as long as he lived, ate nothing except a few myrtle-berries each day, and abstained from wine and every other kind of drink except water. Lamprus, too, the musician, was a water-drinker, concerning whom Phrynichus says, "that the gulls lamented, when Lamprus died among them, being a man who was a water-drinker, a subtle hypersophist, a dry skeleton of the Muses, an ague to nightingales, a hymn to hell." And Machon the comic poet mentions Moschion as a water-drinker.

22. But Aristotle, in his book on Drunkenness, says, that some men who have been fond of salt meat have yet not had their thirst stimulated by it; of whom Archonides the Argive was one. And Mago the Carthaginian passed three times through the African desert eating dry meal and never drinking. And Polemo the Academic philosopher, from the [73]time that he was thirty years of age to the day of his death, never drank anything but water, as is related by Antigonus the Carystian. And Demetrius the Scepsian says that Diocles of Peparethus drank cold water to the day of his death. And Demosthenes the orator, who may well be admitted as a witness in his own case, says that he drank nothing but water for a considerable length of time. And Pytheas says, "But you see the demagogues of the present day, Demosthenes and Demades, how very differently they live. For the one is a water-drinker, and devotes his nights to contemplation, as they say; and the other is a debauchee, and is drunk every day, and comes like a great potbellied fellow, as he is, into our assemblies." And Euphorion the Chalcidean writes in this way:—"Lasyrtas the Lasionian never required drink as other men do, and still it did not make him different from other men. And many men, out of curiosity, were careful to watch him, but they desisted before they ascertained what was the truth. For they continued watching him for thirty days together in the summer season, and they saw that he never abstained from salt meat, and yet that, though drinking nothing, he seemed to have no complaint in his bladder. And so they believed that he spoke the truth. And he did, indeed, sometimes take drink, but still he did not require it.

A change of meat is often good,
And men, when tired of common food,
Redoubled pleasure often feel,
When sitting at a novel meal.

23. The king of Persia, as Herodotus relates in his first book, drank no water, except what came from the river Choaspes, which flows by Susa. And when he was on a journey, he had numbers of four-wheeled waggons drawn by mules following him, laden with silver vessels containing this water, which was boiled to make it keep. And Ctesias the Cnidian explains also in what manner this water was boiled, and how it was put into the vessels and brought to the king, saying that it was the lightest and sweetest of all waters. And the second king of Egypt, he who was surnamed Philadelphus, having given his daughter Berenice in marriage to Antiochus the king of Syria, took the trouble to send her water from the river Nile, in order that his child might drink of no other river, as Polybius relates. And [74]Heliodorus tells us, that Antiochus Epiphanes, whom Polybius calls Epimanes,[74:1] on account of his actions, mixed the fountain at Antioch with wine; a thing which Theopompus relates to have been also done by the Phrygian Midas, when he wished to make Silenus drunk in order to catch him. And that fountain is, as Bion relates, between the Mædi and the Pæonians, and is called Inna. But Staphylus says, that Melampus was the first who invented the idea of mixing wine with water. And Plistonicus says that water is more digestible than wine.

24. Now men who drink hard before eating, are usually not very comfortable in their digestion, which are apt to get out of order by such a system, and what they eat often turns sour on the stomach. So that a man who has a regard for his health, ought to take regular exercise, for the sake of promoting frequent perspiration; and he ought also to use the bath regularly for the sake of moistening and relaxing his body. And besides this, and before he bathes, he should drink water, as being an excellent thing,—drinking warm water usually in winter and spring, and cold water in summer, in order not to weaken the stomach. But he should only drink in moderation before the bath or the gymnasium, for the sake of diffusing what he drinks throughout his system beforehand, and in order to prevent the unmixed strength of wine from having too much effect on his extremities. And if any one thinks it too much trouble to live on this system, let him take sweet wine, either mixed with water or warmed, especially that which is called πρότροπος, the sweet Lesbian wine, as being very good for the stomach.

Now sweet wines do not make the head heavy, as Hippocrates says in his book on Diet, which some entitle, "The Book on Sharp Pains;" others, "The Book on Barleywater;" and others, "The Book against the Cnidian Theories." His words are: "Sweet wine is less calculated to make the head heavy, and it takes less hold of the mind, and passes through the bowels easier than other wine." But Posidonius says, that it is not a good thing to pledge one's friends as the Carmani do; for they, when at their banquets they wish to testify their friendship for each other, cut the veins on their faces, and mingle the blood which flows down with the liquor, [75]and then drink it; thinking it the very extremest proof of friendship to taste one another's blood. And after pledging one another in this manner, they anoint their heads with ointment, especially with that distilled from roses, and if they cannot get that, with that distilled from apples, in order to ward off the effects of the drink, and in order also to avoid being injured by the evaporation of the wine; and if they cannot get ointment of apples, they then use that extracted from the iris or from spikenard, so that Alexis very neatly says—

His nose he anoints, and thinks it plain
'Tis good for health with scents to feed the brain.

25. But one ought to avoid thick perfumes, and to drink water which is thin and transparent, and which in respect of weight is light, and which has no earthy particles in it. And that water is best which is of a moderate heat or coldness, and which, when poured into a brazen or silver vessel, does not produce a blackish sediment. Hippocrates says, "Water which is easily warmed or easily chilled is always lighter." But that water is bad which takes a long time to boil vegetables; and so too is water full of nitre, or brackish. And in his book upon Waters, Hippocrates calls good water drinkable; but stagnant water he calls bad, such as that from ponds or marshes. And most spring-water is rather hard. But Erasistratus says that some people test water by weight, and that is a most stupid proceeding. "For just look," says he, "if men compare the water from the fountain Amphiaraus with that from the Eretrian spring, though one of them is good and the other bad, there is absolutely no difference in their respective weights." And Hippocrates, in his book on Places, says that those waters are the best which flow from high ground, and from dry hills, "for they are white, and sweet, and are able to bear very little wine, and are warm in winter and cold in summer." And he praises those most, the springs of which break towards the east, and especially towards the north-east, for they must inevitably be clear, and fragrant, and light. Diocles says that water is good for the digestion, and not apt to cause flatulency, that it is moderately cooling, and good for the eyes, and that it has no tendency to make the head feel heavy, and that it adds vigour to the mind and body. And Praxagoras [76]says the same; and he also praises rain-water. But Euenor praises water from cisterns, and says that the best is that from the cistern of Amphiaraus, when compared with that from the fountain in Eretria.

26. But that water is undeniably nutritious is plain from the fact that some animals are nourished by it alone, as for instance, grasshoppers. And there are many other liquids which are nutritious, such as milk, barleywater, and wine. At all events, animals at the breast are nourished by milk; and there are many nations who drink nothing but milk. And it is said that Democritus, the philosopher of Abdera, after he had determined to rid himself of life on account of his extreme old age, and when he had begun to diminish his food day by day, when the day of the Thesmophorian festival came round, and the women of his household besought him not to die during the festival, in order that they might not be debarred from their share in the festivities, was persuaded, and ordered a vessel full of honey to be set near him: and in this way he lived many days with no other support than honey; and then some days after, when the honey had been taken away, he died. But Democritus had always been fond of honey; and he once answered a man, who asked him how he could live in the enjoyment of the best health, that he might do so if he constantly moistened his inward parts with honey, and his outward man with oil. And bread and honey was the chief food of the Pythagoreans, according to the statement of Aristoxenus, who says that those who eat this for breakfast were free from disease all their lives. And Lycus says that the Cyrneans (and they are a people who live near Sardinia) are very long-lived, because they are continually eating honey; and it is produced in great quantities among them.

27. When he says, men have adjourned the investigation into all such matters, he uses the word ἀνατιθέμενος instead of ἀναβαλλόμενος.

The word ἄνηστις is used in the same sense as νῆστις, i.e. fasting (just as we find στάχυς and ἄσταχυς) by Cratinus, when he says—

For you are not the first who's come to supper
After a lengthen'd fast,

[77] I'm glad when those who set them up as wise,
Are naked seen and hungry.

Then Zethus was advised to seek the plain,
The holy plain of Thebes; for there men sell
The cheapest loaves and cakes.
Again advice came to the great Amphion,
The sweet musician, pointing out to him
The famous Athens for his resting-place.
Whose sons at hunger ne'er repine, but feed
On air and sweetest hopes.

When you meet with a man who takes only one meal,
Or a poet who music pretends not to feel;
The man half his life, the bard half his art, loses;
And sound reason to call either living refuses.

And Plato says, "he not only was not content with one meal a-day, but sometimes he even dined twice the same day."

We know that men used to call sweetmeats νωγαλεύματα. Araros says in the Campylion—

These νωγαλείματα are very nice.

In Thasian feasts his friends he meets,
And νωγαλίζει, sweatmeats eats.

Grapes, and pomegranates, and palms,
And other νώγαλα.

Philonides used the word ἀπόσιτος for fasting; and Crobylus has the word αὐτόσιτος, writing παράσιτον, αὐτόσιτον.

Eupolis, too, used ἀναρίστητος for without breakfast; Crates has the word ἀναγκόσιτος, eating by force, and Nicostratus uses ἀναγκοσιτέω.

There is a youth most delicately curl'd,
Whom I do feed by force beneath the earth.

By whom the breakfast-dinner is prepared.

[78] 29. After this we rose up and sat down again as each of us pleased, not waiting for a nomenclator to arrange us in order.

Now that rooms were fitted up with couches for three, and with couches for four, and for seven, and for nine, and for other successive numbers, in the time of the ancients, we may prove from Antiphanes, who says—

I bring you, since you are but three,
To a room with equal couches.

One room had seven couches fine,
While another boasted nine.

Will you not place a couch for three?

A couch was spread,
And songs to please the aged man.
Open the supper rooms, and sweep the house,
And spread the couches fair, and light the fire;
Bring forth the cups, and fill with generous wine.

30. . . . . . And Plato the philosopher, "Men now distinguish the couches and coverings with reference to what is put round the couch and what is put under it." And his namesake, the comic poet, says—

There the well-dress'd guests recline
On couches rich with ivory feet;
And on their purple cushions dine,
Which rich Sardinian carpets meet.

For the art of weaving embroidered cloths was in great perfection in his time, Acesas and Helicon, natives of Cyprus, being exceedingly eminent for their skill in it; and they were weavers of very high reputation. And Helicon was the son of Acesas, as Hieronymus reports: and so at Pytho there is an inscription on some work—

[79] Fair Venus's isle did bring forth Helicon,
Whose wondrous work you now do gaze upon;
And fair Minerva's teaching bade his name
And wondrous skill survive in deathless fame.

Place me where rose-strewn couches fill the room,
That I may steep myself in rich perfume.

Oh you who press your mistress to your arms,
All night upon sweet-scented couches lying.

Sophron too speaks of coverlets embroidered with figures of birds as of great value. And Homer, the most admirable of all poets, calls those cloths which are spread below λῖτα, that is to say, white, neither dyed nor embroidered. But the coverlets which are laid above he calls "beautiful purple cloths."

31. The Persians, according to the account of Heraclides, are the people who first introduced the system of having particular servants to prepare the couches, in order that they might always be elegantly arranged and well made. And on this account Artaxerxes, having a high esteem for Timagoras the Cretan, or, as Phanias the Peripatetic says, for Entimus the Gortinian, who went up to the king in rivalry of Themistocles, gave him a tent of extraordinary size and beauty, and a couch with silver feet; and he sent him also expensive coverlets, and a man to arrange them, saying that the Greeks did not know how to arrange a couch. And so completely had this Cretan gained the favour of the king, that he was invited to a banquet of the royal family, an honour which had never been paid to any Greek before, and never has been since; for it was reserved as an especial compliment for the king's relations. Nor was this compliment paid to Timagoras the Athenian, who submitted to offer adoration to the king, and who was held in the highest honour by him, though some of the things which were set before the king were sent to him from the royal table. The king of Persia, too, once took a chaplet from off his head and dipped it in perfume, and sent it to Antalcidas the Lacedæmonian. But he did this too, and many similar things, to Entimus; also, and in addition to everything else, he invited him to a banquet of the royal family. And the Persians were very indignant at this, [80]thinking that it was making such an honour too common, and also because they thought they were on the eve of another expedition against Greece. He sent him also a couch with silver feet, and cushions for it, and a flowered tent surmounted with a canopy, and a silver chair, and a gilt parasol, and some golden vessels inlaid with precious stones, and a hundred large vessels of silver, and silver bowls, and a hundred girls, and a hundred boys, and six thousand pieces of gold, besides what was allowed him for his daily expenses.

32. There were tables with ivory feet, the top slabs of which were made of maple wood. Cratinus says—

Fair girls await you, and a table
Of highly polish'd dappled maple.

And when one of the Cynics used the word τρίπους, meaning a table, Ulpian got indignant and said, "To-day I seem to have trouble coming on me arising out of my actual want of business; for what does this fellow mean by his tripod, unless indeed he counts Diogenes' stick and his two feet, and so makes him out to be a tripod? At all events every one else calls the thing which is set before us τράπεζα."

Hesiod, in his poem on the marriage of Ceyx, (although indeed the sons of the Grammarians deny that that poem is his work, but I myself think that it is an ancient piece,) does call tables τρίποδες. And Xenophon, a most accomplished writer, in the second book of the Anabasis, writes—"Τρίποδες were brought in for every one, to the number of about twenty, loaded with ready carved meats." And he goes on, "And these τράπεζαι were placed for the most part where the strangers sat." Antiphanes says—

The τρίπους was removed, we wash'd our hands.

A. Here are five τρίποδες for you; here five more.

B. Why I shall be quinquagenarian.

33. It was a custom at feasts, that a guest when he had lain down should have a paper given to him, containing a bill of fare of what there was for dinner, so that he might know what the cook was going to serve up.

We find a fruit called Damascenes. Now many of the ancient writers mention Damascus, a city of great reputation and importance; and as there is a great quantity of plum-trees in the territory of the Damascenes, and as they are cultivated there with exceeding care, the tree itself has got to be called a Damascene, as being a kind of plum different from what is found in other countries. The fruit is more like prunes. And many writers speak of them, and Hipponax says—

I have a garland of damascenes and mint.

Did you e'er see a sausage toasted,
Or dish of tripe well stuff'd and roasted?
Or damascenes stew'd in rich confection?—
Such was that gentleman's complexion.

The fruit they call a plum, the cuckoo's prize.

But Clearchus the Peripatetic says that the Rhodians and Sicilians call plums βράβυλα, and so Theocritus the Syracusan uses the word—

Heavy with plums, the branches swept the ground.

Far as the apple doth the plum surpass.

But the damascene is smaller in circumference than other plums, though in flavour it is very like them, except that it is a little sharper. Seleucus, in his Dictionary, says that [82] βράβυλα, ἦλα, κοκκύμηλα, and μάδρυα are all different names for the same thing; and that plums are called βράβυλα, as being good for the stomach, and βορὰν ἐκ βάλλοντα, that is, assisting to remove the food; and ἦλα, which is the same word as μῆλα, meaning simply fruit, as Demetrius Ixion says in his Etymology. And Theophrastus says, κοκκύμηλα καὶ σποδιάς: σποδιὰς being a kind of wild plum. And Araros calls the tree which bears the fruit κοκκυμηλέα, and the fruit itself κοκκύμηλον. And Diphilus of Siphnos pronounces plums to be juicy, digestible, and easily evacuated, but not very nutritious.

34. There is another fruit, called Cherries.—Theophrastus says, in his book on Plants, that the Cherry-tree is a tree of a peculiar character, and of large size, for it grows to a height of four-and-twenty cubits,[82:1] and its leaf is like that of the medlar, but somewhat harder and thicker, and its bark like the linden; its flower is white, like that of the pear or the medlar, consisting of a number of small petals of a waxy nature; its fruit is red, like that of the lotus in appearance, and of the size of a bean; but the kernel of the lotus is hard, while that of the cherry is soft. And again he says, "The κράταιγος, which some call κραταίγων, has a spreading leaf like a medlar, only that is larger, and wider, and longer; and it has no deep grain in it as the medlar has. The tree is neither very tall nor very large; the wood is variegated, yellow, and strong: it has a smooth bark, like that of the medlar; and a single root, which goes down very deep into the earth; the fruit is round, of the size of an olive; when fully ripe it is of a yellow colour, becoming gradually darker; and from its flavour and juice it might almost be taken for a wild medlar." By which description of the cratægus it appears to me that he means the tree which is now called the cherry.

35. Asclepiades of Myrlea speaks of a tree which he calls the Ground-cherry, and says, "In the land of the Bithynians there is found the ground-cherry, the root of which is not large, nor is the tree, but like a rose-bush; in all other respects the fruit is like the common cherry; but it makes those who eat much of it feel heavy, as wine does, and it gives them head-aches." These are the words of Asclepiades. And it appears to me that he is speaking of the arbutus. For [83]the tree which bears the arbutus-berry answers his description, and if a man eats more than six or seven of the berries he gets a headache. Aristophanes says—

And planted by no hand, the arbutus
Makes red the sunny hills.

The myrtle berries and red arbutus.

Beauteous the breast of tender maid,
As arbutus or apples red.

Mulberries you see, my friend, are found
On the tree which we know as the mulberry;
So the oak bears the acorn round,
And the arbutus shines with its full berry.

And Theophrastus tells us, "The κόμαρος (as he calls it) is the tree which bears the arbutus berry."

There is question about the "Agen," a satyric drama, whether it was composed by Python, (and if by him whether he was a native of Catana or of Byzantium,) or by the king Alexander himself.

Then Laurentius says—"You, O Greeks, lay claim to a good many things, as either having given the names to them, or having been the original discoverers of them. But you do not know that Lucullus, the Roman general, who subdued Mithridates and Tigranes, was the first man who introduced this plant into Italy from Cerasus, a city of Pontus; and he it was who gave the fruit the Latin name of Cerasus, cherry, after the name of the city, as our historians relate."

Then Daphnis answers—"But there was a very celebrated man, Diphilus of Siphnos, many years more ancient than Lucullus, for he was born in the time of king Lysimachus, (who was one of the successors of Alexander,) and he speaks of cherries, saying, 'Cherries are good for the stomach, and juicy, but not very nutritious; if taken after drinking cold water they are especially wholesome; but the red and the Milesian are the best kinds, and are diuretic.'"

36. There is a fruit usually called the συκάμινον, which the people of Alexandria call the μόρον, in which they differ from every one else; but it has no connexion with the Egyptian [84]fig, which some call συκόμορον, and which the natives scrape slightly with a knife, and then leave on the tree; and then when it has been tossed about by the wind, within three days it becomes ripe and fragrant, (especially if the wind is west,) and very good to eat, as there is something in it which is moderately cooling for people in a fever, when made up with oil of roses into a plaster, so as to be put upon the stomach, and it is no slight relief to the patient. Now the Egyptian sycaminus bears its fruit on the main stem, and not on the branches. But the sycaminus is a mulberry, a fruit mentioned by Æschylus in his Phrygians, where he says of Hector,

His heart was softer than a mulberry.

As the full branch to earth is weigh'd
With mulberries, white and black and red.

First you shall see the full white ear of corn,
And then the large round rosy mulberry.

And Nicander in his Georgics says that it is the first of all fruits to appear; and he calls the tree which bears it μορέα, as also do the Alexandrians—

The mulberry-tree, in which the young delight,
Brown autumn's harbinger.

37. Phanias of Eresus, the pupil of Aristotle, calls the fruit of the wild sycamine μόρον, or mulberry, being a fruit of the greatest sweetness and delicacy when it is ripe. And he writes thus: "The mulberry is a briery sort of tree,[84:1] and when the round fruit is dried it has small pips of seed, woven in like net-work, and the fruit is nutritious and juicy." And Parthanius has the following words:—"Ἅβρυνα, that is to say, συκάμινα, which some call mulberries." And Salmonius calls the same tree βάτιον, or brier. And Demetrius Ixion says the συκάμινον and μόρον are the same, being a very juicy fruit, superior to the fig. And Diphilus of Siphnos, who was a physician, writes thus: "The συκάμινα, which are also called μόρα, are moderately full of good juice, but have not much nourishment; they are good for the stomach and easily digested; and those which are not quite ripe have a peculiar [85]quality of expelling worms." But Pythemus states, according to Hegesander, that in his time the mulberry-trees produced no fruit for twenty years, and that during that time gout became so epidemic, that not only men, but even boys and girls, and eunuchs, and women, were afflicted with it; and even herds of goats were attacked with it, so that two-thirds of the cattle were afflicted with the same disorder.

38. With respect to the word κάρυα, the Attic writers and all other prose writers call nearly all berries by the generic name of κάρυα, nuts. And Epicharmus calls the almond "the nut," by way of distinction, as we do, saying—

We eat roast nuts, that is, almonds.

Eggs, nuts, almonds.

And Heracleon the Ephesian writes—"They called almonds κάρυα, and chestnuts, which we now call καστάνεια." The tree itself is called κάρυα by Sophocles, who says—

(κάρυαι,) nut-trees and ash-trees.

Beeches, nut-trees, Carystian nuts.

39. With respect to Almonds.—The Naxian almonds are mentioned by the ancient writers; and those in the island of Naxos are superior to all others, as I am well persuaded. Phrynichus says—

He knock'd out all my grinders, so that now
A Naxian almond I can hardly crack.

The almonds in the island of Cyprus also are very excellent, and in comparison of those which come from other quarters, they are very long, and slightly bent at the end. And Seleucus in his Dictionary says, that the Lacedæmonians call soft nuts μύκηροι. And the Servians give that name to sweet nuts. But Arnexias says that it is the almond which is called μύκηρος. We may add, there is nothing which is a greater provocative of drinking than almonds when eaten before meals. Eupolis says in his Taxiarchs—

Give me some Naxian almonds to regale me,
And from the Naxian vines some wine to drink.

[86] And Plutarch of Chæronea says, that there was in the retinue of Drusus the son of Tiberius Cæsar, a certain physician who surpassed all men in drinking, and who was detected in always eating five or six bitter almonds before he drank. But when he was prevented from eating them he was not able to stand even a very limited quantity of wine; and the cause of this was the great power of the bitterness of the almond, which is of a very drying nature, and which has the quality of expelling moisture.

Herodian of Alexandria says, that almonds derive the name of ἀμύγδαλαι, because beneath their green bark they have many ἀμυχαὶ, or lacerations.

You, like an ass, come to the husks of the dessert;

Beech-trees, the ornament of Pan.

We also find the word ἀμύγδαλον in the neuter gender. Diphilus says—

"Sweetmeats, myrtle-berries, cheese-cakes, almonds,"

40. Now with respect to the pronunciation and accent of the word ἀμυγδάλη, Pamphilus thinks that there ought to be a grave accent when it means the fruit, as it is in the case of ἀμύγδαλον. But he wants to circumflex the word when it means the tree, thus, ἀμυγδαλῆ like ῥοδῆ. And Archilochus says—

The lovely flower of the rose-tree (ῥοδῆς).

But Aristarchus marks the word, whether it means the fruit or the tree, with an acute accent indifferently; while Philoxenus would circumflex the word in either sense. Eupolis says—

You'll ruin me, I swear it by the almond.

The almond is a good cure for a cough.

And others speak of almonds as beautiful. But Tryphon in his book on Attic Prosody accents ἀμυγδάλη, when meaning [87]the fruit, with a grave accent, which we use in the neuter as ἀμύγδαλον. But he writes ἀμυγδαλῆ, with a circumflex for the tree; it being as it were a possessive form derived from the fruit, and as such contracted and circumflexed.

Pamphilus in his Dictionary says that the μυκηρόβατον is called the nut-cracker by the Lacedæmonians, when they mean the almond-cracker; for the Lacedæmonians call almonds μούκηροι.

41. Nicander mentions also nuts of Pontus, which some writers call λόπιμα; while Hermonax and Timachidas, in the Dictionary, say that the acorn of Jupiter, or walnut, is what is called the nut of Pontus.

But Heraclides of Tarentum asks, "Whether sweetmeats ought to be put on the table before supper, as is done in some parts of Asia and Greece; or whether they ought to be brought on after supper is over." If it is decided that they are to be brought on at the end of supper, then it follows, that when a great deal of food has already been put into the stomach and bowels, the nuts which are eaten afterwards as provocatives of drinking, get entangled with the rest of the food, and produce flatulence, and also cause what has been eaten to turn on the stomach, because it is followed by what is by nature unmanageable and indigestible; and it is from such food that indigestions and attacks of diarrhœa arise.

42. Diocles asserts that almonds are nutritious and good for the stomach, and that they have a heating effect because they contain something like millet; but green almonds are less likely to have an injurious effect than dry ones; and almonds soaked in water have such an effect less than those which are not soaked; and when toasted less than when raw. But walnuts, which are also called nuts of Heraclea, and acorns of Jupiter, are not indeed so nutritious as almonds, but still they have something like millet in them, and something apt to rise to the surface; so, if they are eaten in any quantity they make the head feel heavy; they, however, are less likely to produce injurious effects when green than when dry.

Persian nuts too are as apt to produce headaches as the acorns of Jupiter; but they are more nutritious, though they make the throat and mouth feel rough; but when they are roasted they are less injurious, and when eaten with honey, they are the most digestible of all nuts. The broad Persian nuts [88]have the greatest tendency to produce flatulence; but when boiled they are less injurious than when raw, or even when roasted. But Philotimus in his treatises on Nourishment says, "The broad nut, and that which is called the Sardinian nut, are both exceedingly indigestible when raw, and are very slow in dissolving in the stomach, as they are kept down by the phlegm in the stomach, and as they themselves are of an astringent nature. The Pontic nut too is oily and indigestible; but the almond is not so indigestible as that, and accordingly if we eat a number of them we do not feel any inconvenience; and they appear more oily, and give out a sweet and oily juice."

Diphilus of Siphnos says—"There is a nut called the Royal nut, which causes severe headaches, and keeps rising in the stomach; and there are two sorts of them, one of which, that which is tender and white, is the more juicy and the better; but that which is roasted in ovens is not nutritious. Almonds have a tendency to make people thin, and are diuretic and cathartic, and far from nutritious; and the dry ones are far more apt to produce flatulence and are far more indigestible than the green ones, which do not give much juice, and which are not very nutritious; but those which are tender, and full, and white, being like milk, are more full of wholesome juice. And the Thasian and Cyprian nuts, being tender, are far more easily digested than dry ones. The nuts of Pontus are apt to produce headaches, but still they are not so indigestible as the Royal nuts."

43. Moreover, Mnesitheus the Athenian, in his book on Comestibles, says, "The digestion of Eubœan nuts or chestnuts (for they are called by both names) is very difficult for the stomach, and is attended with a great deal of flatulence. And they are apt to thicken the juice, and to make people fat, unless their constitution is strong enough to neutralise them. But almonds, and likewise the nuts of Heraclea, and the Persian nuts, and all others of the same sort, are still worse than these: and it is desirable to touch absolutely none whatever of these things unless they are first cooked by fire; with the exception of, perhaps, the green almonds. But one should boil some of them, and roast others; for some of them are of an oily nature, as the dry almonds and the acorns of Jupiter; but some are hard and harsh, as the nuts of the [89] beech and all that kind. And from the oily sorts the action of the fire extracts the oil, which is the worst part of them: but those which are hard and harsh are softened, and, so to say, ripened, if any one cooks them over a small and gentle fire."

But Diphilus calls chestnuts also Sardinian acorns, saying that they are very nutritious, and full of excellent juice; but not very easy of digestion, because they remain a long time in the stomach; that, however, when they are roasted they are less nutritious, but more digestible; and that when boiled they are less apt to produce flatulence than the others, and more nutritious.

It is easily peel'd, and the Eubœans
Call it a nut, but some people have call'd it an acorn,

says Nicander the Colophonian, in his Georgics. But Agelochus calls chestnuts ἄμωτα, and says, "Where the Sinopean nuts are produced the natives call the trees which produce them ἄμωτα."

They took a green vetch,
And toss'd it empty, as if playing cottabus.
These are the sweetmeats of the wretched monkey.

Black beans spring up, or vetches.

These are what one should talk of near the fire,
In winter season, on soft couch reclined,
After a plenteous meal, drinking rich wine,
And eating vetches.[89:1] Then a man may ask,
"Who are you? How old are you, my friend?
How many years old were you when the Mede came?"

Golden vetches on the sea-shore grew.

But Theophrastus, in his book on Plants, calls some kinds of vetches κρεῖοι. And Sophilus says—

This maiden's sire is far the greatest man,
A regular κρεῖος vetch.

And Phænias says, in his book about Plants,—"While they are green and tender, the bean and vetch take the place of [90]sweetmeats; but when they are dry they are usually eaten boiled or roasted." Alexis says—

My husband is a poor old man, and I
Am an old woman, and I have a daughter
And a young son,
And this good girl besides—we're five in all—
And three of them are now at supper,
And we two who here remain share with them
A little maize; and when we have nothing
To eat, we utter a wail unsuited to the lyre.
And as we never have any meat for dinner,
Our countenance is become pale. These are the parts,
And this is the arrangement of our life:
Beans, lupins, cabbages, rape,
Pulse, morepulse, mastnuts, onions,
Grasshoppers, vetches, wild pears,
And that which was given by my mother
As an object of devout care, the fig,
The great invention of the Phrygian fig.

You must at once take care and make the vetches tender.

He was choked eating roasted vetches.

And Diphilus says—"Vetches are very indigestible, create moisture, they are also diuretic, and apt to cause flatulence." And according to Diocles, they produce a sort of fermentation in the body. The white vetches are better than the black; and so also are the yellow or box-coloured. And the Milesian are better than those called κρεῖοι; and the green are better than the dry, and those which have been soaked are better than those which have not been. The discoverer of the vetch is said to have been Neptune.

A curse upon the man;
Let him not come near me, who eats lupins in season,
And then leaves the husks and shells in the vestibule.
Why was he not choked while eating them? I know,
I know most certainly, that Cleænetus the tragedian
Did not eat them. For Cleænetus
Never threw away the husk of a single vegetable,
So exceedingly economical is that man.

And Lycophron of Chalcis, in a satiric drama which he wrote against Menedemus the philosopher, for the purpose of turning [91]him into ridicule, (it was from Menedemus that the sect of the Eretrians derived its name,) laughs at the suppers of the philosophers, and says—

The lupin, common to all the people, in great plenty
Danced upon the board, the companion of poor couches.

There is no business more mischievous or degrading
Than that of the pander.
I would rather walk along the streets selling
Roses, and radishes, and lupin-beans, and press'd olives,
And anything else in the world, rather than give encouragement
To such a miserable trade.

And you may observe, that he then uses the expression θερμοκύαμοι, lupin-beans, as they are called even now. Polemo says, that the Lacedæmonians call lupins λυσιλαΐδες. And Theophrastus, in his book about The Causes of Plants, tells us that the lupin, and the bitter vetch, and the common vetch, are the only kinds of green vegetable which do not produce animal life, because of their harshness and bitterness. But the vetch, says he, turns black as it decays. He says, also, that caterpillars come in vetches, and it is in the fourth book of the same treatise that he states this. Diphilus the Siphnian writer says that lupins are very apt to create moisture, and are very nutritious, especially those kinds which are rendered sweet by being soaked. On which account Zeno the Citiæan, a man of harsh disposition and very apt to get in a passion with his friends, when he had taken a good deal of wine, became sweet-tempered and gentle; and when people asked him what produced this difference in his disposition, he said, that he was subject to the same influences as lupins: for that they before they were cooked were very bitter; but that when they had been steeped in liquor they were sweet and wholesome.

46. With respect to Kidney Beans.—The Lacedæmonians in those suppers of theirs, which they call κοπίδες, give as sweetmeats, dry figs and beans, and green kidney beans. At least this is the statement of Polemo; and Epicharmus says—

Roast some kidney beans quickly, for Bacchus is fond of them.

A fig, or kidney bean, or some such thing.

Cuttle-fish, and olives fallen from the tree.

And these the Romans call dryptæ. But Diphilus the Siphnian writer says that olives contain very little nourishment, and are apt to give headaches; and that the black ones are still worse for the stomach, and make the head feel heavy; but that those which we call κολυμβάδες, that is to say, preserved in pickle, are better for the stomach, and give strength to the bowels. But that the black when crushed are better for the stomach. Aristophanes too makes mention of crushed olives in "The Islands," saying—

Bring some crushed olives;

Crush'd olives and pickled olives are not the same thing;

For it is better that they should be crush'd than pickled.

Let wrinkled olives, fallen from the tree,
Be placed before you.

Be sure that for the future you remember
The ever-glorious Marathon for good,
When you do all from time to time add μάραθον (that is to say, fennel) to your pickled olives.

And Philemon says—"The inferior olives are called πιτυρίδες, and the dark-coloured are called στεμφυλίδες." And Callimachus, in his "Hecale," gives a regular catalogue of the different kinds of olive—

Γεργέριμος and πίτυρις, and the white olive, which does not
Become ripe till autumn, which is to float in wine.

And according to Didymus, they called both olives and figs which had fallen to the ground of their own accord, γεργέριμοι. Besides, without mentioning the name "olive," the fruit itself was called by that name δρυπετὴς, without any explanatory addition. Teleclides says—

He urged me to remain, and eat with him
Some δρυπετεῖς, and some maize, and have a chat with him.

But the Athenians called bruised olives στέμφυλα; and what we call στέμφυλα they called βρύτεα, that is to say, the dregs [93]of the grapes after they have been pressed. And the word βρῦτος is derived from βότρυς, a bunch of grapes.

48. With respect to Radishes.—The Greek name ῥαφανὶς is derived from ῥᾳδίως φαίνεσθαι, because they quickly appear above ground; and in the plural the Attic writers either shorten or lengthen the penultima at pleasure. Cratinus writes—

Ταῖς ῥαφανῖσι δοκεῖ, it is like radishes, but not like other vegetables;

Ῥαφανίδες ἄπλυτοι, unwashed radishes and cuttle-fish.

For the word ἄπλυτοι, unwashed, must clearly refer to the radishes, and not to the cuttle-fish; as is shown by Antiphanes, in whom we find these lines:—

To eat ducks, and honeycombs of wild bees, and eggs,
And cheese-cakes, and unwash'd radishes,
And rape, and oatmeal-groats, and honey.

So that radishes appear to have been particularly called unwashed radishes; being probably the same as those called Thasian. Pherecrates says—

There one may have the unwash'd radish, and the warm
Bath, and closely stewed pickles, and nuts.

And Plato, in his Hyperbolus, says, using the diminutive termination, φύλλιον ἢ ῥαφανίδιον, "a leaflet, or a little radish." But Theophrastes, in his book on Plants, says that there are five kinds of radishes: the Corinthian, the Leiothasian, the Cleonæan, the Amorean, and the Bœotian; and that the Bœotian, which is of a round form, is the sweetest. And he says that, as a general rule, those the leaves of which are smooth, are the sweetest. But Callias used the form ῥάφανος for ῥάφανις; at all events, when discussing the antiquity of comedy, he says, "Broth, and sausages, and radishes (ῥάφανοι), and fallen olives, and cheese-cakes." And indeed that he meant the same as what we call ῥαφανίδες, is plainly shown by Aristophanes, who in the Danaïdes alludes to such old forms, and says—

And then the chorus used to dance,
Clad in worsted-work and fine clothes;
And bearing under their arms ribs of beef,
And sausages, and radishes.

[94] Whoever, when purchasing food,
When it is in his power, O Apollo, to buy genuine fish,
Prefers buying radishes, is downright mad!

49. With respect to Pine-cones.—Mnesitheus, the Athenian physician, in his book on Comestibles, calls the husks of the pine-cones ὀστρακίδες, and in another place he calls them κῶνοι. But Diocles of Carystus calls them πιτüίνα κάρυα, nuts of the pine-tree. And Alexander the Myndian calls them πιτυΐνους κώνους. And Theophrastus calls the tree πεύκη, and the fruit κῶνος. But Hippocrates, in his book on Barley-water,—(one half of which is considered spurious by everybody, and some people reckon the whole so,)—calls the fruit κόκκαλοι; but most people call it πυρῆνες: as Herodotus does, in speaking of the Pontic nut. For he says, "And this has πυρῆνα (a kernel), when it becomes ripe." But Diphilus the Siphnian says, "Pine-cones" (which he calls στρόβιλοι) "are very nutritious, and have a tendency to soften the arteries, and to relieve the chest, because they have some resinous qualities contained in them." While Mnesitheus says that they fill the body with fat, and are very free from all hindrances to the digestion; and, moreover, that they are diuretic, and that they are free from all astringent tendencies.

50. Now with respect to Eggs.—Anaxagoras, in his book on Natural Philosophy, says that what is called the milk of the bird is the white which is in the eggs. And Aristophanes says—

In the first instance, night brings forth a wind egg.

Sappho dissolves the word ὦον into a trisyllable, making it ὤïον, when she says—

They say that formerly Leda found an egg.

Far whiter than an egg:

in each case writing ὤïον. But Epicharmus spelt the word ὤεα; for so we find the line written—

The eggs of geese and other poultry.

Like the egg of a Mæandrian goose;

which he, too, writes ὤεον. But Alexandrides lengthens the word into a quadrisyllable, and calls it ὠάριον. And so does Ephippus, when he says—

[95] And little casks of good wine made of palms,
And eggs, and all other trifles of that kind.

And Alexis, somewhere or other, uses the expression, "hemispheres of eggs." And wind eggs they called ἀνεμιαῖα, and also ὑπηνέμια. They called also the upper chambers of houses which we now call ὑπερῶον, ὦον; and accordingly Clearchus says, in his "Erotics," that Helen, from having been born and brought up in a chamber of this sort, got the character, with a great many people, of having been born of an egg (ὠοῦ). And it was an ignorant statement of Neocles of Crotona, that the egg fell from the moon, from which Helen was born: for that women under the influence of the moon bring forth eggs, and that those who are born from such eggs are fifteen times as large as we are: as Herodotus of Heraclea also asserts. And Ibycus, in the fifth book of his Melodies, says of the Molionidæ—

And they slew the two young Molions, youths alike in face,
Borne on white horses; of the same age; and
Alike, too, in all their limbs, for both were born
On one day, from one single silver egg.

Cakes made of sesame and honey, sweetmeats,
Cheese-cakes, and cream-cakes, and a hecatomb
Of new-laid eggs, were all devour'd by us.

For when my father had left me a very little property,
I scraped it so, and got the kernel out of it
In a few months, as if I had been a boy sucking an egg.

Just see how white and how large these eggs are;
These must be goose eggs, as far as I can see.

And he says, that it was eggs like this which were laid by Leda. But Epænetus and Heraclides the Syracusan, in their book on Cookery, say that the best of all eggs are peacock's eggs; and that the next best are those of the foxgoose; and the third best are those of common poultry.

51. Now let us speak of provocatives to appetite, called Πρόπομα.—When they were brought round by the butler, Ulpian said, "Does the word πρόπομα occur in any ancient author in the sense in which we use it now?" and when every one joined in the question, "I will tell you," said Athenæus; "Phylarchus the Athenian, (though some called [96]him a native of Naucratis,) in the book where he speaks of Zelas the king of the Bithynians, who invited to supper all the leaders of the Galatians, and then plotted against them, and was killed himself also, says, if I recollect his words rightly, 'A certain πρόπομα was brought round before supper, as was the custom of antiquity.'" And when Ulpian had said this, he asked for something to drink from the wine-cooler, saying, that he was in good humour with himself for having been able to remember this so very à propos. But there were things of all sorts, says Athenæus, used in these πρόποματα.

Nor do men know how great may be the good
Derived from asphodel and mallow food.

Μαλάχη is the Attic name for mallow. But I, says Athenæus, have found in many of the copies of the Minos of Antiphanes the word spelt with an ο; for instance, he speaks of men—

Eating the root of mallow (μολόχης).

I am milder than the mallow (μολόχης).

And Phanias says, in his book on Plants—"The seminal portions of the cultivated mallow are called 'the cheese-cake,' as being like a cheese-cake. For those pistils which are like the teeth of a comb have some resemblance to the edge of a cheese-cake; and there is a bosslike centre, like that in the middle of a cheese-cake. And the whole circumference of the rim is like the sea-fish denominated the sea-urchin." But Diphilus the Siphnian makes a statement, that the mallow is full of pleasant and wholesome juice; having a tendency to smooth the arteries, separating from them the harshnesses of the blood by bringing them to the surface. And he adds that the mallow is of great service in irritations of the kidneys and the bladder, and that it is very tolerably digestible and nutritious. And moreover, that the wild mallow is superior to that which grows in a garden. But Hermippus, the follower of Callimachus, in his treatise on the Seven Wise Men, says that mallows are put in what he calls the ἄλιμον, that is to say, the preventive against hunger, and into the ἄδιψον, that is, the preventive against thirst; and that it is a very useful ingredient in both.

53. The next thing to be mentioned are Gourds.—Euthydemus, [97]the Athenian, in his book on Vegetables, calls the long gourd, known as κολοκύντη, the Indian gourd; and it is called Indian because the seed was originally introduced from India. But the people of Megalopolis call the same the Sicyonian gourd. Theophrastus however says, that of the kind called κολοκύντη, there is not one species or genus only, but several, some better, some worse. While Menodorus, the follower of Erasistratus, the friend of Icesius, says, "Of the long gourds there is the Indian, which is the same which we call σικύα, and which is vulgarly called the κολοκύντη. Now the Indian gourd is usually boiled, but that called κολοκύντη is usually roasted." And even to the present day the κολόκυνται are called by the Cnidians Indian gourds; while the people of the Hellespont call the long gourds σίκυαι, and the round gourds κολόκυνται. But Diocles states that the best round gourds are those grown near Magnesia; and, moreover, that the rape grown in that district runs to an exceedingly large size, and is sweet, and good for the stomach. He says, at the same time, that the best cucumbers are grown at Antioch, the best lettuce at Smyrna and Galatea, and the best rue at Myra. Diphilus says, "The gourd is far from nutritious, easily digested, apt to produce moisture in the skin, promotes the secretions of the body, and is full of agreeable and wholesome juice; but it is still more juicy when cooked. Its alterative qualities are increased when it is eaten with mustard, but it is more digestible, and it promotes the secretions more, when boiled.

Mnesitheus too says, "All the vegetables and fruits which are easily affected by the action of fire, such as the cucumber, and the gourd, and the quince, and the small quince, and everything else of the same sort, when they are eaten after having been roasted, afford nutriment to the body, in no great quantity indeed, but still such as is pleasant and promotes moisture. However all these vegetables and fruits have a tendency to produce constipation, and they ought to be eaten boiled rather than raw. But the Attic writers call the gourd by no other name but κολοκύντη. Hermippus says—

What a huge head he has; it is as big as a gourd!

Will you have a little maize (μάζιον) or gourd (κολοκύντιον)?

That is much more wholesome than a gourd (κολοκύντη)

[99] 55. Alexis, that most witty poet, sets an entire course of πρόπομα before those who can understand him—

I came without perceiving it on a place
Which was exceedingly convenient.
Water was given me; and then a servant
Entered, and bore a table for my use;
On which was laid, not cheese, or tawny olives,
Or any dainty side-dishes and nonsense,
Which fill the room with scent, but have no substance;
But there was set before me a huge dish
Redolent of the Seasons and the joyful Hours—
A sort of hemisphere of the whole globe.
Everything there was beautiful and good:
Fish, goats' flesh, and a scorpion between them;
Then there were eggs in half, looking like stars.
On them we quickly laid our hands, and then
Speaking to me, and giving me a nod,
The host began to follow our example;
So we'd a race, and never did I stop
Till the whole dish was empty as a sieve.

The stony soil produced no mushrooms.

Each of us twice a day received to eat
Some small dark maize well winnow'd from the chaff,
And carefully ground; and also some small figs.
Meantime some of the party would begin
And roast some mushrooms; and perhaps would catch
Some delicate snails if 'twas a dewy morning,
And vegetables which spontaneous grew.
Then, too, we'd pounded olives; also wine
Of no great strength, and no very famous vintage.

Our supper is but maize well fenced round
With chaff, so as not to o'erstep the bounds
Of well-devised economy. An onion,
A few side-dishes, and a sow-thistle,
A mushroom, or what wild and tasteless roots
The place affords us in our poverty.
Such is our life, not much exposed to fevers;
For no one, when there's meat, will eat of thyme,
Not even the pupils of Pythagoras.

For which of us can know the future, or
The fate that shall our various friends befal?
Take now these mushrooms and for dinner roast them,
Which I've just picked beneath the maple shade.

[100]Cephisodorus, the pupil of Isocrates, in the treatise which he wrote against Aristotle (and there are four books of it), reproaches the philosopher for not having thought it worth his while to collect proverbs, though Antiphanes had made an entire play which was called Proverbs: from which play he produces these lines—

For I, if I eat any of your dishes,
Seem as if I was on raw mushrooms feeding,
Or unripe apples, fit to choke a man.

57. Mushrooms are produced by the earth itself. But there are not many sorts of them which are good to eat; for the greater part of them produce a sensation of choking: on which account Epicharmus, when jesting, said—

You will be choked, like those who waste away
By eating mushrooms, very heating food.

And Nicander, in his Georgics, gives a list of which species are poisonous; and says—

Terrible evils oftentimes arise
From eating olives, or pomegranates, or from the trees
Of maple, or of oak; but worst of all
Are the swelling sticky lumps of mushrooms.

Bury a fig-tree trunk deep in the ground,
Then cover it with dung, and moisten it
With water from an everflowing brook,
Then there will grow at bottom harmless mushrooms;
Select of them what's good for food, and not
Deserving of contempt, and cut the root off.

But all the rest of that passage is in a mutilated state. The same Nicander in the same play writes—

And there, too, you may roast the mushrooms,
Of the kind which we call ἀμάνιται.

That I may choke you as a mushroom would.

Eparchides says that Euripides the poet was once staying on a visit at Icarus, and that, when it had happened that a certain woman being with her children in the fields, two of them being full-grown sons and the other being an unmarried daughter, eat some poisonous mushrooms, and died with her children in consequence, he made this epigram upon them:—

[101] O Sun, whose path is through th' undying heaven,
Have you e'er before seen a misery such as this?
A mother, a maiden daughter, and two sons,
All dying on one day by pitiless fate?

Diocles the Carystian, in the first book of his treatise on the Wholesomes, says, "The following things which grow wild should be boiled,—beetroot, mallow, sorrel, nettles, spinach, onions, leeks, orach, and mushrooms.

58. Then there is a plant called sium. And Speusippus, in the second book of his treatise on Things Similar, says that its leaf resembles the marsh parsley; on which account Ptolemy the Second, surnamed Euergetes, who was king of Egypt, insists upon it that the line in Homer ought to be written thus—

And around were soft meadows of sium or parsley;

for that it is σία which are usually found in company with parsley, and not ἴα (violets).

59. Diphilus says that mushrooms are good for the stomach, and pass easily through the bowels, and are very nutritious, but still that they are not very digestible, and that they are apt to produce flatulence. And that especially those from the island of Ceos have this character. "Many are even poisonous to a fatal degree. But those which seem to be wholesome are those with the smoothest rinds, which are tender and easily crushed: such as grow close to elms and pine-trees. But those which are unwholesome are of a dark colour, or livid, or covered with hard coats; and those too which get hard after being boiled and placed on the table; for such are deadly to eat. But the best remedy for them when eaten unawares is drinking honey-water, and fresh mead, and vinegar. And after such a drink the patient should vomit. On which account, too, it is especially desirable to dress mushrooms with vinegar, or honey and vinegar, or honey, or salt: for by these means their choking properties are taken away. But Theophrastus, in his treatise about Plants, writes thus—"But plants of this kind grow both under the ground and on the ground, like those things which some people call fungi, which grow in company with mushrooms; for they too grow without having any roots; but the real mushrooms have, as the beginning by which they adhere to the ground, a stalk of some length, and they put forth fibres from that stalk." He [102]says also that in the sea which is around the Pillars of Hercules, when there is a high tide, mushrooms grow on the shore close to high-water mark, which they say are left there by the sun. And Phænias says, in his first book about Plants—"But these things neither put forth any bloom, nor any trace of seminal germination; as, for instance, the mushroom, the truffle, groundivy, and fern." And in another place he says, "Πτερὶς (fern), which some people call βλάχνον." But Theophrastus, in his book on Plants, says—"Plants with smooth rinds, as the truffle, the mushroom, the fungus, the geranium."

60. Now with respect to Truffles.—They too spring of their own accord out of the ground; especially in sandy places. And Theophrastus says of them—"The truffle, which some people call the geranium, and all other such plants which grow beneath the earth." And in another place he says—"The generation and production of these things which seed beneath the earth; as, for instance, of the truffle, and of a plant which grows around Cyrene, which they call misy. And it appears to be exceedingly sweet, and to have a smell like that of meat; and so, too, has a plant called itum, which grows in Thrace. And a peculiarity is mentioned as incidental to these things; for men say that they appear when there is heavy rain in autumn and violent thunder; especially when there is thunder, as that is a more stimulating cause of them: however, they do not last more than a year, as they are only annuals; they are in the greatest perfection in the spring, when they are most plentiful. Not but what there are people who believe that they are or can be raised from seed. At all events, they say that they never appeared on the shore of the Mitylenæans, until after a heavy shower some seed was brought from Tiaræ; and that is the place where they are in the greatest numbers. But they are principally found on the sea-shore, and wherever the ground is sandy; and that is the character of the place called Tiaræ. They are also found near Lampsacus, and also in Acarnania, and Alopeconnesus, and in the district of the Eleans. Lynceus the Samian says—"The sea produces nettles, and the land produces truffles;" and Matron, the man who wrote parodies, says in his "Supper"—

And he brought oysters, the truffles of Thetis the Nereid.

[103] Diphilus says that truffles are by nature indigestible, but that they are full of wholesome juice, and have lenitive qualities, and are very easily evacuated; though, like mushrooms, some of them are apt to produce suffocation. And Hegesander the Delphian says that no truffles are found in the Hellespont, and no fish of the kind called γλαυκίσκος, and no thyme. On which account Nausiclides said of the country, that it had no spring and no friends. But Pamphilus says, in his "Languages," that there is a plant called ὑδνόφυλλον, being a species of grass which grows on the top of the truffles, by which the truffle is discovered.

61. With respect to Nettles—Ἀκαλήφη is the name given by the Attic writers to a plant which is herbaceous and which produces itching. Aristophanes says, in his Phœnissæ, "that pot-herbs were the first things which grew out of the earth; and after them the rough stinging-nettles."

62. The next thing to be considered is Asparagus—which is divided into mountain asparagus and marsh asparagus; the best kinds of which are not raised from seed; but they are remedies for every kind of internal disorder. But those which are raised from seed grow to an immense size. And they say that in Libya, among the Gætuli, they grow of the thickness of a Cyprian reed, and twelve feet long; but that on the mountain land and on land near the sea they grow to the thickness of large canes, and twenty cubits long. But Cratinus writes the word, not ἀσπάραγος, but ἀσφάραγος, with a φ. And Theopompus says—

And then seeing the aspharagus in a thicket.

No squills, no aspharagus, no branches of bay-tree.

But Diphilus says, that of all greens, that sort of asparagus which is especially called the bursting asparagus, is better for the stomach, and is more easily digested; but that it is not very good for the eyes: and it is harsh-flavoured and diuretic, and injurious to the kidneys and bladder. But it is the Athenians who give it the name of bursting; and they also give the flowering cabbage, or cauliflower, the same name. Sophocles says, in The Huntsmen—

Then it puts forth a stalk, and never ceases
The germination;

[104] because it is continually bursting out and putting forth shoots. However, Antiphanes always spells the word ἀσπάραγος, with a π; and he writes thus—

The asparagus was shining; the pale vetches had faded.

And Aristophon says—"Capers, pennyroyal, thyme, asparagus, garlic; radishes, sage, and rue."

I am not a grasshopper, nor a snail, O woman.

Sprats, tunny fish, and snails, and periwinkles.

The hero that carries his house on his back.

You are e'en more distrustful than a snail;
Who fears to leave even his house behind him.

Can such a vapour strange produce
The snails, those horned monsters?

And an enigma, like a fishing-net, having reference to the snail, is often proposed at banquets, in these terms—

What is that spineless bloodless beast of the woods,
Who makes his path amid the humid waters.

And Aristotle, in the fifth book of his treatise on the Parts of Animals, says—"Snails appear to become pregnant in the autumn and in spring, and they are the only animals with coverings of shells that have ever been detected in union." But Theophrastus says, in his treatise about Animals which live in Holes—"Snails live in holes during the winter, and still more in the summer, on which account they are seen in the greatest numbers during the autumn rains. But their holes in the summer are made upon the ground, and in the trees." There are some snails which are called σέσιλοι. Epicharmus says—

Instead of all these animals, they have locusts;
But I hate above all things the shell of the sesilus.

And Apellas relates that the Lacedæmonians call the snail σέμελος. But Apollodorus, in the second book of his Etymologies, says that there are some snails which are called κωλυσιδειπνοι, interrupters of banquets.

64. The next vegetable to be mentioned is Onions.—In [105]the Amalthea of Eubulus, Hercules is represented as refusing to eat them; saying—

Whether it's hot, or whether it is dry,
Or whether it is something 'tween the two,
Are points of more importance than old Troy.
But I have not come here to fill myself
With cabbages, or benjamin, or other
Impious and bitter danties, or with onions.
But that which tends the most to vigorous strength
And health is food which I delight in chiefly.
Meat of beef, boil'd and fresh, and plenty of it,
And a large well-filled dish of oxen's feet,
Three roasting pigs besides, sprinkled with salt.

Pinnas, beetles, snails, muscles, eggs, calves'-feet,
And many other philters, may be found
More useful still to one who loves his mistress.

A house is ruined which has a master
Whose fortune's gone, and whom the evil genius
Has struck. And so the once great house of the Pelops
Is weak and nerveless. Nor can earth-born onion,
Fair Ceres' handmaid, who contracts the neck,
Even when boiled, assist to check this evil.
Nor e'en the polypus, who swells the veins,
Born in dark eddies of the deepest sea,
When taken in the net of stern necessity
By hungry mortals, fill the broad deep bosom
Of the large dish turn'd by the potter's wheel.

I love not onions, nor yet cabbages,
Nor the sweet barberry-tree, nor all the other
Dainties and sweetmeats of the second course.

65. Heraclides the Tarentine, in his Banquet, says—"The onion, and the snail, and the egg, and similar things, appear to be productive of seed; not because they are very nutritious, but because their original natures are similar, and because their powers resemble that." And Diphilus says—"Onions are difficult to digest, but very nutritious, and good for the stomach. And, moreover, they are productive of moisture, and cleansing, but they dim the eyes, and excite the amatory propensities. But the proverb says—

The onion will do you no good if you have no strength yourself.

[106] But those onions which are called the royal onions, really do stimulate the amatory propensities, for they are superior to the other kinds; and next to them are the red ones. But the white ones, and the Libyan onions, are something like squills. But the worst of all are the Egyptian.

66. But the white onions, called βόλβιναι, are fuller of good juice than the common onions; but they are not so good for the stomach, because the white portion of them has a certain thickness in it. Yet they are very tolerably wholesome, because they have a good deal of harshness in them, and because they promote the secretions. And Matron, in his Parodies, mentions the βολβίνη—

But sowthistles I will not even name,
Plants full of marrow, crown'd on th' heads with thorns;
Nor the white onions, minstrels of great Jove,
Which his dear Child, incessant rain, has nourish'd
Whiter than snow storms, and like meal to view,
Which, when they first appeared, my stomach loved.

67. Nicander extols the onions of Megara. But Theophrastus, in the seventh book of his treatise on Plants, says—"In some places the onions are so sweet, that they are eaten raw, as they are in the Tauric Chersonesus." And Phænias makes the same statement:—"There is," says he, "a kind of onion which bears wool, according to Theophrastus; and it is produced on the sea-shore. And it has the wool underneath its first coat, so as to be between the outer eatable parts and the inner ones. And from this wool socks and stockings and other articles of clothing are woven." And Phænias himself adopts the statement. "But the onion," he continues, "of the Indians is hairy." But concerning the dressing of onions, Philemon says—

Now if you want an onion, just consider
What great expense it takes to make it good:
You must have cheese, and honey, and sesame,
Oil, leeks, and vinegar, and assafœtida,
To dress it up with; for by itself the onion
Is bitter and unpleasant to the taste.

But Heraclides the Tarentine, limiting the use of onions at banquets, says—"One must set bounds to much eating, especially of such things as have anything glutinous or sticky about them; as, for instance, eggs, onions, calves' feet, snails, and such things as those: for they remain in the stomach a [107]long time, and form a lump there, and check the natural moisture."

68. Thrushes, too, and crowds of other birds, formed part of the dishes in the propomata. Teleclides says—

But roasted thrushes with sweet cheese-cakes served
Flew of their own accord down the guests' throats.

But the Syracusans call thrushes, not κίχλαι, but κίχηλαι. Epicharmus says—

The thrushes (κίχηλαι) fond of eating the olive.

And Aristophanes also, in his "Clouds," mentions the same birds. But Aristotle asserts that there are three kinds of thrushes; the first and largest kind of which is nearly equal to a jay; and they call it also the ixophagus, since it eats the mistletoe. The next kind is like a blackbird in size, and they call them trichades. The third kind is less than either of the before-mentioned sorts, and is called illas, but some call it tylas, as Alexander the Myndian does. And this is a very gregarious species, and builds its nest as the swallow does.

There is a short poem, which is attributed to Homer, and which is entitled ἐπικιχλίδες, which has received this title from the circumstance of Homer singing it to his children, and receiving thrushes as his reward,—at least, this is the account given by Menæchmus, in his treatise on Artists.

69. There is a bird called the συκαλὶς, or figpecker. And Alexander the Myndian asserts—"One of the tits is called by some people elæus, and by others pirias; but when the figs become ripe, it gets the name of sycalis." And there are two species of this bird, the sycalis and the μελαγκόρυφος, or blackcap. Epicharmus spells the word with two λλ, and writes συκαλλίδες. He speaks of beautiful συκαλλίδες: and in a subsequent passage he says—

And herons were there with their long bending necks,
And grouse who pick up seed, and beautiful sycallides.

And these birds are caught at the season when figs are ripe. And it is more correct to spell the name with only one λ; but Epicharmus put in the second λ because of the metre.

70. There is a kind of finch, too, which was sometimes eaten, of which Eubulus says,

When 'twas the Amphidromian festival,
When 'tis the custom to toast bits of cheese
O' the Chersonesus; and to boil a cabbage,
Bedewed with shining oil; and eke to bake
The breasts of fat and well-fed lambs; to pluck
The feathers from the thrushes, doves and finches;
And also to eat cuttle-fish with anchovies,
And baskets of rich polypus to collect,
And to drink many cups of unmixed wine.

Antiphanes also reckons starlings among the eatable birds, numerating them in the following list—"Honey, partridges, pigeons, ducks, geese, starlings, jays, rooks, blackbirds, quails, and pullets."

You are asking of us for a history of everything, and you do not allow us to say a single thing without calling us to account for it. The word στρουθάριον (a little bird) is found in many other authors, and also in Eubulus. He says, "Take three or four partridges, and three hares, and as many small birds as you can eat, and goldfinches, and parrots, and finches, and nightjars, and whatever other birds of this kind you can come across."

72. Swine's brains, too, was a not uncommon dish. Philosophers used to forbid our eating these, saying that a person who partook of them might as well eat a bear, and would not stick at eating his father's head, or anything else imaginable. And they said, that at all events none of the ancients had ever eaten them, because they were the seat of nearly all sensation. But Apollodorus the Athenian says, that none of the ancients ever even named the brain. And at all events Sophocles, in his Trachiniæ, where he represents Hercules as throwing Lichas into the sea, does not use the word ἐγκέφαλον, brains, but says λευκὸν μυελὸς, white marrow; avoiding a word which it was thought ill-omened to use:—

[109] And from his hair he forces the white marrow,
His head being burst asunder in the middle,
And the blood flows:

though he had named all the rest of his limbs plainly enough. And Euripides, introducing Hecuba lamenting for Astyanax, who had been thrown down by the Greeks, says—

Unhappy child, how miserably have
Your native city's walls produced your death,
And dash'd your head in pieces! Fatal towers,
Which Phœbus builded! How did your mother oft
Cherish those curly locks, and press upon them
With never-wearied kisses! now the blood
Wells from that wound, where the bones broken gape;
But some things are too horrid to be spoken.

The lines too which follow these are worth stopping to consider. But Philocles does employ the word ἐγκέφαλον—

He never ceased devouring even the brains (ἐγκέφαλον).

I would be content
To lose two membranes of the ἐγκέφαλον.

And others, too, use the word. So that it must have been for the sake of the poetical expression that Sophocles said "white marrow." But Euripides not choosing openly to display to sight an unseemly and disgusting object, revealed as much as he chose. And they thought the head sacred, as is plain by their swearing by it; and by their even venerating sneezes, which proceed from the head, as holy. And we, to this day, confirm our arrangements and promises by nodding the head. As the Jupiter of Homer says—

Come now, and I will nod my head to you.

73. Now all these things were put into the dishes which were served up as propomata: pepper, green leaves, myrrh, galingal, Egyptian ointment. Antiphanes says—

If any one buys pepper and brings it home,
They torture him by law like any spy.

Now is the time for a man to go and find pepper,
And seed of orach, and fruit, and buy it, and bring it here.

Just take some Cnidian grains, or else some pepper,
And pound them up with myrrh, and strew around.

Pepper from Libya take, and frankincense,
And Plato's heaven-inspired book of wisdom.

Take the conyza's woolly leaves and stalks,
And often cut new pepper up, and add
Cardamums fresh from Media.

And Theophrastus, in his History of Plants, says—"Pepper indeed is a fruit: and there are two kinds of it; the one is round, like a vetch, having a husk, and is rather red in colour; but the other is oblong, black, and full of seeds like poppy-seeds. But this kind is much stronger than the other. Both kinds are heating, on which account they are used as remedies for, and antidotes against, hemlock." And in his treatise on Suffocation, he writes—"And people who are suffocated are recovered by an infusion of vinegar and pepper, or else by the fruit of the nettle when crushed." But we must recollect that, properly speaking, there is no noun of the neuter gender among the Greeks ending in ι, except μέλι alone; for the words πέπερι, and κόμμι, and κοῖφι are foreign.

74. Let us now speak of oil.—Antiphanes or Alexis makes mention of the Samian Oil, saying—

This man you see will be a measurer
Of that most white of oils, the Samian oil.

The man anointed was with Carian oil.

Amyntas, in his treatise on Persian Weights and Measures, says—"The mountains there bear turpentine and mastic trees, and Persian nuts, from which they make a great deal of oil for the king. And Ctesias says, that in Carmania there is made an oil which is extracted from thorns, which the king uses. And he, in his third book of his treatise on the Revenues derived from Asia, making a list of all the things which are prepared for the king for his supper, makes no mention of pepper, or of vinegar, which of itself is the very best of all seasonings. Nor does Deinon, in his Persian History; though he does say that ammoniac salt is sent up to the king from Egypt, and water from the Nile. Theophrastus also mentions an oil which he calls ὠμοτριβὲς, that is to say, extracted raw, in his treatise on Scents, saying that it is produced from the large coarse olives called phaulian, and from almonds. Amphis also speaks of the oil which is produced amongst the Thurians, as exceedingly fine—

Oil from the Thurians comes; from Gela lentils.

Your basket will be full of briny pickle.

His beard was all besmear'd with pickle juice.

Eating this briny season'd pickle.

These men will choke me, steeping me in putrid pickle.

But the word γάρος, pickle, is a masculine noun. As Æschylus proves, when he says καὶ τὸν ἰχθύων γἁρον.

76. Vinegar too was much used by the ancients, and this is the only seasoning to which the Attics give the name of ἧδος, as if it were akin to ἡδὺς, sweet. And Chrysippus the philosopher says, that the best vinegar is the Egyptian and the Cnidian. But Aristophanes, in his Plutus, says—

Sprinkling it o'er with Sphettian vinegar.

Didymus explaining this verse says, "Perhaps he says Sphettian because the Sphettians are sour-tempered people." And somewhere or other he mentions vinegar from Cleonæ, as being most excellent, saying, "And at Cleonæ there are manufactories of vinegar." We find also in Diphilus—

Their seasonings have not vinegar sufficient.

But Heraclides the Tarentine, in his Symposium, says, "Vinegar has a tendency to make the exterior parts coagulate, and it affects the strings within the stomach in a very similar manner; but any parts which are tumid it dissolves, because forsooth different humours are mixed up in us." And Alexis used to admire above all others the Decelean vinegar, and says—

You have compell'd me to bring forth from thence
Four half-pint measures full of vinegar
From Decelea, and now drag me through
The middle of the forum.

[112] The word ὀξύγαρον must be spelt so, with a υ, and the vessel which receives it is called ὀξύβαφον. And so Lysias, in the speech against Theopompus when on his trial for an assault, says, "But I myself drink ὀξύμελι." And so too we must call oil of roses mixed with vinegar ὀξυρόδινον, spelling all the words thus compounded in this manner with a υ.

77. Seasonings are mentioned even by Sophocles. In his Phæacians we find the expression,

And seasoning for food.

You are steeping the seasonings.

And Theopompus says—"Many bushels of seasonings, and many sacks and bags of books, and of all other things which may be useful for life." In Sophocles too the expression is found—

I like a cook will cleverly season . . . .

It is not every one who can season, skilfully.

Very bad vinegar seasoned in an expensive way.

Dried grapes, and salt, and eke new wine
Newly boiled down, and assafœtida,
And cheese, and thyme, and sesame,
And nitre too, and cummin seed,
And sumach, honey, and marjoram,
And herbs, and vinegar and oil
And sauce of onions, mustard and capers mix'd,
And parsley, capers too, and eggs,
And lime, and cardamums, and th' acid juice
Which comes from the green fig-tree, besides lard
And eggs and honey and flour wrapp'd in fig-leaves,
And all compounded in one savoury forcemeat.

The ancients were well acquainted with the Ethiopian cardamum. We must take notice that they used the words θύμος and ὀρίγανος as masculine nouns. And so Anaxandrides says—

Cutting asparagus and squills and marjoram, (ὃς)
Which gives the pickle an aristocratic taste,
When duly mixed (μιχθεὶς) with coriander seed.

But in a hurried manner in his hand
He hides the marjoram (τὸν ὀρίγανον).

She from Arcadia brought
The harshly-tasted (τὴν δριμυτάτην) marjoram.

Epicharmus and Ameipsias both use it as a neuter noun; but Nicander, in his Melissurgica, uses θύμος as masculine.

78. Cratinus used the word πέπονες, which properly means merely full ripe, in speaking of the cucumbers which give seed, in his Ulysses—

Tell me, O wisest son of old Laertes,
Have you e'er seen a friend of yours in Paros
Buy a large cucumber that's run to seed?

Do you not see
That Meleager, son of mighty Glaucon,
. . . . Goes about every where like a stupid cuckoo,
With legs like the seedless πέπων cucumber?

His ankles swell'd
Larger than e'en a πέπων cucumber.

She was to me
More tender than a πέπων cucumber.

Phænias says, "Both the σίκυος and the πέπων are tender to eat, with the stem on which they grow; however the seed is not to be eaten, but the outside only, when they are fully ripe; but the gourd called κολοκύντη, when raw is not eatable, but is very good either boiled or roasted. And Diocles the Carystian, in the first book of his treatise on Wholesome Things, says that "of wild vegetables the following should be boiled before eating: the lettuce (the best kind of which is the black); the cardamum; mustard from the Adriatic; onions (the best kinds are the Ascalonian, and that called getian); garlic, that other kind of garlic called physinga, the πέπων cucumber, and the poppy." And a little afterwards he says, "The πέπων cucumber is better for the stomach and more digestible; though every cucumber when boiled is tender, never gives any pain, and is diuretic; but that kind called πέπων when boiled in mead has very aperient [114]qualities. And Speusippus, in his treatise on Similarities, calls the πέπων by the name of σικύα. But Diocles having named the πέπων, does not any longer call it σικύα: and Speusippus after having named the σικύα never names the πέπων. Diphilus says, the πέπων is more full of wholesome juice, and moderates the humours of the body, but it is not very nutritious; it is easily digested, and promotes the secretions.

79. The lettuce was in great request as an article of food. Its name is θρῖδαξ, but the Attics call it θριδακίνη. Epicharmus says—

A lettuce (θρῖδαξ) with its stalk peel'd all the way up.

The leek-destroying grubs, which go
Throughout the leafy gardens
On fifty feet, and leave their trace,
Gnawing all herbs and vegetables;
Leading the dances of the long-tailed satyrs
Amid the petals of the verdant herbs,
And of the juicy lettuces (θριδακινίδες),
And of the fragrant parsley.

And Theophrastus says, "Of lettuce (θριδακίνη) the white is the sweeter and the more tender: there are three kinds; there is the lettuce with the broad stalk, and the lettuce with the round stalk, and in the third place there is the Lacedæmonian lettuce—its leaf is like that of a thistle, but it grows up straight and tall, and it never sends up any side shoots from the main stalk. But some plants of the broad kind are so very broad in the stalk that some people even use them for doors to their gardens. But when the stalks are cut, then those which shoot again are the sweetest of any."

80. But Nicander the Colophonian, in the second part of his Dictionary, says that the lettuce is called βρένθις by the Cyprians. And it was towards a plant of this kind that Adonis was flying when he was slain by the boar. Amphis in his Ialemus says—

Curse upon all these lettuces (θριδάκιναι)!
For if a man not threescore years should eat them,
And then betake himself to see his mistress,
He'll toss the whole night through, and won't be equal
To her expectations or his own.

And Callimachus says that Venus hid Adonis under a lettuce, which is an allegorical statement of the poet's, intended to [115]show that those who are much addicted to the use of lettuces are very little adapted for pleasures of love. And Eubulus says in his Astuti—

Do not put lettuces before me, wife,
Upon the table; or the blame is yours.
For once upon a time, as goes the tale,
Venus conceal'd the sadly slain Adonis
Beneath the shade of this same vegetable;
So that it is the food of dead men, or of those
Who scarcely are superior to the dead.

Cratinus also says that Venus when in love with Phaon hid him also in the leaves of the lettuce: but the younger Marsyas says that she hid him amid the grass of barley.

Pamphilus in his book on Languages says, that Hipponax called the lettuce τετρακίνη: but Clitarchus says that it is the Phrygians who give it this name. Ibycus the Pythagorean says that the lettuce is at its first beginning a plant with a broad leaf, smooth, without any stalk, and is called by the Pythagoreans the eunuch, and by the women ἄστυτις; for that it makes the men diuretic and powerless for the calls of love: but it is exceedingly pleasant to the taste.

81. Diphilus says that "the stalk of the lettuce is exceedingly nutritious, and more difficult of digestion than the leaves; but that the leaves are more apt to produce flatulence, and are still more nutritious, and have a greater tendency to promote the secretions. And as a general rule the lettuce is good for the stomach, cooling and wholesome for the bowels, soporific, full of pleasant and wholesome juice, and certainly has a great tendency to make men indifferent to love. But the softer lettuce is still better for the stomach, and still more soporific; while that which is harder and drier is both less good for the stomach and less wholesome for the bowels; that, however, is also soporific. But the black lettuce is more cooling, and is good for the bowels; and summer lettuce is full of wholesome juice, and more nutritious; but that which is in season at the end of autumn is not nutritious, and has no juice. And the stalk of the lettuce appears to be a remedy against thirst." And the lettuce when boiled like asparagus in a dish, if we adopt the statement of Glaucias, is superior to all other boiled vegetables.

Among some of the other nations Theophrastus says that [116]beetroot, and lettuce, and spinach, and mustard, and sorrel, and coriander, and anise, and cardamums, are all called ἐπίσπορα, things fit to be sown for the second crop. And Diphilus says that, as a general rule, all vegetables have but little nutriment in them, and have all of them a tendency to make people thin, and are devoid of wholesome juices, and moreover stay a long while in the stomach, and are not very digestible. But Epicharmus speaks of some as summer vegetables.

82. Artichokes were often eaten. And Sophocles, in his Colchian Women, calls an artichoke κινάρα, but in his Phœnix he writes the word κύναρος, saying—

The artichoke fills every field with its thorn.

But Hecatæus the Milesian, in his Description of Asia, at least if the book under this title is a genuine work of that author, (for Callimachus attributes it to Nesiotas;) however, whoever it was who wrote the book speaks in these terms—"Around the sea which is called the Hyrcanian sea there are mountains lofty and rough with woods, and on the mountains there is the prickly artichoke." And immediately afterwards he subjoins—"Of the Parthian tribes the Chorasmians dwell towards the rising sun, having a territory partly champaign and partly mountainous. And in the mountains there are wild trees; the prickly artichoke, the willow, the tamarisk." He says moreover that the artichoke grows near the river Indus. And Scylax, or Polemo, writes, "that that land is well watered with fountains and with canals, and on the mountains there grow artichokes and many other plants." And immediately afterwards he adds, "From that point a mountain stretches on both sides of the river Indus, very lofty, and very thickly overgrown with wild wood and the prickly artichoke."

But Didymus the grammarian, explaining what is meant by Sophocles when he speaks of the prickly artichoke (which he calls κύναρος), says, "Perhaps he means the dog-brier, because that plant is prickly and rough; for the Pythian priestess did call that plant a wooden bitch. And the Locrian, after he had been ordered by an oracle to build a city in that place in which he was bitten by a wooden bitch, having had his leg scratched by a dog-brier, built the city in the place [117]where the brier had stood. And there is a plant called the dog-brier, something between a brier and a tree, according to the statement of Theophrastus, and it has a red fruit, like a pomegranate, and it has a leaf like that of the willow.

83. Phænias, in the fifth book of his treatise on Plants, speaks of one which he calls the Sicilian cactus, a very prickly plant. As also does Theophrastus, in his sixth book about Plants, who says, "But the plant which is called the cactus exists only in Sicily, and is not found in Greece: and it sends forth stalks close to the ground, just above the root. And the stalks are the things which are called cacti: and they are eatable as soon as they are peeled, and rather bitter; and they preserve them in brine. But there is a second kind, which sends up a straight stalk, which they call πτέρνιξ; and that also is eatable. The shell of the fruit, as soon as the outer soft parts have been taken away, is like the inside of a date: that also is eatable; and the name of that is ἀσκάληρον." But who is there who would not place such belief in these assertions as to say confidently that this cactus is the same as that plant which is called by the Romans carduus, or thistle; as the Romans are at no great distance from Sicily, and as it is evidently the same plant which the Greeks call κινάρα, or the artichoke? For if you merely change two letters, κάρδος and κάκτος will be the same word.

And Epicharmus also shows us plainly this, when he puts down the cactus in his catalogue of eatable vegetables; in this way—"The poppy, fennel, and the rough cactus; now one can eat of the other vegetables when dressed with milk, if he bruises them and serves them up with rich sauce, but by themselves they are not worth much." And in a subsequent passage he says—"Lettuces, pines, squills, radishes, cacti." And again he says—"A man came from the country, bringing fennel, and cacti, and lavender, and sorrel, and chicory, and thistles, and ferns, and the cactus, and dractylus, and otostyllus, and scolium, and seni, and onopordus." And Philetas the Coan poet says—

A fawn about to die would make a noise,
Fearing the venom of the thorny cactus.

84. And, indeed, Sopater the Paphian, who was born in the time of Alexander the son of Philip, and who lived even till the time of the second Ptolemy king of Egypt, called the artichoke κίναρα just as we do, as he himself declares in one [118]of the books of his history. But Ptolemy Euergetes the king of Egypt, being one of the pupils of Aristarchus the grammarian, in the second book of his Commentaries writes thus—"Near Berenice, in Libya, is the river Lethon, in which there is the fish called the pike, and the chrysophrys, and a great multitude of eels, and also of lampreys which are half as big again as those which come from Macedonia and from the Copaic lake. And the whole stream is full of fishes of all sorts. And in that district there are a great quantity of anchovies, and the soldiers who composed our army picked them, and ate them, and brought them to us, the generals having stripped them of their thorns. I know, too, that there is an island called Cinarus, which is mentioned by Semus.

85. Now with respect to what is called the Brain of the Palm.—Theophrastus, speaking of the plant of the palm-tree, states, "The manner of cultivating it, and of its propagation from the fruit, is as follows: when one has taken off the upper rind, one comes to a portion in which is what is called the brain." And Xenophon, in the second book of the Anabasis, writes as follows: "There, too, the soldiers first ate the brain of the palm or date-tree. And many of them marvelled at its appearance, and at the peculiarity of its delicious flavour. But it was found to have a great tendency to produce headache; but the date, when the brain was taken out of it, entirely dried up." Nicander says in his Georgics—

And at the same time cutting off the branches
Loaded with dates they bring away the brain,
A dainty greatly fancied by the young.

And Diphilus the Siphnian states—"The brains of the dates are filling and nutritious; still they are heavy and not very digestible: they cause thirst, too, and constipation of the stomach."

But we, says Athenæus, O my friend Timocrates, shall appear to keep our brains to the end, if we stop this conversation and the book at this point.

[119] Some Fragments omitted in the Second Book of the Deipnosophists of Athenæus.

It is a troublesome thing to fall in with
An entire party of none but relations;
Where as soon as he has taken his cup in his hand
The father first begins the discourse,
And stammers out his recommendations:
Then after him the mother, in the second place;
And then some old aunt gossips and chatters;
And then some harsh-voiced old man,
The father of the aunt aforesaid; then too
Another old woman calls him her darling:
And he nods assent to all that is said.

Before the shade they wear a purple cloth,
And then this comes after the purple;
Being itself neither white nor purple,
But a ray of the brilliancy of the woof as it were
Of divers colours curiously blended.

* * * * *

Antiphanes says: "What do you say? Will you not bring something hither to the door which we may eat? and then I will sit on the ground and eat it as the beggars do: and any one may see me."

Prepare then
A fanner to cool me, a dish, a tripod, a cup,
An ewer, a mortar, a pot, and a spoon.

* * * * *

88. Thales the Milesian, one of the seven wise men, says that the overflowing of the Nile arises from the Etesian winds; for that they blow up the river, and that the mouths of the river lie exactly opposite to the point from which they blow; and accordingly that the wind blowing in the opposite direction hinders the flow of the waters; and the waves of the sea, dashing against the mouth of the river, and coming on with a fair wind in the same direction, beat back the river, and in this manner the Nile becomes full to overflowing. But Anaxagoras the natural philosopher says that the fulness of the Nile arises from the snow melting; and so, too, says [120]Euripides, and some others of the tragic poets. And Anaxagoras says that this is the sole origin of all that fulness; but Euripides goes further, and describes the exact place where this melting of the snow takes place; for in his play called "Archelaus" he speaks thus:—

Danaus, the noble sire of fifty daughters,
Leaving the Nile, the fairest stream on earth,
Fill'd by the summer of the Æthiop land,
The negro's home, when the deep snow does melt,
And o'er the land the Sun his chariot drives.

These are the beauteous virgin streams of Nile,
Which in the place of rain bedew the plain
Of Egypt when the white snow melts on th' hills.

I know its history, and love to praise
The race of the Æthiop land, where mighty Nile
Rolls down his seven streams the country through,
When the spring winds bring down the heavy waters;
What time the sun shining along that land
Dissolves the mountain snow; and the whole land
Of flourishing Egypt, fill'd with th' holy stream,
Sends forth the vital ears of corn of Ceres.

89. And Callisthenes the historian argues against what I quoted just now as stated by Anaxagoras and Euripides: and he, too, declares his own opinion,—that as there is much very heavy and continued rain in Æthiopia about the time of the rising of the Dogstar, and from that period till the rising of Arcturus, and as the Etesian winds blow at about the same time, (for these are the winds which he says have the greatest tendency to bring the clouds over Æthiopia,) when the clouds fall upon the mountains in that region, a vast quantity of water bursts forth, in consequence of which the Nile rises. But Democritus says that about the winter solstice there are heavy falls of snow in the countries around the north; but that when the sun changes its course, at the summer solstice, the snow being melted and evaporated by the warmth, clouds are formed, and then the Etesian gales catch hold of them, and drive them towards the south; and when these clouds are all driven together towards Æthiopia and Libya, a mighty rain ensues, and the water from that flows down the mountains and fills the Nile. This, then, is the cause which Democritus alleges for this fulness of the Nile.

90. But Euthymenes the Massiliote says, speaking of his [121]own knowledge, acquired in a voyage which he had made, that the sea outside the Pillars of Hercules flows towards Libya and turns up and proceeds towards the north; and that then, being driven back by the Etesian gales, it is raised to a height by the winds, and flows high at that time; but, when the Etesian gales cease, it recedes. He says moreover, that that sea is sweet to the taste, and that it contains monsters like the crocodiles and the hippopotami in the Nile.

But Œnopides the Chian says, that in winter the sources of the river are dried up, but in the summer they are thawed and flow; and so that for the sake of filling up the previous dryness, the rains from heaven cooperate with * * * * * * * * And on this account the river is smaller in winter and is full in summer.

But Herodotus gives an explanation quite contrary to that of the rest of those who have discussed this subject, but agreeing with the explanation of Œnopides; for he says that the stream of the Nile is of such magnitude as always to fill the river; but that the sun, as it makes its journey through Libya in the winter, dries up the river at that time; but that as it has gone off towards the north at the time of the summer solstice, then the river becomes full again, and overflows the plains.

Now these are the mouths of the Nile:—towards Arabia, the Pelusiac mouth; towards Libya, the Canopic: and the rest are,—the Bolbitic, the Sebennytic, the Mendesian, the Saitic, and the Opuntic.

FOOTNOTES:

BOOK III.—EPITOME.

1. Callimachus the grammarian said that a great book was equivalent to a great evil.

You may sow the Egyptian bean, in order in summer
To make its flowers into garlands; and when the ciboria
Have fallen, then give the ripe fruit to the youths
Who are feasting with you, into their hands, as they have been a long time
Wishing for them; but roots I boil, and then place on the table at feasts.

[122] But when Nicander speaks of "roots," he means the things which are called by the Alexandrians colocasia; as he says elsewhere—

Have peel'd the beans, and cut up the colocasia.

Now there is at Sicyon a temple to the Colocasian Minerva. There is also a kind of cup called κιβώριον.[122:1]

2. Theophrastus, in his book on Plants, writes thus: "The bean in Egypt grows in marshes and swamps; and its stalk is in length, when it is at the largest, about four cubits; but in thickness, it is as thick as one's finger: and it is like a long reed, only without joints. But it has divisions within, running through the whole of it, like honeycombs. And on this stalk is the head and the flower, being about twice the size of a poppy; and its colour is like that of a rose, very full coloured; and it puts forth large leaves. But the root is thicker than the thickest reed, and it has divisions like the stalk. And people eat it boiled, and roasted, and raw. And the men who live near the marshes eat it very much. It grows, too, in Syria and in Cilicia, but those countries do not ripen it thoroughly. It grows, too, around Torone in Chalcidice, in a marsh of moderate size, and that place ripens it, and it brings its fruit to perfection there. But Diphilus the Siphnian says, "The root of the Egyptian bean, which is called colocasium, is very good for the stomach, and very nutritious, but it is not very digestible, being very astringent; and that is the best which is the least woolly. But the beans which are produced by the plant called ciborium, when they are green are indigestible, not very nutritious, easily pass through one, and are apt to cause flatulence; but when they are dry they are not so flatulent. And from the genuine ciborium there is a flower which grows which is made into garlands. And the Egyptians call the flower the lotus; but the Naucratitans tell me, says Athenæus, that its name is the melilotus: and it is of that flower that the melilotus garlands are made, which are very fragrant, and which have a cooling effect in the summer season.

3. But Phylarchus says, "that though Egyptian beans had never been sown before in any place, and had never produced [123]fruit if any one had by chance sown a few, except in Egypt, still, in the time of Alexander the king, the son of Pyrrhus, it happened that some sprung up near the river Thyamis in Thesprotia in Epirus, in a certain marsh in that district; and for two years continuously they bore fruit and grew; and that on this Alexander put a guard over them, and not only forbade any one to pick them, but would not allow any one to approach the place: and on this the marsh dried up; and for the future it not only never produced the above-mentioned fruit, but it does not appear even to have furnished any water. And something very like this happened at Ædepsus. For at a distance from all other waters there was a spring sending forth cold water at no great distance from the sea; and invalids who drank this water were greatly benefited: on which account many repaired thither from great distances, to avail themselves of the water. Accordingly the generals of king Antigonus, wishing to be economical with respect to it, imposed a tax to be paid by those who drank it: and on this the spring dried up. And in the Troas in former times all who wished it were at liberty to draw water from the Tragasæan lake; but when Lysimachus became ruler there, and put a tax on it, that lake, too, disappeared: and as he marvelled at this, as soon as he remitted the tribute and left the place free, the water came again.

Eat the cucumber, O woman, and weave your cloak.

And I saw a cucumber, the son of the all-glorious Earth,
Lying among the herbs; and it was served up on nine tables.[123:1]

But, as when cucumber grows up in a dewy place.

Now the Attic writers always use the word σίκυον as a word of three syllables. But Alcæus uses it as a dissyllable, σίκυς; for he says, δάκῃ τῶν σικύων from the nominative σίκυς, a word [124]like στάχυς, στάχυος. And Phrynichus uses the word σικύδιον as a diminutive, where he says—

Εντραγεῖν σικύδιον, to eat a little cucumber.

* * * * *

I will send radishes and four cucumbers.

* * * * *

And Phrynichus too used the word σικύδιον as a diminutive, in his Monotropus; where he says, κἀντραγεῖν σικύδιον.

5. But Theophrastus says that there are three kinds of cucumbers, the Lacedæmonian, the Scytalian, and the Bœotian; and that of these the Lacedæmonian, which is a watery one, is the best; and that the others do not contain water. "Cucumbers too," says he, "contain a more agreeable and wholesome juice if the seed be steeped in milk or in mead before it is sown;" and he asserts in his book on the Causes of Plants, that they come up quicker if they are steeped either in water or milk before they are put in the ground. And Euthydemus says, in his treatise on Vegetables, that there is one kind of cucumber which is called δρακοντίας. But Demetrius Ixios states, in the first book of his treatise on Etymologies, that the name σίκυον is derived ἀπὸ τοῦ σεύεσθαι καὶ κιεῖν, from bursting forth and proceeding; for that it is a thing which spreads fast and wide. But Heraclides of Tarentum calls the cucumber ἡδύγαιον, which means growing in sweet earth, or making the earth sweet, in his Symposium. And Diocles of Carystos says that cucumber, if it is eaten with the sium in the first course, makes the eater uncomfortable; for that it gets into the head as the radish does; but that if it is eaten at the end of supper it causes no [125]uncomfortable feelings, and is more digestible; and that when it is boiled it is moderately diuretic. But Diphilus says—"The cucumber being a cooling food is not very manageable, and is not easily digested or evacuated; besides that, it creates shuddering feelings and engenders bile, and is a great preventive against amatory feelings." But cucumbers grow in gardens at the time of full moon, and at that time they grow very visibly, as do the sea-urchins.

6. With respect to Figs.—The fig-tree, says Magnus, (for I will not allow any one to take what I have to say about figs out of my mouth, not if I were to be hanged for it, for I am most devilishly fond of figs, and I will say what occurs to me;) "the fig-tree, my friends, was the guide to men to lead them to a more civilized life. And this is plain from the fact that the Athenians call the place where it was first discovered The Sacred Fig; and the fruit from it they call hegeteria, that is to say, "the guide," because that was the first to be discovered of all the fruits now in cultivation. Now there are many species of figs;—there is the Attic sort, which Antiphanes speaks of in his Synonymes; and when he is praising the land of Attica, he says—

And Isistrus, in his "Attics," says that it was forbidden to export out of Attica the figs which grew in that country, in order that the inhabitants might have the exclusive enjoyment of them. And as many people were detected in sending them away surreptitiously, those who laid informations against them before the judges were then first called sycophants. And Alexis says, in his "The Poet"—

The name of sycophant is one which does
Of right apply to every wicked person;
For figs when added to a name might show
Whether the man was good and just and pleasant;
But now when a sweet name is given a rogue,
It makes us doubt why this should be the case.

And Philomnestus, in his treatise on the Festival of Apollo at Rhodes, which is called the Sminthian festival, says—"Since the sycophant got his name from these circumstances, because [126]at that time there were fines and taxes imposed upon figs and oil and wine, by the produce of which imposts they found money for the public expenses; they called those who exacted these fines and laid these informations sycophants, which was very natural, selecting those who were accounted the most considerable of the citizens.

I am planting figs of all sorts except the Lacedæmonian,
For this kind is the fig of an enemy and a tyrant:
And it would not have been so small a fruit if it had not been a great hater of the people.

But he called it small because it was not a large plant. But Alexis, in his "Olynthian," mentioning the Phrygian figs, says—

And the beautiful fig,
The wonderful invention of the Phrygian fig,
The divine object of my mother's care.

And of those figs which are called φιβάλεοι, mention is made by many of the comic writers; and Pherecrates, in his "Crapatalli," says—

O my good friend, make haste and catch a fever,
And then alarm yourself with no anxiety,
But eat Phibalean figs all the summer;
And then, when you have eaten your fill, sleep the whole of the midday;
And than feel violent pains, get in a fever, and holloa.

How beautiful those Phibalean figs are!

. . . . . But first of all
I want some myrtle-berries on the table,
Which I may eat when e'er I counsel take;
And they must be Phibalean, very fine,
Fit for a garland.

Epigenes too mentions Chelidonian figs, that is, figs fit for swallows, in his Bacchea—

Then, in a little while, a well-fill'd basket
Of dry Chelidonian figs is brought in.

And Androtion, or Philippus, or Hegemon, in the Book of the Farm, gives a list of these kinds of figs, saying—"In the [127]plain it is desirable to plant specimens of the Chelidonian fig, of the fig called Erinean, of the Leukerinean, and of the Phibalean; but plant the Oporobasilis, the queen of autumn, everywhere; for each kind has some useful qualities; and, above all, the pollarded trees, and the phormynian, and the double-bearers, and the Megarian, and the Lacedæmonian kinds are desirable, if there is plenty of water.

8. Lynceus, too, mentions the fig-trees which grow in Rhodes, in his Epistles; instituting a comparison between the best of the Athenian kinds and the Rhodian species. And he writes in these terms:—"But these fig-trees appear to vie with Lacedæmonian trees of the same kind, as mulberries do with figs; and they are put on the table before supper, not after supper as they are here, when the taste is already vitiated by satiety, but while the appetite is still uninfluenced and unappeased." And if Lynceus had tasted the figs which in the beautiful Rome are called καλλιστρούθια, as I have, he would have been by far more long-sighted than ever his namesake was. So very far superior are those figs to all the other figs in the whole world.

Other kinds of figs grown near Rome are held in high esteem; and those called the Chian figs, and the Libianian; those two named the Chalcidic, and the African figs; as Herodotus the Lycian bears witness, in his treatise on Figs.

9. But Parmeno the Byzantine, in his Iambics, speaks of the figs which come from Canæ, an Æolian city, as the best of all: saying—

I am arrived after a long voyage, not having brought
A valuable freight of Canæan figs.

And that the figs from Caunus, a city of Caria, are much praised, is known to all the world. There is another sort of fig, called the Oxalian, which Heracleon the Ephesian makes mention of, and Nicander of Thyatira, quoting what is mentioned by Apollodorus of Carystus, in his play, called the "Dress-seller with a Dowry;" where he says—

Moreover, all the wine
Was very sour and thin, so that I felt
Ashamed to see it; for all other farms
In the adjacent region bear the figs
Ycleped Oxalian; and mine bears vines.

Figs also grow in the island of Paros, for those which are [128]called by the Parians αἱμώνια are a different fig from the common one, and are not what I am alluding to here; for the αἱμώνια are the same with those which are called Lydian figs; and they have obtained this name on account of their red colour, since αἷμα means blood, and they are mentioned by Archilochus, who speaks in this manner:—

Never mind Paros, and the figs which grow
Within that marble island, and the life
Of its seafaring islanders.

But these figs are as far superior to the ordinary run of figs which are grown in other places as the meat of the wild boar is superior to that of all other animals of the swine tribe which are not wild.

10. The λευκερινεὸς is a kind of fig-tree; and perhaps it is that kind which produces the white figs; Hermippus mentions it in his Iambics, in these terms—

There are besides the Leucerinean figs.

And the figs called ἐρινεοὶ, or ἐρινοῖ, are mentioned by Euripides in his "Sciron"—

Or else to fasten him on the erinean boughs.

But these are not like the erinean figs.

And Sophocles, in his play entitled "The Wedding of Helen," by a sort of metaphor, calls the fruit itself by the name of the tree; saying—

A ripe ἐρινὸς is a useless thing
For food, and yet you ripen others by
Your conversation.

And he uses the masculine gender here, saying πέπων ἔρινος, instead of πέπον ἔρινον. Alexis also says in his "Caldron"—

And why now need we speak of people who
Sell every day their figs in close pack'd baskets,
And constantly do place those figs below
Which are hard and bad; but on top they range
The ripe and beautiful fruit. And then a comrade,
As if he'd bought the basket, gives the price;
The seller, putting in his mouth the coin,
Sells wild figs (ἔρινα) while he swears he's selling good ones.

Now the tree, the wild fig, from which the fruit meant by the term ἔρινα comes, is called ἐρινὸς, being a masculine noun. Strattis says, in his Troilus—

Have you not perceived a wild fig-tree near her?

There stands a large wild fig-tree flourishing with leaves.

And Amerias says, that the figs on the wild fig-trees are called ἐρίνακαι.

11. Hermonax, in his book on the Cretan Languages, gives a catalogue of the different kinds of figs, and speaks of some as ἁμάδεα and as νικύλεα; and Philemon, in his book on Attic Dialects, says, that some figs are called royals, from which also the dried figs are called βασιλίδες, or royal; stating besides, that the ripe figs are called κόλυτρα. Seleucus, too, in his Book on Dialects, says that there is a fruit called γλυκυσίδη, being exceedingly like a fig in shape: and that women guard against eating them, because of their evil effects; as also Plato the comic writer says, in his Cleophon. And Pamphilus says, that the winter figs are called Cydonæa by the Achæans, saying, that Aristophanes said the very same thing in his Lacedæmonian Dialects. Hermippus, in his Soldiers, says that there is a kind of fig called Coracean, using these words—

Either Phibalean figs, or Coracean.

Theophrastus, in the second book of his treatise on Plants, says that there is a sort of fig called Charitian Aratean. And in his third book he says, that in the district around the Trojan Ida, there is a sort of fig growing in a low bush, having a leaf like that of the linden-tree; and that it bears red figs, about the size of an olive, but rounder, and in its taste like a medlar. And concerning the fig which is called in Crete the Cyprian fig, the same Theophrastus, in his fourth book of his History of Plants, writes as follows:—"The fig called in Crete the Cyprian fig, bears fruit from its stalk, and from its stoutest branches; and it sends forth a small leafless shoot, like a little root, attached to which is the fruit. The trunk is large, and very like that of the white poplar, and its leaf is like that of the elm. And it produces four fruits, according to the number of the shoots which it puts forth. Its sweetness resembles that of the common fig; and within it resembles the wild fig: but in size it is about equal to the cuckoo-apple.

12. Again, of the figs called prodromi, or precocious, the same Theophrastus makes mention in the third book of his Causes of Plants, in this way—"When a warm and damp and soft [130]air comes to the fig-tree, then it excites the germination, from which the figs are called prodromi." And proceeding further, he says—"And again, some trees bear the prodromi, namely, the Lacedæmonian fig-tree, and the leucomphaliac, and several others; but some do not bear them." But Seleucus, in his book on Languages, says that there is a kind of fig called προτερικὴ, which bears very early fruit. And Aristophanes, in his Ecclesiazusæ, speaks of a double-bearing fig-tree—

Take for a while the fig-tree's leaves
Which bears its crop twice in the year.

'Tis by the double-bearing fig-tree there below.

But Theopompus, in the fifty-fourth book of his Histories, says—"At the time when Philip reigned about the territory of the Bisaltæ, and Amphipolis and Græstonia, of Macedon, when it was the middle of spring, the fig-trees were loaded with figs, and the vines with bunches of grapes, and the olive-trees, though it was only the season for them to be just pushing, were full of olives. And Philip was successful in all his undertakings." But in the second book of his treatise on Plants, Theophrastus says that the wild fig also is double-bearing; and some say that it bears even three crops in the year, as for instance, at Ceos.

13. Theophrastus also says, that the fig-tree if planted among squills grows up faster, and is not so liable to be destroyed by worms: and, in fact, that everything which is planted among squills both grows faster and is more sure to be vigorous. And in a subsequent passage Theophrastus says, in the second book of his Causes—"The fig called the Indian fig, though it is a tree of a wonderful size, bears a very small fruit; and not much of it; as if it had expended all its strength in making wood." And in the second book of his History of Plants, the philosopher says—"There is also another kind of fig in Greece, and in Cilicia and Cyprus, which bears green figs; and that tree bears a real fig, σῦκον in front of the leaf, and a green fig, ὄλυνθος behind the leaf. And these green figs grow wholly on the wood which is a year old, and not on the new wood." And this kind of fig-tree produces the green fig ripe and sweet, very different from the green fig which we have; and it grows to a much greater size than the genuine fig. And the time when it is in season is not long [131]after the tree has made its wood. And I know, too, that there are many other names of fig-trees; there are the Royal, and the Fig Royal, and the Cirrocœladian, and the Hyladian, and the Deerflesh, and the Lapyrian, and the Subbitter, and the Dragon-headed, and the White-faced, and the Black-faced, and the Fountain fig, and the Mylaic, and the Ascalonian.

14. Tryphon also speaks of the names of figs in the second book of his History of Plants, and says that Dorion states, in his book of the Farm, that Sukeas, one of the Titans, being pursued by Jupiter, was received in her bosom as in an asylum by his mother Earth; and that the earth sent forth that plant as a place of refuge for her son; from whom also the city Sukea in Cilicia has its name. But Pherenicus the epic poet, a Heraclean by birth, says that the fig-tree, (συκῆ) is so called from Suke the daughter of Oxylus: for that Oxylus the son of Orius, having intrigued with his sister Hamadryas, had several children, and among them Carya (the nut-tree), Balanus (the acorn-bearing oak), Craneus (the cornel-tree), Orea (the ash), Ægeirus (the poplar), Ptelea (the elm), Ampelus (the vine), Suke (the fig-tree): and that these daughters were all called the Hamadryad Nymphs; and that from them many of the trees were named. On which account Hipponax says—

The fig-tree black, the sister of the vine.

And Sosibius the Lacedæmonian, after stating that the fig-tree was the discovery of Bacchus, says that on this account the Lacedæmonians worship Bacchus Sukites. But the people of Naxus, as Andriscus and Aglaosthenes related, state that Bacchus is called Meilichius, because of his gift of the fruit of the fig-tree: and that on this account the face of the god whom they call Bacchus Dionysus is like a vine, and that of the god called Bacchus Meilichius is like a fig. For figs are called μείλιχα by the Naxians.

15. Now that the fig is the most useful to man of all the fruits which grow upon trees is sufficiently shown by Herodotus the Lycian, who urges this point at great length, in his treatise on Figs. For he says that young children grow to a great size if they are fed on the juice of figs. And Pherecrates, who wrote the Persæ, says—

If any one of us, after absence, sees a fig,
He will apply it like a plaster to his children's eyes:

[132] as if there were no ordinary medicinal power in the fig. And Herodotus, the most wonderful and sweet of all writers, says in the first book of his Histories, that figs are of the greatest good, speaking thus:—"O king, you are preparing to make war upon men of this character, who wear breeches of leather, and all the rest of their garments are made of leather; and they eat not whatever they fancy, but what they have, since they have but a rough country; moreover they do not, by Jove, use wine, but they drink water; they have no figs to eat, nor any other good thing."

And Polybius of Megalopolis, in the twelfth book of his Histories, says—"Philip, the father of Perseus, when he overran Asia, being in want of provisions, took figs for his soldiers from the Magnesians, as they had no corn. On which account, too, when he became master of Myus, he gave that place to the Magnesians in return for their figs." And Ananius, the writer of Iambics, says—

He who should shut up gold within his house,
And a few figs, and two or three men,
Would see how far the figs surpass the gold.

16. And when Magnus had said all this about figs, Daphnus the physician said: Philotimus, in the third book of his treatise on Figs, says, "There is a great deal of difference between the various kinds of figs when fresh; both in their sorts, and in the times when each is in season, and in their effects; not but what one may lay down some general rules, and say that the juicy ones and those which are full ripe are quickly dissolved and are digested more easily than any other fruit whatever, nor do they interfere with the digestion of other sorts of food; and they have the ordinary properties of all juicy food, being glutinous and sweet, and slightly nitrous in taste. And they make the evacuations more copious and fluid, and rapid and wholly free from discomfort; and they also diffuse a saltish juice, having a good deal of harshness, when they are combined with anything at all salt. They are very quickly dissolved by the digestion, because, though many heavy things may be taken into the stomach, we still after a short time feel as if we had become excessively empty: but this could not have happened if the figs had remained in the stomach, and were not immediately dissolved. And figs are dissolved more easily than any other [133]fruit; as is proved not only by the fact that though we eat a great many times as great a quantity of figs as of all other fruits put together, we still never feel inconvenienced by them; and even if we eat a quantity of figs before dinner, and then eat as much of other things as if we had never touched them, we still feel no discomfort. It is plain, therefore, that if we can manage both them and the rest of our food, they must be easily digested; and that is why they do not interfere with the digestion of the rest of our food.

"Figs, then, have the qualities which I have mentioned. That they are glutinous and rather salt is proved by their being sticky and cleansing the hands; and we see ourselves that they are sweet in the mouth. And it certainly needs no arguments to prove that our evacuations after eating them take place without any convulsions or trouble, and that they are more numerous and more rapid and more easy in consequence. And they do not go through any great decomposition in the stomach, which arises not from their being indigestible, but because we drink while eating them, without waiting for the action of the stomach to soften them, and also because they pass through the stomach so quickly. And they generate a salt juice in the stomach, because it has been already shown that they contain something of nitre in them: and they will make that food taste rather salt and harsh which is combined with them. For salt increases the briny taste of anything, but vinegar and thyme increase the harsh qualities of food."

17. Now Heraclides the Tarentine asks this question; "Whether it is best to drink warm water or cold after the eating of figs?" And he says, that those who recommend the drinking of cold water do so because they have an eye to such a fact as this,—that warm water cleanses one's hands more quickly than cold; on which account it is reasonable to believe that food in the stomach will be quickly washed away by warm water. And with respect to figs which are not eaten, warm water dissolves their consistency and connexion, and separates them into small pieces; but cold coagulates and consolidates them. But those who recommend the drinking of cold water say, the taking of cold water bears down by its own weight the things which are heavy on the stomach; (for figs do not do any extraordinary good to the stomach, since they [134]heat it and destroy its tone; on which account some people always drink neat wine after them;) and then too it quickly expels what is already in the stomach. But after eating figs, it is desirable to take an abundant and immediate draught of something or other; in order to prevent those things from remaining in the stomach, and to move them into the lower parts of the bowels.

18. Others however say, that it is not a good thing to eat figs at midday; for that at that time they are apt to engender diseases, as Pherecrates has said in his Crapatalli. And Aristophanes, in his Proagon, says—

But once seeing him when he was sick in the summer,
In order to be sick too himself, eat figs at midday.

No doubt it was; for I was sick, my friend,
From eating lately figs one day at noon.

But if a man should eat green figs at noon,
And then go off to sleep; immediately
A galloping fever comes on him, accursed,
And falling on him brings up much black bile.

19. Diphilus of Siphnos says, that of figs some are tender, and not very nutritious, but full of bad juice, nevertheless easily secreted, and rising easily to the surface; and that these are more easily managed than the dry figs; but that those which are in season in the winter, being ripened by artificial means, are very inferior: but that the best are those which are ripe at the height of the summer, as being ripened naturally; and these have a great deal of juice; and those which are not so juicy are still good for the stomach, though somewhat heavy. And the figs of Tralles are like the Rhodian: and the Chian, and all the rest, appear to be inferior to these, both in the quality and quantity of their juice. But Mnesitheus the Athenian, in his treatise on Eatables, says—"But with respect to whatever of these fruits are eaten raw, such as pears, and figs, and Delphic apples, and such fruits, one ought to watch the opportunity when they will have the juice which they contain, neither unripe on the one hand, nor tainted on the other; nor too much dried up by the season." But Demetrius the Scepsian, in the fifteenth book of the Trojan Preparation, says, that those who never eat figs have [135]the best voices. At all events, he says, that Hegesianax the Alexandrian, who wrote the Histories, was originally a man with a very weak voice, and that he became a tragedian and a fine actor, and a man with a fine voice, by abstaining from figs for eighteen years together. And I know too that there are some proverbs going about concerning figs, of which the following are samples:—

Figs after fish, vegetables after meat.

Figs are agreeable to birds, but they do not choose to plant them.

20. Apples are an universal fruit. Mnesitheus the Athenian, in his treatise on Eatables, calls them Delphian apples; but Diphilus says, that "those apples which are green and which are not yet ripe, are full of bad juice, and are bad for the stomach; but are apt to rise to the surface, and also to engender bile; and they give rise to diseases, and produce sensations of shuddering. But of ripe apples, he says, that the sweet ones are those with most juice, and that they are the most easily secreted, because they have no great inflammatory qualities. But that sharp apples have a more disagreeable and mischievous juice, and are more astringent. And that those which have less sweetness are still pleasant to the palate when eaten; and, on account of their having some strengthening qualities, are better for the stomach. And moreover, that of this fruit those which are in season in the summer have a juice inferior to the others; but those which are ripe in the autumn have the better juice. And that those which are called ὀρβίκλατα, have a good deal of sweetness combined with their invigorating properties, and are very good for the stomach. But those which are called σητάνια and also those which are called πλατώνια, are full of good juice, and are easily secreted, but are not good for the stomach. But those which are called Mordianian are very excellent, being produced in Apollonia, which is called Mordius; and they are like those which are called ὀρβίκλατα. But the Cydonian apples, or quinces, some of which are called στρούθια, are, as a general rule, better for the stomach than any other kind of apple, most especially when they are full ripe."

But Glaucides asserts that the best of all fruits which grow upon trees are the Cydonian apples, and those which are called phaulia, and strouthia. And Philotimus, in his third [136]book, and also in his tenth book of his treatise on Food, says—"Of apples, those which come in season in spring are by far more indigestible than pears, whether they are both unripe, or whether they are both ripe. But they have the properties of juicy fruits; the sharp apples, and those which are not yet ripe, resembling those pears which have a harsher taste and which are in a certain degree sour; and they diffuse over the body a juice which is said to be corrosive. And, as a general rule, apples are not so digestible as pears; on which account those who are less addicted to eating them are less troubled with indigestions, and those who are most fond of them are the most liable to such inconvenience. But, as I said before, a corrosive juice is engendered by them, as is stated by Praxagoras, and as is shown by the fact that those things which are not digested will have the juice thicker. (And I have already said that, as a general rule, apples are less digestible than pears.) And the harsh and sour apples are in the habit of engendering thicker juices.

But of those apples which are in season in the winter, the Cydonian give out the more bitter juices, and those called strouthian give out juice more sparingly; though what they do give out is not so harsh tasted, and is more digestible." But Nicander of Thyatira says, that the Cydonian apples themselves are called στρούθεια; but he says this out of ignorance. For Glaucides asserts plainly enough that the best of all fruits which grow on trees are the Cydonian apples and those called phaulian and strouthian.

21. Stesichorus also mentions the Cydonian apples, in his Helena, speaking thus:—

Before the king's most honour'd throne,
I threw Cydonian apples down;
And leaves of myrrh, and crowns of roses,
And violets in purple posies.

Alcman mentions them too. And Cantharus does so likewise, in the Tereus; where he says—

Likening her bosom to Cydonian apples.

And Philemon, in his Clown, calls Cydonian apples strouthia. And Phylarchus, in the sixth book of his Histories, says that apples by their sweet fragrance can blunt the efficacy of even deadly poisons. At all events, he says, that some Phariacan poison having been cast into a chest still smelling from [137]having had some of these apples stored away in it, lost all its effect, and preserved none of its former power, but was mixed and given to some people who were plotted against, but that they escaped all harm. And that afterwards it was ascertained, by an investigation and examination of the man who had sold the poison; and that he felt sure that it arose from the fact of the apples having been put away in the chest.

22. Hermon, in his Cretan Dialects, says that Cydonian apples are called κοδύμαλα. But Polemo, in the fifth book of the treatise against Timæus, says that some people affirm that the κοδύμαλον is a kind of flower. But Alcman asserts that it is the same as the στρούθιον apple, when he says, "less than a κοδύμαλον." And Apollodorus and Sosibius understand the Cydonian apple by κοδύμαλον. But that the Cydonian apple differs from the στρούθιον, Theophrastus has asserted clearly enough in the second book of his History. Moreover, there are excellent apples grown at Sidus, (that is, a village in the Corinthian territory,) as Euphorion or Archytas says, in the poem called "The Crane:"—

Like a beautiful apple which is grown on the clayey banks
Of the little Sidus, refulgent with purple colour.

And immediately, from the gardens of Sidoeis or Pleistus
He cut green apples, and imitated the appearance of Cadmus.

And that Sidus is a village of the Corinthian territory, Rhianus assures us, in the first book of the Heraclea; and Apollodorus the Athenian confirms it, in the fifth book On the Catalogue of the Ships. But Antigonus the Carystian says, in his Antipater—

More dear to me was he than downy apples
Of purple hue, in lofty Corinth growing.

23. And Teleclides mentions the Phaulian apples, in his Amphictyons, in these terms:—

O men, in some things neat, but yet in others
More fallen than phaulian apples!

And Theopompus also speaks of them, in the Theseus. But Androtion, in his Book of the Farm, says, that some apple-trees are called φαύλιαι, and others στρούθιαι; "for," says he, "the apple does not fall from the footstalk of the strouthian apple-tree." And that others are called spring-trees, or [138]Lacedæmonian, or Siduntian, or woolly. But I, my friends, admire above all others the apples which are sold at Rome, which are called the Mattianian; and which are said to be brought from a certain village situated on the Alps near Aquileia. And the apples which grow at Gangra, a city of Paphlagonia, are not much inferior to them. But that Bacchus was the discoverer of the apple we have the testimony of Theocritus the Syracusan, who writes thus:—

Guarding the apples in the bosom of Bacchus;
And having on his head a poplar garland,
The silv'ry tree, sacred to Theban Hercules.

But Neoptolemus the Parian testifies himself, in his Dionysias, that the apple was discovered by Bacchus, as were all other fruits which grow on trees.

There is a fruit called epimelis; which is, says Pamphilus, a description of pear. But Timachides asserts, in the fourth book of The Banquet, that it is an apple, the same as that called the apple of the Hesperides. And Pamphilus asserts that at Lacedæmon they are set before the gods; and that they have a sweet smell, but are not very good to eat; and are called the apples of the Hesperides. At all events, Aristocrates, in the fourth book of his Affairs of Lacedæmon, says, "And besides that apples, and those which are called Hesperides."

24. Walnuts are next to be mentioned.—Theophrastus, in the second book of his History of Plants, speaking of those whose fruit is not visible, says this among other things:—"Since the beginning of all the greater fruits is visible, as of the almond, the nut, the date, and other fruits of the same kind; except the walnut, in which that is not at all the case; and with the exception also of the pomegranate and of the female pear." But Diphilus of Siphnos, in his book about "What should be eaten by People when Sick and by People in Health," says—"The fruit called the Persian apple or peach, and by some the Persian cuckoo-apple, is moderately juicy, but is more nutritious than apples." But Philotimus, in the second and third books of his treatise on Food, says that the Persian nut or walnut is more oily and like millet, and that being a looser fruit, when it is pressed it yields a great quantity of oil. But Aristophanes the grammarian, in his Lacedæmonian Dialects, says that the Lacedæmonians call the cuckoo-apples Persian bitter apples; and that some people call them ἄδρυα.

[139] 25. The Citron was next mentioned.—And with respect to this fruit there was a great discussion among the Deipnosophists, as to whether there is any mention made of it by the ancients. For Myrtilus said, proposing, as it were, to send us who made the inquiry to feed among the wild goats, that Hegesander the Delphian, in his Memorials, does make mention of this fruit; but that he did not recollect the exact words: and Plutarch, contradicting him, said,—But I indeed contend, that Hegesander never mentions the citron at all, for I read through the whole of his Memorials for the express purpose of seeing whether he did or no; since some other of our companions also asserted positively that he did, trusting to some scholastic commentaries of a man whom he considered respectable enough. So that it is time for you, my good friend Myrtilus, to seek for some other witness. But Æmilianus said, that Jobas the king of the Mauritanians, a man of the most extensive learning, in his History of Libya, does mention the citron, saying that it is called among the Libyans the Hesperian apple, and that they were citrons which Hercules carried into Greece, and which obtained the name of golden apples on account of their colour and appearance. But the fruit which is called the apples of the Hesperides, is said to have been produced by Terra, on the occasion of the marriage of Jupiter and Juno, according to the statement of Asclepiades, in the sixtieth book of his History of the Affairs of Egypt. On this, Democritus, looking towards the speakers, said,—If, indeed, Jobas asserts any of these things, let him take pleasure in his Libyan books, and in the nonsense of Hanno. But I repeat the assertion, that the name citron does not occur in the old authors. But the fruit which is described by Theophrastus the Eresian, in his Histories of Plants, is described in such a manner as to compel me to believe that he intended the citron by what he said.

26. For that philosopher says, in the fourth book of his History of Plants—"The Median territory, and likewise the Persian, has many other productions, and also the Persian or Median apple. Now, that tree has a leaf very like and almost exactly the same as that of the bay-tree, the arbutus, or the nut: and it has thorns like the prickly-pear, or blackthorn, smooth but very sharp and strong. And the fruit is not good to eat, but is very fragrant, and so too are [140]the leaves of the tree. And if any one puts one of the fruits among his clothes, it keeps them from the moth. And it is useful when any one has taken poison injurious to life; for when given in wine it produces a strong effect on the bowels, and draws out the poison. It is serviceable also in the way of making the breath sweet; for if any one boils the inner part of the fruit in broth or in anything else, and then presses it in his mouth and swallows it, it makes his breath smell sweet. And the seed is taken out and is sown in spring in square beds, being very carefully cultivated; and then it is watered every fourth or fifth day; and when it has grown up it is again transplanted the next spring into a place where the ground is soft, and well-watered, and not very thin. And it bears fruit every year; some of which are fit to be gathered, and some are in flower, and some are becoming ripe at the same time. And those of the flowers which have a stem like a distaff projecting out of the centre are sure to produce good seed; but those which have no such stem are unproductive." And in the first book of the same treatise he says the same thing about the distaff, and about the flowers which are productive. And I am induced by these things, my mates, and by what Theophrastus says of the colour and smell and leaves of the fruit, to believe that the fruit meant by him is the citron; and let no one of you marvel if he says that it is not good to eat; since until the time of our grandfathers no one was used to eat it, but they put it away as a treasure in their chests along with their clothes.

27. But that this plant really did come from that upper country into Greece, one may find asserted in the works of the Comic poets, who, speaking of its size, appear to point out the citron plainly enough. Antiphanes says, in his Bœotian—

[141] And Eriphus, in his Melibœa, quotes these selfsame Iambics of Antiphanes, and then proceeds in his own words:—

And if any one is able to contradict this, and to show that these descriptions are not meant to apply to the fruit which we now call the citron, let him bring forward some clearer testimonies.

28. However, Phænias the Eresian compels us to entertain the idea that, perhaps, the name may be meant for cedron, as from the cedar-tree. For, in the fifth book of his treatise on Plants, he says that the cedar has thorns around its leaves; and that the same is the case with the citron is visible to everybody. But that the citron when eaten before any kind of food, whether dry or moist, is an antidote to all injurious effects, I am quite certain, having had that fact fully proved to me by my fellow-citizen, who was entrusted with the government of Egypt. He had condemned some men to be given to wild beasts, as having been convicted of being malefactors, and such men he said were only fit to be given to beasts. And as they were going into the theatre appropriated to the punishment of robbers, a woman who was selling fruit by the wayside gave them out of pity some of the citron which she herself was eating, and they took it and ate it, and after a little while, being exposed to some enormous and savage beasts, and bitten by asps, they suffered no injury. At which the governor was mightily astonished. And at last, examining the soldier who had charge of them, whether they had eaten or drunk anything, when he learnt of him that some citron had been given to them without any evil design; on the next day he ordered some citron to be given to some of them again, and others to have none given to them. And [142]those who eat the citron, though they were bitten, received no injury, but the others died immediately on being bitten. And this result being proved by repeated experiments, it was found that citron was an antidote to all sorts of pernicious poison. But if any one boils a whole citron with its seed in Attic honey, it is dissolved in the honey, and he who takes two or three mouthfuls of it early in the morning will never experience any evil effects from poison.

29. Now if any one disbelieves this, let him learn from Theopompus the Chian, a man of the strictest truth and who expended a great deal of money on the most accurate investigation of matters to be spoken of in his History. For he says, in the thirty-eighth book of his History, while giving an account of Clearchus, the tyrant of the Heracleans who were in Pontus, that he seized violently upon a number of people and gave a great many of them hemlock to drink.—"And as," says he, "they all knew that he was in the habit of compelling them to pledge him in this liquor, they never left their homes without first eating rue: for people who have eaten this beforehand take no harm from drinking aconite,—a poison which, they say, has its name from growing in a place called Aconæ, which is not far from Heraclea." When Democritus had said this they all marvelled at the efficacy of citron, and most of them ate it, as if they had had nothing to eat or drink before. But Pamphilus, in his Dialects, says that the Romans call it not κίτριον, but κίτρον.

30. And after the viands which have been mentioned there were then brought unto us separately some large dishes of oysters, and other shell-fish, nearly all of which have been thought by Epicharmus worthy of being celebrated in his play of the Marriage of Hebe, in these words:—

Come, now, bring all kinds of shell-fish;
Lepades, aspedi, crabyzi, strabeli, cecibali,
Tethunachia, balani, porphyræ, and oysters with closed shells,
Which are very difficult to open, but very easy to eat;
And mussels, and anaritæ, and ceryces, and sciphydria,
Which are very sweet to eat, but very prickly to touch;
And also the oblong solens. And bring too the black
Cockle, which keeps the cockle-hunter on the stretch.
Then too there are other cockles, and sand-eels,
And periwinkles, unproductive fish,
Which men entitle banishers of men,
But which we gods call white and beautiful.

There is the cockle, which we call the tellis;
Believe me, that is most delicious meat.

Perhaps he means that fish which is called the tellina, and which the Romans call the mitlus,—a fish which Aristophanes the grammarian names in his treatise on the Broken Scytale, and says that the lepas is a fish like that which is called the tellina. But Callias of Mitylene, in his discussion of the Limpet in Alcæus, says that there is an ode in Alcæus of which the beginning is—

O child of the rock, and of the hoary sea;

Of all limpets the sea-limpet most relaxes the mind.

But Aristophanes writes the line with the word tortoise instead of limpet. And he says that Dicæarchus made a great blunder when he interpreted the line of limpets; and that the children when they get them in their mouths sing and play with them, just as idle boys among us do with the fish which we call tellina. And so, too, Sopater, the compiler of Comicalities, says in his drama which is entitled the Eubulotheombrotus:—

But stop, for suddenly a certain sound
Of the melodious tellina strikes my ears.

Just look now at this tellina, and behold
This periwinkle and this splendid limpet.

For now melænides will come to us,
Sent from a narrow harbour.

And in the play which is called "The Clown and the Fisherman," they are called the cherambe. And Archilochus also mentions the cherambe: and Ibycus mentions the periwinkle. And the periwinkle is called both ἀναρίτης and ἀνάρτας. And the shell being something like that of a cockle, it sticks to the rocks, just as limpets do. But Herondas, in his Coadjutrixes, says—

Sticking to the rocks as a periwinkle.

Who has plunder'd the islands producing the periwinkle?

[144] 32. Diocles the Carystian, in his treatise on the Wholesomes, says that the best of all shell-fish, as aperient and diuretic food, are mussels, oysters, scallops, and cockles. And Archippus says, in his poem called "Fishes,"—

With limpets and sea-urchins and escharæ,
And with periwinkles and cockles.

And Diocles says that the strongest of all shell-fish are cockles, purple-fish, and ceryces. But concerning ceryces Archippus says this—

The ceryx, ocean's nursling, child of purple.

But Speusippus, in the second book of his Similarities, says that ceryces, purple-fish, strabeli, and cockles, are all very nearly alike. And Sophocles makes mention of the shell-fish called strabeli in his Camici, in these words:—

Come now, my son, and look if we may find
Some of the nice strabelus, ocean's child.

And again Speusippus enumerates separately in regular order the cockle, the periwinkle, the mussel, the pinna, the solens; and in another place he speaks of oysters and limpets. And Araros says, in his Campylion—

These now are most undoubted delicacies,
Cockles and solens; and the crooked locusts
Spring forth in haste like dolphins.

She indeed like pinnas and sea oysters.

A little polypus, or a small cuttle-fish,
A crab, a crawfish, oysters, cockles,
Limpets and solens, mussels and pinnas;
Periwinkles too, from Mitylene take;
Let us have two sprats, and mullet, ling,
And conger-eel, and perch, and black fish.

But Agiastos, and Dercylus, in his Argolici, call the strabeli ἀστράβηλοι; speaking of them as suitable to play upon like a trumpet.

[145] 33. But you may find cockles spoken of both in the masculine and feminine gender. Aristophanes says, in his Babylonians—

They all gaped on each other, and were like
To cockles (κόγχαι) roasted on the coals.

And Teleclides, in his Hesiodi, says, "Open a cockle (κόγχη);" and Sophron, in his Actresses, says—

And then the cockles (κόγχαι) as at one command
All yawned on us, and each display'd its flesh.

But Æschylus uses the word κόγχος in the masculine gender, in his Glaucus Pontius, and says—

Cockles (κόγχοι), muscles, oysters.

There was a cockle (κόγχος) and other fish too drawn from the sea
At the same time, and by the same net.

And Phrynichus uses the word in the same way in his Satyrs. But Icesius, the Erasistratean, says that some cockles are rough, and some royal; and that the rough have a disagreeable juice, and afford but little nourishment, and are easily digested; and that people who are hunting for the purple-fish use them as bait: but of the smooth ones those are best which are the largest, in exact proportion to their size. And Hegesander, in his Memorials, says that the rough cockles are called by the Macedonians coryci, but by the Athenians crii.

34. Now Icesius says that limpets are more digestible than those shell-fish which have been already mentioned; but that oysters are not so nutritious as limpets, and are filling, but nevertheless are more digestible.

But of mussels, the Ephesian ones, and those which resemble them, are, as to their juicy qualities, superior to the periwinkles, but inferior to the cockles; but they have more effect as diuretics than as aperients. But some of them are like squills, with a very disagreeable juice, and without any flavour; but there is a kind which is smaller than they are, and which are rough outside, which are more diuretic, and full of a more pleasant juice than the kind which resembles squills: but they are less nutritious, by reason of their sizes, and also because their nature is inferior. But the necks of [146]the ceryces are exceedingly good for the stomach, and are not so nutritious as mussels and cockles and periwinkles; but for people who have a weak stomach, and who do not easily expel the food into the cavity of the bowels, they are useful, inasmuch as they do not easily turn on the stomach. For those things which are confessedly digestible are, on the contrary, very unwholesome for people of such a constitution, being very easily inclined to turn on the stomach, because they are tender and easily dissolved. On which account the bags containing their entrails are not suited to vigorous stomachs, but they are very good for those whose bowels are in a weak state. But what are more nutritious than the others, and far nicer in taste, are the entrails of the purple-fish; though they certainly are somewhat like the squill. For indeed all shell-fish are of the same character; but the purple-fish and the solen have this peculiar characteristic, that if they are boiled they yield a thick juice. But the necks of the purple-fish, when boiled by themselves, are exceedingly good for bringing the stomach into a good condition. And Posidippus speaks of them in his Locrians in these terms:—

It is time now to eat eels and crabs,
Cockles, and fresh sea-urchins, and fish sounds,
And pinnas, and the necks of fish, and mussels.

35. Balani, if they are of the larger sort, are easily digested, and are good for the stomach. But otaria (and they are produced in the island called Pharos, which is close to Alexandria) are more nutritious than any of the before-mentioned fish, but they are not easily secreted. But Antigonus the Carystian, in his book upon Language, says that this kind of oyster is called by the Æolians the Ear of Venus. Pholades are very nutritious, but they have a disagreeable smell; but common oysters are very like all these sorts of shell-fish, and are more nutritious. There are also some kinds which are called wild oysters; and they are very nutritious, but they have not a good smell, and moreover they have a very indifferent flavour. But Aristotle, in his treatise about Animals, says, "Oysters are of all the following kinds: there are the pinna, the mussel, the oyster, the cteis, the solen, the cockle, the limpet, the small oyster, the balanus. And of migratory fish there are the purple-fish, the sweet purple-fish, the sea-urchin, the strobelus. Now the cteis has a rough shell, marked in streaks; [147]but the oyster has no streaks, and a smooth shell. The pinna has a smooth mouth; but the large oyster has a wide mouth, and is bivalve, and has a smooth shell. But the limpet is univalve, and has a smooth shell; and the mussel has a united shell. The solen and balanus are univalve, and have a smooth shell; and the cockle is a mixture of both kinds." Epænetus also says, in his Cookery Book, that the interior part of the pinna is called mecon. But in the fifth book of his treatise on the Parts of Animals, Aristotle says, "The purple-fish are born about spring, and the ceryces at the end of the winter. And altogether," says he, "all shell-fish appear in the spring to have what are called eggs; and in the autumn, too, except those kinds of sea-urchins which are good to eat. And these fish indeed have eggs in the greatest number at those seasons, but they are never without them; and they have them in the greatest numbers at the time of full moon, and in the warm weather, with the exception of those fish which are found in the Euripus of the Pyrrhæans; for they are best in the winter, and they are small, but full of eggs. And nearly all the cockle tribe appear to breed in like manner at about the same season."

36. And continuing the subject, the philosopher says again, "The purple-fish therefore being all collected together in the spring at the same place, make what is called melicera. And that is something like honeycomb, but not indeed so elegant, but it is as if a great number of the husks of white vetches were fastened together; and there is no open passage in any of them: nor are the purple-fish born of this melicera, but they, and nearly all other shell-fish, are produced of mud and putrefaction; and this is, as it were, a kind of purification both for them and for the purple-fish, for they too make this melicera. And when they begin to make it, they emit a sort of sticky mass, from which those things grow which resemble husks. All these are eventually separated, and they drop blood on the ground. And in the place where they do so, there are myriads of little purple-fish born, adhering to one another in the ground, and the old purple-fish are caught while carrying them. And if they are caught before they have produced their young, they sometimes produce them in the very pots in which they are caught when collected together in them, and the young look like a bunch of grapes. [148]And there are many different kinds of purple-fish; and some of them are of large size, like those which are found near Segeum and near Lesteum; and some are small, like those which are found in the Euripus, and around Caria. And those in the gulfs are large and rough, and most of them are of a black colour, but some of them are rather red; and some of the large ones even weigh a mina. But those which are found on the shore and around the coasts are of no great size, but are of a red colour: and again, those in the waters exposed to the north wind are black, and those in the waters exposed to the south wind are generally red."

37. But Apollodorus the Athenian, in his Commentaries on Sophron, having first quoted the saying, "More greedy than a purple-fish," says that it is a proverb, and that some say that it applies to the dye of purple; for that whatever that dye touches it attracts to itself, and that it imbues everything which is placed near it with the brilliancy of its colour: but others say that it applies to the animal. "And they are caught," says Aristotle, "in the spring; but they are not caught during the dog-days, for then they do not feed, but conceal themselves and bury themselves in holes; and they have a mark like a flower on them between the belly and the throat. The fish called the ceryx has a covering of nearly the same sort as all the other animals of the snail kind from its earliest birth; and they feed by putting out what we call their shell from under this covering. And the purple-fish has a tongue of the size of a finger or larger, by which it feeds; and it pierces even shell-fish, and can pierce its own shell. But the purple-fish is very long-lived; and so is the ceryx: they live about six years, and their growth is known by the rings in their shell. But cockles, and cheme-cockles, and solens, and periwinkles, are born in sandy places.

38. But the pinnæ spring from the bottom of the sea. And they have with them a fish called the pinnophylax, or guard of the pinna, which some call καρίδιος, and others καρκίνιος; and if they lose him, they are soon destroyed. But Pamphilus the Alexandrian, in his treatise on Names, says that he is born at the same time with the pinna. But Chrysippus the Solensian, in the fifth book of his treatise on the Beautiful and Pleasure, says, "The pinna and the guard of the pinna assist one another, not being able to remain apart. [149]Now the pinna is a kind of oyster, but the guard of the pinna is a small crab: and the pinna having opened its shell, remains quiet, watching the fish who are coming towards it; but the guard of the pinna, standing by when anything comes near, bites the pinna, so as to give it a sort of sign; and the pinna being bitten, closes its shell, and in this manner the two share together what is caught inside the pinna's shell. But some say that the guard is born at the same time as the pinna, and that they originate in one seed." And again, Aristotle says, "All the fish of the oyster kind are generated in the mud,—oysters in slimy mud, cockles in sandy mud, and so on; but the small oyster and the balanus, and other fish which come near the surface, such as limpets and periwinkles, are born in the fissures of the rocks. And some fish which have not shells are born in the same way as those which have shells,—as the sea-nettle, the sponge, and others,—in the crevices of the rocks."

39. Now, of the sea-nettle there are two kinds. For some live in hollows, and are never separated from the rocks; but some live on smooth and level ground, and do separate themselves from what they are attached to, and move their quarters. But Eupolis, in the Autolycus, calls the κνίδη, or sea-nettle, ἀκαλήφη. And Aristophanes, in his Phœnissæ, says—

Know that pot-herbs first were given,
And then the rough sea-nettles (ἀκάληφαι);

and in his Wasps he uses the same word. And Pherecrates, in his Deserters, says—

I'd rather wear a crown of sea-nettles (ἀκάληφαι).

And Diphilus the Siphnian, a physician, says, "But the sea-nettle (ἀκαλήφη) is good for the bowels, diuretic, and a strengthener of the stomach, but it makes those who collect them itch violently, unless they anoint their hands beforehand. And it is really injurious to those who hunt for it; by whom it has been called ἀκαλήφη, by a slight alteration of its original name. And perhaps that is the reason why the plant the nettle has had the same name given to it. For it was named by euphemism on the principle of antiphrasis,—for it is not gentle and ἁπαλὴ τῇ ἀφῇ, tender to the touch, but very rough and disagreeable." Philippides also mentions [150]the sea-nettle (calling it ἀκαλήφη) in his Amphiaraus, speaking as follows:—

He put before me oysters and sea-nettles and limpets.

But, you most valiant of the oyster race,
Offspring of that rough dam, the sea-nettle;

for the τῆθος and the ὄστρεον are the same. And the word τῆθος is here confused in a comic manner with τήθη, a grandmother, and with μητὴρ, a mother.

40. And concerning the rest of the oyster tribe, Diphilus says this: "Of the thick chemæ, those of smaller size, which have tender flesh, are called oysters, and they are good for the stomach, and easily digested. But the thick ones, which are called royal chemæ by some people, and which are also called the huge chemæ, are nutritious, slow to be digested, very juicy, good for the stomach; and especially do these qualities belong to the larger ones. Of tellinæ there are numbers in Canopus, and they are very common at the place where the Nile begins to rise up to the higher ground. And the thinnest of these are the royal ones, and they are digestible and light, and moreover nutritious. But those which are taken in the rivers are the sweetest. Mussels, again, are moderately nutritious, and are digestible and diuretic. But the best are the Ephesian kind; and of them those which are taken about the end of autumn. But the female mussel is smaller than the male, and is sweet and juicy, and moreover nutritious. But the solens, as they are called by some, though some call them αὖλοι and δόνακες, or pipes, and some, too, call them ὄνυχες, or claws, are very juicy, but the juice is bad, and they are very glutinous. And the male fish are striped, and not all of one colour; but they are very wholesome for people affected with the stone, or with any complaint of the bladder. But the female fish is all of one colour, and much sweeter than the male: and they are eaten boiled and fried; but they are best of all when roasted on the coals till their shells open." And the people who collect this sort of oyster are called Solenistæ, as Phænias the Eresian relates in his book which is entitled, The Killing of Tyrants by way of Punishment; where he speaks as follows:—"Philoxenus, who was called the Solenist, became a tyrant from having been a demagogue. In the beginning he got his livelihood by being [151]a fisherman and a hunter after solens; and so having made a little money, he advanced, and got a good property."—"Of the periwinkle the white are the most tender, and they have no disagreeable smell, and have a good effect on the bowels; but of the black and red kinds the larger are exceedingly nice to the taste, especially those that are caught in the spring. And as a general rule all of them are good for the stomach, and digestible, and good for the bowels, when eaten with cinnamon and pepper." Archippus also makes mention of them in his Fishes—

With limpets and with sea-urchins, and escharæ,
With needle-fishes, and with periwinkles.

But the fish called balani, or acorns, because of their resemblance to the acorn of an oak, differ according to the places where they are found. For the Egyptian balani are sweet, tender, delicious to the taste, nutritious, very juicy indeed, diuretic, and good for the bowels; but other kinds have a salter taste. The fish called ὤτια, or ears, are most nutritious when fried; but the pholades are exceedingly pleasant to the taste, but have a bad smell, and an injurious juice.

41. "Sea-urchins are tender, full of pleasant juice, with a strong smell, filling, and apt to turn on the stomach; but if eaten with sharp mead, and parsley, and mint, they are good for the stomach, and sweet, and full of pleasant juice. But the sweet-tasted are the red ones, and the apple-coloured, and the thickest, and those which if you scrape their flesh emit a milky liquid. But those which are found near Cephalenia and around Icaria, and in the Adriatic are—at least many of them are—rather bitter; but those which are taken on the rock of Sicily are very aperient to the bowels." But Aristotle says that there are many kinds of sea-urchins: one of which is eaten, that, namely, in which is found what are called eggs. But the other two kinds are those which are called Spatangi, and those which are called Brysæ: and Sophron mentions the spatangi, and so does Aristophanes in his Olcades, using the following language:—

Tearing up, and separating, and licking
My spatange from the bottom.

[152] Then came the crabs, sea-urchins, and all fish
Which know not how to swim in the briny sea,
But only walk on foot along the bottom.

And Demetrius the Scepsian, in the twenty-sixth book of his Trojan Preparation, says that a Lacedæmonian once being invited to a banquet, when some sea-urchins were put before him on the table, took one, not knowing the proper manner in which it should be eaten, and not attending to those who were in the company to see how they ate it. And so he put it in his mouth with the skin or shell and all, and began to crush the sea-urchin with his teeth; and being exceedingly disgusted with what he was eating, and not perceiving how to get rid of the roughness of the taste, he said, "O what nasty food! I will not now be so effeminate as to eject it, but I will never take you again." But the sea-urchins, and indeed the whole echinus tribe, whether living on land or sea, can take care of and protect themselves against those who try to catch them, putting out their thorns, like a sort of palisade. And to this Ion the Chian bears testimony in his Phœnix or in his Cæneus, saying—

But while on land I more approve the conduct
Of the great lion, than the dirty tricks
Of the sea-urchin; he, when he perceives
The impending onset of superior foes,
Rolls himself up, wrapp'd in his cloak of thorns,
Impregnable in bristly panoply.

42. "Of limpets," says Diphilus, "some are very small, and some are like oysters. But they are hard, and give but little juice, and are not very sharp in taste. But they have a pleasant flavour, and are easily digested; and when boiled they are particularly nice. But the pinnæ are diuretic, nutritious, not very digestible, or manageable. And the ceryces are like them; the necks of which fish are good for the stomach, but not very digestible; on which account they are good for people with weak stomachs, as being strengthening; but they are difficult to be secreted, and they are moderately nutritious. Now the parts of them which are called the mecon, which are in the lower part of their bellies, are tender and easily digested; on which account they also are good for people who are weak in the stomach. But the purple-fish are something between the pinna and the ceryx; [153]the necks of which are very juicy, and very pleasant to the palate; but the other parts of them are briny, and yet sweet, and easily digestible, and mix very well with other food. But oysters are generated in rivers, and in lakes, and in the sea. But the best are those which belong to the sea, when there is a lake or a river close at hand: for they are full of pleasant juice, and are larger and sweeter than others: but those which are near the shore, or near rocks, without any mixture of mud or water, are small, harsh, and of pungent taste. But the oysters which are taken in the spring, and those which are taken about the beginning of the summer, are better, and full, and have a sort of sea taste, not unmixed with sweetness, and are good for the stomach and easily secreted; and when boiled up with mallow, or sorrel, or with fish, or by themselves, they are nutritious, and good for the bowels.

43. But Mnesitheus the Athenian, in his treatise on Comestibles, says—"Oysters, and cockles, and mussels, and similar things, are not very digestible in their meat, because of a sort of saline moisture which there is in them, on which account, when eaten raw, they produce an effect on the bowels by reason of their saltness. But when boiled they get rid of all, or at all events of most, of their saltness, which they infuse into the water which boils them. On which account, the water in which any of the oyster tribe are boiled is very apt to have a strong effect in disordering the bowels. But the meat of the oysters when boiled, makes a great noise when it has been deprived of its moisture. But roasted oysters, when any one roasts them cleverly, are very free from any sort of inconvenience; for all the evil properties are removed by fire; on which account they are not as indigestible as raw ones, and they have all the moisture which is originally contained in them dried up; and it is the moisture which has too great an effect in relaxing the bowels. But every oyster supplies a moist and somewhat indigestible kind of nourishment, and they are not at all good as diuretics. But the sea-nettle, and the eggs of sea-urchins, and such things as that, give a moist nourishment, though not in any great quantity; but they have a tendency to relax the bowels, and they are diuretic.

44. Nicander the Colophonian, in his book on the Farm, enumerates all the following kinds of oysters—

[154] And all the oysters which the foaming brine
Beneath its vasty bosom cherishes,
The periwinkle, whilk, pelorias,
The mussel, and the slimy tellina,
And the deep shell which makes the pinna's hole.

Ænus has mussels fine, Abydus too
Is famous for its oysters; Parium produces
Crabs, the bears of the sea, and Mitylene periwinkles;
Ambracia in all kinds of fish abounds,
And the boar-fish sends forth: and in its narrow strait
Messene cherishes the largest cockles.
In Ephesus you shall catch chemæ, which are not bad,
And Chalcedon will give you oysters. But may Jupiter
Destroy the race of criers, both the fish born in the sea,
And those wretches which infest the city forum;
All except one man, for he is a friend of mine,
Dwelling in Lesbos, abounding in grapes; and his name is Agatho.

And Philyllius, or whoever is the author of the book called The Cities, says, "Chemæ, limpets, solens, mussels, pinnas and periwinkles from Methymna:" but ὄστρειον was the only form of the name for all these fish among the ancients. Cratinus says in his Archilochi—

Like the pinna or the oyster (ὄστρειον).

Oysters which have grown together.

Where he uses the same form ὄστρειον. But afterwards the form ὄστρεον like ὄρνεον began to be used. Plato, in his Phædrus, says, "bound together like oysters" (ὄστρεον). And in the tenth book of his Politia, he says, "oysters (ὄστρεα) stuck together;" "oysters (ὄστρεα) and seaweed." But the peloris, or giant mussel, were so named from the word πελώριος, vast. For it is much larger than the cheme, and very different from it. But Aristotle says that they are generated in the sand. And Ion the Chian mentions the chema, in his Epidemiæ, and perhaps the shell-fish got the name of χήμη παρὰ τὸ κεχῃνέναι, from opening their mouths."

45. But concerning the oysters which are grown in the Indian Ocean; (for it is not unreasonable to speak of them, on account of the use of pearls;) Theophrastus speaks in his treatise on Precious Stones, and says, "But among the stones which are much admired is that which is called the pearl, being transparent in its character; and they make very [155]expensive necklaces of them. They are found in an oyster which is something like the pinna, only less. And in size the pearl resembles a large fish's eye." Androsthenes, too, in his Voyage along the Coast of India, writes in these terms—"But of strombi, and chærini, and other shell-fish, there are many different varieties, and they are very different from the shell-fish which we have. And they have the purple-fish, and a great multitude of other kinds of oysters. There is also one kind which is peculiar to those seas, which the natives call the berberi, from which the precious stone called the pearl comes. And this pearl is very expensive in Asia, being sold in Persia and the inland countries for its weight in gold. And the appearance of the oyster which contains it is much the same as that of the cteis oyster, only its shell is not indented, but smooth and shaggy. And it has not two ears as the cteis oyster has, but only one. The stone is engendered in the flesh of the oyster, just as the measles are in pork. And it is of a very golden colour, so as not easily to be distinguished from gold when it is put by the side of it; but some pearls are of a silvery appearance, and some are completely white like the eyes of fish. But Chares of Mitylene, in the seventh book of his Histories of Alexander, says—"There is caught in the Indian sea, and also off the coast of Armenia, and Persia, and Susiana, and Babylonia, a fish very like an oyster; and it is large and oblong, containing within the shell flesh which is plentiful and white, and very fragrant, from which the men pick out white bones which they call the pearl. And they make of them necklaces and chains for the hands and feet, of which the Persians are very fond, as are the Medes and all Asiatics, esteeming them as much more valuable than golden ornaments."

46. But Isidorus the Characene, in his Description of Parthia, says, that "in the Persian sea there is an island where a great number of pearls are found; on which account there are quantities of boats made of rushes all about the island, from which men leap into the sea, and dive down twenty fathoms, and bring up two shells. And they say that when there is a long continuance of thunder-storms, and heavy falls of rain, then the pinna produces most young, and then, too, the greatest quantity of pearls is engendered, and those, too, of the finest size and quality. In the winter [156]the pinna is accustomed to descend into chambers at the very bottom of the sea; but in summer they swim about all night with their shells open, which they close in the day-time: and as many as stick to the crags, or rocks, throw out roots, and remaining fixed there, they generate pearls. But they are supported and nourished by something which adheres to their flesh: and this also sticks to the mouth of the cockle, having talons and bringing it food: and it is something like a little crab, and is called the guardian of the pinna. And its flesh penetrates through the centre of the cockle-shell, like a root: and the pearl being generated close to it, grows through the solid portion of the shell, and keeps growing as long as it continues to adhere to the shell. But when the flesh gets under the excrescence, and cutting its way onwards, gently separates the pearl from the shell, then when the pearl is surrounded by flesh, it is no longer nourished so far as to grow at all; but the flesh makes it smoother, and more transparent, and more pure. And so, too, the pinna, which lives at the bottom, engenders the most transparent sort of pearl; and it produces them also very pure and of large size. But that which keeps near the surface, and is constantly rising, is of a smaller size and a worse colour, because it is affected by the rays of the sun. But those who hunt for pearls are in danger when they hastily put their hand into the opening of the shell, for immediately the fish closes its shell, and very often their fingers are sawn off; and sometimes they die immediately. But all those who put in their hand sideways easily draw off the shells from the rock. And Menander makes mention of Emeralds also, in his Little Boy—

There must be an emerald and a sardonyx.

And the word for emerald is more correctly written μάραγδος, without a σ. For it is derived from the verb μαρμαίρω, to glisten, because it is a transparent stone.

47. After this conversation some dishes were set on the table, full of many kinds of boiled meat: feet, and head, and ears, and loins; and also entrails, and intestines, and tongues; as is the custom at the places which are called boiled meat shops at Alexandria. For, O Ulpian, the word ἑφθοπώλιον, a boiled meat shop, is used by Posidippus, in his Little Boy. And again, while they were inquiring who had ever [157] named any of these dishes, one of the party said, Aristophanes mentions entrails as things which are eatable, in his Knights—

I say that you are selling tripe and paunches
Which to the revenue no tithe have paid.

Why, my friend, hinder me from washing my paunches,
And from selling my sausages? Why do you laugh at me?

But I, as soon as I have swallow'd down
A bullock's paunch, and a dish of pig's tripe,
And drunk some broth, won't stay to wash my hands,
But will cut the throats of the orators, and will confuse Nicias.

But the Virgin Goddess born of the mighty Father
Gives you some boiled meat, extracted from the broth,
And a slice of paunch, and tripe, and entrails.

Fighting for a noble jawbone of beef.

And he places on the table tender jawbones.

And Plato, in his Timæus, writes, "And he bound up some jawbones for them, so as to give the appearance of a whole face." And Xenophon says, in his book on Horsemanship, "A small jawbone closely pressed." But some call it, not σιαγὼν, but ὑαγὼν, spelling the word with a υ, saying that it is derived from the word ὑς. Epicharmus also speaks of tripe, χορδαὶ as we call it, but he calls it ὄρυαι, having given one of his plays the title of Orya. And Aristophanes, in his Clouds, writes—

Let them prepare a dish of tripe, for me
To set before these wise philosophers.

How fine, says he, is now this slice of tripe.

And Eupolis speaks of it also, in his Goats. But Alexis, either in his Leucadia, or in his Runaways, says—

Then came a slice and good large help of tripe.

Having cut out a piece of the middle of the tripe.

[158] 48. And as for feet, and ears, and even noses of beasts, they are all mentioned by Alexis, in his Crateua or the Physic-seller. And I will adduce a slight proof of that presently, which contains a good many of the names about which we are inquiring. Theophilus says, in his Pancratiast—

For having an unseemly snout of pig,
My dear Cinesias.

Then I perceived I bore a swine's snout.

Anaxandrides has mentioned also ears in the Satyrus. And Axionicus says, in his Chalcis—

I am making soup,
Putting in well-warm'd fish, and adding to them
Some scarce half-eaten fragments; and the pettitoes
Of a young porker, and his ears; the which I sprinkle
With savoury assafœtida; and then
I make the whole into a well-flavour'd sausage,
A meat most saleable. Then do I add a slice
Of tender tripe; and a snout soak'd in vinegar.
So that the guests do all confess, the second day
Has beaten e'en the wedding-day itself.

Wretch that I am, I've eaten tripe, my son:
How can I bear to see a roasted snout?

Is not this plainly now a porker's snout?

And there is a place which is called Ῥύγχος, or Snout, near Stratos, in Ætolia, as Polybius testifies, in the sixth book of his Histories. And Stesichorus says, in his Boar Hunting—

To hide the sharpen'd snout beneath the earth.

[159] And we have already said that the word ῥύγχος properly applies only to the snout of a swine; but that it is sometimes used for the nose of other animals, Archippus has proved, saying in jest, in his Second Amphitryon, of the human face—

And this, too, though you have so long a nose (ῥύγχος).

For the god turns his nose towards us.

49. And Aristophanes makes mention of the extremities of animals as forming a common dish, in his Æolosicon—

And of a truth, plague take it, I have boil'd
Four tender pettitoes for you for dinner.

Pig's pettitoes, and bread, and crabs.

But Callimachus testifies that, in reality, a pig is sacrificed to Venus; or perhaps it is Zenodotus who says so in his Historic Records, writing thus, "The Argives sacrifice a pig to Venus, and the festival at which this takes place is called Hysteria." And Pherecrates says, in his Miners—

But whole pig's feet of the most tender flavour
Were placed at hand in dishes gaily adorned,
And boil'd ears, and other extremities.

But when we had nearly come to an end of breakfast,
And eaten all the ears and pettitoes.

This meat is but half roasted, and the fragments
Are wholly wasted; see this conger eel,
How badly boiled; and as for the pettitoes,
They now are wholly spoilt.

It is no great hardship, if it must be so,
To buy and eat the boil'd feet of a pig.

And Aristophanes speaks of tongue as a dish, in his Tryers, in the following words—

I've had anchovies quite enough; for I
Am stretch'd almost to bursting while I eat
Such rich and luscious food. But bring me something
Which shall take off the taste of all these dainties.
Bring me some liver, or a good large slice
Of a young goat. And if you can't get that,
Let me at least have a rib or a tongue,
Or else the spleen, or entrails, or the tripe
Of a young porker in last autumn born;
And with it some hot rolls.

50. Now when all this conversation had taken place on these subjects, the physicians who were present would not depart without taking their share in it. For Dionysiocles said, Mnesitheus the Athenian, in his book about Comestibles, has said, "The head and feet of a pig have not a great deal in them which is rich and nutritious." And Leonidas writes, "Demon, in the fourth book of his Attica, says that Thymœtes, his younger brother, slew Apheidas, who was king of Athens, he himself being a bastard, and usurped the kingdom. And in his time, Melanthus the Messenian was banished from his country, and consulted the Pythia as to where he should dwell: and she said wherever he was first honoured by gifts of hospitality, when men set before him feet and a head for supper. And this happened to him at Eleusis; for as the priestesses happened at the time to be solemnizing one of their national festivals, and to have [161]consumed all the meat, and as nothing but the head and feet of the victim were left, they sent them to Melanthius.

51. Then a paunch [161:1] was brought in, which may be looked upon as a sort of metropolis, and the mother of the sons of Hippocrates, whom I know to have been turned into ridicule by the comic poets on account of their swinish disposition. And Ulpian, looking upon it, said,—Come now, my friends, whom does the paunch lie with? For we have now been minding the belly long enough, and it is time for us now to have some real conversation. And as for these cynics, I bid them be silent, now that they have eaten abundantly, unless they like to gnaw some of the cheeks, and heads, and bones, which no one will grudge their enjoying like dogs, as they are; for that is what they are, and what they are proud of being called.

The remnants to the dogs they're wont to throw,

Euripides says, in his Cretan Women. For they wish to eat and drink everything, never considering what the divine Plato says in his Protagoras, "That disputing about poetry, is like banquets of low and insignificant persons. For they, because they are unable in their drinking parties to amuse one another by their own talents, and by their own voices and conversation, by reason of their ignorance and stupidity, make female flute-players of great consequence, hiring at a high price sounds which they cannot utter themselves, I mean the music of flutes, and by means of this music they are able to get on with one another. But where the guests are gentlemanly, and accomplished, and well educated, you will not see any flute-playing women, or dancing women, or female harpers, but they are able themselves to pass the time with one another agreeably, without all this nonsense and trifling, by means of their own voices, speaking and hearing one another in turn with all decency, even if they drink a great deal of wine." And this is what all you Cynics do, O Cynulcus; you drink, or rather you get drunk, and then, like flute-players and dancing-women, you prevent all the pleasure of conversation: "living," to use the words of the same Plato, which he utters in his Philebus, "not the life of a man, but of some mollusk, or of some other marine animal which has life in a shell-encased body."

[162] 52. And Cynulcus, being very angry, said,—You glutton of a man, whose god is your belly, you know nothing else yourself, nor are you able to keep up an uninterrupted conversation, nor to recollect any history, nor to begin anything which may tend to throw a charm on any discussion. But you have been wasting all the time with questions of this sort, "Is there such and such a statement? Is there not? Has such and such a thing been said? Has it not been said?" And you attack and examine closely everything which occurs in anything which is said, collecting all your thorns—living continually

As if among thistles, or plants of rough borage—

never collecting any sweet flowers. Are you not the person who call that which is called by the Romans strena, being so named in accordance with some national tradition, and which is accustomed to be given to friends, epinomis? And if you do this in imitation of Plato, we should be glad to learn it; but if you find that any one of the ancients has ever spoken in such a manner, tell us who it is who has. For I know that there is some part of a trireme which is called epinomis, as Apollonius states in his treatise on what relates to Triremes. Are not you the man who called your new stout cloak, which had never yet been used by you, (for the proper name of it, my friend, is really φαινόλης,) useless? saying—"My slave Leucus, give me that useless cloak." And once going to the bath, did not you say to a man who asked you, Whither now? I am going, said you, ἀπολούμενος (pronouncing the word as if it meant to kill yourself rather than to bathe). And that very day your beautiful garment was purloined from you by some bath robbers; so that there was great laughter in the bath, at this useless cloak being hunted for. At another time too, O my dear friends; (for the plain truth shall be told you,) he tripped against a stone and dislocated his knees. And when he was cured he again came into public: and when men asked him, What is the matter, O Ulpian? he said it was a black eye. And I (for I was with him at the time) being then unable to restrain my laughter, got anointed under the eyes with some thick ointment by a physician who was a friend of mine, and then said to those who asked me, What is the matter with you, that I had hurt my leg.

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,—

What is it then to be a tyrant, (or
What would you call pursuing serious things,)
In the Lyceum with the sophists; by Jove,
They are but thin and hungry joyless men.
And say the thing does not exist if now
It is produced; for that is not as yet,
Nor can already be produced, which now
Is caused afresh. Nor if it did exist
Before, can it be now made to exist.
For there is nothing which has no existence.
And that which never yet has taken place,
Is not as if it had, since it has not.
For it exists from its existence; but
If there is no existence, what is there
From which it can exist? The thing's impossible.
And if it's self-existent, it will not
Exist again. And one perhaps may say,
Let be; whence now can that which has no being
Exist, what can become of it? What all this means
I say that e'en Apollo's self can't tell.

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—

Be of good cheer, I am a mighty bolt
To keep this fear away from you.

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

And the sailors let out the holder of 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:—

You were all day glutting yourselves with white milk.

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

Obey us now, and glut us with your melodies.

And we received him with all things which satisfy (πάγχορτα).

I, O men, have now been well satisfied (κεχόρτασμαι),
And I am quite well filled; so that I could
[167] With all my energy but just contrive
To fasten on my sandals.

There will be an abundant deal of eating.
I see the prelude to it;—I shall surely be
Most fully satisfied; indeed, my men,
I swear by Bacchus I feel proud already.

Sating herself till eve with every dainty.

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)—

Every one is willing to die for his country (πάτρας):
And for a boiled paunch (μήτρας) Callimedon,
The dauntless crab, would very probably
Dare to encounter death.

While the wood has pith in it (ἔμμητρον) it puts forth shoots.
There is a metropolis but no patropolis.
Some men sell paunches (μῆτραι), a delicious food.
Metras, the Chian, is dear to the people.

But my master having prepared a paunch
Set it before Callimedon; and when he ate it
It made him leap with joy; from which he earn'd
The name of crab.

What food doth he delight in! Dainty is he!
Most dainty in his eating, paunches, sausages!

Amphides burst in the porch and made himself a way in;
Holding up two paunches fine, See for what I'm paying,
Said he, and send me all you have, or all that you can find me.

Liver, and tripe, and entrails, aye, and paunches.

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—

I sail back to the self-same harbour whence
We previously were torn; and bid farewell
To all my horses, friends, and assafœtida,
And two horse chariots, and to cabbages,
And single-horses, and to salads green,
And fevers, and rich sauces.

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—

But above all I do delight in dishes
Of paunches and of tripe from gelded beasts,
And love a fragrant pig within the oven.

But like a beauteous paunch of gelded pig
Well boil'd and white, and basted with rich cheese.

'Tis not a well boil'd slice of paunch of pig
Holding within a sharp and biting gravy.

That you may eat a slice of boil'd pig's paunch,
Dipping it in a bitter sauce of rue.

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—

And always at the banquet crown your head
With flowing wreaths of varied scent and hue,
Culling the treasures of the happy earth;
And steep your hair in rich and reeking odours,
And all day long pour holy frankincense
And myrrh, the fragrant fruit of Syria,
On the slow slumb'ring ashes of the fire:
Then, when you drink, let slaves these luxuries bring—
Tripe, and the boiled paunch of well-fed swine,
Well soak'd in cummin juice and vinegar,
And sharp, strong-smelling assafœtida;
Taste, too, the tender well-roast birds, and game,
Whate'er may be in season. But despise
The rude uncivilized Sicilian mode,
Where men do nought but drink like troops of frogs,
And eat no solid seasoning. Avoid them.
And seek the meats which I enjoin thee here.
All other foods are only signs and proofs
Of wretched poverty: the green boil'd vetch,
And beans, and apples, and dried drums of figs.
But praise the cheesecakes which from Athens come;
And if there are none, still of any country
Cheesecakes are to be eaten; also ask
For Attic Honey, the feast's crowning dish—
For that it is which makes a banquet noble.
Thus should a free man live, or else descend
Beneath the earth, and court the deadly realms
Of Tartarus, buried deep beneath the earth
Innumerable fathoms.

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—

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—

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

Whoever is a mortal man, and thinks
This life has any sure possession,
Is woefully deceived. For either taxes
Take off his property; or he goes to law
And loses all he seeks, and all he has:
Or else he's made a magistrate, and bears
The losses they are subject to; or else
The people bid him a choragus be,
And furnish golden garments for a chorus;
And wear but rags himself. Or as a captain
Of some tall ship, he hangs himself; or else
Takes the command, and then is taken prisoner:
Or else, both waking and in soundest sleep,
He's helpless, pillaged by his own domestics.
Nothing is sure, save what a man can eat,
And treats himself to day by day. Nor then,
Is even this too sure. For guests drop in
To eat what you have order'd for yourself.
So not until you've got it 'twixt your teeth
Ought you to think that e'en your dinner's safe.

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—

My man, you will destroy me in this way;
For you are ill and surfeited with all
The divers arguments of all the Stoics.
"Gold is no part of man, mere passing rime.
Wisdom's his real wealth, solid like ice;
No one who has it ever loses it."
Oh! wretched that I am; what cruel fate
Has lodged me here with this philosopher?
Wretch, you have learnt a most perverted learning;
Your books have turn'd your whole life upside down;
Buried in deep philosophy you talk
Of earth and heaven, both of which care little
For you and all your arguments.

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—

It has been voted by the fish-sellers,
To raise a brazen statue to Callimedon
At the Panathenaic festival
In the midst of the fish-market; and the statue
Shall in his right hand hold a roasted crab,
As being the sole patron of their trade,
Which other men neglect and seek to crush.

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—

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—

But passing over trifles, buy an astacus,
Which has long hands and heavy too, but feet
Of delicate smallness, and which slowly walks
Over the earth's face. A goodly troop there are
Of such, and those of finest flavour, where
The isles of Lipara do gem the ocean:
And many lie in the broad Hellespont.

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—

There are astaci and colybdænæ, both equipp'd
With little feet and long hands, both coming under
The name of κάραβος.

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—

κᾀστακοὶ γαμψώνυχοι.

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 if you ever come to Iasus,
A city of the Carians, you shall have
A caris of huge size, but rare to buy.
Many there are where Macedon is wash'd
By the deep sea, and in Ambracia's gulf.

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

The strangely bent carides did leap forth
Like dolphins into the rope-woven vessel.

I put a carid (καρῖδα) down and took it up again.

And he plays with little carids (καριδάριον),
And little partridges, and little lettuces;
And little sparrows, and with little cups,
And little scindaries, and little gudgeons.

If you don't stoop, my friend, you'll upright be.
But she is like a carid (καριδόω) in her person;
Bent out, and like an anchor standing firm.

I'll make them redder than a roasted carid (καρῖδος).

And carids (καρῖδες) of the humpback'd sort.

There lay the crooked carids (καρῖδες) on dry ground.

And then they danced as crooked limbed carides (καρῖδες)
Dance on the glowing embers.

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

Once in Phæacia I ate carides (καρίδες).

Having the face of a tough thick-skinn'd carid (καρίδος).

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—

Behold the dainty courides, my friend.
And see these lobsters; see how red they are,
How smooth and glossy is their hair and coats.

And red-skinned courides.

Oily anchovies, crooked corides.

Beet-root with thunnies, and with gudgeons corides.

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 wrapping up the bread in the ἐπίπλοος.

Around the loins and ἐπίπλους.

Having wrapp'd it up in the ἐπίπλους.

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.

First, then, I saw a man whose name was Nercus;
With noble oysters laden; an aged man,
And clad in brown sea-weed. I took the oysters
And eke some fine sea-urchins; a good prelude
To a rich banquet daintily supplied.
When they were done, next came some little fish,
Still quivering as if they felt a fear
Of what should now befal them. Courage, said I,
My little friends, and fear no harm from me;
And to spare them I bought a large flat glaucus.
Then a torpedo came; for it did strike me,
That even if my wife should chance to touch it
She from its shock would surely take no harm.
So for my frying-pan I've soles and plaice,
Carides, gudgeons, perch, and spars, and eels,
A dish more varied than a peacock's tail.
Slices of meat, and feet, and snouts, and ears,
And a pig's liver neatly wrapp'd in caul.
For by itself it looks too coarse and livid.
No cook shall touch or e'er behold these dainties;
He would destroy them all. I'll manage them
Myself; with skill and varied art the sauce
I will compound, in such a tasty way
That all the guests shall plunge their very teeth
[178] Into the dish for joy and eagerness;
And the recipes and different modes of dressing
I am prepared to teach the world for nothing,
If men are only wise enough to learn.

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—

I am undone, the tunic's treacherous folds
Have now entangled me to my destruction.

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—

Take the stiff feelers of the polypus,
And in them you shall find some modest liver,
And cutlets of wild goats, which you shall eat.

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—

For you do seem to have no gall ἐφ' ἥπατι (in your liver).

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—

You thought that I'd no gall; but spoke to me
As if I'd been a ἥπατος: but I
Am rather one of the melampyx class.

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—

Now each fair woman walks about the streets,
Fond of fried fish and stout Triballian youths.
Then there is beet-root and canary-grass
Mix'd up in forcemeat with the paunch of lamb,
Which leaps within one's stomach like a colt
Scarce broken to the yoke. Meanwhile the bellows
[179] Waken the watchful hounds of Vulcan's pack,
And stir the frying-pan with vapours warm.
The fragrant steam straight rises to the nose,
And fills the sense with odours.
Then comes the daughter of the bounteous Ceres,
Fair wheaten flour, duly mash'd, and press'd
Within the hollow of the gaping jaws,
Which like the trireme's hasty shock comes on,
The fair forerunner of a sumptuous feast.

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—

Go quickly, buy of them that polypus,
And fry the roe, and give it us to eat.

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—

How well has Myrtilus, cursed by the gods,
Come now to shipwreck on this frying-pan.

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—

My master comes from Thessaly; a man
Of temper stern; wealthy, but covetous;
A wicked man; a glutton; fond of dainties,
Yet sparing to bestow a farthing on them.

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—

While still a boy, bearing my sister company,
I came to Athens, by some merchant brought;
For Syria was my birthplace. There that merchant
Saw us when we were both put up for sale,
And bought us, driving a most stingy bargain.
No man could e'er in wickedness surpass him;
So miserly, that nothing except thyme
Was ever bought by him for food, not e'en
So much as might have fed Pythagoras.

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—

From thence, borne on by the south wind, we came
Across the sea to the Italian shore,
Where the Messapians dwelt; and Artus there,
The monarch of the land, received us kindly,
A great and noble host for foreigners.

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—

What numerous nets and snares are set by men
To catch the helpless loaves;

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—

And seeing there a tray before me full
Of smoking oven-loaves, I took and ate them.

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

I took the hot hearth-loaves, how could I help it?
And dipp'd them in sweet sauce, and then I ate them.

I took a platter of hot clean hearth-loaves.

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—

[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 nice hot twice-baked loaves.

A. But what are dipyri, or twice-baked loaves?

B. Of all loaves the most delicate.

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—

The lagana are being baked.

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—

Pan-loaves and homori, a dainty meal
For goddesses, and a half-loaf for Hecate.

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—

Who dresses suet puddings or clibanites,
Or half-loaves here?

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

He feasted me till night with placite loaves.

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

[183] I bid you now eat heartily,
For some one has just giv'n a tyron loaf,
Fragrant with cheese, to all the children.

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—

Then he went forth, and bought some loaves, not nice
Clean rolls, but dirty huge Cilicians.

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—

Having just eaten autopyrus bread.

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

With autopyrite loaves, and sweeten'd cakes
Of well-press'd figs and olives.

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—

Each of you take a collabus.

Bring here a paunch of pig in autumn born,
With hot delicious collabi.

Here I come, bearing in my hand the offspring
Of three months' wheat, hot doughy collabi,
Mixed with the milk of the grass-feeding cow.

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—

A large collyra, and a mighty lump
Of dainty meat upon it.

And a collyra for the voyagers,
Earn'd by the trophy raised at Marathon.

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—

Then perhaps some one bakes a penny loaf.

Olen, now roast a penny roll with ashes,
But take care, don't prefer it to a loaf.

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—

Such was the size, O master, of the nastus,
A large white loaf. It was so deep, its top
Rose like a tower quite above its basket.
Its smell, when that the top was lifted up,
Rose up, a fragrance not unmix'd with honey
Most grateful to our nostrils, still being hot.

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—

To bring loaves baked on ashes, strain'd through sieves.

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—

First of all I an apopyrias have—

* * * * *

First, my dear Moschus, will I celebrate
The bounteous gifts of Ceres the fair-hair'd.
And cherish these my sayings in thy heart.
Take these most excellent things,—the well-made cake
Of fruitful barley, in fair Lesbos grown,
On the circumfluous hill of Eresus;
Whiter than driven snow, if it be true
That these are loaves such as the gods do eat,
Which Mercury their steward buys for them.
Good is the bread in seven-gated Thebes,
In Thasos, and in many other cities,
But all compared with these would seem but husks,
And worthless refuse. Be you sure of this.
Seek too the round Thessalian roll, the which
A maid's fair hand has kneaded, which the natives
Crimmatias call; though others chondrinus.
Nor let the Tegean son of finest flour,
The fine encryphias be all unpraised.
Athens, Minerva's famous city, sends
The best of loaves to market, food for men;
There is, besides, Erythra, known for grapes,
Nor less for a white loaf in shapely pan,
Carefully moulded, white and beautiful,
A tempting dish for hungry guests at supper.

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—

Take care, and keep a Lydian in thy house,
Or an all-wise Phœnician; who shall know
Your inmost thoughts, and each day shall devise
New forms to please your mind, and do your bidding.

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

For how could any man of noble birth
Ever come forth from this luxurious house,
Seeing these fair-complexion'd wheaten loaves
Filling the oven in such quick succession,
And seeing them, devise fresh forms from moulds,
The work of Attic hands; well-train'd by wise
Thearion to honour holy festivals.

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—

I come now, having left the baker's shop,
The seat of good Thearion's pans and ovens.

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

'Tis a hard thing, beholding Cyprian loaves,
To ride by carelessly; for like a magnet
They do attract the hungry passengers.

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

Eating the collix, baked in well-shaped pan,
By Alexander's Thessalian recipe.

All hail, my collix-eating young Bœotian.

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—

Men with unwashen feet, who lie on the ground,
You roofless wanderers, all-devouring throats,
Feasting on other men's possessions,

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

Stranglers of dishes of white paunches,

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—

Mention the cyllastis and the petosiris.

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—

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—

The thridacisca, and the cribanotus.

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.

The amolgæan cake of barley made,
And milk of goats whose stream is nearly dry.

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—

* * * * *[192:1]

Some sorrily-clad fishermen did seek
To catch a lamprey; men who love to haunt
The Bosporus's narrow strait, well stored
With fish for pickling fit. They cut their prey
In large square portions, and then plunge them deep
Into the briny tub: nor is the oxyrhyncus
A kind to be despised by mortal man;
Which the bold sons of ocean bring to market
Whole and in pieces. Of the noble tunny
The fair Byzantium the mother is,
And of the scombrus lurking in the deep,
And of the well-fed ray. The snow-white Paros
Nurses the colius for human food;
And citizens from Bruttium or Campania,
Fleeing along the broad Ionian sea,
Will bring the orcys, which shall potted be,
And placed in layers in the briny cask,
Till honour'd as the banquet's earliest course.

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,—

For old salt-fish is fond of marjoram.

[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—

And a large slice of fat Sicilian tunny,
Carefully carved, should be immersed in brine.
But the saperdes is a worthless brute,
A delicacy fit for Ponticans
And those who like it. For few men can tell
How bad and void of strengthening qualities
Those viands are. The scombrus should be kept
Three days before you sprinkle it with salt,
Then let it lie half-pickled in the cask.
But when you come unto the sacred coast,
Where proud Byzantium commands the strait,
Then take a slice of delicate horæum,
For it is good and tender in those seas.

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—

A sea-born turtle in the bitter waves
Bears in its skin the elephantine pickle;
And crabs swift as the wind, and thin-wing'd pike,

[193:1]* * * * *

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

[194] Sure comic poetry is a mighty food;
Listen to Crates, he will tell you, how
The elephantine pickle, easily made,
Is dainty seas'ning; many other jokes
Of the same kind he utter'd.

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:—

I wish now, sitting quiet by myself,
To ponder in my mind some dainty dishes;
And also to arrange what may be best
For the first course, and how I best may flavour
Each separate dish, and make it eatable.
Now first of all the pickled horæum comes;
This will but cost one penny; wash it well,
Then strew a large flat dish with seasoning,
And put in that the fish. Pour in white wine
And oil, then add some boil'd beef marrow-bones,
And take it from the fire, when the last zest
Shall be by assafœtida imparted.

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

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—

Scombri, and coliæ, and lebii,
And mulli, and saperdæ, and all tunnies.

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—

If any one should wish for caviar
From mighty sturgeon, fresh from Cadiz' sea;
Or else delights in the Byzantine tunny,
And courts its fragrance.

[196] Caviar from the sturgeon in the middle,
Fat, white as snow, and hot.

Let the Byzantine salt-fish triumph here,
And paunch from Cadiz, carefully preserved.

But, O ye earth and gods! I found a man,
An honest fishmonger of pickled fish,
Of whom I bought a huge fish ready scaled,
Cheap at a drachma, for two oboli.
Three days' hard eating scarcely would suffice
That we might finish it; no, nor a fortnight,
So far does it exceed the common size.

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—

He then received the caviar from a sturgeon
Bred in the mighty Danube, dish much prized,
Half-fresh, half-pickled, by the wandering Scythians.

A slightly salt Mendesian in season,
And mullet roasted on the glowing embers.

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—

I will my basket fill with Pontic pickles,

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

[197] All that I have amounts to this,
And I shall lose my pickled fish (ταρίχους).

I'm not ashamed to wash this fine salt-fish (τὸν τάριχον τουτονὶ),
From all the evils which I know he has.

And you must boil some greens, and roast some fish,
And pickled fish likewise, (τοὺς ταρίχους,) and keep your hands
From doing any injury to us.

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

And fat pickled fish (τάριχος πίονα).

A pickled corpse (νεκρὸς τάριχος) Egyptian to behold.

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

Bring us some good ταρίχιον to the fields

Some middling meat, or some ταρίχιον.

The woman boil'd some pulse porridge, and lentils,
And so awaited each of us, and roasted
Besides an orphan small ταρίχιον.

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:—

Salt-fish (τάριχος) is done if it but see the fire.

Salt-fish (τάριχος) when too long kept loves marjoram.

Salt-fish (τάριχος) does never get its due from men.

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—

Will you then eat some pickled fish (τοῦ ταρίχους), ye gods!

Beat therefore now upon this pickled fish (τῷ ταρίχει τῷδε).

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

I spread some salt upon the pickled fish (ἐπὶ τὸ τάριχος).

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—

For 'twas salt-fish that made Athenians
And citizens of Chærephilus's sons.

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 going to the salt-fish seller, him
I mean with whom I used to deal, there wait for me;
And if Euthynus be not come, still wait,
And occupy the man with fair excuses,
And hinder him from cutting up the fish.

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

There was another man, Phidippus hight,
A foreigner who brought salt-fish to Athens.

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—

Then there was salt and pickled fish to eat,
Something not quite unlike melandryæ.

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,

To drink the blood of bulls, and so prefer
The death of great Themistocles,

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—

[202] These things I say to you to give you pleasure,
Not wishing to do aught by violence:
And do thou, like wise men, just actions praise,
And keep thy hands and heart from unjust gain.

I think no words, if companied by gain,
Pernicious or unworthy.

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,—

I do not sing of ancient themes,
For all that's new far better seems.
Jove's the new king of all the world;
While anciently 'twas Saturn hurl'd
His thunders, and the Heavens ruled;
So I'll no longer be befool'd
With dotard's ancient songs.

Dost thou love things of modern fashion?
So too does he; for he is well assured
That new devices, though they be too bold,
Are better far than old contrivances.

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—

Suppose a man who thinks himself a genius
Should something say, and I should contradict him,
Still trouble not yourself; but if you please,
Listen and give your best attention.

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,

A cup of water boil'd; for when fresh-drawn
'Tis heavy, and indigestible to drink.

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—

Warm for us now the brazen ewer quick,
And bid the slaves prepare the victims new,
That we may feast upon the entrails.

May I ne'er see a man
Boiling me water in a bubbling pail;
For I have no disease, and wish for none.
But if I feel a pain within my stomach,
Or round about my navel, why I have
A ring I lately gave a drachma for
To a most skilful doctor.

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

But if you make our shop notorious,
I swear by Ceres, best of goddesses,
That I will empt the biggest ladle o'er you,
Filling it with hot water from the kettle;
And if I fail, may I ne'er drink free water more.

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—

But the maid-servants pour'd forth water,
One pouring boiling water, and the other warm.

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

One call'd out, to the slaves to bring hot water,
Another shouted for metaceras.

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—

I wish to make you taste this icy water,
For I am proud of my well, whose limpid spring
Is colder than the Ararus.

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—

Sure is not man a most superfluous plant,
Constantly using wondrous contradictions.
Strangers we love, and our own kin neglect;
Though having nothing, still we give to strangers.
We bear our share in picnics, though we grudge it,
And show our grudging by our sordidness.
And as to what concerns our daily food,
We wish our barley-cakes should white appear,
And yet we make for them a dark black sauce,
And stain pure colour with a deeper dye.
Then we prepare to drink down melted snow;
Yet if our fish be cold, we storm and rave.
Sour or acid wine we scorn and loathe,
Yet are delighted with sharp caper sauce.
And so, as many wiser men have said,
Not to be born at all is best for man;
The next best thing, to die as soon as possible.

But when I'm drunk I take a draught of snow,
And Egypt gives me ointment for my head.

He first perceived that snow was worth a price;
He ought to be the first to eat the honeycombs.

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—

For no one ever would endure warm wine,
But on the contrary, we use our wells
To cool it in, and then we mix with snow.

Cool the wine quick, O Doris.

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:—

A. I want some water from a cistern now.

B. I have some here, and you are welcome to it.

Perhaps the cistern water is all lost.

But Apollodorus of Gela mentions the cistern itself, λακκος, as we call it, in his Female Deserter, saying—

In haste I loosed the bucket of the cistern,
And then that of the well; and took good care
To have the ropes all ready to let down.

99. Myrtilus, hearing this conversation, said,—And I too, being very fond of salt-fish, my friends, wish to drink snow, according to the practice of Simonides. And Ulpian said,—The word φιλοτάριχος, fond of salt-fish, is used by Antiphanes, in his Omphale, where he says—

I am not anxious for salt-fish, my girl.

But Alexis, in his Gynæcocracy, speaks of one man as ζωμοτάριχος, or fond of sauce made from salt-fish, saying—

But the Cilician here, this Hippocles,
This epicure of salt-fish sauce, this actor.

But what you mean by "according to the practice of Simonides," I do not know. No; for you do not care, said Myrtilus, to know anything about history, you glutton; for you are a mere lickplatter; and as the Samian poet Asius, that ancient bard, would call you, a flatterer of fat. But Callistratus, in the seventh book of his Miscellanies, says that Simonides the poet, when feasting with a party at a season of violently hot weather, while the cup-bearers were pouring out for the rest of the guests snow into their liquor, and did not do so for him, extemporised this epigram:—

The cloak with which fierce Boreas clothed the brow
Of high Olympus, pierced ill-clothed man
While in its native Thrace; 'tis gentler now,
Caught by the breeze of the Pierian plain.
Let it be mine; for no one will commend
The man who gives hot water to a friend.

So when he had drunk, Ulpian asked him again where the word κνισολοῖχος is used, and also, what are the lines of Asius in which he uses the word κνισοκόλαξ? These, said Myrtilus, are the verses of Asius, to which I alluded:—

Lame, branded, old, a vagrant beggar, next
Came the cnisocolax, when Meles held
His marriage feast, seeking for gifts of soup,
Not waiting for a friendly invitation;
There in the midst the hungry hero stood,
Shaking the mud from off his ragged cloak.

[207] And the word κνισολοῖχος is used by Sophilus, in his Philarchus, in this passage,—

You are a glutton and a fat-licker.

And in the play which is entitled, The Men running together, he has used the word κνισολοιχία, in the following lines:—

That pandar, with his fat-licking propensities,
Has bid me get for him this black blood-pudding.

Now that men drank also sweet wine while eating is proved by what Alexis says in his Dropidas—

The courtesan came in with sweet wine laden,
In a large silver cup, named petachnon,
Most beauteous to behold. Not a flat dish,
Nor long-neck'd bottle, but between the two.

100. After this a cheesecake was served up, made of milk and sesame and honey, which the Romans call libum. And Cynulcus said,—Fill yourself now, O Ulpian, with your native Chthorodlapsus; a word which is not, I swear by Ceres, used by any one of the ancient writers, unless, indeed, it should chance to be found in those who have compiled histories of the affairs of Phœnicia, such as Sanchoniatho and Mochus, your own fellow-countrymen. And Ulpian said,—But it seems to me, you dog-fly, that we have had quite enough of honey-cakes: but I should like to eat some groats, with a sufficient admixture of the husks and kernels of pine-cones. And when that dish was brought—Give me, said he, some crust of bread hollowed out like a spoon; for I will not say, give me a spoon (μύστρον); since that word is not used by any of the writers previous to our own time. You have a very bad memory, my friend, quoth Æmilianus; have you not always admired Nicander the Colophonian, the Epic poet, as a man very fond of ancient authors, and a man too of very extensive learning himself? And indeed, you have already quoted him as having used the word πεπέριον, for pepper. And this same poet, in the first book of his Georgics, speaking of this use of groats, has used also the word μύστρον, saying—

But when you seek to dress a dainty dish
Of new-slain kid, or tender house-fed lamb,
Or poultry, take some unripe grains, and pound them,
And strew them all in hollow plates, and stir them,
[208] Mingled with fragrant oil. Then pour thereon
Warm broth, which take from out the dish before you,
That it be not too hot, and so boil over.
Then put thereon a lid, for when they're roasted,
The grains swell mightily; then slowly eat them,
Putting them to your mouth with hollow spoon.

In these words, my fine fellow, Nicander describes to us the way in which they ate groats and peeled barley; bidding the eater pour on it soup made of kid or lamb, or of some poultry or other. Then, says he, pound the grains in a mortar, and having mingled oil with them, stir them up till they boil; and mix in the broth made after this recipe as it gets warm, making it thicker with the spoon; and do not pour in anything else; but take the broth out of the dish before you, so as to guard against any of the more fatty parts boiling over. And it is for this reason, too, that he charges us to keep it close while it is boiling, by putting the lid on the dish; for that barley grains when roasted or heated swell very much. And at last, when it is moderately warm we are to eat it, taking it up in hollow spoons.

And Hippolochus the Macedonian, in his letter to Lynceus, in which he gives an account of some Macedonian banquet which surpassed all the feasts which had ever been heard of in extravagance, speaks of golden spoons (which he also calls μύστρα) having been given to each of the guests. But since you, my friend, wish to set up for a great admirer of the ancients, and say that you never use any expressions which are not the purest Attic, what is it that Nicophon says, the poet I mean of the old comedy, in his Cherogastores, or the Men who feed themselves by manual Labour? For I find him too speaking of spoons, and using the word μύστρον, when he says—

Dealers in anchovies, dealers in wine;
Dealers in figs, and dealers in hides;
Dealers in meal, and dealers in spoons (μυστριοπώλης);
Dealers in books, and dealers in sieves;
Dealers in cheesecakes, and dealers in seeds:

For who can the μυστριοπῶλαι be, but the men who sell μύστρα? So learning from them, my fine Syrian-Atticist, the use of the spoon, pray eat your groats, that you may not say—

But I am languid, weak for want of food.

101. And I have been surprised at your not asking where [209]the word χόνδρος, groats, comes from. Whether it is a Megarian word, or whether it comes from Thessaly, as Myrtilus does. And Ulpian said,—I will stop eating if you will tell me by whom these Megarian, or Thessalian groats are spoken of. And Æmilianus said,—But I will not refuse you; for seeing a very splendid preparation for supper, I wish that you should arm yourself for the fray, being filled with barley like a game cock; and I wish you to instruct us about the dishes which we are going to partake of. And he, getting out of temper, said,—Whence do you get this word ἐδέσματα? for one has no breathing time allowed one while constantly forced to ask these questions of these late-learned sophists. But, says Æmilianus, I can easily answer you this question; but I will first speak of the word χόνδρος, quoting you these lines of Antiphanes, out of his Antea,—

But the same play is also attributed to Alexis, though in some few places the text is a little different. And, again, Alexis says, in his play called The Wicked Woman—

There's a large parcel of Thessalian groats.

He would boil soup, and then put in a fly,
And so would give it you to drink.

He also speaks of similago; and so, though I do not remember his exact words, does Strattis, in his Anthroporaistes, or Man-destroyer. And so does Alexis, in his Isostasium. But Strattis uses σεμιδάλιδος as the genitive case, in these words—

Of these two sorts of gentle semidalis.

The word ἐδέσματα is used by Antiphanes, in his Twins, where he says—

Many nice eatables I have enjoy'd,
And had now three or four most pleasant draughts;
And feel quite frisky, eating as much food
As a whole troop of elephants.

So now we may bring this book to an end, and let it have its [210] termination with the discussions about eatables; and the next book shall begin the description of the Banquet.

Do not do so, O Athenæus, before you have told us of the Macedonian banquet of Hippolochus.—Well, if this is your wish; O Timocrates, we will prepare to gratify it.

FOOTNOTES:

BOOK IV.

1. Hippolochus the Macedonian, my friend Timocrates, lived in the time of Lynceus and Douris of Samos, pupils of Theophrastus [210:1] the Eresian. And he had made a bargain with Lynceus, as one may learn from his letters, that if ever he was present at any very expensive banquet, he would relate to him the whole of the preparations which were made; and Lynceus in return made him the same promise. And there are accordingly some letters of each of them on the subject of banquets; in which Lynceus relates the banquet which was given at Athens by Lamia the Attic female flute-player to King Demetrius, surnamed Poliorcetes, (and Lamia was the mistress of Demetrius.) And Hippolochus reports the marriage feast of Caranus the Macedonian. And we have also met with other letters of Lynceus, written to the same Hippolochus, giving an account of the banquet of King Antigonus, when he celebrated the Aphrodisian festival at Athens, and also that given by King Ptolemy. And I will show you the very letters themselves. But as the letter of Hippolochus is very scarce, I will run over to you the principal things which are contained in it, just for the sake of conversation and amusement at the present time.

2. In Macedonia, then, as I have said, Caranus made a marriage feast; and the guests invited were twenty in number. And as soon as they had sat down, a silver bowl was given to each of them as a present. And Caranus had previously crowned every one of them, before they entered the dining-room, with a golden chaplet, and each chaplet was valued at five pieces of gold. And when they had emptied [211]the bowls, then there was given to each of the guests a loaf in a brazen platter of Corinthian workmanship, of the same size; and poultry, and ducks, and besides that, pigeons, and a goose, and quantities more of the same kind of food heaped up abundantly. And each of the guests taking what was set before him, with the brazen platter itself also, gave it to the slaves who waited behind him. Many other dishes of various sorts were also served up to eat. And after them, a second platter was placed before each guest, made of silver, on which again there was placed a second large loaf, and on that geese, and hares, and kids, and other rolls curiously made, and doves, and turtledoves, and partridges, and every other kind of bird imaginable, in the greatest abundance. Those also, says Hippolochus, we gave to the slaves; and when we had eaten to satiety, we washed our hands, and chaplets were brought in in great numbers, made of all sorts of flowers from all countries, and on each chaplet a circlet of gold, of about the same weight as the first chaplet. And Hippolochus having stated after this that Proteas, the descendant of that celebrated Proteas the son of Lanice, who had been the nurse of Alexander the king, was a most extraordinary drinker, as also his grandfather Proteas, who was the friend of Alexander, had been; and that he pledged every one present, proceeds to write as follows:—

3. "And while we were now all amusing ourselves with agreeable trifling, some flute-playing women and musicians, and some Rhodian players on the sambuca come in, naked as I fancied, but some said that they had tunics on. And they having played a prelude, departed; and others came in in succession, each of them bearing two bottles of perfume, bound with a golden thong, and one of the cruets was silver and the other gold, each holding a cotyla,[211:1] and they presented them to each of the guests. And then, instead of supper, there was brought in a great treasure, a silver platter with a golden edge of no inconsiderable depth, of such a size as to receive the entire bulk of a roast boar of huge size, which lay in it on his back, showing his belly uppermost, stuffed with many good things. For in the belly there were roasted thrushes, and paunches, and a most countless number of figpeckers, and the yolks of eggs spread on the top, and oysters, and [212]periwinkles. And to every one of the guests was presented a boar stuffed in this way, nice and hot, together with the dish on which he was served up. And after this we drank wine, and each of us received a hot kid, on another platter like that on which the boar had been served up, with some golden spoons. Then Caranus seeing that we were cramped for the want of room, ordered canisters and bread-baskets to be given to each of us, made of strips of ivory curiously plaited together; and we were very much delighted at all this, and applauded the bridegroom, by whose means we were thus enabled to preserve what had been given to us. Then chaplets were again brought to us, and another pair of cruets of perfume, one silver and one gold, of the same weight as the former pair. And when quiet was restored, there entered some men, who even in the Potfeast [212:1] at Athens had borne a part in the solemnities, and with them there came in some ithyphallic dancers, and some jugglers, and some conjuring women also, tumbling and standing on their heads on swords, and vomiting fire out of their mouths, and they, too, were naked.

4. And when we were relieved from their exhibition, then we had a fresh drink offered to us, hot and strong, and Thasian, and Mendæan, and Lesbian wines were placed upon the board, very large golden goblets being brought to every one of us. And after we had drunk, a glass goblet of two cubits in diameter, placed on a silver stand, was served up, full of roast fishes of every imaginable sort that could be collected. And there was also given to every one a silver breadbasket full of Cappadocian loaves; some of which we ate and some we delivered to the slaves behind us. And when we had washed our hands, we put on chaplets; and then again we received golden circlets twice as large as the former ones, and another pair of cruets of perfume. And when quiet was restored, Proteas leaping up from his couch, asked for a cup to hold a gallon; and having filled it with Thasian wine, and having mingled a little water with it, he drank it off, saying—

He who drinks most will be the happiest.

And Caranus said—"Since you have been the first to drink, do you be the first also to accept the cup as a gift; and this [213]also shall be the present for all the rest who drink too." And when this had been said, at once nine of the guests rose up snatching at the cups, and each one trying to forestall the other. But one of those who were of the party, like an unlucky man as he was, as he was unable to drink, sat down and cried because he had no goblet; and so Caranus presented him with an empty goblet. After this, a dancing party of a hundred men came in, singing an epithalamium in beautiful tune. And after them there came in dancing girls, some arranged so as to represent the Nereids, and others in the guise of the nymphs.

5. And as the drinking went on, and the shadows were beginning to fall, they opened the chamber where everything was encircled all round with white cloths. And when these curtains were drawn, the torches appeared, the partitions having been secretly removed by mechanism. And there were seen Cupids, and Dianas, and Pans, and Mercuries, and numbers of statues of that kind, holding torches in silver candlesticks. And while we were admiring the ingenuity of the contrivance, some real Erymanthean boars were brought round to each of the guests on square platters with golden edges, pierced through and through with silver darts. And what was the strangest thing of all was, that those of us who were almost helpless and stupefied with wine, the moment that we saw any of these things which were brought in, became all in a moment sober, standing upright, as it is said. And so the slaves crammed them into the baskets of good omen, until the usual signal of the termination of the feast sounded. For you know that that is the Macedonian custom at large parties.

And Caranus, who had begun drinking in small goblets, ordered the slaves to bring round the wine rapidly. And so we drank pleasantly, taking our present liquor as a sort of antidote to our previous hard drinking. And while we were thus engaged, Mandrogenes the buffoon came in, the descendant, as is reported, of that celebrated Strato the Athenian, and he caused us much laughter. And after this he danced with his wife, a woman who was already more than eighty years of age. And at last the tables, to wind up the whole entertainment, were brought in. And sweetmeats in plaited baskets made of ivory were distributed to every one. [214]And cheesecakes of every kind known, Cretan cheesecakes, and your Samian ones, my friend Lynceus, and Attic ones, with the proper boxes, or dishes, suitable to each kind of confection. And after this we all rose up and departed, quite sobered, by Jove, by the thoughts of, and our anxiety about, the treasures which we had received.

But you who never go out of Athens think yourself happy when you hear the precepts of Theophrastus, and when you eat thyme, and salads, and nice twisted loaves, solemnizing the Lenæan festival, and the Potfeast at the Anthesteria. But at the banquet of Caranus, instead of our portions of meat, we carried off actual riches, and are now looking, some for houses, and some for lands, and some of us are seeking to buy slaves."

6. Now if you consider this, my friend Timocrates, with which of the Greek feasts that you ever heard of do you think this banquet, which has just been described to you, can be compared? When even Antiphanes the comic writer jokingly said in the Œnomaus, or perhaps it is in the Pelops—

What could the Greeks, of sparing tables fond,
Eaters of salads, do? where you may get
Four scanty chops or steaks for one small penny.
But among the ancestors of our nation
Men roasted oxen, deer, and lambs entire,
And last of all the cook, outdoing all
His predecessors, set before the king
A roasted camel, smoking, hump and all.

And Aristophanes, in his Acharnians, extolling the magnificence of the barbarians, says—

And Anaxandrides, in his Protesilaus, ridiculing the feast made at the marriage of Iphicrates when he married the daughter of Cotys king of the Thracians, says—

If you do this as I bid you,
You will ask us all to a supper,
Not to such as that in Thrace,
Given by Iphicrates—
Though, indeed, they say that
Was a very noble feast.
[215] For that all along the market
Purple carpets there were spread
To the northern corner;
And a countless host of men
With dirty hands and hair uncomb'd
Supped on butter. There were too,
Brazen goblets, large as cisterns,
Holding plenty for a dozen
Of the hardest drinkers known.
Cotys, too, himself was there,
Girt around, and bearing kindly
Rich soup in a gold tureen;
Tasting all the brimming cups,
So as to be the first to yield
Of all the guests t' intoxication.
There was Antigenides
Delighting all with his soft flute,
Argas sung, and from Acharnæ
Cephisodotus struck the lyre,
Celebrating Lacedæmon
And the wide land of the Heraclidæ,
And at other times they sung
Of the seven-gated Thebes,
Changing thus their strain and theme.
Large was the dowry which 'tis said
Fell to the lucky bridegroom's share:
First, two herds of chestnut horses,
And a herd of horned goats,
A golden shield, a wide-neck'd bowl,
A jar of snow, a pot of millet,
A deep pit full of leeks and onions,
And a hecatomb of polypi.
This they say that Cotys did,
King of Thrace, in heartfelt joy
At Iphicrates's wedding.
But a finer feast by far
Shall be in our master's houses;
For there's nothing good or fine
Which our house does stand in need of.
There is scent of Syrian myrrh,
There is incense, there is spice;
There are delicate cakes and loaves,
Cakes of meal and polypi,
Tripe, and fat, and sausages,
Soup, and beet, and figs, and pease,
Garlic, various kinds of tunnies,
Ptisan, pulse, and toast and muffins,
Beans, and various kinds of vetches,
Honey, cheese, and cheesecakes too,
Wheat, and nuts, and barley-groats,
Roasted crabs, and mullets boil'd,
[216] Roasted cuttle-fish, boil'd turbot,
Frogs, and perch, and mussels too,
Sharks, and roach, and gudgeons too,
Fish from doves and cuckoos named,
Plaice, and flounders, shrimps, and rays.
Then, besides these dainty fish
There is many another dish,—
Honeycombs and juicy grapes,
Figs and cheesecakes, apples, pears,
Cornels, and the red pomegranate,
Poppies, creeping thyme, and parsley,
Peaches, olives, plums and raisins,
Leeks and onions, cabbages,
Strong smelling assafœtida,
Fennel, eggs, and lentils cool,
And well-roasted grasshoppers,
Cardamums and sesame,
Ceryces, salt, and limpets firm,
The pinna, and the oyster bright,
The periwinkle, and the whelk;
And besides this a crowd of birds,
Doves and ducks, and geese and sparrows,
Thrushes, larks, and jays, and swans,
The pelican, the crane and stork,
Wagtails and ousels, tits and finches;
And to wash all these dainties down
There's wine, both native and imported,
White and red, and sweet and acid,
Still or effervescent.

But Dromeas the parasite, when some one once asked him, as Hegesander the Delphian relates, whether the banquets in the city or at Chalcis were the best, said that the prelude to the banquets at Chalcis was superior to the whole entertainment in the city, calling the multitudes of oysters served up, and the great variety of fish, the prelude to the banquet.

9. But Diphilus, in his Female Deserter, introduces a cook, and represents him as saying—

10. The ancients used food calculated to provoke the appetite, as for instance salt olives, which they call colymbades: and accordingly Aristophanes says, in his Old Age—

Old man, do you like flabby courtesans,
Or tender maidens, firm as well-cured olives?

They also eat common grasshoppers and the monkey grasshopper as procreatives of the appetite. Aristophanes says, in his Anagyrus—

How can you, in God's name, like grasshoppers,
Catching them with a reed, and cercopes?[218:1]

But the cercope is a little animal like a grasshopper or prickly roach, as Speusippus tells us in the fourth book of his Similitudes; and Epilycus mentions them in his Coraliscus. And Alexis says in his Thrason—

I never saw, not even a cercope
A greater chatterer than you, O woman,
Nor jay, or nightingale, or dove, or grasshopper.

The first, a mighty dish shall lead the way,
Holding an urchin, and some sauce and capers,
A cheesecake, fish, and onions in rich stuffing.

11. And that they used to eat, for the sake of encouraging the appetite, rape dressed with vinegar and mustard, is plainly stated by Nicander, in the second book of his Georgics, where he says—

The rape is a mix'd breed from radishes;
It's grown in garden beds, both long and stiff;
One sort they wash and dry in the north wind,
A friend to winter and to idle servants:
Then it revives when soak'd in water warm.
Cut thou the roots of rape, and gently scrape
[219] The not yet juiceless rind in shavings thin;
Then dry them in the sun a little while,
Then dip them in hot water, and in brine,
And pack them closely; or at other times
Pour in new wine and vinegar, half and half,
Into one vessel, and put salt on the top.
And often 'twill be well to pound fresh raisins,
And add them gently, scattering in some seeds
Of biting mustard; and some dregs of vinegar,
To reach the head and touch the vigorous brain:
A goodly dish for those who want a dinner.

Have you now any sharp fresh vinegar?
I think, too, we've some fig-tree juice, my boy.
In these I'll press the meat as tight as may be;
And some dried herbs I'll spread around the dish;
For of all condiments these do most surely
The body's sensitive parts and nerves excite.
They drive away unpleasant heaviness,
And make the guests sit down with appetite.

12. And Alexis, in his Tarentines, when speaking of their banquets, says that the Athenians used to dance at their drinking parties—

And Antiphanes, in his Carians, with reference to the Attic fashion of dancing, turns one of the sophists into ridicule, as dancing at a banquet, in the following verses—

Do you not see that eunuch capering,
Waving his hands, no signs of shame he shows;
He who was lecturing us on Heraclitus,
The only master of Theodectes' school,
The spouter of Euripides's proverbs.

And it will not be foreign to the subject to quote here what is said by Eriphus the comic poet, in his Œolus—

[220] For 'tis an ancient proverb, and a wise one;
That old men seek for wine to make them dance,
Spite of their age, against their will, my father.

They drank in picnic fashion, only seeking
For some excuse to dance. There was the name
Of meat and vegetables; fish, and crabs,
Gudgeon and tench, and similago fine.

13. But Matron the parodist, says Plutarch, has given a very agreeable account of an Attic banquet; and as it is very rare I will not scruple, my friends, to repeat it to you—

The feast for much and varied food renown'd,
Given by Xenocles, O Muse, resound;[220:1]
For when at Athens he his cards sent round,
I went invited, hungry as a hound.
What loaves I saw, how large, how round, how fine,[220:2]—
So white, on them alone one well might dine!
Boreas, enamour'd of the well-baked train,
Gazed on them fondly;[220:3] while along the plain
The stately Xenocles survey'd the ground,
And placed the guests the goodly board around.
Near him the parasite Chærephoon stood,
And like a cormorant gazed upon the food,[220:4]
Ever at other's cost well pleased to eat:
Meanwhile the cooks prepared the dainty treat,
The skilful cooks, to whom is given all sway
The sumptuous feast to quicken or delay.
Then all the rest the herbs and greens did seize,
But me the solid meats did rather please;
Rich oysters guarded in their solid shell,
While to Phœnician-brine I said farewell;
And threw away the urchin's tasteless meat,
Which rattled falling at the servant's feet,
Loud as the waves the rocky shore which flout,[220:5]
While they in fun the prickly spines pull'd out.
There came th' anchovy of Phaleric race
Holding a dirty veil before its face,[220:6]
Friend of the Triton, to the Cyclops dear;

* * * * *

And pinna's sweet, and cockles fat were there
Which the wave breeds beneath its weedy bed,
The gristly turbot, and the mullet red.
First in the fray on them I laid my hand,
And called on Phœbus, by his slave to stand;
But when Stratocles, scorning fear, I saw
Hold in his hand the mullet's luscious jaw,
[221] I seized it too, and while it came apart,
Quick with the dainty bit rejoiced my heart.
There, too, the silver-footed Thetis came,
The fair-hair'd cuttle-fish, the mighty dame,
Fairest of Nereus' daughters, none but she
Of fish can both with black and white agree.[221:1]
There, too, the conger, Tityos of the main,
Lay on nine tables and o'erspread the plain.[221:2]
Next came the eel, who charm'd the mighty Jove,
And soften'd his stern soul to tender love.
So mighty that two wrestlers, of the days
Of old Astyanax, could scarcely raise
Her from the ground and place her on the board,
Nine fathoms long, and full nine cubits broad.
Up stairs, down stairs the busy cooks did haste,
While more fresh dishes on the board they placed.
Next forty large black pots appear'd in view,
And forty platters from Eubœa too.
Then various Iris, Jove's commands to bear,
In shape of cuttle-fish flew through the air.
The shining perch, the black tail next appear'd;
A mortal fish to join immortals dared.
Alone, apart in discontented mood,
A gloomy dish, the sullen tunny stood;[221:3]
For ever sad with proud disdain he pined,
And the lost arms for ever stung his mind.
The shark, to masons and upholders dear,
Good nurse of youth, though rough its skin appear;[221:4]
Nor do I know on earth a nicer food,
Though what came next is very near as good,
A roasted cestreas; nor alone it lay,
For twelve fine sargi came the self-same way.[221:5]
And a dark amias, of every sea
Who knows the depths, great Neptune's comrade he.
And squills the minstrels of Olympian Jove,
Whom none to look at, all to taste of, love.
The chrysophrys, for shining beauty famed,
The crab's hard shell refusing to be tamed.
All these, and many more besides, I saw
Crush'd in each hungry guest's devouring jaw.
The royal sturgeon led the second band,
Towards whom, though nearly full, I stretch'd my hand;
He like ambrosia to my senses look'd,
Which I had always thought for gods alone was cook'd.
Then came a lamprey, large and richly fed,
As when he seeks the dragon's daughter's bed.
And next, (the goddesses such sandals wear,)
Of mighty soles a firm and well-match'd pair.
[222] Then the sea thrushes young and fierce, who dive
Mid the deep rocks and tear their prey alive.
The sargus, mormyrus, hippurus, spar,
The shad, the gale; so countless fishes are.
The feast to view the guests' eyes joyful beam'd,
And all the house with the rich odour steam'd.
The host bade all sit down: myself, I thought
This woman's food, and something solid sought.
Large in the centre lay a vacant space,
Which herbs and salads did with verdure grace.
Then a sea blackbird came, a morsel nice,
And disappear'd, devoured in a trice.
Then came a ham, t' its foes a helpless prey,
And while it lasted none could keep away.
But when the feast was o'er I wept with sorrow
To think I could not eat on till to-morrow,
But must fall back on barley-meal and cheese.

* * * * *

Black broth subdued him and boil'd pettitoes;
Then came some ducks from Salamis, sacred isle,
Borne by the cook, who with a cheerful smile,
Marshall'd them where the Athenian phalanx stood;
And Chærephon survey'd the various food,
That he might know to choose and eat the best;
Then like a lion leapt he on the feast,[222:1]
And seized a mighty leg of turkey hot,
To make his supper when he home had got.
Then groats which Vulcan made into a cake,
And in Attic pan full thirteen months did bake
But when our wish for food was satisfied,
We wash'd our hands in ocean's foaming tide;
One beauteous slave came round with rich perfume,
Another garlands strew'd around the room.
Then foam'd around old Bacchus' rosy tide,
And each guest merrily with his fellow vied.
Then the dessert was served; the juicy pear,
The apple and pomegranate too were there.
The grape, the nurse of Bacchus, and the plum,
And fig, and medlar on the table come.
But I ate nought, I was so full before,
Till I that lovely child of Ceres saw,
A large sweet round and yellow cake; how then
Could I from such a dish, my friends, abstain?
Had I ten mouths, aye, and as many hands,
A brazen stomach within brazen bands,[222:2]
They all would on that lovely cake have sprung.
And so the feast of Stratocles I've sung.

14. And Alexis, in his Men running together, ridiculing the Attic banquets, says—

[223] I wish that I could get a brace of cooks,
The cleverest in their art in all the city.
For he who a Thessalian would invite,
Must never stint his fare in Attic fashion,
Nor practise over strict economy;
But have in all things a well-order'd feast.

And the Thessalians are truly fond of eating; as Eriphus says in his Light-armed Soldier, thus—

It is not Corinth now, nor Lais here,
Nor any feast of sumptuous Thessalians,
Whose habits well I know.

And the author, whoever he was, of the play called The Beggars, which is ascribed to Chionides, says that the Athenians, when they place a banquet for Castor and Pollux in their Prytaneum, serve up on the tables cheese and barley-cakes, and olives which have fallen, and leeks, for the sake of reminding people of the ancient manner of living. And Solon enjoins them to serve up barley-cakes to those who eat in the prytaneum: and besides that, to place bread on the table at festivals, in imitation of Homer; for he, too, when collecting the chiefs around Agamemnon, says—

The cakes were baked.

And Chrysippus, in the fourth book of his treatise on Beauty and Pleasure, says—"But at Athens they say that two festivals are celebrated there (neither of them of great antiquity), one at the Lyceum and one in the Academy, and when the confectioner had brought into the Academy a dish for some other purpose, all those who were offering sacrifice at once broke the dish, because something had been introduced which did not belong to the city, and everything which came from afar ought to have been kept away. And that the cook at the Lyceum having prepared some salt-fish in order to serve up a dish of it, was scourged as a man who used his invention in a very wicked manner." And Plato, in the second book of his Republic, represents his new citizens as feasting, and writes—"You make your men feast without any second course, says he. You say the truth, I replied; I forgot that they will have a second course—namely, salt, and olives, and cheese, and onions; and besides, they will boil such vegetables as are found in the fields; and moreover, we shall serve up some sweetmeats to them,—figs, and beans, and vetches. They shall roast myrtle-berries too and [224] beech-acorns at the fire, drinking moderately all the time. And in this manner they shall pass their lives in peace, growing old, as it is probable they will, in the enjoyment of good health, and transmit a good constitution to their posterity."

15. We must next speak of the Lacedæmonian banquets. Now Herodotus, in the ninth book of his Histories, speaking of the preparation of Mardonius, and mentioning the banquets of the Lacedæmonians, says—"Xerxes, when fleeing from Greece, left all his equipment to Mardonius. And when Pausanias beheld the appointments of Mardonius's tent, and his tent itself all furnished with gold and silver and embroidered curtains, he ordered the bakers and confectioners to prepare him a supper exactly as they had been in the habit of preparing for Mardonius. And when they had done as they were commanded, Pausanias, beholding the couches of gold and silver all ready laid and covered, and the silver tables, and the superb banquet which was prepared, marvelling at what he saw, by way of ridicule ordered his own slaves to prepare a banquet in the Lacedæmonian fashion. But when it was made ready, Pausanias laughed, and sent for all the generals of the Greeks; and when they were come he showed them both the banquets which were prepared before him, and said: O Greeks, I have assembled you, because I was desirous to exhibit to you the folly of the general of the Medes; who, while he was used himself to live in the manner which you behold, came against us who are in the habit of living in the hard way which you see here."

And some say that a citizen of Sybaris, who was staying at Sparta, and who dined at their Phiditia, said—"It is natural enough for the Lacedæmonians to be the bravest of men; for any man in his senses would rather die ten thousand times over, than live in such a miserable way as this."

16. And Polemo, in his treatise on the Wicker Carriage mentioned by Xenophon, says "that Cratinus in his Pluti, mentioning the feast which is called by the Lacedæmonians Copis, speaks as follows—

Tell me, I pray you, is it true that all
The strangers in that country, who arrive,
May banquet at the Copis at their pleasure?
And at their parties do there hang around
Cakes fix'd on pegs, that every one who will,
Young men and old, may take a bite at them?

And let a Copis be this day prepared.

Now the Copis is a peculiar sort of entertainment, just as that which is called Aiclon. And when it takes place, first of all they erect tents near the temple of the god; and in them they place beds of leaves; and on them they strew carpets, and then they feast those who recline on them, not only those who arrive, being natives of the country, but those foreigners also who are sojourning in the place. And at these copides they sacrifice goats, but no other victim; and they give portions of its flesh to every one, and they distribute also what they call a physicillus, which is a little loaf like an encris, made of oil and honey, only rounder in shape. And they give to every one who is present a newly made cheese, and a slice of paunch, and black-pudding, and sweetmeats, and dried figs, and beans, and green kidney-beans. And any one of the rest of the Spartans who chooses, partakes of this Copis.

"They also celebrate copides in the city at the festival called Tithenidia,[225:1] which is celebrated on behalf of the children. For the nurses at this season bring the male children into the fields, and to the Diana surnamed Corythallia; whose temple is near the fountain called Tiassus, in the parts towards Cleta; and there they celebrate copides, in a manner similar to those which have been already mentioned. And they sacrifice small sucking-pigs, and they also at the feast set before the guests some of the loaves called ipnitæ. But this aiclon is called by all the other Dorians δεῖπνον. At all events Epicharmus, in his Hope, says—

For some one of his own accord has ask'd you to an αἶκλον,
And do thou gladly go in haste of your accord to eat it.

And he repeats the same lines in his Periallus. But at Lacedæmon, after supper is over, they set what they call ἄïκλον (not αἶκλον) before all those who come to the Phiditium; namely, loaves of bread in a small basket, and a slice of meat for each person. And an attendant follows the servant who distributes the portions, proclaiming the ἄïκλον, adding to his proclamation the name of him who has sent it round."

17. This was the statement of Polemo. But Didymus the Grammarian contradicted him, (and Demetrius, of Trœzen, calls him a Bookforgetter, on account of the number of books [226]which he has edited, for they amount to three thousand and five hundred,) and said—"Polycrates, in his history of Lacedæmonian affairs, relates that the Lacedæmonians celebrate the festival called Hyacinthia for three days, and on account of their lamentation for Hyacinthus, they do not wear crowns at their feasts, nor do they bring bread there, but they distribute cheesecakes, and other things of the same kind. And they sing no pæan to the god, nor do they introduce anything of that sort, as they do in other sacred festivals, but they eat their supper in a very orderly manner, and then depart. But on the middle one of the three days there is a very superb spectacle, and a very considerable and important assembly; for boys play upon the harp, girt up in their tunics, and singing to the music of the flute, running over all the strings of the harp at the same time with the plectrum, in an anapæstic rhythm, with a shrill tone, and in that manner they sing a hymn in honour of the god. And others riding on horses and handsomely dressed go through the theatre; and very numerous choruses of young men enter, and they sing some of their native poems. And dancers mingled with them perform an ancient sort of dance to the music of a flute and singing. And virgins also, some in wooden curved chariots, called canathra, beautifully made, and others in crowds of large waggons drawn by horses, make a procession; and the whole city is in a state of agitation and of delight at the spectacle. And they sacrifice great numbers of victims all this day. And the citizens give a banquet to all their friends, and to their own slaves; and no one omits attending the sacred feast, but the whole city is evacuated by the whole body of citizens flocking to the spectacle.

"And the copis is also mentioned by Aristophanes or Philyllius in the Cities, and by Epilycus in the Coraliscus, where he says—

When I shall bear a copis to the fane
Of sacred Amyclæ, then many baraces,
And loaves, and luscious sauce shall show my coming:

saying expressly that barley-cakes are set before the guests at the copides, (for that is the meaning of the word βάρακες, which does not mean cheesecakes, as Lycophron asserts, nor barley-meal porridge, as Eratosthenes believes,) and loaves, and a particular sort of broth very highly seasoned. Moreover, what the copis is, is very perspicuously explained by [227]Molpis in his treatise on the Polity of the Lacedæmonians, where he writes, They also have feasts which they call copides. But the copis is a supper consisting of barley-cakes, loaves, meat, raw vegetables, soup, figs, sweetmeats, and warmed wine. Moreover, sucking-pigs are not called ὀρθαγορίσκοι, as Polemo pronounces the word, but ὀρθραγορίσκοι, since they are sold at early dawn (πρὸς τὸν ὄρθρον), as Persæus relates in his treatise on the Lacedæmonian Polity. And Dioscorides, in the second book of his Polity, and Aristocles, in the first book of the treatise which he also wrote concerning the Lacedæmonian Polity, make the same statement. Besides, Polemo says, that supper is called ἄïκλον by the Lacedæmonians, and that all the rest of the Dorians give it the same name. For Alcman says—

At the mill and also at the suppers (ταῖς συναικλείαις),

where he uses συναίκλειαι as equivalent to συνδείπνια. And in a subsequent passage he says—

Alcman prepared an ἄïκλον.

But the Lacedæmonians do not call that portion which is given after the supper ἄïκλον, nor that which is given after supper at the phiditia; for that consists of bread and meat: but that is called ἐπάïκλον, being, as it were, an addition to the ἄïκλον, which is regularly appointed as a part of the phiditia; and that is what I imagine the name implies. For the preparation of what is called the ἐπάïκλα is not simple, as Polemo supposed, but of a two-fold nature. For that which they give to the boys is very slight and trifling, being merely meal steeped in oil, which Nicocles, the Lacedæmonian, says that they eat after supper, wrapped up in leaves of the bay-tree, from which those leaves are called καμματίδες,[227:1] and the cakes themselves are called κάμματα. And that it was a custom of the ancients to eat the leaves of the bay-tree at dessert, Callias or Diocles asserts in the Cyclopes, speaking thus—

You will eat the leaves meant for supper,
And this belongs to the figures which . . .

But what they serve up at the phiditia of the men is prepared of some few regular animals, one of those who are rich men providing them for the phiditia, or sometimes several men club together to furnish it. But Molpis tells us that the ἐπάïκλα are also surnamed ματτύη."

[228] 18. But concerning the ἐπάïκλα, Persæus, in his treatise on the Lacedæmonian Constitution, writes as follows:—"And immediately he levies on the rich men a tax of money to provide the ἐπάïκλα; and this word means the sweetmeats which come on after supper. But he enjoins the poor to bring a reed, or a straw, or a leaf of the bay-tree, in order that they may be able to eat the ἐπάïκλα after supper. For it consists of meal steeped in oil; and this is wholly like the arrangement of some small state. For in these ἐπάïκλα they attend to all such points as these: who ought to sit down first, or second, or who ought to sit down on a small couch; and so on." And Dioscorides gives the same account. But concerning the words καμματίδες and κάμματα Nicocles writes as follows:—"But the Ephor, having heard the cause, pronounces an acquittal or a condemnation. And he who has gained the cause is slightly taxed to provide some κάμματα or καμματίδες. Now the κάμματα are cakes; but the καμματίδες are what they wrap them in in order to eat them."

19. But concerning the banquet of the Phiditia, Dioscorides gives this account in his book entitled Tripoliticus. "In the first place, each individual has his supper put down separately before him, and he has no participation with any one else; and after that each has as much barley-cake as he pleases. And again, a cup is placed before each person, to drink whenever he pleases. And the meat is always the same for every one, being boiled pork; but sometimes they have no meat at all, except some little bit weighing at the outside about four minæ; and besides this, nothing at all except the broth which comes from it; which is sufficient for every one at the whole banquet to have some. And sometimes there may be some olives, or some cheese, or a few figs: and sometimes they have some small addition—a fish, or a hare, or a pigeon, or something of that sort: and then, after they have eaten very rapidly, the things are brought round which are called ἐπάïκλα. And every one contributes to the phiditium about three Attic semimedimni [228:1] of meal, and about eleven or twelve choes [228:2] of wine; and in addition to this they contributed a certain weight of cheese and figs; and moreover, for purchasing meat, they gave ten Æginetan obols."[228:3]

[229] But Sphærus, in the third book of his treatise on the Lacedæmonian Constitution, writes—"The partakers of the phiditium do also themselves contribute the ἐπάïκλα. And sometimes most of them make their contributions consist of what has been caught by them in hunting. Not but what the rich contribute also bread and whatever vegetables or fruits may be in season, in such quantities as are sufficient for one meal; thinking that to provide more than is just enough is superfluous, as it will not be eaten." And Molpis says—"But after the supper is over something is always contributed by some one or other, and sometimes by many joining together; and the ματτύη, which they call the ἐπάïκλον, is prepared by them at their own houses: but no one goes to any expense in buying what he contributes for this purpose. For they do not contribute it for the purpose of giving pleasure, or of indulging in any immoderate eating, but with the view of making a display of their own skill in hunting. And many also who breed flocks of sheep, give their produce very liberally. And this ματτύη consists of pigeons, geese, two hen-doves, thrushes, blackbirds, hares, lambs, kids. And the cooks always proclaim the name of him who has contributed each dish, in order that all men may see his devotion to hunting, and his eagerness to contribute to their enjoyment."

But Demetrius the Scepsian says, in the first book of his treatise on the Trojan Array, "that the festival of the Carnea among the Lacedæmonians is a representation of a military expedition. For that there are nine spots marked out; and they are called sciades,[229:1] having something like tents in them; and in each of them nine men sup; and everything is proclaimed by the crier as if it were a military order. Now each scias has three phratriæ. And this festival of the Carnea lasts nine days."

20. Subsequently the Lacedæmonians relaxed the rigour of this way of living, and became more luxurious. At all events, Phylarchus, in the fifteenth and again in the twentieth book of his Histories, writes thus concerning them:—"The Lacedæmonians had given up assembling for the phiditia, according to the custom of their country, and whenever they met, after having had a few things brought round, for the sake of a seeming compliance with the law, other things were then [230]prepared; couches furnished in a very expensive way and of exceeding size, and all differing from one another in their adornment; so that some of the strangers who were invited used to be afraid to put their elbows on the pillows; and those who formerly used to rest on a bare bench during the whole banquet, perhaps once leaning on their elbows for a few minutes, had now come to such a pitch of luxury as I have spoken of, and to a serving up of many cups of wine, and of all sorts of food procured from all countries and dressed in every kind of luxurious way; and besides that, they had come to use foreign perfumes, and also foreign wines and sweetmeats. And the people began this fashion who lived a short time before the reign of Cleomenes, namely Areus and Acrotatus, rivalling the indulgences of the court of Persia; and they in their turn were so far exceeded by some private individuals, who lived in Sparta at that time, in their own personal extravagance, that Areus and Acrotatus appeared people of such rigid economy as to have surpassed the most simple of their predecessors in self-denial."

21. "But Cleomenes was a man of eminent wisdom in his discernment of matters, (although he was but a young man,) and also was exceedingly simple in his manner of life. For he, being king, and having such important affairs intrusted to his management, displayed such behaviour to any who were invited to any sacrifice, as to make them see that what they had daily prepared at home for themselves was in no respect inferior to what he allowed himself. And when many embassies were sent to him he never made a banquet for the ambassadors at an earlier hour than the regular time; and there never was anything more laid than a common pentaclinum; and when there was no embassy, what was laid was a triclinium. And there were no orders issued by the regulator of the feasts, as to who should come in or who should sit down first: but the eldest led the way to the couch, unless he himself invited any one else to do so; and he was generally seen supping with his brother or with some of his friends of his own age. And there was placed on a tripod a brazen wine-cooler, and a cask, and a small silver cup holding two cotylæ,[230:1] and a cyathus;[230:2] and the spoon was [231]made of brass. And wine was not brought round to drink unless any one asked for it; but one cyathus was given to each guest before supper: and generally it was given to himself first; and then, when he had thus given the signal, the rest also asked for some wine. But what was served up was placed on a very common-looking table; and the dishes were such that there was neither anything left, nor anything deficient, but just a sufficient quantity for every one; so that those who were present should not feel the want of anything. For he did not think it right to receive guests as sparingly, in respect of soup and meat, as men are treated at the phiditia; nor again, to have so much superfluity as to waste money for no purpose, exceeding all moderation and reason in the feast; for the one extreme he counted illiberal, and the other arrogant. And the wine was of rather a better quality when he had any company. But while they were eating they all kept silence; but a slave stood by, holding in his hand a vessel of mixed wine, and poured out for every one who asked for it. And in the same manner, after supper there was given to each guest not more than two cyathi of wine, and this too was brought to each person as he made a sign for it. And there was no music of any kind accompanying the meal, but Cleomenes himself conversed all the time with each individual, having invited them, as it were, for the purpose of listening and talking; so that all departed charmed with his hospitality and affability."

But Antiphanes, ridiculing the Lacedæmonian banquets, in the style of the comic poets, in his drama which is entitled Archon, speaks as follows:—

If you should live in Lacedæmon's walls,
You must comply with all their fashions there.
Go to their spare phiditia for supper,
And feast on their black broth; and not disdain
To wear fierce whiskers and seek no indulgence
Further than this; but keep the olden customs,
Such as their country doth compel.

22. And concerning the Cretan banquets, or συσσίτια, Dosiades speaks in the fourth book of his treatise on Cretan Affairs, speaking as follows:—"But the Lyctians collect men for the common meal (συσσίτια) of the nation in this way:—Every one brings a tenth part of the fruits which his land produces and throws into the common stock of the mess; [232]and they also bring their share of the taxes due to the city, which the chief magistrates of the city distribute among each separate family. And each one of the slaves pays an Æginetan stater [232:1] a head. The citizens are all divided into messes; and they call them ἀνδρεῖα. And a woman has the superintendence of their meals, having three or four of the people under her to obey her orders. Now each one of the company is followed by two servants bearing wood; and their title is calophori. And there are in every town of Crete two houses set apart for these συσσίτιαι, one of which they call the men's house, and the other, that, namely, in which they receive strangers, they call the sleeping house. And in the house which is set apart for these public meals, there are first of all two tables set out, called the strangers' tables, at which those foreigners who are present sit; and after that tables are laid for the rest. And the younger men have half the quantity of meat; and they touch none of the other dishes. Then a bowl of wine is placed on each table, mingled with water; and all drink of this in common at the common table; and when they have finished supper then another bowl is put on the table. But for the boys one common bowl is likewise mixed; but the elders have liberty to drink more if they feel inclined to. And the woman who has the superintendence of the mess takes away from off the table, without any disguise or concealment, the best of what is served up, and puts it before those who are distinguished for warlike achievements or for wisdom. And when they have finished supper, then, first of all, they are in the habit of deliberating on the affairs of the state; and then, after that, they converse about exploits which have been performed in war, and extol those who have behaved like valiant men, and so exhort the younger men to acts of valour and virtue."

And Pyrgion, in the third book of his treatise on Cretan Laws, says—"At their public meals the Cretans sit and feast merrily. And those who are orphans have dishes served up to them without any seasoning; and the youngest of them minister to the others; and having uttered words of good omen they pour libations to the gods, and distribute the dishes served up to all the guests. They distribute some also to the sons who are sitting just behind the seat of their [233]fathers; giving them one-half as much as is given to men; but the orphans have an equal share. And whatever is served up to them has no seasoning nor any luxurious mixtures compounded in it. There were also three seats designed for strangers, and a third table, on the right hand side as you went in to the house where the men ate; and that they called the table of the Jupiter of Hospitality, and the table of Hospitality."

23. And Herodotus, comparing the drinking parties of the Greeks with the banquets in fashion among the Persians, says—"But the Persians are accustomed to honour that day above all others on which they were born. And on that day they think it right to have a more splendid feast than on any other day. And on that day those of them who are rich serve up an ox, and an ass, and a horse, and a camel, all roasted whole in ovens: but those who are poor serve up only the smaller animals, such as sheep; and they do not eat a great deal of meat, but great quantities of sweetmeats, and no salt. And on this account the Persians say that the Greeks, when they eat, leave off being still hungry, because after supper nothing is served up to them worth speaking of. For that if anything good were put before them they would not leave off eating it: but they sit very long at their wine. And it is not allowed to them to vomit, nor to make water in the presence of one another. And these laws are strictly observed among them. And after they have drunk hard they are accustomed to deliberate on the most important affairs. And whatever they determine on at these deliberations, the next day the master of the house, wherever they were when they deliberated, proposes to them over again when they are quite sober; and if they adopt the same determination when sober, then they act upon it, but if not, they abandon it: and whatever they decide on when sober, they reconsider when they are drunk."

24. But concerning the luxury of the kings among the Persians, Xenophon, in his Agesilaus, writes as follows:—"For men travel over the whole earth in the service of the king of Persia, looking to find out what may be pleasant for him to drink; and ten thousand men are always contriving something nice for him to eat; and no one can tell the number of contrivances they propose to cause him to sleep well. [234]But Agesilaus, because he was a man fond of exertion, drank whatever was set before him with pleasure, and ate whatever came across him with appetite; and every place suited him to sleep pleasantly in." And in his treatise entitled Hiero, speaking of the things which are prepared for kings, and also of the dishes which are prepared for private individuals to eat, he uses the following expressions:—"'And I know,' said he, 'O Simonides, that most men consider that we eat and drink more pleasantly than private individuals in this respect, because they think that they should more gladly eat of what is served up to us than of what is set before them. For that whatever is out of the ordinary routine gives pleasure; on which account all men gladly receive invitations to festivals, except kings. For as their tables are always loaded to satiety, it is quite impossible that they should be susceptible of any addition at the time of feasts; so that in this particular pleasure which is derived from hope they are surpassed by private individuals. And in the next place,' he continued, 'I am sure that you yourself know from experience that the more any one sets before people that which is more than sufficient, in that exact proportion is a disgust at eating quicker in coming on; so that a man who has a very large and varied dinner set before him is inferior to those who live moderately also in the duration of his pleasure.' 'But, by Jove,' said Simonides, 'as long as the mind feels an appetite, so long are those who are bred up amid more expensive preparations delighted in a much higher degree than those who are in the habit of living in a most economical manner.'"

25. But Theophrastus, in the Book on Royal Authority, addressed to Cassander, (if indeed the book under that title, attributed to him, be a genuine work of his, for many say that it was written by Sosibius, to whom Callimachus the poet addresses a triumphal hymn in elegiac metre,) says that "the Persian kings were so luxurious as to offer by proclamation a large sum of money to any one who could invent any new pleasure." And Theopompus, in the thirty-fifth book of his Histories, says, that "the king of the Paphlagonians, whose name was Thys, whenever he supped, ordered a hundred dishes of every sort to be placed on his table, beginning with oxen. And that when he was led captive to the king of Persia and kept in prison, he still continued to have the [235]same profusion served up to him, living in the most splendid manner. So that Artaxerxes, when he heard of it, said that he appeared to him to be living like a man who knew that he should soon die." But the same Theopompus, in the fourteenth book of his History of the Exploits of Philip, says—"When the king comes to any one of his subject cities, twenty talents are expended on his supper, and sometimes thirty; and some even spend a much larger sum still. For it is a very old custom, that every city is bound to supply a supper in proportion to its greatness, just on the same principle as its tribute to the revenue and its taxes are exacted."

26. But Heraclides the Cumæan, who compiled a history of Persia, in the second book of that work, which is entitled Preparatory, says—"And those who wait upon the Persian kings while they are at supper, all minister after having bathed, wearing beautiful clothes; and they remain nearly half the day in attendance at the feast. But of those who are invited to eat with the king, some dine outside, and every one who chooses can see them, but some dine inside with the king: and even these do not actually eat with him; but there are two rooms opposite to one another, in one of which the king eats his meal, and in the other the guests eat theirs. And the king beholds them through the curtain which is at the door; but they cannot see him. But sometimes, when there is a feast, then they all sup in one room, namely, in the same room as the king, being the large room. And when the king has a drinking party, (and he has one very often,) his guests are about a dozen in number, and when they have supped, the king by himself, and his guests by themselves, then one of the eunuchs summons those who are to drink with the king: and when they come, then they drink with him, but they do not have the same wine; also they sit on the ground and he reclines on a couch with golden feet; and when they are very drunk indeed they go away. But for the most part the king breakfasts and sups by himself: but sometimes his wife sups with him; and sometimes some of his sons do so. And at supper his concubines sing and play to him; and one of them leads, and then all the rest sing in concert. But the supper," he continues, "which is called the king's supper, will appear to any one who hears of it to be very magnificent; still, when it is examined into, it [236]will turn out to be economically and carefully managed, and in the same manner as the meals of the other Persians who are in office. For the king has a thousand victims slain every day: and among them are horses, and camels, and oxen, and asses, and stags, and an immense number of sheep; and a great many birds too are taken; and the Arabian ostrich (and that is a very large animal), and geese, and cocks; and a moderate quantity of them is served up to each of the mess-mates of the king, and each of them carries away what is left for his breakfast. But the greater part of these victims and of this meat is carried out into the court to the spear-bearers and light-armed troops whom the king maintains; and in the court the masters of the feasts portion out the meat and the bread into equal portions; and as the mercenary troops in Greece receive money for their hire, so do these men receive food from the king, on account, as if it were money. And in the same way, at the courts of the other Persians, who hold office as magistrates, all the food is placed at once upon the table; and when the mess-mates of the magistrate have finished their supper, then he who superintends the meal distributes what is left on the table (and the greater part of the bread and meat is left) to each of the servants. And each attendant, when he has received his share, has his food for the day. For the most honourable of the mess-mates (their title is ὁι σύνδειπνοι) never come to the king except to dinner; because, forsooth, they have requested permission not to be bound to come twice in the day, in order that they themselves may be able to receive guests at their own houses."

27. But Herodotus, in his seventh book, says, that "the Greeks, who received Xerxes in hospitality, and invited him to supper, all came to the very extremity of ruin, so as to be utterly turned out of their houses; as for instance, among the Thasians, who, because of the cities which they had on the continent, received the army of Xerxes and entertained it at supper. Antipater, one of these citizens, expended four hundred talents in that single entertainment; and he placed on the tables gold and silver cups and goblets; and then the soldiers, when they departed after the supper, took them away with them. And wherever Xerxes took two meals, dining as well as supping, that city was utterly ruined."

[237] And in the ninth book of his Histories, the same author tells us, "The king provides a royal entertainment; and this is provided once every year, on the day on which the king was born. And the name of this feast is in Persian τυκτὰ, but in Greek τέλειον; and that is the only day that he has his head rubbed, and gives presents to the Persians."

But Alexander the Great, whenever he supped with any of his friends, as Ephippus the Olynthian relates in his book on the Deaths of Alexander and Hephæstion, expended each day a hundred minæ, as perhaps sixty or seventy of his friends supped with him. But the king of the Persians, as Ctesias and Dinon relate in the Histories of Persia, supped with fifteen thousand men, and there were expended on the supper four hundred talents; and this amounts in Italian money to twenty four hundred thousand of sesterces. And this sum when divided among fifteen thousand men is a hundred and sixty sesterces of Italian money for each individual; so that it comes to very nearly the same as the expense of Alexander; for he expended a hundred minæ, according to the account of Ephippus.

But Menander, in his play called Drunkenness, estimates the expense of the most sumptuous banquet at a talent, saying—

Then we do not in these matters act as we should do
When to the gods we sacrifice; for then we go and buy
A sheep, an offering for the gods, for scarce ten drachmas' price.
And then we send for flute players, and ointments, and perfumes,
And harps, and singing women, eels, and cheese, and honey too;
And ample jars of Thasian wine; but these can scarcely come,
When all together reckon'd up, to a small talent's sum.

And it is as the very extravagance of expense that he has named a talent at all. And in his Morose Man he speaks as follows:—

See how these housebreakers do sacrifice!
Bearing such beds and couches, not to please
The gods, but their own selves. Incense is pious,
So is the votive cake; and this the god
Receives well-baked in the holy fire.
But they when they have offer'd the chump end
Of a lean loin, the gall bladder, and bones,
Not too agreeable or easy to eat,
Unto the gods, consume the rest themselves.

28. And Philoxenus of Cythera, in the play which is entitled The Supper, (for he it is whom Plato the comic [238]writer mentions in his Phaon, and not Philoxenus the Leucadian,) mentions the following as the preparation made for a banquet—

And then two slaves brought in a well-rubb'd table,
And then another, and another, till
The room was fill'd, and then the hanging lamps
Beam'd bright and shone upon the festive crowns,
And herbs, and dishes of rich delicacies.
And then all arts were put in requisition
To furnish forth a most luxurious meal.
Barley-cakes white as snow did fill the baskets,
And then were served up not coarse vulgar pots,
But well-shaped dishes, whose well-order'd breadth
Fill'd the rich board, eels, and the well-stuff'd conger,
A dish fit for the gods. Then came a platter
Of equal size, with dainty sword-fish fraught,
And then fat cuttle-fish, and the savoury tribes
Of the long hairy polypus. After this
Another orb appear'd upon the table,
Rival of that just brought from off the fire,
Fragrant with spicy odour. And on that
Again were famous cuttle-fish, and those
Fair maids the honey'd squills, and dainty cakes,
Sweet to the palate, and large buns of wheat,
Large as a partridge, sweet, and round, which you
Do know the taste of well. And if you ask
What more was there, I'd speak of luscious chine,
And loin of pork, and head of boar, all hot;
Cutlets of kid, and well-boil'd pettitoes,
And ribs of beef, and heads, and snouts, and tails.
Then kid again, and lamb, and hares, and poultry,
Partridges and the bird from Phasis' stream.
And golden honey, and clotted cream was there,
And cheese, which I did join with all in calling
Most tender fare. And when we all had reach'd
Satiety of food and wine, the slaves
Bore off the still full tables; and some others
Brought us warm water for to wash our hands.[238:1]

29. And Socrates the Rhodian, in the third book of his History of the Civil War, describing the entertainment given by Cleopatra the last queen of Egypt, who married Antony the Roman general in Cilicia, speaks in the following manner:—"But [239]Cleopatra having met Antony in Cilicia, prepared him a royal entertainment, in which every dish was golden and inlaid with precious stones, wonderfully chased and embossed. And the walls," continues he, "were hung with cloths embroidered in gold and purple. And she had twelve triclinia laid; and invited Antony to a banquet, and desired him to bring with him whatever companions he pleased. And he being astonished at the magnificence of the sight, expressed his surprise; and she, smiling, said that she made him a present of everything which he saw, and invited him to sup with her again the next day, and to bring his friends and captains with him. And then she prepared a banquet by far more splendid than the former one, so as to make that first one appear contemptible; and again she presented to him everything that there was on the table; and she desired each of his captains to take for his own the couch on which he lay, and the goblets which were set before each couch. And when they were departing she gave to all those of the highest rank palanquins, with the slaves for palanquin bearers; and to the rest she gave horses, adorned with golden furniture: and to every one she gave Ethiopian boys, to bear torches before them. And on the fourth day she paid more than a talent for roses; and the floor of the chamber for the men was strewed a cubit deep, nets being spread over the blooms." And he relates further, that "Antony himself, when he was staying at Athens, a short time after this, prepared a very superb scaffold to spread over the theatre, covered with green wood such as is seen in the caves sacred to Bacchus; and from this scaffold he suspended drums and fawn-skins, and all the other toys which one names in connexion with Bacchus, and then sat there with his friends, getting drunk from daybreak,—a band of musicians, whom he had sent for from Italy, playing to him all the time, and all the Greeks around being collected to see the sight. And presently," continues he, "he crossed over to the Acropolis, the whole city of Athens being illuminated with lamps suspended from the roof; and after that he ordered himself to be proclaimed as Bacchus throughout all the cities in that district."

And Caius the emperor, surnamed Caligula, because he was born in the camp, was not only called the young Bacchus, but was also in the habit of going about dressed in the entire [240]dress of Bacchus, and he used to sit on the tribunal as judge in that dress.

30. Now a man looking at these instances which have occurred in our country before our time, may marvel at the poverty of the Greeks, especially if he sets his eyes upon the banquets which take place among the Thebans; concerning whom Clitarchus, in the first book of his Histories relating to Alexander, speaks, and says that all their wealth, when the city was razed to the ground by Alexander, was found to amount to four hundred and forty talents, because they were meanspirited and gluttons in eating and drinking, preparing in their banquets forced-meat balls, and boiled fish and anchovies, and encrasicholi, and sausages, and ribs of beef, and soup; on which Attaginus the son of Phrynon feasted Mardonius, with fifty other Persians; a man whom Herodotus mentions in his ninth book as having amassed an enormous amount of riches. And I think that they would never have escaped, and that there would have been no necessity for the Greeks being marshalled against them at Platæa, as they would certainly have been killed by such food as that.

31. But Hecatæus of Miletus, describing an Arcadian banquet in the third book of his Genealogies, says that it consists chiefly of barley-cakes and pork. But Harmodius of Lepreum, in the third book of his treatise on the Laws of the People of Phigalea, says—"The man among the Phigaleans who is appointed superintendent of the food, brought every day three choes of wine, and a medimnus of flour, and five minæ weight of cheese, and other things suitable for the preparing of the victims. And the city provided each of the choruses with three sheep, and a cook, and a water-carrier, and tables, and seats for the guests to sit down upon, and all other similar appointments; only that the choregus supplied the vessels which the cook required. And the banquet was of the following description: Cheese, and barley-cake, for the sake of preserving the laws, served up in brazen baskets, which are by some people called mazonoma, having derived their name from the use to which they are put; and together with the barley-cake and cheese, paunches and salt are given the guests to eat. And when they have offered these things to the gods, then they give every one a portion of wine to drink in a small mug, made of earthenware: and he [241]who brings the wine says, May you sup well. And then there is put on the table for general use some soup and some minced meat; and every one has two slices of meat put within his reach. And it was a custom of theirs at all their banquets, and most especially at those which were called Mazones, or barley-feasts, (for even now the feast in honour of Bacchus has this name,) to give those of the young men who ate most manfully, a larger quantity of broth, and also to set before them barley-cakes and loaves, for such an one was considered a noble-minded and a valiant man; for a large appetite was considered an admirable and a famous thing among them. But after supper was over, they used to make libations, without having washed their hands, but merely wiping them on pieces of bread; and each of them took away with him that on which he had wiped his hands, doing this on account of the nightly objects of fear which arise to frighten men in the crossroads: and after the libations a pæan is sung. But when they sacrifice to the Heroes, a very large sacrifice of oxen takes place, and they all feast with the slaves; and the children sit at table with their fathers, sitting naked on the stones."

But Theopompus, in the forty-sixth book of his account of the Exploits of Philip, says—"The Arcadians in their banquets admit both masters and slaves, and prepare but one table for all; and they place the food for all in the middle, and they mix the same bowl of wine for the whole company."

32. But among the Naucratitæ, according to the account given by Hermeas in the second book of his treatise respecting the Grynean Apollo, they sup in the prytaneum on the birthday festival of Vesta Prytanitis; and at the Dionysiac festival; and again at the assembly of the Comæan Apollo,—all of them coming in white robes, which even to this day they call prytanic garments. And when they have sat down to eat, they rise up again on their knees while the herald of the sacred festival repeats the national prayers, all making a libation together; and, after that, sitting down again, each of them takes two cotylæ of wine, except the priests of the Pythian Apollo, and of Bacchus, for each of them receives a double portion of wine and of all other things; and then a loaf of white bread is set before each of them, made very broad, on which another loaf is placed, which they call cribanites. And a joint of pork is placed before them, and [242]a platter of ptisan or of some vegetable or herb which is in season, and a couple of eggs, and a slice of cheese, and some dry figs, and a cheesecake, and a garland. And whatever maker of a sacrifice prepares anything beyond this is liable to be fined by the magistrates, who are called τιμοῦχοι. And those who eat in the prytaneum are not permitted to take anything away to be eaten; but they only eat what is set before them, and give what is left to their slaves. And on all the other days of the year it is lawful for any one who pleases of those who are fed at the prytaneum to go into the prytaneum to sup, having prepared at his own home some vegetable, or some pulse, or some salt meat, or some fish, or a very little bit of pork; and when he eats this, he may also have a cotyla of wine. But no woman is allowed to go into the prytaneum excepting the woman alone who plays the flute. And no spoon may be brought into the prytaneum. But if any one of the Naucratitæ makes a marriage feast, as it is written in the law which regulates the ceremonial of marriage, it is forbidden for him to have eggs or honey cheesecakes served up; but what is the reason of these restrictions we may hope to be told by Ulpian.

33. But Lynceus, in his treatise on the Affairs and Constitution of Egypt, comparing the Egyptian banquets to the Persian ones, says—"When the Egyptians made an expedition against Ochus, king of Persia, and were defeated, when the king of the Egyptians was taken prisoner, Ochus treated him with great humanity, and invited him to supper. And as there was a very splendid preparation made, the Egyptian laughed at the idea of the Persian living so frugally. 'But if you wish,' said he, 'O king, to know how happy kings ought to feast, permit those cooks who formerly belonged to me to prepare for you an Egyptian supper.' And when the Persian had ordered that they should do so, when it was prepared, Ochus was delighted at the feast, and said, 'May the gods, O Egyptian, destroy you miserably for a wicked man, who could leave such a supper as this, and desire a much more frugal repast.'" But what the Egyptian feasts were like Protagorides teaches us in the first book of his treatise on the Daphnic Contests, speaking as follows:—"And the third description of suppers is the Egyptian, whose tables are not laid at all, but dishes are brought round to the guests."

[243] 34. "But among the Galatians," says Phylarchus in his sixth book, "it is the custom to place on the tables a great number of loaves broken promiscuously, and meat just taken out of the kettles, which no one touches without first waiting for the king to see whether he touches anything of what is served up before him." But in his third book the same Phylarchus says that "Ariamnes the Galatian, being an exceedingly rich man, gave notice that he would give all the Galatians a banquet every year; and that he did so, managing in this manner: He divided the country, measuring it by convenient stages along the roads; and at these stages he erected tents of stakes and rushes and osiers, each containing about four hundred men, or somewhat more, according as the district required, and with reference to the number that might be expected to throng in from the villages and towns adjacent to the stage in question. And there he placed huge kettles, full of every sort of meat; and he had the kettles made in the preceding year before he was to give the feast, sending for artizans from other cities. And he caused many victims to be slain,—numbers of oxen, and pigs, and sheep, and other animals,—every day; and he caused casks of wine to be prepared, and a great quantity of ground corn. And not only," he continues, "did all the Galatians who came from the villages and cities enjoy themselves, but even all the strangers who happened to be passing by were not allowed to escape by the slaves who stood around, but were pressed to come in and partake of what had been prepared."

35. Xenophon also mentions the Thracian suppers in the seventh book of his Anabasis, describing the banquet given by Seuthes in the following words—"But when they all came to the supper, and the supper was laid so that they might all sit round in a circle, then tripods were brought to all the guests; and they were about twenty in number, all full of meat ready carved: and leavened loaves of large size were stuck to the joints of meat with skewers. And most especially were tables always placed before the guests, for that was the custom. And first of all Seuthes behaved in this manner: taking the loaves which were near him, he broke them into small pieces, and threw the pieces to whoever he chose; and he acted in the same way with the meat, leaving before himself only just as much as he could eat; and the rest also did the same,—those [244]I mean before whom the tables were set. But a certain Arcadian, Arystas by name, a terrible fellow to eat, said that throwing the bread and meat about was folly; and taking a large loaf in his hand, of the size of three chœnixes,[244:1] and putting the meat upon his knees, made his supper in that manner. And they brought round horns of wine, and all pledged one another; but Arystas, when the cup-bearer came to him with the wine, said, as he saw that Xenophon was no longer eating any supper, 'Give him the wine, for he has time to drink it, but I have not time yet.' And then there arose laughter. And as the liquor went round, a Thracian came in, having a white horse, and taking a horn full of wine, said, 'O Seuthes, I pledge you, and I make you a present of my horse: and if you ride him you will catch whatever you wish to catch; and when you retreat you will never need to fear an enemy.' And another man brought in his son, and gave him to him in the same manner, pledging him in wine: and another gave him garments for his wife. And Timasion, pledging him, gave him a silver goblet, and a scimitar worth ten minæ. But Gnesippus, an Athenian, rising up, said that there was an ancient and excellent law, that those who had anything should give it to the king as a compliment, and that the king should make presents to those who had nothing. But Xenophon rose up boldly, and taking the horn, said—'I, O Seuthes, give you myself and these my companions to be faithful friends to you; and not one of them is unwilling that I should do so: and now they are present here asking for nothing, but being willing to encounter labour and danger on your behalf.' And Seuthes, rising up, drank to Xenophon, and spilt the rest of the contents of the horn at the same time that he did. And after this there came in men who played on horns such as are used for giving orders with, and also on trumpets made of raw bull's-hide, in excellent tune, as if they had been playing on a magadis.[244:2]"

36. And Posidonius the Stoic, in the histories which he composed in a manner by no means inconsistent with the philosophy which he professed, writing of the laws that were [245]established and the customs which prevailed in many nations, says—"The Celtæ place food before their guests, putting grass for their seats, and they serve it up on wooden tables raised a very little above the ground: and their food consists of a few loaves, and a good deal of meat brought up floating in water, and roasted on the coals or on spits. And they eat their meat in a cleanly manner enough, but like lions, taking up whole joints in both their hands, and gnawing them; and if there is any part which they cannot easily tear away, they cut it off with a small sword which they have in a sheath in a private depository. And those who live near the rivers eat fish also, and so do those who live near the Mediterranean sea, or near the Atlantic ocean; and they eat it roasted with salt and vinegar and cummin seed: and cummin seed they also throw into their wine. But they use no oil, on account of its scarcity; and because they are not used to it, it seems disagreeable to them. But when many of them sup together, they all sit in a circle; and the bravest sits in the middle, like the coryphæus of a chorus; because he is superior to the rest either in his military skill, or in birth, or in riches: and the man who gives the entertainment sits next to him; and then on each side the rest of the guests sit in regular order, according as each is eminent or distinguished for anything. And their armour-bearers, bearing their large oblong shields, called θυρεοὶ, stand behind; and their spear-bearers sit down opposite in a circle, and feast in the same manner as their masters. And those who act as cup-bearers and bring round the wine, bring it round in jars made either of earthenware or of silver, like ordinary casks in shape, and the name they give them is ἄμβικος. And their platters on which they serve up the meat are also made of the same material; but some have brazen platters, and some have wooden or plaited baskets. And the liquor which is drunk is, among the rich, wine brought from Italy or from the country about Marseilles; and this is drunk unmixed, but sometimes a little water is mixed with it. But among the poorer classes what is drunk is a beer made of wheat prepared with honey, and oftener still without any honey; and they call it corma. And they all drink it out of the same cup, in small draughts, not drinking more than a cyathus at a time; but they take frequent draughts: and a slave carries the liquor round, beginning at [246] the right hand and going on to the left; and this is the way in which they are waited on, and in which they worship the gods, always turning towards the right hand."

37. And Posidonius continuing, and relating the riches of Lyernius the father of Bityis, who was subdued by the Romans, says that "he, aiming at becoming a leader of the populace, used to drive in a chariot over the plains, and scatter gold and silver among the myriads of Celts who followed him; and that he enclosed a fenced space of twelve furlongs in length every way, square, in which he erected wine-presses, and filled them with expensive liquors; and that he prepared so vast a quantity of eatables that for very many days any one who chose was at liberty to go and enjoy what was there prepared, being waited on without interruption or cessation. And once, when he had issued beforehand invitations to a banquet, some poet from some barbarian tribe came too late and met him on the way, and sung a hymn in which he extolled his magnificence, and bewailed his own misfortune in having come too late: and Lyernius was pleased with his ode, and called for a bag of gold, and threw it to him as he was running by the side of his chariot; and that he picked it up, and then went on singing, saying that his very footprints upon the earth over which he drove produced benefits to men." These now are the accounts of the Celtæ given by Posidonius in the third and in the twentieth books of his History.

38. But in the fifth book, speaking of the Parthians, he says—"But a friend who is invited does not share the same table, but sitting on the ground while the king reclines near on a lofty couch, eats whatever is thrown to him from the king, like a dog. And very often he is torn away from his feast on the ground for some trifling cause, and is scourged with rods and knotted whips; and when he is all covered with blood he falls down on his face on the floor, and adores the man who has punished him as his benefactor."

And in his eleventh book, speaking of Seleucus the king, and relating how he came against Media, and warred against Arsaces, and was taken prisoner by the barbarian, and how he remained a long time in captivity to Arsaces, being treated like a king by him, he writes thus—"Among the Parthians, at their banquets, the king had a couch on which he reclined [247] by himself higher than all the rest, and apart from them; and a table also was laid for him by himself, as for a hero, laden with all sorts of barbaric delicacies." And when he is speaking of Heracleon the Berœan, who was promoted to honour by that king Antiochus who was surnamed Grypus, and who very nearly turned his benefactor out of his kingdom, he writes as follows in the fourth book of his Histories: "He also gave entertainments to the soldiers, making them sit down on the ground in the open air by thousands: and the entertainment consisted of large loaves and meat; and their drink was any sort of wine that could be got, mingled with cold water. And they were waited on by men girded with swords, and there was an orderly silence throughout the whole company."

Again, in his second book, he says—"In the city of the Romans when they feast in the temple of Hercules, when a general who is celebrating a triumph furnishes the entertainment, the whole preparation of the banquet is of a Herculean character; for honey-wine is served out to the guests as wine, and the food consists of huge loaves, and smoked meat boiled, and also, great abundance of roast meat from the victims which have been lately slain. But among the Etruscans luxurious tables are spread twice a-day; and couches embroidered with flowers, and silver drinking cups of every sort. And a great number of well-appointed slaves is at hand, dressed in expensive garments." And Timæus, in the first book of his Histories, says that all the female servants in that nation always wait at table naked till they are quite grown up.

39. And Megasthenes, in the second book of his Indian History, says—"Among the Indians at a banquet a table is set before each individual; and it is like a sideboard or beaufet; and on the table is placed a golden dish, in which they throw first of all boiled rice, just as if a person were going to boil groats, and then they add many sorts of meat dressed after the Indian fashion."

But the Germans, as Posidonius relates in his thirtieth book, eat for dinner meat roasted in separate joints; and they drink milk and unmixed wine. And some of the tribes of the Campanians practise single combat at their drinking parties. But Nicolaus of Damascus, one of the philosophers of the [248]Peripatetic school, in the hundred-and-tenth book of his History, relates that the Romans at their feasts practise single combats, writing as follows—"The Romans used to exhibit spectacles of single combats, not only in their public shows and in their theatres, having derived the custom from the Etruscans, but they did so also at their banquets. Accordingly, people often invited their friends to an entertainment, promising them, in addition to other things, that they should see two or three pairs of single combatants. And when they had had enough of meat and drink, they then called in the combatants: and as soon as one of them was killed, the guests clapped, being delighted at the exhibition. And in one instance a man left it in his will that some beautiful women, whom he had purchased as slaves, should engage in single combat: and in another case a man desired that some youthful boys whom he had loved should do so; but the people would not tolerate such notorious proceedings, and declared the will invalid." And Eratosthenes says, in the first book of his Catalogue of the Victors at Olympia, that the Etruscans used to box to the music of the flute.

40. But Posidonius, in the third, and also in the twentieth book of his Histories, says—"The Celtæ sometimes have single combats at their entertainments. For being collected in arms, they go through the exercise, and make feints at, and sometimes they even go so far as to wound one another. And being irritated by this, if the bystanders do not stop them, they will proceed even to kill one another. But in olden times," he continues, "there was a custom that a hind quarter of pork was put on the table, and the bravest man took it; and if any one else laid claim to it, then the two rose up to fight till one of them was slain. And other men in the theatre having received some silver or gold money, and some even for a number of earthen vessels full of wine, having taken pledges that the gifts promised shall really be given, and having distributed them among their nearest connexions, have laid themselves down on doors with their faces upwards, and then allowed some bystander to cut their throats with a sword."

And Euphorion the Chalcidian, in his Historical Memorials, writes as follows—"But among the Romans it is common for five minæ to be offered to any one who chooses to [249]take it, to allow his head to be cut off with an axe, so that his heirs might receive the reward: and very often many have returned their names as willing, so that there has been a regular contest between them as to who had the best right to be beaten to death."

41. And Hermippus, in the first book of his treatise on Lawgivers, asserts that the Mantineans were the original inventors of men to fight in single combat, and that Demonax, one of their citizens, was the original suggestor of such a course; and that the Cyreneans were the next to follow their example. And Ephorus, in the sixth book of his History, says—"The Mantineans and Arcadians were in the habit of practising warlike exercises; and even to this day they call the military dress and the ancient fashion of arming the Mantinean, as having been invented by that people. And in addition to this, the exercises of single combat were first invented in Mantinea, Demeas being the original author of the invention. And that the custom of single combatants was an ancient one, Aristophanes shows, when he speaks thus in his Phœnissæ—

And on the heroes twain, the sons of Œdipus,
Has savage Mars descended; and they now
Seek the arena dread of single combat.

And the word μονόμαχος appears not to be derived from the noun μάχη, but rather from the verb μάχεσθαι. For as often as a word compounded of μάχη ends in ος, as in the words σύμμαχος, πρωτόμαχος, ἐπίμαχος, ἀντίμαχος, and the φιλόμαχος race of Perseus, spoken of by Pindar, then it is acuted on the antepenultima; but when it has the acute accent on the penultima, then the verb μάχεσθαι comes in; as is shown in the words πυγμάχος, ναυμάχος; in the expression αὐτόν σε πυλαμάχε πρῶτον, in Stesichorus; and the nouns ὁπλομάχος, τειχομάχος, πυργομάχος. But Posidippus the comic writer, in his Pornoboscus, says—

The man who never went to sea has never shipwreck'd been,
But we have been more miserable than μονομαχοῦντες (gladiators in single combat).

And that even men of reputation and captains fought in single combat, and did so in accordance with premeditated challenges, we have already said in other parts of this discussion. And Diyllus the Athenian says, in the ninth book [250]of his Histories, that Cassander, when returning from Bœotia, after he had buried the king and queen at Ægæ, and with them Cynna the mother of Eurydice, and had paid them all the other honours to which they were entitled, celebrated also a show of single combats, and four of the soldiers entered the arena on that occasion.

43. But Demetrius the Scepsian, in the twelfth book of Trojan Array, says, "that at the court of Antiochus the king, who was surnamed the Great, not only did the friends of the king dance in arms at his entertainments, but even the king himself did so. And when the turn to dance came to Hegesianax the Alexandrian from the Troas, who wrote the Histories, he rose up and said—'Do you wish, O king, to see me dance badly, or would you prefer hearing me recite my own poems very well?' Accordingly, being ordered rather to recite his poems, he sang the praises of the king in such a manner, that he was thought worthy of payment, and of being ranked as one of the king's friends for the time to come. But Duris the Samian, in the seventeenth book of his Histories, says that Polysperchon, though a very old man, danced whenever he was drunk,—a man who was inferior to no one of the Macedonians, either as a commander or in respect of his general reputation: but still that he put on a saffron robe and Sicyonian sandals, and kept on dancing a long time." But Agatharchides the Cnidian, in the eighth book of his History of Asia, relates that the friends of Alexander the son of Philip once gave an entertainment to the king, and gilded all the sweetmeats which were to be served up in the second course. And when they wanted to eat any of them, they took off the gold and threw that away with all the rest which was not good to eat, in order that their friends might be spectators of their sumptuousness, and their servants might become masters of the gold. But they forget that, as Duris also relates, Philip the father of Alexander, when he had a golden cup which was fifty drachmas in weight, always took it to bed with him, and always slept with it at his head. And Seleucus says, "that some of the Thracians at their drinking parties play the game of hanging; and fix a round noose to some high place, exactly beneath which they place a stone which is easily turned round when any one stands upon it; and then they cast lots, and he who [251]draws the lot, holding a sickle in his hand, stands upon the stone, and puts his neck into the halter; and then another person comes and raises the stone, and the man who is suspended, when the stone moves from under him, if he is not quick enough in cutting the rope with his sickle, is killed; and the rest laugh, thinking his death good sport."

43. This is what I had to say, my friends and messmates, O men far the first of all the Greeks, being what I know concerning the banquets of the ancients. But Plato the philosopher, in the first book of his treatise on the Laws of Banquets, speaks in this manner, describing the whole matter with the greatest accuracy—"And you would never see any where in the country or in the cities which are under the dominion of Lacedæmon, any drinking parties, nor any of their accompaniments, which are calculated to excite as much pleasure as possible. Nor is there any one who would not at once impose as heavy a fine as possible on any one whom he met carrying his revely to the degree of drunkenness; and he would not even excuse him if he had the pretext of the Dionysiac festival of Bacchus. As I have known to be the case among you, in the case of men carried in carriages, and at Tarentum among our own colonists, where I have seen the whole city drunk at the time of the Dionysiac festival. But at Lacedæmon nothing of the sort ever takes place."

44. And Cynulcus said on this,—I only wish that you had played at that Thracian game and been hanged yourself. For you have kept us in suspense till we are almost famished, as if we were waiting for the rising star, till which arises, those who have invented this beautiful philosophy say that it is unlawful to taste of any food at all. But I, wretched man that I am, according to the words of Diphilus the comic poet—

Am almost become a mullet from the extremity of hunger.

And you yourselves also have forgotten those admirable verses of the poet, who said—

For it is not a bad thing to eat supper at a proper season.

But it is now, O father, altogether noon,
When it is right for the young men to sup.

[252] But for me it would be much better to sup as the men are represented as supping in the banquet given by Parmeniscus the Cynic, than to come hither and see everything carried round us as if we all had fevers. And when we laughed at this, one of us said,—But my most excellent fellow, do not grudge giving us the account of that Parmeniscean banquet. And he, raising himself up, said—

I swear to you most solemnly, my friends,

according to the words of the sweet Antiphanes, who, in the Woman given in Marriage, said—

I swear to you, O men, by the god himself,
From whom the joys of drunkenness and wine
Do come to mortal men, that I prefer
This happy life which here is mine at present,
To all the splendid pomp of king Seleucus.
'Tis sweet to eat e'en lentils without fear,
But sad to sleep on down in daily terror.

45. But Parmeniscus began in this manner—"Parmeniscus to Molpis, greeting,—As I have often in my conversations with you talked about illustrious invitations and entertainments, I am afraid lest you should labour under such a plethora as to blame me; on which account I wish to make you a partaker in the feast which was given by Cebes of Cyzicus. Therefore, having first taken a drink of hyssop, come at the proper hour to the feast. For at the time when the festival of Bacchus was being celebrated at Athens, I went to sup with him; and I found six Cynics sitting at table, and one dog-leader, Carneus the Megarian. But, as the supper was delayed, a discussion arose, what water is the sweetest. And while some were praising the water of Lerna, and some that of Pirene, Carneus, imitating Philoxenus, said—That is the best water which is poured over our hands. So then when the tables were laid we went to supper,

And much pulse porridge then we ate, but more did still flow in.

Then again lentils were brought on the table steeped in vinegar; and that child of Jupiter laid his hands on them and said—

Jove, may the man who made these lentils grow,
Never escape thy notice or thy memory.

May a lentil deity and a lentil fate seize you.

[253] But to me may there be, according to the words of the comic poet Diphilus, which he uses in his Peliades—

And as a great laugh arose, immediately that spoon of the theatre Melissa came in, and that dogfly Nicium, each of them being a courtesan of no small renown: and so they, looking on what was set upon the table and admiring it, laughed. And Nicium said,—Is not there one of all you men so proud of your beards that eats fish? Is it because your ancestor Meleager the Gadarean, in his poem entitled the Graces, said that Homer, being a Syrian by birth, represented the ancients as abstaining from fish in accordance with the custom of his own country, although there was a great abundance of them in the Hellespont? Or have you ever read that one treatise of his which embraces a comparison between peas and lentils? for I see that you have made a great preparation of lentils. And when I see it, I should advise you, according to the rules of Antisthenes the pupil of Socrates, to relieve yourselves of life if you stick to such food as this. And Carneus replied to her—Euxitheus the Pythagorean, O Nicium, as Clearchus the Peripatetic tells us, in the second book of his Lives, said that the souls of all men were bound in the body, and in the life which is on earth, for the sake of punishment; and that God has issued an edict that if they do not remain there until he voluntarily releases them himself, they shall fall into more numerous and more important calamities. On which account all men, being afraid of those threatenings of the gods, fear to depart from life by their own act, but only gladly welcome death when he comes in old age, trusting that that deliverance of the soul then takes place with the full consent of those who have the power to sanction it. And this doctrine we ourselves believe. But I have no objection, replied she, to your selecting one of three evils, if you please. For do you not know, O wretched men, that these heavy kinds of food shut in the dominant [254] principle of the soul, and do not allow wisdom to exist unimpaired in it?

46. Accordingly Theopompus, in the fifth book of his History of the Actions of Philip, says—"For to eat much, and to eat meat, takes away the reasoning powers, and makes the intellect slower, and fills a man with anger, and harshness, and all sorts of folly." And the admirable Xenophon says, that it is sweet to a hungry man to eat barley-cakes and cardamums, and sweet to a thirsty man to draw water out of the river and drink it. But Socrates was often caught walking in the depth of evening up and down before his house; and to those who asked him what he was doing there, he used to reply that he was getting a relish for supper. But we shall be satisfied with whatever portion we receive from you, and we are not angry as if we received less than we ought, like the Hercules in Anticlides. For he says, in the second book of his Returns—"After Hercules had accomplished his labours, when Eurystheus was solemnizing some sacrificial feast, he also was invited. And when the sons of Eurystheus were setting before each one of the company his proper portion, but placing a meaner one before Hercules, Hercules, thinking that he was being treated with indignity, slew three of the sons, Perimedes, Eurybius, and Eurypylus." But we are not so irascible, even though in all other points we are imitators of Hercules.

For lentils are a tragic food,

Orestes ate when he had recover'd from his sickness,

as Sophilus the comic writer says. But it is a Stoic doctrine, that the wise man will do everything well, and will be able to cook even lentils cleverly. On which account Timon the Phliasian said—

And a man who knows not how to cook a lentil wisely.

As if a lentil could not be boiled in any other way except according to the precepts of Zeno, who said—

Add to the lentils a twelfth part of coriander.

Do not prefer a dainty dish to lentils,
And so cause factious quarrels in our party.

[255] And Chrysippus, in his treatise on the Beautiful, quoting some apophthegms to us, says—

Eat not an olive when you have a nettle;
But take in winter lentil-macaroni—
Bah! bah!
Lentil-macaroni's like ambrosia in cold weather.

You're teaching him to boil porridge or lentils.

You who revile the lentil, best of food.

And then a dish of lentils was boil'd up.

Things go on well. Do you now boil some lentils,
Or else at least now teach me who you are.

And I know that a sister of Ulysses, the most prudent and wisest of men, was called Φακῆ (lentil), the same whom some other writers call Callisto, as Mnaseas of Patra relates, in the third book of his History of the Affairs of Europe, and as Lysimachus also tells us, in the third book of his Returns.

48. And when Plutarch had burst into a violent fit of laughter at this, the Cynic, who could not endure to have his extensive learning on the subject of lentils disregarded, said—"But all you fine gentlemen from Alexandria, O Plutarch, are fed from your childhood on lentils; and your whole city is full of things made of lentils: which are mentioned by Sopater the lentil parodist, in his drama entitled Bacchis, where he speaks as follows:—

I could not bear to eat a common loaf,
Seeing a large high brazen pile of lentils.

For, what is there of which mortals have need, (according to your own idol, Euripides, O you most learned of men,) except two things only,

The corn of Ceres and a draught of water?
And they are here, and able to support us.
But we are not with plenty such as this
Contented, but are slaves to luxury
And such contrivances of other food.

The moderate fare shall me content
Of a plain modest table;
And I will never seek nor e'en admit
Whatever is out of season and superfluous.

[256] And Socrates said that he differed from other men in this, that they lived that they might eat, but he ate that he might live. And Diogenes said to those who accused him of scratching himself,—I wish I could scratch my stomach, so as to rub all poverty and want out of it. And Euripides, in his Suppliant Women, says of Capaneus—

This man is Capaneus, a man who had
Abundant riches, but no pride therefrom
Lodged in his, more than in a poor man's bosom.
But those who boasted of their luxury
He blamed, and praised the contented spirit.
For virtue did not, as he said, consist
In eating richly, but in moderation.

49. Capaneus was not, as it seems, such as the honest Chrysippus describes, in his treatise On those things which are not eligible for their own sakes. For he speaks in this manner:—"Some men apply themselves with such eagerness to the pursuit of money, that it is even related, that a man once, when near his end, swallowed a number of pieces of gold, and so died. Another person sewed a quantity of money into a tunic, and put it on, and then ordered his servants to bury him in that dress, neither burning his body, nor stripping it and laying it out." For these men and all like them may almost be said, as they die, to cry out—

Oh gold, the choicest of all gifts to men!
For no fond mother does such raptures know,
Nor children in the house, nor any father,
Such as do flow from you, and are enjoy'd
By those who own you. If like yours the face
Of Venus, when she rose up from the sea,
No wonder that she has ten thousand lovers.

Such great thirst for money was there among the men of that time, concerning which Anacharsis, when some one asked him what the Greeks used money for? said, To count with. But Diogenes, in his treatise on Polity, proposed to establish a law that bits of bone should be taken as coins; and well too has Euripides said—

Speak not of wealth; that god I worship not,
Who comes with ease into a bad man's power.

And Chrysippus, in his elementary work, which is entitled, A Treatise on Good and Evil Things, says that "a certain young man from Ionia came to sojourn at Athens, clothed in a purple robe having golden fringes; and when some one [257]asked of him what countryman he was, he replied that he was rich. And, perhaps, it may be the very same person whom Alexis mentions in his Thebans, where he says—

50. When Cynulcus had said this, and when no one applauded him, he got out of temper; and said,—But since these men, O you master of the feast, are made so uncomfortable by a diarrhœa of words as to feel no hunger; or perhaps, it may be that they laugh at what is said about lentils, (having in their mind what is said by Pherecrates, in his Coriander—

Since then, on this account, these wise men guard against the lentils, at all events cause some bread to be given to us, with a little plain food; no expensive dishes, but any of those vulgar lentils, if you have them, or what is called lentil soup. And when every one laughed, especially at the idea of the lentil soup, he said, You are very ignorant men, you feasters, never having read any books, which are the only things to instruct those who desire what is good. I mean the books of the Silli of Timon the Pyrrhonian. For he it is who speaks of lentil soup, in the second book of his Silli, writing as follows:—

The Teian barley-cakes do please me not,
Nor e'en the Lydian sauces: but the Greeks,
And their dry lentil soup, delight me more
Than all that painful luxury of excess.

For though the barley-cakes of Teos are preeminently good, (as also are those from Eretria, as Sopater says, in his Suitors of Bacchis, where he says—

We came to Eretria, for its white meal famed;)

and also, the Lydian sauces; still Timon prefers the lentil soup to both of them put together.

51. To this our admirable entertainer, Laurentius himself, replied, saying,—O you men who drive the dogs, according to [258]the Jocasta of Strattis, the comic poet, who in the play entitled The Phœnician Women, is represented as saying—

I wish to give you both some good advice:
When you boil lentils, pour no perfume o'er them.

And Sopater, too, whom you were mentioning just now, in his Descent to Hell, speaks in these terms:—

Ulysses, king of Ithaca—'Tis perfume
On lentils thrown: courage, my noble soul!

And Clearchus the Peripatetic philosopher, in his treatise on Proverbs, gives the saying, "Perfume thrown on lentils;" as a proverb which my grandfather Varro also mentions, he, I mean, who was nicknamed Menippius. And many of the Roman grammarians, who have not had much intercourse with many Greek poets or historians, do not know where it is that Varro got his Iambic from. But you seem to me, O Cynulcus, (for you delight in that name, not using the name by which your mother has called you from your birth,) according to your friend Timon, to be a noble and great man, not knowing that the lentil soup obtained mention from the former Epicharmus, in his Festival, and in his Islands, and also from Antiphanes the comic poet; who, using the diminutive form, has spoken of it in his Wedding, under the following form of expression—

A little lentil soup (κόγχιον), a slice of sausage.

And Magnus immediately taking up the conversation, said,—The most universally excellent Laurentius has well and cleverly met this hungry dog on the subject of the lentil soup. But I, like to the Galatians of the Paphian Sopater, among whom it is a custom whenever they have met with any eminent success in war to sacrifice their prisoners to the gods,—

I too, in imitation of those men,
Have vow'd a fiery sacrifice to the gods—
Three of these secretly enroll'd logicians.
And now that I have heard your company
Philosophise and argue subtlely,
Persisting firmly, I will bring a test,
A certain proof of all your arguments:
First smoking you. And if then any one
When roasted shrinks and draws away his leg,
He shall be sold to Zeno for his master
For transportation, as bereft of wisdom.

52. For I will speak freely to them. If you are so fond of [259]contentment, O philosopher, why do you not admire those disciples of Pythagoras, concerning whom Antiphanes says, in his Monuments—

Some miserable Pythagoreans came
Gnawing some salt food in a deep ravine,
And picking up such refuse in a wallet.

First, like a pupil of Pythagoras,
He eats no living thing, but peels some husks
Of barley which he's bought for half an obol,
Discolour'd dirty husks, and those he eats.

For, as we hear, the pupils of Pythagoras
Eat no good meat nor any living thing,
And they alone of men do drink no wine.
But Epicharides will bitches eat;
The only one of all the sect; but then
He kills them first, and says they are not living.

One must for a short time, my friend, endure
Hunger, and dirt, and cold, and speechlessness,
And sullen frowns, and an unwashen face.

53. But you, my philosophical friends, practise none of these things. But what is far worse than any of them, you talk [260]about what you do not in the least understand; and, as if you were eating in an orderly manner, you take in mouthfuls like the man in that sweet poet Antiphanes; for he says, in his Runaway Slave-catcher—

Taking a moderate mouthful, small outside,
But large within his hand, as women do.

And in the same way you eat a great deal and eat very fast; when it is in your power, according to the words of the same poet which he uses in the Thombycius, "to buy for a single drachma food well suited to you, such as garlic, cheese, onions, and capers; for all these only cost a drachma." And Aristophanes says, in his Pythagoreans—

What? do we think, I ask you in God's name,
That these philosophers of olden time,
The pupils of Pythagoras, went thus
In dirt and rags all of their own accord?
I don't believe one word of such a thing.
No; they were forced to do so, as they had not
A single farthing to buy clothes or soap.
And then they made a merit of economy,
And laid down rules, most splendid rules for beggars.
But only put before them fish or meat;
And if they do not their own fingers bite
For very eagerness, I will be bound
To let you hang me ten times over.

And it is not foreign to the present discussion to mention an epigram which was made with reference to you, which Hegesander the Delphian has quoted, in the sixth book of his Commentaries—

Men drawing up your eyebrows, and depressing
Your scornful nostrils till they reach the chin,
Wearing your beards in sacks, strippers of dishes,
Wearing your cloak outside, with unshod feet
Looking like oil, and eating stealthily
Like hungry vagrants 'neath night's friendly cover,
Cheaters of youth, spouters of syllables,
Pretenders to vain wisdom, but pretending
To make your only object Virtue's self.

54. But Archestratus of Gela, in his treatise on Gastronomy, (which is the only poetical composition which you wise men admire; following Pythagoras in this doctrine alone, namely silence, and doing this only because of your want of words; and besides that, you profess to think well of the Art of Love of Sphodrias the Cynic, and the Amatory Conversation of Protagorides, and the Convivial Dialogues of that beautiful [261]philosopher Persæus, compiled out of the Commentaries of Stilpon and Zeno, in which he inquires, How one may guard against guests at a banquet going to sleep; and, How one ought to use drinking of healths; and, When one ought to introduce beautiful boys and girls into a banquet; and when one ought to treat them well as if they were admired, and when one ought to send them away as disregarding them; and also, concerning various kinds of cookery, and concerning loaves, and other things; and all the over-subtle discussions in which the son of Sophroniscus has indulged concerning kissing. A philosopher who was continually exercising his intellect on such investigations as these, being entrusted, as Hermippus relates, with the citadel of Corinth by Antigonus, got drunk and lost even Corinth itself, being outwitted and defeated by Aratus the Sicyonian; who formerly had argued in his Dialogues against Zeno the philosopher, contending that a wise man would in every respect be a good general; and this excellent pupil of Zeno proved this especial point admirably by his own achievements. For it was a witty saying of Bion the Borysthenite, when he saw a brazen statue of his, on which was the inscription, Persæus of Citium, the Pupil of Zeno, that the man who engraved the inscription had made a blunder, for that it ought to have been, Persæus the servant (οἰκιτίεα not κιτίεα) of Zeno; for he had been born a slave of Zeno, as Nicias of Nicæa relates, in his History of Philosophers; and this is confirmed by Sotion the Alexandrian, in his Successions. And I have met with two books of that admirable work of Persæus, which have this title, "Convivial Dialogues."

55. But Ctesibius the Chalcidian, the friend of Menedemus, as Antigonus the Carystian relates in his Lives, being asked by somebody, What he had ever got by philosophy? replied, The power of getting a supper without contributing to it himself. On which account Timon somewhere or other said to him—

Oh you mad dinner hunter, with the eyes
Of a dead corpse, and heart both bold and shameless.

And Ctesibius was a man who made very good guesses, and was a very witty man, and a sayer of amusing things; on which account every one used to invite him to their parties; he was not a man like you, you Cynic, who never sacrificed to the Graces, nor even to the Muses. And therefore Virtue [262]avoiding you, and all like you, sits by Pleasure, as Mnasalces, the Sicyonian says, in his Epigrams—

Here I most miserable Virtue sit
By Pleasure's side, and cut my hair for grief,
Crush'd in my spirit; for profane Delight
Is judged by all my better, and my chief.

Now I invite those moderate philosophers,
Who ne'er allow themselves a single pleasure,
Who keep on looking for the one wise man
In all their walks and conversations,
As if he were a slave who'd run away.
O wretched man, why, when you have a ticket,
Will you refuse to drink? Why dost thou now
Do so much wrong to the Gods? why dost thou make
Money of greater value than the rate
Which nature puts on it? You drink but water,
And so must be a worthless citizen;
For so you cheat the farmer and the merchant;
But I by getting drunk increase their trade.
Then you at early dawn bear round a cruet,
Seeking for oil, so that a man must think
You have an hour-glass with you, not a bottle.)

56. However, Archestratus, as I was saying before this long digression, whom you praise as equal to Homer, because of his praises of the stomach—though your friend Timon says of the stomach,

Than which no part more shameless can be found—

There are but few so happy as to know
This godlike food, nor do men covet it
Who have the silly souls of common mortals.
They fear because it is an animal
Which living preys on man. But every fish
Loves human flesh, if it can meet with it.
So that 'tis fit that all who talk such nonsense
Should be confined to herbs, and should be sent
To Diodorus the philosopher
And starve, and so pythagorize with him.

But this Diodorus was by birth an Aspendian; but desiring to be thought a Pythagorean, he lived after the fashion of you Cynics, letting his hair grow, being dirty, and going barefoot. On which account some people fancied that it was an article of the Pythagorean creed to let the hair grow, which was in reality a fashion introduced by Diodorus, as [263] Hermippus asserts. But Timæus of Tauromenium, in the ninth book of his Histories, writes thus concerning him—"Diodorus, who was by birth an Aspendian, introduced a novel fashion of dress, and pretended to resemble the Pythagoreans. Stratonicus wrote and sent a messenger to him, desiring him who carried the message to seek out a disciple of Pythagoras who kept the portico crowded by his insane vagaries about dress, and his insolence. And Sosicrates, in the third book of the Succession of Philosophers, relates that Diodorus used to wear a long beard, and a worn-out cloak, and to keep his hair long, indulging in these fashions out of a vain ostentation. For that the Pythagoreans before him wore very handsome clothes, and used baths, and perfumes, and hair of the ordinary length.

57. And if you in reality, O philosopher, do admire contentment and moderation in your feasts, why is it that you have come hither without being invited? Did you come as to a house of intemperance, in order to learn to make a catalogue of a cook's instruments? or in order to spout some verses of Cepholion the Athenian? For according to the Cedalion of Sophocles, you are

A branded lot, all knaves and parasites.

And he says that you philosophers always have your minds set upon banquets; and that you think it constantly necessary to ask for something to eat or to devour some Cynic food. For there is no need for our picking our phrases. And all this is plain from what Alexis relates in his book which is entitled Linus: and in that he supposes Hercules to have been educated by Linus, and to have been ordered by him to select any one out of a number of books that were at hand to read. And he having taken a cookery-book in his hand, retained it with great eagerness. And Linus then speaks to him in the following terms—

58. When Magnus had run through these quotations, Cynulcus, looking at the philosophers who were present, said—

Have you seen the Thasian brine,[264:1] and heard how he does bark?
How speedily the fellow did revenge himself, and thoroughly;
It does not seem a case of one blind speaking to a deaf man:

as Cratinus says, in his Archilochi. For he, forgetting before what a tribunal he was making an exhibition of his fine iambics, read his colabri with his natural greediness, and at the same time with his usual elegance of expression, and

Melodies out of time, and tuneless cymbals:

and after all this fine ignorant stupidity, he goes round to people's houses, seeking out where any handsome banquet is prepared, carrying his conduct to a length even beyond the Athenian Chærephon, of whom Alexis says in his Fugitive—

That Chærephon has always got some trick,
And now he's looking for some feast to share
Where he himself will not be call'd upon
For any contribution. For wheresoever
A pot, such as is let to cooks, does stand,
Thither he goeth at the earliest dawn;
And if he sees one come to hire it
For any feast, he asks the cook the name
Of him who gives the feast, and then as soon
As the door opens, in he walks the first.

But this man has no hesitation, like the excellent Magnus, even to make excursions quite beyond the boundaries for the sake of his stomach, as Alexis said in his Men who Died together—

Chærephon comes to Corinth for a supper,
Though he has never had an invitation;
But still he flies across the sea, so sweet
It is to eat of what another pays for.

Well said Euripides, "It is not bad
For a rich man to dine at other's cost."

59. And when all laughed at this, Ulpian said, Whence do the voluptuaries who talk so loosely get all their elegance of expression? And Cynulcus replied, But, O you well-seasoned little pig, Phrynichus the Cynic poet, in his Ephialtes, mentions "the elegant speaker" in these terms:—

It is the hardest work of all to guard against such men;
For they do carry always at their finger's end a sting,
The misanthropic flower of youth; and then they fawn on all
With carefully selected sweetness of expression,
Always the forum haunting when the citizens are seated;
And then they lacerate with wounds severe and unexpected
Those whom they have been fawning on, and hide themselves and laugh.

And the word χαριτογλωσσεῖν (to speak so as to please) is used by Æschylus in the Prometheus Vinctus—

You shall know this for true; nor is it mine
χαριτογλωσσεῖν.

And when Ulpian said again, But what, my friends, is meant by cooks' instruments? for these things were mentioned, and were thought worthy of being enumerated in the Arcadian banquets: and also where is the word ἀσώτιον (abode of luxury) to be found? For I know that the adjective ἄσωτος is common enough. And Alexis speaks of a luxurious extravagant man in his Cnidia, saying—

Diodorus, most extravagant of men,
In two brief years did make his patrimony
Into a football, with such headlong speed
Did he devour everything.

You tell me of a very slow proceeding;
For in five days the little Epicharides
Made ducks and drakes of all his father's property,
So quickly and entirely did he swallow it.

60. And Ctesippus the son of Chabrias carried his extravagance and intemperance to such a height, that he sold even the stones of his father's tomb, on which the Athenians had spent a thousand drachmæ, to furnish means for his luxury. And accordingly Diphilus says in his Men offering Sacrifices to the Dead—

[266] If Chabrias's son, the young Ctesippus,
Had not become a friend of Phædimus,
I should have brought a wholesome law forward
To cause his father's monument to be finished.
That each of all the citizens should give
A stone of size to fill a waggon, and
I say that that would not be much for him.

Ctesippus, the fine son of Chabrias,
Has ceased to shave himself three times a-day.
A great man among women, not with men.

And I too once was a young man, O woman,
Nor did I then five several times a-day
Bathe, as I now do bathe; nor at that time
Had I a soft cloak, such as now I have,
Nor such perfumes as now; now I will paint myself,
And pluck my hair, by Jove. Aye, I will be
Ctesippus, not a man; and in brief time
I too, like him, will eat up all the stones,
For I'll not be content with earth alone.

And perhaps it was on account of this extravagant luxury and debauchery that Demosthenes has handed down his name in his treatise on Immunities. But those who have devoured their patrimony ought to be punished in such a way as this, like the Nauclerus of Menander. For Menander says—

O dearest mother of all mortals, Earth,
How kind you are to all possess'd of sense;
How worthy of all honour! Sure that man
Who like a spendthrift eats his patrimony,
Should be condemn'd to sail about for ever
And never reach the shore; that he might feel
To what great good he'd been insensible.

61. And Axionicus speaks of a certain Pythodelus as a very intemperate man, in his Etrurian, saying—

Here Pythodelus comes, who is surnamed
Isoballion, greediest of men,
And on his steps does follow that wise woman
Ischas, bearing a drum, and very drunk.

And Anaxandrides attacks Polyeuctus, turning him into ridicule in the comedy called Tereus—

And Theopompus, in the tenth book of his account of the Exploits of Philip, (a book from which some separate the conclusion, in which there is the mention made of the demagogues at Athens,) says that Eubulus the demagogue was an intemperate man. And he uses the following expressions—"And he so far exceeded the whole nation of the Tarentines in luxury and extravagance, that this latter is only immoderate in its indulgence in feasts; but he spent on his luxury even the revenues of the Athenian people. But Callistratus," he continues, "the son of Callicrates, who was himself also a demagogue, was very intemperate in his pleasures, but still he was very attentive to the business of the state." And speaking of the Tarentines, in the fifty-second book of his Histories, he writes as follows—"The city of the Tarentines sacrifices oxen nearly every month, and celebrates public festivals; and the chief body of private individuals is always occupied in banquets and drinking parties. And the Tarentines hold some such language as this: That other men, because they are fond of personal exertion, and because they devote themselves to actual labour, prepare their subsistence in this way for the future: but that they, by means of their banquets and pleasures, are not about to live, but are living already."

62. But concerning the intemperance and general habits and life of Philip and his companions, Theopompus gives the following account, in the forty-ninth book of his Histories—"When Philip became master of great treasures, he did not spend them quickly, but he threw them away and squandered them; being of all the men that ever lived, not only the worst manager himself, but all those who were about him were so too. For absolutely not one of them had any idea of living properly, or of managing his household with moderation. And of that he himself was the cause, being a most insatiable and extravagant man, doing everything in an offhand manner, whether he was acquiring property or giving it away. For though he was a soldier, he was unable, out of pure laziness, to count what he had coming in and what he spent. And then his companions were men collected together [268]from all quarters; for some of them came from his own country, and some from Thessaly, and some from other parts of Greece, not being selected with any care; but if among either Greeks or barbarians there was any lascivious, or impure, or avaricious man, he had almost every one of the same character assembled in Macedonia, and they were all called friends of Philip. And even if any one came who was not entirely of that disposition, still under the influence of the life and manners of the Macedonians, he very soon became like the rest. For their wars, and military expeditions, and other great expenses, encouraged them to be audacious, and to live, not in an orderly manner, but after a prodigal fashion and like robbers."

63. But Duris, in the seventh book of his History of the Affairs of Macedonia, speaking of Pasicyprus the king of Cyprus, and of his intemperate habits, writes as follows—"Alexander, after the siege of Tyre, dismissed Pnytagoras, and gave him many presents, and among them he gave him the fortified place which he asked for. And that very place Pasicyprus the king had previously sold, in a luxurious freak, for fifty talents, to Pymatus the Cittiæan, selling him both the fortress itself and his own royal authority over it. And when he had received the money he grew old in Amathus." Such also was Æthiops the Corinthian, as Demetrius the Scepsian relates, of whom mention is made by Archilochus; "for he, out of his love of pleasure and intemperance, sailing with Archias to Sicily when he was about to found Syracuse, sold to his messmate for a cake of honey the lot which he had just drawn, and was about to take possession of in Syracuse."

64. But Demetrius carried his extravagance to such a height, he, I mean, who was the descendant of Demetrius Phalereus, according to the account of Hegesander, that he had Aristagora the Corinthian for a mistress, and lived in a most expensive manner. And when the Areopagitæ summoned him before them, and ordered him to live more decorously—"But even now," said he, "I live like a gentleman, for I have a most beautiful mistress, and I do no wrong to any one, and I drink Chian wine, and I have a sufficiency of everything, as my own revenues suffice for all these expenses. And I do not live as some of you do, corrupted by bribes myself, [269]and intriguing with other men's wives." And hereupon he enumerated some who acted in this manner by name. And Antigonus the king, having heard this, made him a thesmothete. And he, being an hipparch at the Panathenæa, erected a seat close to the statues of Mercury for Aristagora, higher than the Mercuries themselves. And when the mysteries were celebrated at Eleusis, he placed a seat for her close to the temple, saying that those who endeavoured to hinder him should repent it.

65. But Phanodemus, and also Philochorus, have related that in former times the judges of the Areopagus used to summon before them and to punish profligate and extravagant men, and those who had no ostensible means of living: and many others have told the same story. At all events, those judges sent for Menedemus and Asclepiades the philosophers when they were young men and poor, and asked them how they managed to look so sleek and comfortable when they spent the whole day idling with philosophers, and had no property. And they replied that some one of the men about the mill had better be sent for. And when he came and said that they came every night to the mill and threshed and ground the corn, and each earned two drachmæ, the judges of the Areopagus marvelled, and presented them with two hundred drachmæ as a reward.

And the citizens of Abdera brought Democritus to trial, on the ground that he had wasted the estate which he had inherited from his father. And when he had read to them his Great World, and his treatise concerning the Things in the Shades below, and had said that he had spent it on these works, he was discharged.

Drink two entire days in every day,
Shaking their heads through their too mighty draughts.

Having three heads, like to Diana's statue.

Being enemies to their own estate, as Satyrus in his treatise on Characters said, running through their land, tearing to pieces and plundering their own houses, selling their own property as if it were the spoils of the enemy, considering not what has been spent, but what will be spent, and not [270]what will remain afterwards, but what will not remain, having spent beforehand in their youth the money which ought to have carried them safely through old age, rejoicing in companionship, not in companions, and in their wine, and not in those who drink it with them. But Agatharchides the Corinthian, in the twenty-eighth book of his Commentary on the Affairs of Europe, says "that Gnosippus, who was a very luxurious and extravagant man in Sparta, was forbidden by the Ephori to hold intercourse with the young men." And among the Romans, it is related, according to the statement of Posidonius, in the forty-ninth book of his Histories, that there was a man named Apicius who went beyond all other men in intemperance. This is that Apicius who was the cause of banishment to Rutilius, who wrote the history of the Romans in the Greek language. But concerning Apicius, the man, I mean, who is so notorious for his extravagant luxury, we have already spoken in our first book.

67. But Diogenes the Babylonian, in his treatise on Nobility of Birth, says "that the son of Phocion, whose name was Phocus, was such a man that there was not one Athenian who did not hate him. And whenever any one met him they said to him, 'O you man who are a disgrace to your family!' For he had expended all his patrimony on intemperance; and after this he became a flatterer of the prefect of Munychia; on which account he was again attacked and reproached by every one. And once, when a voluntary contribution was being made, he came forward and said, before the whole assembly, 'I, too, contribute my share.' And the Athenians all with one accord cried out, 'Yes, to profligacy.' And Phocus was a man very fond of drinking hard; and accordingly, when he had conquered with horses at the Panathenæa, and when Sopater entertained his companions at a banquet, the preparation was very splendid, and foot-tubs full of wine and spices were set before all who came in. And his father, seeing this, called Phocus, and said, 'Will you not stop your companion from polluting your victory in this fashion?'"

And I know too of many other intemperate and extravagant, men, whom I leave you to find out, with the exception of Callias the son of Hipponicus, whom even the tutors of little children have heard of. But concerning the others whom I have been a little hasty in mentioning, if you have [271]anything to say, I have the doors of my ears open. So speak; for I want to know something.

Besides Magnus used the words ἐπεσθίειν and ἐπιφαγεῖν. And Æmilianus said, you have the word ἀσώτιον used by Strattis, in his Chrysippus, where he says—

He will not e'en have time to ease himself,
Nor to turn to an ἀσώτιον, nor e'en,
If a man meets him, to converse with him.

68. But the instruments used by a cook are enumerated by Anaxippus, in his Harp-player, as follows:—

Bring me a ladle and a dozen spits,
A flesh-hook, and a mortar, and a cheese-scraper,
A cylinder, three troughs, a knife, four choppers.
Will you not, O man hated by the gods,
Make haste and put the kettle on the fire?
And are you now still dawdling at that dish?
And with that largest chopper?

But Aristophanes calls the dish which we commonly call χύτρα, a κακκάβη, in his play of the Women occupying the Tents; saying—

Warm now the κακκάβη of the preceptor.

To bring the κακκάβη from thence.

We now have everything; for that fine eel
From Thebes, a namesake of the one in-doors,
Mingling within the hollow κακκάβη,
Is warm, and leaps, is boiled, and bubbles up.

Then came a polypus all cut in pieces,
And boiled ἐν βατανίοισιν.

But I when sojourning in Sicily,
Learn'd to cook with such dexterity,
That I make all the guests with eagerness
Invade the dishes (βατάνια) with their teeth at times.

But Antiphanes spells the word with a π; writing it πατάνιον, in his Wedding—

Πατάνια, beet, and assafœtida,
Dishes and candles, coriander and onions,
And salt and olives, and round dishes too.

Here let the cook of dainty dishes (πατανίων) come.

He seems to have more pupils for his dishes
Than even Stratonicus had.

But Eubulus, in his Ionian, uses both forms, both βατάνιον and πατάνιον, where he says—

Round dishes, and βατάνια, and caccabia,
And lopadia, and πατάνια, in crowds
Countless, I could not tell you half their names.

69. But Alexis made a catalogue of seasonings, in his play called the Caldron, saying—

And, in his Woman working all Night, or the Spinners, he introduces a cook as saying—

I must run round, and bawl for what I want;
You'll call for supper when you home return,
And I have got no vinegar, nor anise,
Nor marjoram, nor fig-leaves, nor sweet oil,
Nor almonds, nor the lees of new-made wine,
Nor garlic, no, nor leeks, nor onions,
No fire, no cummin seed, no salt, no eggs,
No wood, no trough, no frying-pan, no rope;
No pail, no cistern, neither well nor pitcher;
Here I stand useless with but knife in hand,
Girt and prepared for action all in vain.

First of all take a dish of goodly size,
And put in marjoram and pounded herbs,
Steep'd to a fair extent in vinegar,
Colour'd with new made wine, and flavoured with
Plenty of potent assafœtida.

And Teleclides used the word ἐπεσθίειν, in his Prytanes, in this manner:—

Τύριον ἐπεσθίοντα, eating cheese.

Wishing to eat (ἐπιφαγεῖν) of nothing
But just an onion and three pickled olives.

Once, out of poverty, he ate up (ἐπήσθιεν) everything.

70. But there was another class of men somewhat different from the cooks, called τραπεζοποιοὶ, setters out of tables. But what their office was is plainly stated by Antiphanes, in his Sojourner—

Hither I come, and bring this table-setter,
Who soon shall wash the cloths, and trim the lamps,
Prepare the glad libations, and do every thing
Which to his office may pertain.

And it is worth inquiring whether the τραπεζοκόμος is the same person as the τραπεζοποιός. For king Juba, in his treatise on Similitudes, says that the τραπεζοκόμος is the same person who is called by the Romans structor, quoting from the play of Alexander, which is entitled Potation—

Now for to-morrow I must get a flute-player,
A table-setter, and a workman too.
This was my master's reason for despatching me
On this commission from his country seat.

But they called him τραπεζοποιὸς who took care of the tables, and of everything else which required order and good management. Philemon says, in his "The Uninvited Guest"—

There is no need of long deliberation
About the kitchen, for the table-setter
Is bound to look to that; that is his office.

They also used the word ἐπιτραπεζώματα, meaning by this the food which was placed upon the table. Plato says, in the Menelaus—

How little now is left of the ἐπιτραπεζώματα.

[274] They also called the man who bought the meat, the Ἀγοραστὴς, but now they call him ὀψωνάτωρ, an officer whom Xenophon mentions, in the second [274:1] book of the Memorabilia, speaking thus:—"Could we expect to get a steward and buyer of such a character for nothing?" But the same word is used in a more general sense by Menander, in his Phanius—

He was a thrifty and a moderate buyer (ἀγοραστής):

How the purveyor (ὀψώνης) seems to delay our supper.

Cratinus, too, uses the verb παροψωνέω, in his Cleobulinæ, where he says

And Alexis uses the verb παραγοράζω, in the same sense, (to buy dainty side-dishes,) in his Dropidas.

There are people called εἰλέατροι; they are those, according to Pamphilus, who invite people to the king's table, having their name derived from ἐλεός (a kitchen table). But Artemidorus calls them δειπνοκλήτορες.

71. They also used to call the tasters (according to the statement of the same Pamphilus) ἐδέατροι, because they ate of dishes before the king with a view to his safety. But now, the person called ἐδέατρος is the superintendent of the whole management of the feast; and that office is very eminent and honourable. Accordingly, Chares, in the third book of his Histories, says that Ptolemy surnamed Soter, was originally appointed as the taster (ἐδέατρος) of Alexander. And it appears that the person whom the Romans now call the taster was at that time called by the Greeks προτένθης. As Aristophanes, in the earlier of his plays, called the Clouds, says—

Do not you marvel; we are of the number
Of skilful tasters (προτένθων), but you know us not.

Must I then tell you who I am to-day?
I am that taster called Dorpia.

And I find also a decree passed, while Cephisodorus was archer at Athens, in which the tasters are mentioned as a regular guild or college; just like the men who are called parasites. For the decree runs thus:—"Phocus proposed that, in order that the council might celebrate the Apaturia with the rest of the Athenians, in accordance with the national customs, that it should be decreed by the council, that the councillors should be released for the day, as also the other councils have been dismissed, for a holiday of five days from the day which the tasters (ὁι πρότενθαι) celebrate." And that the ancients had people who were called "tasters" Xenophon tells us in his treatise which is entitled Hiero or the Tyrant, where he says, "The tyrant lives, never trusting either meat or drink, but they order those who minister to them to taste them first, in the place of offering libations to the gods; because they feel a distrust lest they should eat or drink something pernicious." And Anaxilas, in his Calypso, says—

First the old woman here shall taste your drink.

72. And the ancients used to call those who made sweetmeats and cheesecakes δημιουργοί. Menander, in his False Hercules, blaming the cooks as attempting what they ought not, says—

Holloa, you cook, why do you sulky seem?
'Tis the third time you've asked me what's the number
Of tables which will be required to-day.
We go to sacrifice one little pig.
Eight tables are required, or two, or one;
What can that be to you?—I want but one.
May we not make some candyli [275:1] and dishes
Such as you're used to season; honey, eggs,
And semilago; but now everything
Is contrary; the cook makes cakes in moulds,
Roasts cheesecakes, and boils groats, and brings on table
After the salted meats fig-leaves and grapes.
And for the sweetmeat-makers, they, with duties
Turn'd upside down, roast joints of meat and thrushes
Instead of delicate confections; thus
He who believes he sups doth feed on dainties,
And when perfumed and crown'd, again doth feast
On honey'd cheese-cakes interspersed with thrushes.

[276] But that all these different duties were formerly separated, when the demiurgi, as they called them, attended to the sweetmeats, and the cooks to the regular cookery, Antiphanes shows us plainly enough, in his Chrysis, where he says—

Four female flute-players do have their wages,
Twelve cooks, and just as many sweetmeat-makers,
Asking for plates for honey.

But Seleucus says that Panyasis is the earliest author who speaks of sweetmeats, in the book in which he speaks of the human sacrifices practised by the Egyptians, saying that many sorts of pastry and sweetmeats are put on the table, and many kinds of young birds. And before his time Stesichorus, or Ibycus, in the poem entitled the Contest, wrote as follows:—

Bring gifts unto the maiden, cakes of cesane,
And groats, and cakes of oil and honey mixed,
And other kinds of pastry, and fresh honey.

But that this poem is the work of Stesichorus, Simonides the poet is a most undeniable witness; who, when speaking of Meleager, says—

Who with the spear excell'd his fellows all,
Hurling beyond the eddying Anauros
From the grape-famous Iolcos.
For thus did Homer and Stesichorus
Sing to the nations.

For Stesichorus had sung so in the previously quoted poem, namely, the Contests—

Amphiaraus gain'd the prize in leaping,
And with the dart the godlike Meleager.

73. But I am not ignorant of what Apollodorus the Athenian has said of the Delians, that they supplied all who came to their sacred ceremonies with the assistance of cooks and table-setters; and from their actions they were named Magis and Gongylis;—since, says Aristophanes, they furnished them at these banquets with round barley-cakes, (γόγγυλαι μάζαι,) as if they had been women. And even to this very day some of them are called Chœraci, and Amni, and Artysilai, and [277] Sesami, and Artusitragi, and Neocori, and Icthyboli. And of the women, some are called Cuminanthæ. But all are called by one common name Eleodytæ, because they attend on the kitchen tables, and minister at the festivals. For ἔλεος means a kitchen or cook's table. Homer says—

But when he roasted the meat, and placed it ἐν ἐλεοισῖν.

On which account, also, Polycraton the son of Crithon, a Rhenæan, when instituting a prosecution against them, did not call them Delians, but inscribed his action "against the whole body of the Eleodytæ." And the law of the Amphictyons commands the Eleodytæ to provide water; meaning by Eleodytæ the table-setters, and all attendants of that sort. But Criton the comic poet, in his Busy-body, calls the Delians the parasites of the god, in these lines—

When we had forced this great Phœnician,
The master of a well-provided purse,
Though captain of the ship, to stay in harbour,
And * * * two ships
To come to Delos from Piræus' port;
He heard from all men that this place alone
Seem'd to have three good things for a parasite,
A well-stored market, a large population
From every country, and the native Delians,
Themselves a tribe of parasites of the god.

74. But Achæus the Eretrian, in his Alcmæon, a satyric drama, calls the Delphians makers of sauces, in these words:—

I see the sauce-makers, and spit on them.

Inasmuch, forsooth, as they cut up the victims, it is plain that they cooked and seasoned them; and, having a regard to these facts, Aristophanes also said—

But O thou Phœbus, them who sharpenest
The Delphian knives, and with an early warning
Givest instruction to thy ministers.

Why do you stay conceal'd,
Namesake of all the knives which cooks employ?

For the Satyrs ridicule the Delphians, as devoting all their time and attention to festivals and sacrifices. And Semus says, in the fourth book of his Deliad, "The Delians used to provide the Delphians who came to Delos with salt, and vinegar, and oil, and wood, and counterpanes." And Aristotle, or [278]Theophrastus, in his Commentaries, speaking of the Magnesians who dwell on the banks of the river Mæander, as colonists of the Delphians, represents them as showing the same attentions to all foreigners who came to them; speaking as follows:—"The Magnesians who dwell on the banks of the river Mæander, being sacred to the god, and colonists of the Delphians, give shelter to all who come among them, and salt, and oil, and vinegar, and lights, and beds, and coverlets, and tables."

But Demetrius the Scepsian, in the sixteenth book of his Trojan Array, says that in Laconia, on the road which is called the Hyacinthine road, statues of the heroes Daiton and Ceraon were erected by those who made barley-cakes at the Phiditia, and by the attendants who mixed the wine. And the same writer reports also, in the twenty-fourth book of the same work, that Daitas the hero is worshipped among the Trojans, who is also mentioned by Mimnermus. And Hegesander the Delphian says that Jupiter is worshipped in Cyprus, under the names of Eilapinastes or the Feaster, and of Splanchnotomus or the Carver of Entrails.

75. And while much such conversation as this was proceeding, on a sudden a noise was heard from some one of the neighbouring places, as from an hydraulic organ, very pleasant and agreeable, so that we all turned round towards it, being charmed by the melody; and Ulpian looking towards the musical Alcides said, Do you hear, O you most musical of men, this beautiful harmony which has made us turn round, being enchanted by the music? And is it not the case, as it is said to be among you Alexandrians, that constant music of an unaccompanied flute causes pain rather than any musical pleasure to those who hear it? And Alcides said,—But this engine, the hydraulic organ, whether you choose to class it among stringed instruments or among wind instruments, is the invention of a fellow-countryman of ours, an Alexandrian, a barber by trade; and his name is Ctesibius. And Aristocles reports this, in his book on Choruses, saying—"The question is asked, whether the hydraulic organ is a stringed instrument or a wind instrument." Now Aristoxenus did not feel sure on this point; but it is said, that Plato showed a sort of notion of the invention, making a nightly clock like the hydraulic organ; being very like an enormous hour-glass. And, indeed, the hydraulic organ does seem to be [279]a kind of hour-glass. It cannot, therefore, be considered a stringed instrument, and one to be played by touching. But perhaps it may be called a wind instrument, because the organ is inflated by the water; for the pipes are plunged down into the water, and when the water is agitated by a youth, as the axles penetrate through the whole organ, the pipes are inflated, and emit a gentle and agreeable sound. And this organ is like a round altar; and they say that it was invented by Ctesibius the barber, who dwelt at that time in the territory of Aspendor, in the reign of the second Ptolemy surnamed Euergetes; and they say that he was a very eminent man; they say also, that he learnt a good deal from his wife Thais. But Trypho, in the third book of his treatise on Names, (and it is a dissertation on Flutes and Organs,) says Ctesibius the mechanic wrote a book about the hydraulis; but I am not sure that he is not mistaken as to the name. At all events, Aristoxenus prefers stringed instruments which are played upon by the touch to wind instruments; saying that wind instruments are very easy; for that many people, without having been taught, can play on the flute and pipe, as for instance, shepherds.

76. And this is what I have got to say to you about the hydraulic organ, O Ulpian. For the Phœnicians used a kind of flute called the gingras, according to the account of Xenophon, about a span in length, and of a very shrill and mournful tone. And the same instrument is used also by the Carians in their wailings, unless, indeed, when he says Phœnicia he means Caria; and indeed you may find the name used so in Corinna and in Bacchylides. And these flutes are called gingri by the Phœnicians from the lamentations for Adonis; for you Phœnicians called Adonis Gingres, as Democlides tells us. And Antiphanes mentions the gingri flutes, in his Physician; and Menander does so too, in his Carina; and Amphis, in his Dithyrambus, saying—

For they are both so sick with love
Of the melodious strains of soft Euripides,
That every other music seems to them
Shrill as the gingras, and a mere misfortune.

77. But how much better, O most sagacious Ulpian, is this hydraulic organ, than the instrument which is called nabla; which Sopater the parodist, in his drama entitled Pylæ, says is also an invention of the Phœnicians, using the following expressions—

Nor is the noise of the Sidonian nabla,
Which from the throat doth flow, at all impair'd.

Among the instruments of harmony
The nablas comes, not over soft or sweet;
By its long sides a lifeless lotus fix'd
Sends forth a breathed music; and excites men,
Singing in Bacchic strain a merry song.

There is also an instrument called the triangle, which Juba mentions in the fourth book of his Theatrical History, and says it is an invention of the Syrians; as is also the sambuca, which is called λυροφοίνιξ. But this instrument Neanthes the Cyzicene, in the first book of his Seasons, says is an invention of Ibycus the Rhegian poet; as also the lyre called barbitos was of Anacreon. But since you are running all us Alexandrians down as unmusical, and keep mentioning the monaulos as our only national instrument, listen now to what I can tell you offhand about that.

78. For Juba, in the before-mentioned treatise, says that the Egyptians call the monaulos an invention of Osiris, just as they say that kind of plagiaulos is, which is called photinx, and that, too, I will presently show you is mentioned by a very illustrious author; for the photinx is the same as the flute, which is a national instrument. But Sophocles, in his Thamyras, speaks of the monaulos, saying—

[281] For all the tuneful melodies of pipes πήκτιδες
Are lost, the lyre, and monaulos too.

* * * * *

But he, can you believe it? seized at once
On the monaulos, and leapt lightly forth.

I the monaulos took, and sang a wedding song.

And then he sang a song on the monaulos.

But Protagorides of Cyzicus, in the second book of his treatise on the Assemblies in Honour of Daphne, says, "He touched every kind of instrument, one after another, castanets, the weak-sounding pandurus, but he drew the sweetest harmony from the sweet monaulos. And Posidonius the Stoic philosopher, in the third book of his Histories, speaking of the war of the Apameans against the Larissæans, writes as follows—"Having taken short daggers sticking in their waists, and small lances covered with rust and dirt, and having put veils and curtains over their heads which produce a shade but do not hinder the wind from getting to their necks, dragging on asses laden with wine and every sort of meat, by the side of which were packed little photinges and little monauli, instruments of revelry, not of war." But I am not ignorant that Amerias the Macedonian, in his Dialects, says, that the monaulos is called tityrinus. So here you have, O excellent Ulpian, a man who mentions the photinx. But that the monaulos was the same instrument which is now called calamaules, or reedfife, is clearly shown by Hedylus, in his Epigrams, where he says—

Beneath this mound the tuneful Theon lies,
Whom the monaulos knew its sweetest lord;
Scirpalus' son; age had destroy'd his sight,
And when he was a child his sire him call'd
Eupalamus in his first birthday ode,
Showing that he was a choice bouquet where
The virtues all had met. For well he sung
The Muses' sports amid their wine-glad revels;
[282] He sang to Battalus, an eager drinker
Of unmix'd wine, and Cotalus and Pæncalus.
Say then to Theon with his calamaules,
Farewell, O Theon, tunefullest of men.

As, therefore, they now call those who play on a pipe of reeds (κάλαμοι) calamaules, so also they call them now rapaules, according to the statement of Amerias the Macedonian, in his dialects.

79. But I wish you to know, my most excellent Ulpian, that a more musical and accomplished people than the Alexandrians is not mentioned. And I do not speak only of playing on the harp, with which even the poorest people among us, and those who do not make a profession of it, and who are utterly ignorant of every other kind of learning, are so familiarized that they can in a moment detect any error which has been made in striking the strings,—but especially are they skilful with the flute; and not only in those which are called girls' flutes and boys' flutes, but also in men's flutes, which are called perfect and superperfect; and also in those which are called harp-flutes and finger-flutes. For the flutes called elymi, which Sophocles mentions in his Niobe and in his Drummers, we do not understand to be anything but the common Phrygian flute. And these, too, the Alexandrians are very skilful in. They are acquainted also with the flute with two holes, and also with the intermediate flute, and with those which are called hypotreti, or bored underneath. And Callias also speaks of the flute called elymi, in his Pedetæ. But Juba says that they are an invention of the Phrygians, and that they were also called scytaliæ, from their resemblance in thickness to the scytale. And Cratinus the younger says that the Cyprians also use them, in his Theramenes. We know, too, of some which are called half-bored, of which Anacreon says—

What lust has now seized thus upon your mind,
To wish to dance to tender half-bored flutes?

And these flutes are smaller than the perfect flutes. At all events, Æschylus says, speaking metaphorically, in his Ixion—

But very soon the greater swallows up
The lesser and the half-bored flute.

And these half-bored flutes are the same as those which are called boys' flutes, which they use at banquets, not being fit [283]for the games and public shows; on which account Anacreon called them tender.

80. I am acquainted, too, with other kinds of flutes, the tragic flute, and the lysiodic [283:1] flute, and the harplike flute; all which are mentioned by Ephorus, in his Inventions, and by Euphranor the Pythagorean, in his treatise on Flutes, and also by Alexon, who wrote another treatise on Flutes. But the flute made of reeds is called tityrinus among the Dorians in Italy, as Artemidorus the Aristophanian tells us, in the second book of his History of Doris. And the flute which is called magadis, which is also named palæo-magadis, sends forth a sharp and a deep note at the same time, as Anaxandrides says in his Armed Fighter—

I will speak like a magadis, both loudly and gently.

And the flutes called lotus flutes are the same which are called photinges by the Alexandrians; and they are made of the plant called the lotus; and this is a wood which grows in Libya. But Juba says that the flute which is made out of the leg bones of the kid is an invention of the Thebans; and Tryphon says that those flutes also which are called elephantine flutes were first bored among the Phœnicians. I know, too, that the magadis is a stringed instrument, as is the harp, the lyre, and the barbitos. But Euphorion the epic poet says in his book on the Isthmian Games—"Those men who are now called players on the nablas, and on the pandurus, and on the sambuca, do not use any new instrument, for the baromus and the barbitos (both of which are mentioned by Sappho and Anacreon), and the magadis, and the triangle, and the sambuca are all ancient instruments. At all events, a statue of one of the Muses was erected in Mitylene by Lesbothemis, holding a sambuca in her hand." But Aristoxenus calls the following foreign instruments—phœnices, and pectides, and magadides, and sambucæ, and triangles, and clepsiambi, and scindapsi, and the instrument called the enneachord or nine-stringed instrument. But Plato, in the third book of his Polity, states—"'We shall not, then,' said I, 'have much need of many strings or of much harmony in our songs and melodies.' 'I think not,' said he. 'But we [284]shall have triangles, and pectides, and all sorts of instruments which have many strings and are very harmonious.'"

81. But the scindapsus is an instrument of four strings, as Matron the parodist says in the following lines—

Nor did they hang it upon pegs where hung
The sweet scindapsus with its fourfold strings,
Joy of the woman who the distaff hates.

And Theopompus the Colophonian likewise mentions it, the Epic poet, I mean, in his poem entitled the Chariot—

Shaking the large and lyre-toned scindapsus,
Made of young tamarisk, in his skilful hand.

But I was making three-string'd barbiti,
Pectides, citharæ, lyres, and scindapsi.

But Sopater the parodist, in his poem entitled "The Initiated," says that the pectis is an instrument with two strings, saying—

The pectis, proud of its barbaric muse,
With its two strings was placed within my hand.

The instrument called pariambis is mentioned by Epicharmus, in his Periallus, in this way—

But Semele doth dance and he doth sing
Tunefully on his pariambis lyre,
And she rejoices at the rapid song.

Now it was Alexander of Cythera, according to the account given by Juba, who completed the psaltery with its full number of strings. And he, when he had grown old in the city of the Ephesians, suspended this instrument in the temple of Diana, as being the most skilful invention he had made with reference to his art. Juba mentions also the lyrophœnix and the Epigonius, which, though now it is transformed into the upright psaltery, still preserves the name of the man who was the first to use it. But Epigonius was by birth an Ambraciot, but he was subsequently made a citizen of Sicyon. And he was a man of great skill in music, so that he played the lyre with his bare hand without a plectrum. For the Alexandrians have great experience and skill in all the above-named instruments and kinds of flutes. And whichever of them you wish me to try, I will exhibit my own skill before you, though there are many others in my country more musical and skilful than I am.

[285] 82. But Alexander, my fellow-citizen, and he has only lately died; having given a public exhibition of his skill on the instrument called the triangle, made all the Romans so music-mad that even now most people recollect the way in which he used to play. And Sophocles speaks of this triangle in his Mysians, saying—

The constant music of the Phrygian
Tender triangle, and the concerted strains
Of the shrill Lydian pectis sounded too.

And in his Thamyras he also mentions it. But Aristophanes, in his Daitaleis, and Theopompus, in his Penelope, likewise speak of it. And Eupolis, in his Baptæ, says—

Who plays the drum with wondrous skill,
And strikes the strings of the triangle.

And the instrument called the pandurus is mentioned, as has been said before, by Euphorion, and by Protagorides, in the second book of his treatise on the Assemblies in honour of Daphne. But Pythagoras, who wrote a book on the Red Sea, says that the Troglodytæ make the panduri out of the daphne which grows on the seashore.

But horns and trumpets are the invention of the Etrurians. But Metrodorus the Chian, in his history of the Affairs of Troy, says that Marsyas invented the pipe and flute at Celænæ, when all his predecessors had played on a single reed. But Euphorion the epic poet, in his treatise on the Modulation of Songs, says that Mercury invented the pipe which consists of one single reed; but that some say that Seuthes and Ronaces the Medes did so; and that Sileuus invented the pipe which is made of many reeds, and that Marsyas invented that one which is joined together with wax.

83. This then, O my word-hunting Ulpian, is what you may learn from us Alexandrians, who are very fond of the music of the monaulos. For you do not know that Menecles the Barcæan compiler, and also that Andron, in his Chronicles, him of Alexandria I mean, assert that it is the Alexandrians who instructed all the Greeks and the barbarians, when the former encyclic mode of education began to fail, on account of the incessant commotions which took place in the times of the successors of Alexander. There was subsequently a regeneration of all sorts of learning in the time of Ptolemy the seventh king of Egypt, the one who was properly called by the [286]Alexandrians Cacergetes; for he having murdered many of the Alexandrians, and banished no small number of those who had grown up to manhood with his brother, filled all the islands and cities with men learned in grammar, and philosophy, and geometry, with musicians, and painters, and schoolmasters, and physicians, and men of all kinds of trades and professions; who, being driven by poverty to teach what they knew, produced a great number of celebrated pupils.

84. But music was a favourite amusement of all the Greeks of old time; on which account also skill in playing the flute was much aimed at. Accordingly, Chamæleon of Heraclia, in his book entitled Protrepticus, says that the Lacedæmonians and Thebans all learned to play on the flute, and the inhabitants of Heraclea in Pontus devoted themselves to the same study down to his own time. And that so did the most illustrious of the Athenians, Callias the son of Hipponicus, and Critias the son of Callæschrus. But Duris, in his treatise on Euripides and Sophocles, says that Alcibiades learnt music, not of any ordinary master, but of Pronomus, who had the very highest reputation in that line. And Aristoxenus says that Epaminondas the Theban learnt to play the flute of Olympiodorus and Orthagoras. And likewise, many of the Pythagoreans practised the art of flute-playing, as Euphranor, and Archytas, and Philolaus, and many others. But Euphranor has also left behind an essay on Flutes, and so too has Archytas. And Aristophanes shows us, in his Daitaleis, the great eagerness with which men applied themselves to this study, when he says—

I who am wasted quite away
In the study of flutes and harps,
Am I now to be sent to dig?

But were not you the man who taught him once
To play upon the flute and well-strung harp?

And Epicharmus, in his Muses, says that Minerva played a martial strain to the Dioscuri. And Ion, in his Phœnician, or Cæneus, calls the flute a cock, speaking thus:—

The cock then sang the Greeks a Lydian hymn.

And also, in his Garrison, he calls the pipe the Idæan cock, using the following expression:—

The pipe, th'Idæan cock, precedes your steps.

I made a noise, bringing the deep-toned flute
With fluent rhythm.

Where he means Phrygian rhythm; and he calls the Phrygian flute deep-toned. For it is deep; on which account they also add a horn to it, having a similarity to the bell mouth of trumpets.

So now this book may be ended, my friend Timocrates; as it is quite long enough.

FOOTNOTES:

BOOK V.

1. But since, O Timocrates, we have now had a great deal of conversation on the subject of banquets in all that has been hitherto said; and since we have passed over those things in them which are most useful and which do not weigh down the soul, but which cheer it, and nourish it by variety of food, as the divine Homer incidentally teaches us, I will also mention what has been said concerning these things by that most excellent writer Masyrius. For we, as the beautiful Agathon says—

Do what is more than needful as if needful,
And treat our real work as if it were superfluous.

At the fair dome the rapid labour ends,[287:1]
Where sat Atrides 'midst his bridal friends,
With double vows invoking Hymen's power
To bless his son's and daughter's nuptial hour:—

as it was a custom to celebrate banquets at marriages, both for the sake of the gods who preside over marriage, and as it were for a testimony to the marriage; and also, the king of Lycia instructs us what sort of banquet ought to be given to foreigners, receiving Bellerophon with great magnificence—

There Lycia's monarch paid him honours due,[287:2]
Nine days he feasted, and nine bulls he slew.

2. For wine appears to have a very attractive influence in promoting friendship, as it warms and also melts the soul. On [288]which account the ancients did not ask who a man was before drinking, but afterwards; as honouring the laws of hospitality itself, and not this or that particular individual. But the lawgivers, taking care beforehand of the banquets of the present day, have appointed feasts for the tribe, and feasts for the borough; and also general banquets, and entertainments to the ward, and others also called orgeonica. And there are many meetings of philosophers in the city, some called the pupils of Diogenes, and others, pupils of Antipater, others again styled disciples of Panætius. And Theophrastus bequeathed money for an entertainment of that sort. Not, by Jove, in order that the philosophers assembled might indulge in intemperance, but in order that during the banquet they might have a wise and learned conversation. And the Prytanes were accustomed every day to meet in well-regulated banquets, which tended to the advantage of the state. And it was to such a banquet as that Demosthenes says the news of the taking of Elatea was brought. "For it was evening, and a man came bringing news to the Prytanes that Elatea was taken." And the philosophers used to be careful to collect the young men, and to feast with them according to some well-considered and carefully laid down law. Accordingly, there were some laws for banquets laid down by Xenocrates, in the Academy, and again by Aristotle.

But the Phiditia in Sparta, and the Andrea, or man's feasts, among the Cretans, were celebrated in their respective cities with all imaginable care. On which account some one said not unwisely—

Dear friends should never long abstain from feasts,
For e'en the memory of them is delightful.

And Antipater the philosopher once assembled a banqueting party, and invited all the guests on the understanding that they were to discuss subtle questions. And they say that Arcesilaus, being once invited to a banquet, and sitting next to a man who ate voraciously, while he himself was unable to enjoy anything, when some one of those who were present offered him something, said—

May it be well with you; be this for Telephus:

for it so happened that the epicure by his side was named Telephus. But Zeno, when some epicure who was at the same party with him snatched away the upper half of the fish [289]the moment that it was placed on the table, turned the fish round himself, and took the remaining portion, saying—

Then Ino came and finish'd what was left.

And Socrates seeing a man once devouring dainties eagerly, said—O you bystanders, which of you eats bread as if it were sweetmeats, and sweetmeats as if they were bread?

3. But now let us speak of the banquets celebrated by Homer. For the poet gives us the different times of them, and the persons present, and the causes of them. And Xenophon and Plato have done well to imitate him in this; who at the very beginning of their treatises set forth the cause which gave rise to the banquet, and mention the names of those who were present. But Epicurus never defines either the place or the time, nor does he preface his accounts with any preliminary statement. But Aristotle says that it is an unseemly thing for a man to come unwashed and covered with dust to a banquet. Then Homer instructs us who ought to be invited; saying that one ought to invite the chiefs; and men of high reputation—

He bade the noblest of the Grecian peers,[289:1]

not acting on the principle asserted by Hesiod, for he bids men invite chiefly their neighbours—

Then bid your neighbours to the well-spread feast,
Who live the nearest, and who know you best.[289:2]

For such a banquet would be one of rustic stupidity; and adapted to the most misanthropic of proverbs—

Friends who far off do live are never friends.

For how can it be anything but nonsense that friendship should depend on place and not on disposition? Therefore we find in Homer, that after the cup had gone round,

Then the old man his counsels first disclosed;[289:3]

but among people who did not regulate their banquets in an orderly manner we read—

Then first the flatterer rose with mocking speech.

Besides, Homer introduces guests differing in ages and tastes, such as Nestor, Ulysses, and Ajax, who are all invited together. And speaking in general terms he represents all who lay claim to any sort of eminence as invited, and individually those who arrive at it by different roads. But Epicurus has represented all his guests as believers in the atonic theory, [290]and this, too, though he had models both in the variety of the banquets of the great poet, and also in the elegant accounts of Plato and Xenophon; of whom Plato has introduced Eryximachus the physician, and Aristophanes the poet, and other professors of different branches of science, discussing matters of weight: and Xenophon has mingled with them some private individuals.

Homer therefore has done much the best of all, and has given us by far the best banquets; and that again is best seen by comparing him with others. For the banquet of the suitors in Homer is just such as might be expected from young men devoted to drinking and love; and that of the Phæacians is more orderly, but still luxurious. And he has made a wide distinction between these entertainments and those which may be called military banquets, and those which have reference to political affairs and are conducted in a well-regulated manner; and again he has distinguished between public and family banquets. But Epicurus has described a banquet consisting of philosophers alone.

4. Homer, too, has pointed out whom one ought not to invite, but who ought to consider that they have a right to come uninvited, showing by the presence of one of the relations that those in similar circumstances had a right to be present—

Unbidden there the brave Atrides came.[290:1]

For it is plain that one ought not to send a formal invitation to one's brother, or to one's parents, or to one's wife, or to any one else whom one can possibly regard in the same light as these relations, for that would be a cold and unfriendly proceeding. And some one has written an additional line, adding the reason why Menelaus had no invitation sent him, and yet came—

For well he knew how busy was his brother:

as if there had been any need of alleging a reason why his brother should come of his own accord to a banquet without any invitation,—a very sufficient reason having been already given. "For," said the interpolater of this line, "did he not know that his brother was giving a banquet? And how can it be otherwise than absurd to pretend that he did not know it, when his sacrifice of oxen was notorious and visible to every one? And how could he have come if he had not [291]known it? Or, by Jove, when he saw him," he continues, "occupied with business, was it not quite right of him to excuse his not having sent him an invitation, and to come of his own accord?" As if he were to say that he came uninvited in order that the next day they might not look at one another, the one with feelings of mortification, and the other of annoyance.

But it would be an absurd thing to suppose that Menelaus forgot his brother, and this, too, when he was not only sacrificing on his account at the present moment, but when it was on his account that he had undertaken the whole war, and when he had invited those who were no relations of his, and who had no connexion even with his country. But Athenocles the Cyzicene, understanding the poems of Homer better than Aristarchus did, speaks in a much more sensible manner to us, and says that Homer omitted to mention Menelaus as having been invited because he was more nearly related to Agamemnon than the others. But Demetrius Phalereus having asserted that interpolated verse to be a bungling and unseasonable addition, quite unsuited to the poetry of Homer,—the verse, I mean,

For well he knew how busy was his brother,

says that he is accusing him of very ungentlemanly manners. "For I think," says he, "that every well-bred man has relations and friends to whom he may go, when they are celebrating any sacrifice, without waiting for them to send him an invitation."

5. And Plato in his Banquet speaks in the same manner on this subject. "For," says he, "that we may destroy the proverb by altering it: Good men may go of their own accord to feasts given by good men. For Homer appears not only to have destroyed that proverb, but also to have ridiculed it; for having represented Agamemnon as valiant in warlike matters, and Menelaus as an effeminate warrior, when Agamemnon celebrates a sacrifice, he represents Menelaus as coming uninvited,—that is, the worse man coming to the feast of the better man." And Bacchylides, speaking of Hercules, and telling how he came to the house of Ceyx, says—

Then on the brazen threshold firm he stood,
(They were a feast preparing,) and thus spake
Brave and just men do uninvited come
To well-appointed feasts by brave and just men made.

Good men do of their own accord
To good men's entertainments come:

Brave men do of their own accord
To cowards' entertainments come.

It was without reason, therefore, that Plato thought that Menelaus was a coward; for Homer speaks of him as Mars-loving, and as fighting single-handed with the greatest gallantry in defence of Patroclus, and eager to fight in single combat with Hector as the champion of the whole army, although he certainly was inferior to Hector in personal strength. And he is the only man in the whole expedition of whom he has said—

And on he went, firm in his fearless zeal.[292:1]

But if an enemy, disparaging him, called him an effeminate warrior, and on this account Plato thinks that he really was an effeminate warrior, why should he not also class Agamemnon himself among the men void of prowess, since this line is spoken against him?—

O monster, mix'd of insolence and fear,
Thou dog in forehead, but in heart a deer!
When wert thou known in ambush'd fights to dare,
Or nobly face the horrid front of war?
'Tis ours the chance of fighting fields to try,
Thine to look on and bid the valiant die.[292:2]

For it does not follow because something is said in Homer, that Homer himself says it. For how could Menelaus have been effeminate who, single-handed, kept Hector away from Patroclus, and who slew Euphorbus, and stripped him of his arms though in the very middle of the Trojan host? And it was foolish of him not completely to consider the entire line which he was finding fault with, in which Menelaus is called "Raising the battle cry," βοὴν ἀγαθὸς, for that is an epithet which Homer is in the habit of giving only to the most valiant; for the ancients called war itself βοή.

6. But Homer, who is most accurate in everything, did not overlook even this trifling point; that a man ought to show some care of his person, and to bathe himself before going to an entertainment. And so, in the case of Ulysses, before the banquet among the Phæacians, he tells us—

[293] A train attends
Around the baths, the bath the king ascends,
(Untasted joy since that disastrous hour
He sail'd defeated from Calypso's bower,)
He bathes, the damsels with officious toil
Shed sweets, shed unguents in a shower of oil.
Then o'er his limbs a gorgeous robe he spreads,
And to the feast magnificently treads.[293:1]

From room to room their eager view they bend,
Thence to the bath, a beauteous pile, descend.[293:2]

For it was unseemly, says Aristotle, for a man to come to a banquet all over sweat and dust. For a well-bred man ought not to be dirty nor squalid, nor to be all over mud, as Heraclitus says. And a man when he first enters another person's house for a feast, ought not to hasten at once to the banqueting-room, as if he had no care but to fill his stomach, but he ought first to indulge his fancy in looking about him, and to examine the house. And the poet has not omitted to take notice of this also.

Part in a portico, profusely graced
With rich magnificence, the chariot placed;
Then to the dome the friendly pair invite,
Who eye the dazzling roof with vast delight,
Resplendent as the blaze of summer noon,
Or the pale radiance of the midnight moon.[293:3]

And Aristophanes, in his Wasps, represents the rustic and litigious old man as invited to a more civilized form of life by his son—

Cease; sit down here and learn at length to be
A boon companion, and a cheerful guest.[293:4]

Then praise some of these beauteous works in brass,
Look at the roof, admire the carvèd hall.

7. And again Homer instructs us as to what we ought to do before a banquet, namely how we ought to allot the first-fruits of the dishes to the gods. At all events Ulysses and his friends, although in the cave of the Cyclops—

Then first a fire we kindle, and prepare
For his return with sacrifice and prayer.[293:5]

And Achilles, although the ambassadors were impatient, as they had arrived in the middle of the night, still—

[294] Himself opposed t' Ulysses full in sight
Each portion parts, and orders every rite;
The first fat offerings to th' Immortals due,
Amid the greedy flames Patroclus threw.

He said, and all approved; the heralds bring
The cleansing water from the living spring,
The youths with wine the sacred goblets crown'd,
And large libations drench'd the sand around.
The rite perform'd, the chiefs their thirst allay,
Then from the royal tent they take their way.[294:1]

And this ceremony Plato also observes in his Banquet. For he says—"Then after they had supped and made libations, they sang pæans to the god with all customary honours." And Xenophon speaks in very nearly the same terms. But in Epicurus there is no mention of any libation to the gods, or of any offering of first-fruits. But as Simonides says of an immodest woman—

And oftentimes she eats unhallow'd victims.

8. He says too that the Athenians were taught the proper proportions in which wine should be mixed by Amphictyon when he was king; and that on this account he erected a temple to the Upright Bacchus. For he is then really upright and not likely to fall, when he is drunk in proper proportions and well mixed; as Homer has it—

Hear me, my friends! who this good banquet grace,—
'Tis sweet to play the fool in time and place.
And wine can of their wits the wise beguile,
Make the sage frolic and the serious smile;
The grave in merry measures frisk about,
And many a long-repented word bring out.[294:2]

For Homer does not call wine ἠλεὸς in the sense of ἠλίθιος, that is to say, foolish and the cause of folly. Nor does he bid a man be of a sullen countenance, neither singing nor laughing, nor ever turning himself to cheerful dancing in time to music. He is not so morose or ill-bred. But he knew the exact proportions in which all these things should be done, and the proper qualities and quantities of wine to be mixed. On which account he did not say that wine makes the sage sing, but sing very much, that is to say, out of tune and excessively, so as to trouble people. Nor, by Jove, did he say simply to smile, and, to frisk about; but using the [295]word merry, and applying that to both, he reproves the unmanly propensity to such trifling—

Makes . . . . . . .
The grave in merry measure frisk about,
And many a long-repented word bring out.

But in Plato none of these things are done in a moderate manner. But men drink in such quantities that they cannot even stand on their feet. For just look at the reveller Alcibiades, how unbecomingly he behaves. And all the rest drink a large goblet holding eight cotylæ, using as an excuse that Alcibiades has led them on; not like the men in Homer—

But when they drank, and satisfied their soul.

Now of these things some ought to be repudiated once for all; but some ought to be enjoyed in moderation; people looking at them as at a slight addition or appendage to a repast; as Homer has said—

Let these, my friend,
With song and dance the pompous revel end.

9. And altogether the poet has attributed devotion to such things to the Suitors, and to the Phæacians, but not to Nestor or to Menelaus. And Aristarchus did not perceive that in his marriage feast, after the entertainment had lasted some time, and the principal days of the revel were over, in which the bride had been taken to the house of the bridegroom, and the marriage of Megapenthes was completed, Menelaus and Helen were left to themselves and feasted together. He, I say, not perceiving this, but being deceived by the first line—

Where sate Atrides 'midst his bridal friends,

While this gay friendly troop the king surround,
With festival and mirth the roofs resound;
A bard amid the joyous circle sings
High airs, attemper'd to the vocal strings,
Whilst, warbling to the varied strain, advance
Two sprightly youths to form the bounding dance:—

transferring them with the error in the reading and all from the eighteenth book of the Iliad, where he relates the making of the arms of Achilles; for it ought to be read not ἐξάρχοντες, the dancers beginning, but ἐξάρχοντος (τοῦ ᾠδοῦ, that is to say,) when the poet began to sing. For the word [296] ἐξάρχω has peculiar reference to preluding on the lyre. On which account Hesiod also says in his Shield of Hercules—

The holy goddesses, the Muses nine,
Preluded (ἐξῆρχον) with a sacred melody.[296:1]

Himself preluding (ἐξάρχων) with a sacred pæan
Set to the Lesbian flute.

And Stesichorus calls the Muse the Beginner of Song (ἀρχεσίμολπος). And Pindar calls Preludes the Leaders of the Dance. And Diodorus the Aristophanian enclosed the whole account of the wedding in brackets; thinking that the first days only were alluded to, and disregarding the termination and what came after the banquet. And then he says we ought to write the words δοίω δὲ κυβιστητῆρε κατ' αὐτοὺς with an aspirate, καθ' αὑτοὺς, but that would be a solecism. For κατ' αὐτοὺς is equivalent to κατὰ σφᾶς αὐτοὺς, but to say ἑαυτοὺς would be a solecism.

10. But, as I said before, the introduction of this kind of music into this modest kind of entertainment is transferred to this place from the Cretic dance, of which he says in the eighteenth book of the Iliad, about the Making of the Arms—

A figured dance succeeds; such once was seen
In lofty Cnossus, for the Cretan queen
Form'd by Dædalean art; a comely band
Of youths and maidens bounding hand-in-hand;
The maids in soft cymars of linen dress'd,
The youths all graceful in the glossy vest.
Of those the locks with flow'ry wreaths enroll'd,
Of these the sides adorn'd with swords of gold,
That glittering gay from silver belts depend.[296:2]

Now all at once they rise, at once descend,
With well-taught feet; now shape in oblique ways
Confus'dly regular the moving maze.
Now forth at once too swift for sight they spring,
And undistinguish'd blend the flying ring.[296:3]

Now among the Cretans, dancing and posture-making was a national amusement. On which account Æneas says to the Cretan Meriones—

Swift as thou art (the raging hero cries),
And skill'd in dancing to dispute the prize,
My spear, the destined passage had it found,
Had fix'd thy active vigour to the ground.

They call it all a Cretan air . . . .
The instrument is called Molossian . . . .

"But they who were called Laconistæ," says Timæus, "used to sing standing to dance in square figures." And altogether there were many various kinds of music among the Greeks: as the Athenians preferred the Dionysiac and the Cyclian dances; and the Syracusians the Iambistic figure; and different nations practised different styles.

But Aristarchus not only interpolated lines which had no business there into the banquet of Menelaus, and by so doing made Homer make representations inconsistent with the system of the Lacedæmonians, and with the moderation of their king, but he also took away the singer from the Cretan chorus, mutilating his song in the following manner:—

The gazing multitudes admire around
Two active tumblers in the centre bound;
Now high, now low their pliant limbs they bend,
And general songs the sprightly revel end.[297:1]

So that blunder of his in using the word ἐξάρχοντες is almost irremediable, as the relation cannot after that possibly be brought back so as to refer to the singer.

11. And it is not probable that there were any musical entertainments at Menelaus's banquet, as is manifest from the fact of the whole time of the banquet being occupied by the guests in conversation with one another; and that there is no name mentioned as that of the minstrel; nor is any lay mentioned which he sang; nor is it said that Telemachus and his party listened to him; but they rather contemplated the house in silence, as it were, and perfect quiet. And how can it be looked upon as anything but incredible, that the sons of those wisest of men, Ulysses and Nestor, should be introduced as such ignorant people as, like clowns, not to pay the least attention to carefully prepared music? At all events Ulysses himself attends to the Phæacian minstrels:—

Ulysses gazed, astonish'd to survey
The glancing splendours as their sandals play:—[297:2]

although he had plenty of things to distract his attention, and although he could say—

Now care surrounds me, and my force decays,
Inured a melancholy part to bear,
In scenes of death by tempest and by war.[297:3]

[298] How then can we think Telemachus any better than a mere clown, when a minstrel and a dancer are present, if he had bent silently towards Pisistratus and gazed on nothing but the plate and furniture? But Homer, like a good painter, makes Telemachus in every respect like his father; and so he has made each of them easily recognised, the one by Alcinous, and the other by Menelaus, by means of their tears.

12. But in the banquet of Epicurus there is an assembly of flatterers praising one another. And Plato's banquet is full of mockers, cavilling at one another; for I say nothing of the digression about Alcibiades. But in Homer it is only banquets conducted with moderation which are applauded; and on one occasion, a man addressing Menelaus says—

I dare not in your presence speak,
Whose voice we reverence as a voice divine.[298:1]

But he was reproving something which was either not said or not done with perfect correctness—

And now if aught there is that can be done,
Take my advice; I grief untimely shun
That interrupts the feast.[298:2]

O son of wise Ulysses, what a word
has 'scaped thy ivory fence! . . . .

Again, Epicurus, in his banquet, inquires about indigestion, so as to draw an omen from the answer: and immediately after that he inquires about fevers; for why need I speak of the general want of rhythm and elegance which pervades the whole essay? But Plato, (I say nothing about his having been harassed by a cough, and about his taking care of himself with constant gargling of water, and also by inserting a straw, in order that he might excite his nose so as to sneeze; for his object was to turn things into ridicule and to disparage them,) Plato, I say, turns into ridicule the equalized sentences and the antitheses of Agathon, and introduces Alcibiades, saying that he is in a state of excitement. But still those men who write in this manner, propose to expel Homer from their cities. But, says Demochares, "A spear is not made of a stalk of savory," nor is a good man made so by such discourses as these; and not only does he disparage [299]Alcibiades, but he also runs down Charmides, and Euthydemus, and many others of the young men. And this is the conduct of a man ridiculing the whole city of the Athenians, the Museum of Greece, which Pindar styled The Bulwark of Greece; and Thucydides, in his Epigram addressed to Euripides, The Greece of Greece; and the priest at Delphi termed it, The Hearth and Prytaneum of the Greeks. And that he spoke falsely of the young men one may perceive from Plato himself, for he says that Alcibiades, (in the dialogue to which he has prefixed his name,) when he arrived at man's estate, then first began to converse with Socrates, when every one else who was devoted to the pleasures of the body fell off from him. But he says this at the very beginning of the dialogue. And how he contradicts himself in the Charmides any one who pleases may see in the dialogue itself. For he represents Socrates as subject to a most unseemly giddiness, and as absolutely intoxicated with a passion for Alcibiades, and as becoming beside himself, and yielding like a kid to the impetuosity of a lion; and at the same time he says that he disregarded his beauty.

13. But also the banquet of Xenophon, although it is much extolled, gives one as many handles to blame it as the other. For Callias assembles a banqueting party because his favourite Autolycus has been crowned at the Panathenæa for a victory gained in the Pancratium. And as soon as they are assembled the guests devote their attention to the boy; and this too while his father is sitting by. "For as when light appears in the night season it attracts the eyes of every one, so does the beauty of Autolycus attract the eyes of everybody to itself. And then there was no one present who did not feel something in his heart because of him; but some were more silent than others, and some betrayed their feelings by their gestures." But Homer has never ventured to say anything of that sort, not even when he represents Helen as present; concerning whose beauty though one of those who sat opposite to her did speak, all he said, being overcome by the truth, was this—

Sure 'tis no wonder such celestial charms
For nine long years have set the world in arms.
What winning graces, what majestic mien—
She moves a goddess, and she looks a queen![299:1]

Yet hence, O heaven, convey that fatal face;
And from destruction save the Trojan race.

But the young men who had come to Menelaus's court, the son of Nestor and Telemachus, when over their wine, and celebrating a wedding feast, and though Helen was sitting by, kept quite quiet in a decorous manner, being struck dumb by her renowned beauty. But why did Socrates, when to gratify some one or other he had tolerated some female flute-players, and some boy dancing and playing on the harp, and also some women tumbling and posture-making in an unseemly manner, refuse perfumes? For no one would have been able to restrain his laughter at him, recollecting these lines—

You speak of those pale-faced and shoeless men,
Such as that wretched Socrates and Chærephon.

And what followed after was very inconsistent with his austerity. For Critobulus, a very well-bred young man, mocks Socrates, who was aged and his tutor, saying he was much uglier than the Sileni; but he discusses beauty with him, and selecting as judges the boy and the dancing woman, makes the prize to be the kisses of the judges. Now what young man meeting with this writing would not be corrupted rather than excited to virtue?

14. But in Homer, in the banquet of Menelaus, they propose to one another questions as in ordinary conversation, and chatting with one another like fellow-citizens, they entertain one another and us too. Accordingly, Menelaus, when Telemachus and his friends come from the bath-room, and when the tables and the dishes are laid, invites them to partake of them, saying—

Accept this welcome to the Spartan court;
The waste of nature let the feast repair,
Then your high lineage and your names declare:[300:1]—

and then he helps them to what he has before him, treating them in the most friendly manner—

Ceasing, benevolent he straight assigns
The royal portion of the choicest chines
To each accepted friend; with grateful haste
They share the honours of the rich repast.

And they, eating in silence, as it becomes young men to do, converse with one another, leaning forwards gently, not about [301]the food, as Homer tells us, nor about the maid-servants of him who had invited them, and by whom, they had been washed, but about the riches of their entertainer—

Soft whispering thus to Nestor's son,
His head reclined, young Ithacus begun:
View'st thou unmoved, O ever honour'd most,
These prodigies of art, and wondrous cost?
Such, and not nobler, in the realms above
Are the rich treasures in the dome of Jove.[301:1]

For that, according to Seleucus, is the best reading; and Aristarchus is wrong when he writes—

Such is the palace of Olympian Jove.

For they are not admiring the beauty of building alone; for how could there be amber, and silver, and ivory in the walls? But they spoke partly about the house, as when they used the expression "the sounding house," for that is the character of large and lofty rooms; and they spoke also of the furniture—

Above, beneath, around the palace shines
The sumless treasure of exhausted mines;
The spoils of elephants the roofs inlay,
And studded amber darts a golden ray.

Such are the treasures in the dome of Jove,
Wondrous they are, and awe my heart doth move.

Such is the palace of Olympian Jove,

Wondrous they are . . . .

15. Besides, the word αὐλὴ is not adapted to a house; for a place which the wind blows through is what is called αὐλὴ. And we say that a place which receives the wind on both sides διαυλωνίζει. And so again, αὐλὸς is an instrument through which the wind passes, (namely, a flute,) and every figure which is stretched out straight we call αὐλὸς, as a stadium, or a flow of blood—

Straightway a thick stream (αὐλὸς) through the nostrils rush'd.

[302] And we call a helmet also, when it rises up in a ridge out of the centre, αὐλῶπις. And at Athens there are some sacred places called αὐλῶνες, which are mentioned by Philochorus in his ninth book. And they use the word in the masculine gender, ὁι αὐλῶνες, as Thucydides does in his fourth book; and as, in fact, all prose writers do. But the poets use it in the feminine gender. Carcines says in his Achilles—

Βαθεῖαν εἰς αὐλῶνα—Into a deep ravine which surrounded the army.

The crags and caverns, and the deep ravines
Along the shore (ἐπακτίας αὐλῶνας).

And therefore we ought to understand that it is used as a feminine noun by Eratosthenes in his Mercury—

A deep ravine runs through (βαθὺς αὐλών),

instead of βαθεῖα, just as we find θῆλυς ἐέρση, where θῆλυς is feminine. Everything of that kind then is called αὐλὴ or αὐλών; but at the present day they call palaces αὐλαὶ, as Menander does—

To haunt palaces (αὐλαὶ) and princes.

To haunt palaces (αὐλαὶ) is, it seems to me,
The conduct of an exile, slave, or beggar.

And they got this name from having large spaces in front of their buildings exposed to the open air, or else, because the guards of the palace were stationed, and took their rest in the open air. But Homer always classes the αὐλὴ among the places exposed to the air, where the altar of Jupiter Herceus stood. And so Peleus is found—

I and Ulysses touch'd at Peleus' port;
There, in the centre of his grassy court,
A bull to Jove he slew in sacrifice,
And pour'd libations on the flaming thighs.[302:1]

In the court-yard amid the dirt he roll'd.[302:2]

Thou with the heav'n-taught bard in peace resort,
From blood and carnage, to yon open court.[302:3]

But that Telemachus was praising not only the house, but also the riches which it contained, is made plain by the reply of Menelaus—

[303] My wars, the copious theme of ev'ry tongue,
To you your fathers have recorded long;
How favouring Heav'n repaid my glorious toils
With a sack'd palace and barbaric spoils.[303:1]

16. But we must return back to the banquet, in which Homer very ingeniously devises a subject for conversation, by comparing the acquisition of riches with that of a friend. For he does not put it forward as a grave proposition for discussion, but Menelaus inserts it in his conversation very gracefully, after he has heard them praise himself and his good fortune; not denying that he is rich, but from that very circumstance deprecating envy, for he says that he has acquired those riches so that,

When my woes are weigh'd,
Envy will own the purchase dearly paid.[303:2]

The monarch took the word, and grave replied—
Presumptuous are the vaunts, and vain the pride
Of man who dares in pomp with Jove contest,
Unchanged, immortal, and supremely blest.

But then, after displaying his affectionate disposition as a brother, and saying that he is compelled to live and to be rich, he opposes to this the consideration of friendship—

Oh, had the gods so large a boon denied,
And life, the just equivalent, supplied
To those brave warriors who, with glory fired,
Far from their country in my cause expired.

Who could there be then of the descendants of those men who had died in his cause, who would not think his grief for the death of his father as fair a compensation as could be given by grateful recollection? But still, that he may not appear to look upon them all in the same light, though they had all equally shown their good-will to him, he adds—

But oh! Ulysses,—deeper than the rest,
That sad idea wounds my anxious breast;
My heart bleeds fresh with agonising pain,
The bowl and tasteful viands tempt in vain.

And that he may not seem to disregard any one of his family he names them all separately—

Doubtful of his doom,
His good old sire with sorrow to the tomb
[304] Declines his trembling steps; untimely care
Withers the blooming vigour of his heir;
And the chaste partner of his bed and throne
Wastes all her widow'd hours in tender moan.

And while he is weeping at the recollection of his father, Menelaus observes him; and, in the interim, Helen had come in, and she also conjectured who Telemachus was from his likeness to Ulysses, (for women, because of their habit of observing one another's modesty, are wonderfully clever at detecting the likeness of children to their parents,) and after Pisistratus had interfered with some observation, (for it was not fitting for him to stand by like a mute on the stage,) and said something appropriate and elegant about the modesty of Telemachus; again Menelaus made mention of his affection for Ulysses, that of all men in the world he was the one in whose companionship he wished to grow old.

17. And then, as is natural, they all weep; and Helen, as being the daughter of Jupiter, and as having learnt of the philosophers in Egypt many expedients of all kinds, pours into some wine a medicinal panacea, as it was in reality; and begins to relate some of the exploits of Ulysses, while working at her loom in the meantime; not doing this so much for the purpose of amusement, as because she had been bred up in that way at home. And so Venus, coming to her after the single combat in the Iliad, takes a form not her own—

To her beset with Trojan beauties, came
In borrow'd form the laughter-loving dame.
She seem'd an ancient maid, well skill'd to cull
The snowy fleece, and wind the twisted wool.[304:1]

And her industry is made manifest not in a merely cursory manner, in the following description—

In this suspense bright Helen graced the room;
Before her breathed a gale of rich perfume;
The seat of majesty Adraste brings,
With art illustrious for the pomp of kings;
To spread the pall, beneath the regal chair,
Of softest woof, is bright Alcippe's care;
A silver canister, divinely wrought,
In her soft hands the beauteous Philo brought;
To Sparta's queen of old the radiant vase
Alcandra gave, a pledge of royal grace,
[305] Sharer of Polybus's high command,
She gave the distaff too to Helen's hand,
And that rich vase with living sculpture wrought,
Which, heap'd with wool, the beauteous Philo brought;
The silken fleece, impurpled for the loom,
Rivall'd the hyacinth in vernal bloom.[305:1]

And she seems to be aware of her own proficiency in the art: at all events, when she presents Telemachus with a robe, she says—

Accept, dear youth, this monument of love,
Long since, in better days, by Helen wove.
Safe in thy mother's care the vesture lay,
To deck thy bride, and grace thy nuptial day.[305:2]

And that fondness for employment proves her temperance and modesty. For she is never represented as luxurious or arrogant, because of her beauty. Accordingly, she is found at her loom weaving and embroidering—

Her in the palace at the loom she found,
The golden web her own sad story crown'd;
The Trojan wars she weaved, (herself the prize,)
And the dire triumph of her fatal eyes.[305:3]

18. And Homer teaches us that those who have been invited to a feast, ought to ask leave of their entertainers before they rise up to depart. And so Telemachus does to Menelaus—

But now let sleep the painful waste repair,
Of sad reflection and corroding care.[305:4]

Now immolate the tongues and mix the wine,
Sacred to Neptune and the pow'rs divine:
The lamp of day is quench'd beneath the deep,
And soft approach the balmy hours of sleep;
Nor fits it to prolong the heav'nly feast,
Timeless, indecent; but retire to rest.[305:5]

And in the feasts of the gods it does not appear to have been considered proper to remain too long at the table. Accordingly, Minerva says, very sententiously, in Homer—

For now has darkness quench'd the solar light,
And it becomes not gods to feast by night.

And now there is a law in existence that there are some sacrificial feasts from which men must depart before sunset. And among the Egyptians formerly every kind of banquet was conducted with great moderation; as Apollonius has said, who wrote a treatise on the feasts of the Egyptians; for [306]they ate in a sitting posture, using the very simplest and most wholesome food; and only just as much wine as was calculated to put them in cheerful spirits, which is what Pindar entreats of Jupiter—

Oh mighty thund'ring Jove!
Great Saturn's son, lord of the realms above,
That I may be to thee and the nine Muses dear,
That joy my heart may cheer;
This is my prayer, my only prayer to thee.

But the banquet of Plato is not an assembly of grave men, nor a conversazione of philosophers. For Socrates does not choose to depart from the banquet, although Eryximachus, and Phædrus, and some others, have already left it; but he stays till a late hour with Agathon and Aristophanes, and drinks from the silver well; for fairly has some one given this name to large cups. And he drinks out of the bowl cleverly, like a man who is used to it. And Plato says, that after this those two others began to nod, and that first of all Aristophanes fell asleep, and when day began to break so did Agathon; and that Socrates, after he had sent them both to sleep, rose up from table himself and went away to the Lyceum, when he might, says Herodicus, have gone to Homer's Læstrygones—

Where he who scorns the chains of sleep to wear,
And adds the herdsman's to the shepherd's care,
His double toils may claim a double pay,
And join the labours of the night and day.[306:1]

19. But every banqueting party among the ancients was referred to the gods; and accordingly men wore garlands appropriate and peculiar to the gods, and used hymns and odes. And there were no slaves to attend upon the guests, but free youths acted as the cupbearers. So the son of Menelaus, although he was the bridegroom, and at his own wedding, acted; and in the poem of the beautiful Sappho, even Mercury acts as the cupbearer to the gods. And they were free men who prepared everything else for the guests. And after they had supped they went away while it was still daylight. But at some of the Persian feasts there were also councils held, as there were in the tent of Agamemnon with respect to the further conduct of the Trojan war. Now as to the entertainment given by Alcinous, to which the discourse of Ulysses refers where he says—

[307] How goodly seems it ever to employ
Man's social days in union and in joy;
The plenteous board high heap'd with cates divine,
And o'er the foaming bowl the laughing wine;
The heav'n-taught poet and enchanting strain,
These are the products of a peaceful reign.[307:1]

He refers also especially to his reception of strangers, since the Phæacians themselves were devoted to luxury: and yet if any one compares that feast made by Alcinous with the banquets of the philosophers, he will find that the better regulated of the two; although that also embraced much cheerfulness and spirit, only not in any unbecoming manner. For after the exhibition of gymnastics the bard sings—

a certain lay mingled with some ridiculous incidents, and one which suggested to Ulysses some hints for the slaughter of the suitors; since Vulcan, even though he was lame, got the better of the most valiant Mars.

20. And the feasters of that time sat at the table; at all events, Homer very often says—

Sitting in order on the chairs and couches.

For the word θρόνος, which he uses in this line, when taken by itself, is a seat such as is used by free men, with a footstool, the name of which being θρῆνυς, from thence they came to call the seat itself θρόνος, from the verb θρήσασθαι, which they used for, to sit; as Philetas says—

To sit (θρήσασθαι) on the ground under a plane-tree.

But the couch (κλισμὸς) was more adapted for reclining on; and the δίφρος is something simpler than these things. Accordingly, in the book where Ulysses appears as a beggar the servants place for him, as Homer tells us,

A humble chair (δίφρος), and spread a scanty board.

But their goblets, as their name (κρατῆρες) indicates, were supplied full of wine mixed with water (κεκραμένοι); and the youths ministered to them from the larger goblets, always, in the case of the most honourable of the guests, keeping their small cups full; but to the rest they distributed the wine in equal portions. Accordingly Agamemnon says to Idomeneus [307:2]—

To thee the foremost honours are decreed,
First in the fight, and every graceful deed;
[308] For this in banquets, when the generous bowls
Restore our blood, and raise our warrior souls,
Though all the rest with stated rules are bound,
Unmix'd, unmeasured are thy goblets crown'd.

And they used to pledge one another, not as we do, (for our custom may be expressed by the verb προεκπίνω rather than by προπίνω,) but they drank the entire bumper off—

He fill'd his cup, and pledged great Peleus' son.

And how often they took meat, we have already explained—namely, that they had three meals, because it is the same meal that was at one time called δεῖπνον, and at another ἄριστον. For those men who say that they used to take four meals a day, are ridiculously ignorant, since the poet himself says—

But do thou come δειελιήσας.

And these men do not perceive that this word means, "after having remained here till evening." But, nevertheless, no one can show in the poet one instance of any one taking food even three times in the day. But many men are led into mistakes, placing these verses in the poet all together—

They wash; the tables in fair order spread,
They heap the glittering canisters with bread,
Viands of various kinds allure the taste,
Of choicest sort and savour; rich repast.[308:1]

For if the housekeeper placed the meats on the table, it is plain that there was no need for the carver to bring in more, so that some of the above description is superfluous. But when the guests had departed the tables were removed, as is done at the feasts of the Suitors and of the Phæacians, in whose case he says—

The servants bore away the armour of the feast.

And it is plain that he means the dishes, for the word he uses is ἔντεα; and it is that part of the armour which covers a man, such as his breastplate, his greaves, and things like them which men call ἔντεα, as being in front (ἄντια) of the parts of the body. And of the rooms in the palaces of the heroes, those which were larger Homer calls μέγαρα, and δώματα, and even κλισίας (tents). But the moderns call them ἀνδρῶνες (rooms to receive men) and ξενῶνες (strangers' apartments).

21. What then, my friends, shall we call the entertainment which Antiochus, who was surnamed Epiphanes, (but who was more rightly called Epimanes [308:2] from his actions,) gave? [309]Now he was king of the Syrians, being one of the Seleucidæ. And Polybius says of him, "He, escaping out of the palace without the knowledge of the attendants, was often found with one or two companions wandering about the city wherever he might chance to take it into his head to go. And he was, above all other places, frequently found at the shops of the engravers of silver and of the goldsmiths, conversing on the subject of their inventions with, and inquiring into the principles of their art from, the engravers and other artists. And besides this, he often used to go among the common people, conversing with whomsoever he might chance to meet; and he would drink with the lowest and poorest strangers. And whenever he heard of any young men having a banquet, without having given any notice of his intention, he would come to join in their feast with a flute and music, behaving in a most lascivious manner; so that many used to rise up and depart, being alarmed at his strange behaviour. Often, also, he would lay aside his royal robes, and put on a common cloak, and so go round the market, like a man who was a candidate for some office: and taking some people by the hand, and embracing others, he would solicit them to vote for him, sometimes begging to be made ædile, and sometimes tribune; and when he was elected, sitting in his ivory curule chair, according to the fashion which prevails among the Romans, he would hear all the causes which were pleaded in the forum, and decide them with great attention and earnestness, by which conduct he greatly perplexed sensible men. For some thought him a man of very simple tastes, and others considered him mad. And his conduct with respect to presents was very much the same. For he would give some people dice of antelope's bones, and some he would present with dates, and to others he would give gold. And even if he met people in the street whom he had never seen, he would give them presents unexpectedly. And in his sacrifices, which were offered up in the different cities, and in the honours offered to the gods, he surpassed all the kings who had ever existed. And any one may conjecture this from the temple raised to Olympian Jupiter at Athens, and from the statues around the altar at Delos. And he used to bathe in the public baths, often when they were completely full of the citizens, and then he would have earthen pans of the [310]most expensive perfumes brought to him. And on one of these occasions, when some one said to him, "Happy are you kings, who use all these things and smell so sweet," he made the man no answer at the time; but coming the next day to the place where he was bathing, he caused him to have a pan of the largest size of that most precious ointment called στακτὴ poured over his head, so that when that had been done, every one near got up and hastened to get a little of the ointment, and as they fell down in their haste, by reason of the slipperiness of the floor, every one laughed, as did the king himself.

22. "And this same king," continues Polybius, "having heard of the games which had been celebrated in Macedonia by Æmilius Paullus the Roman general, wishing to surpass Paullus in his magnificence and liberality, sent ambassadors and theori to the different cities to proclaim that games were going to be exhibited by him at Daphne, so that the Greeks all hastened with great eagerness to come to him to see them. And the beginning of the exhibition was a splendid procession, arranged in this way:—Some men led the way armed in the Roman fashion, in breastplates of chain armour, all men in the flower of their youth, to the number of five thousand; immediately after them, five thousand Mysians followed; and then three thousand Cilicians, armed in the fashion of light-armed skirmishers, having golden crowns; and after them three thousand Thracians and five thousand Galatians; these were followed by twenty thousand Macedonians, and by five thousand men armed with brazen shields, and as many more with silver shields; they were followed by two hundred and forty pair of gladiators to fight in single combat; behind these came a thousand Nisæan cavalry, and three thousand men of the city guard, the greatest part of whom had golden trappings and golden crowns, but some had silver trappings; to these succeeded the cavalry who are called the King's Companions; these amounted to one thousand men, all equipped with golden trappings; next to these was the battalion of the King's Friends, of the same number and the same equipment; after these a thousand picked men; and they were followed by what was called the Agema, which was considered to be the most excellent squadron of all the cavalry, to the number of [311]a thousand men; last of all came the Fenced Cavalry, having its name from the fact that both men and horses were completely enveloped in armour; they were in number fifteen hundred men. And all the above-mentioned soldiers had purple cloaks, and many had them also embroidered with gold or painted with figures of living animals. Besides all this, there were a hundred chariots with six horses, and forty with four horses; then a chariot drawn by four elephants, and another by two; and last of all, six-and-thirty elephants, all handsomely appointed, followed one by one.

23. "The rest of the procession was such as it is difficult adequately to describe, and it must be enumerated in a summary manner. For youths walked in the procession to the number of eight hundred, all having golden crowns; and fat oxen to the number of one thousand; and deputations to see to the performance of separate sacrifices, very little short of three hundred; and there were eight hundred elephants' teeth carried by, and such a multitude of statues as it is beyond any one's power to enumerate. For images were carried in the procession of all who are ever said or thought by men to be gods, or deities, or demigods, or heroes; some gilt all over, and some arrayed in golden-broidered robes. And to all of them suitable inscriptions according to the accounts commonly received of them were attached, carved in the most expensive materials. And they were followed by an image of Night and another of Day; and of the Earth, and of Heaven, and of Morning, and of Noon. And the vast quantity of gold plate and silver plate was such as perhaps a man may form a guess at from the following account. For a thousand slaves belonging to Dionysius the secretary and amanuensis of the king joined in the procession, each carrying articles of silver plate, of which there was not one weighing less than a thousand drachmæ. And there were six hundred slaves belonging to the king himself, carrying articles of gold plate. And besides them there were women to the number of two hundred sprinkling every one with perfumes out of golden waterpots. And they were succeeded by eighty women magnificently apparelled, borne on palanquins with golden feet, and five hundred borne on palanquins with silver feet. And this was the most important portion of the procession.

[312] 24. "But after the games were over and the single combats and the hunting, during the whole thirty days which he exhibited these shows, on the first five days every one who came into the gymnasium was anointed with a saffron perfume shed upon him out of golden dishes. And there were fifteen of these golden dishes, full of equal quantities of cinnamon and spikenard. And in a similar manner in the five next days there was brought in essence of fenugreek, and of amaracus, and of lilies, all differing in their scent; and some days there were laid a thousand triclinia for the banquet; and some days fifteen hundred, all laid in the most expensive possible manner. And the arrangement of the whole business was superintended by the king himself. For having a very fine horse he went up and down the whole procession, commanding some to advance, and others to halt. And stopping at the entrances of the rooms where the drinking was going on he brought some in, and to others he assigned places on the couches. And he himself conducted in the attendants who brought in the second course. And he went round the whole banquet, sometimes sitting down in one place, and presently lying down in another place. And sometimes even while he was eating he would lay down what he was eating or his cup, and jump up, and go away to another part of the room. And he would go all round the company, at times, pledging some of the guests in a standing posture; and at times entertaining himself with the jesters or with the music. And when the entertainment had lasted a long time and many of the guests had gone away, then the king would be brought in by buffoons, all covered up, and laid on the ground as if he had been one of their band. And when the music excited him, he would jump up and dance, and act with the mummers, so that every one felt ashamed for him and fled away. And all this was done partly with the treasure which he brought out of Egypt, having plundered Ptolemy Philometor the king there, in defiance of his treaty with him when he was but a little boy; and some of the money too was contributed by his friends. And he had also sacrilegiously plundered most of the temples in his dominions."

25. And while all the guests marvelled at the conduct of the king, seeing that he was not illustrious but absolutely mad, Masurius brought forward Callixenus the Rhodian, who [313]in the fourth book of his History of Alexandria has given an account of a spectacle and procession which was exhibited by that most admirable of all monarchs, Ptolemy Philadelphus. And he says—"But before I begin, I will give a description of the tent which was prepared within the circuit of the citadel, apart from the place provided for the reception of the soldiers, and artisans, and foreigners. For it was wonderfully beautiful, and worth hearing about. Its size was such as to be able to hold a hundred and thirty couches placed in a circle, and it was furnished in the following manner:—There were wooden pillars at intervals, five on each side of the tent longwise, fifty cubits high, and something less than one cubit broad. And on these pillars at the top was a capital, of square figure, carefully fitted, supporting the whole weight of the roof of the banqueting room. And over this was spread in the middle a scarlet veil with a white fringe, like a canopy; and on each side it had beams covered over with turreted veils, with white centres, on which canopies embroidered all over the centre were placed. And of the pillars four were made to resemble palm-trees, and they had in the centre a representation of thyrsi. And on the outside of these a portico ran, adorned with a peristyle on three sides, with a vaulted roof. And in this place it was intended that the company of the feasters should sit down. And the interior of it was surrounded with scarlet curtains. But in the middle of the space there were strange hides of beasts, strange both as to their variegated colour and their size, suspended. And the part which surrounded this portico in the open air was shaded by myrtle-trees and daphnes, and other suitable shrubs. And the whole floor was strewed with flowers of every description. For Egypt, on account of the temperate character of the atmosphere which surrounds it, and on account of the fondness of the inhabitants for gardening, produces in great abundance, and all the year round, those things which in other countries are rarely found, and only at particular seasons. And roses, and white lilies, and numberless other flowers are never wanting in that country. On which account, though this entertainment took place in the middle of winter, still there was a show of flowers which was quite incredible to the foreigners. For flowers of which one could not easily have found enough to make one chaplet in any other city [314]were supplied in the greatest abundance here, to make chaplets for every one of the guests at this entertainment, and were strewed thickly over the whole floor of the tent; so as really to give the appearance of a most divine meadow.

26. "And by the posts round the entire tent there were placed animals carved in marble by the first artists, a hundred in number. And in the spaces between the posts there were pictures hung by the Sicyonian painters; and alternately with these there were carefully selected images of every kind; and garments embroidered with gold, and most exquisite cloaks, some of them having portraits of the kings of Egypt embroidered on them; and some, stories taken from the mythology. Above them were placed gold and silver shields alternately; and on the spaces above these shields, which were eight cubits high, caves were made, six on each side of the tent longwise, and four at each end. There were likewise in them representations of eating parties opposite to one another, of tragic, and comic, and satyric animals, having on real clothes. And before them were placed golden goblets. And in the middle of the caves were placed nymphæa, and on them there lay golden Delphian tripods, having pedestals of their own. And along the highest part of the roof were golden eagles all facing one another, each fifteen cubits large. There were also golden couches, with feet made like sphinxes, on the two sides of the tent, a hundred on each side. For the front of the tent was left open. And under these there were strewed purple carpets of the finest wool, with the carpet pattern on both sides. And there were handsomely embroidered rugs very beautifully elaborated on them. Besides this, thin Persian cloths covered all the centre space where the guests walked, having most accurate representations of animals embroidered on them. And by them were placed tripods for the guests, made of gold, two hundred in number, so that there were two for every couch, and they rested on silver pedestals. And behind, out of sight, there were a hundred flat dishes of silver, and an equal number of lavers. On the opposite side of the sitting-room there was fixed another sideboard, opposite to that on which the cups and goblets were placed; and on that were all the rest of the things which had been prepared for, or could come into use. And they were all made of gold, and studded with precious stones; [315]admirably carved and wrought. And it has appeared to me too long a task to undertake to enumerate every article of the furniture, and even all the different kinds separately. But the entire weight of all the plate and valuables there exhibited came to ten thousand talents.

27. "But now that we have gone over everything that was to be seen in the tent, we will proceed to the shows and processions exhibited. For it passed through the stadium which there is in the city. And first of all went the procession of Lucifer. For it began at the time when that star first appears. After that came the procession which bore the name of the parents of the kings. And next came the processions sacred to all the gods respectively, each having an arrangement appropriate to the history of each separate deity. Last of all came the procession of Hesperus, as the hour of that one starting coincided with that time. But if any one wishes to know the separate particulars, he may take the description of the quinquennial games and consider them. But in the Dionysiac procession first of all there went the Sileni who keep off the multitude, some clad in purple cloaks, and some in scarlet ones. And these were followed by Satyrs, twenty in each division of the stadium, bearing gilded lamps made of ivy-wood. And after them came images of Victory, having golden wings, and they bore in their hands incense-burners six cubits in height, adorned with branches made of ivy-wood and gold, clad in tunics embroidered with figures of animals, and they themselves also had a great deal of golden ornament about them. And after them there followed an altar of six cubits in height, a double altar, covered all over with ivy-leaves gilded, having a crown of vine-leaves on it all gold, enveloped in bandages with white centres. And that was followed by boys in purple tunics, bearing frankincense, and myrrh, and saffron, on golden dishes. And after them came forty Satyrs, crowned with ivy-garlands made of gold. And they were painted as to their bodies, some with purple, some with vermilion, and some with other colours. And these also wore each a golden crown made to imitate vine-leaves and ivy-leaves. And after them came two Sileni in purple cloaks and white fringes to them. And one of them had a petasus and a golden caduceus, and the other had a trumpet. And between them went a man of [316]gigantic size, four cubits high, in a tragical dress and ornaments, bearing the golden horn of Amalthea. And his name was Eniautos.[316:1] And he was followed by a woman of great beauty and of more than ordinary size, adorned with quantities of gold and a superb dress; bearing in one of her hands a garland of peach blossoms, and in her other hand a branch of the palm-tree. And she was called Penteteris.[316:2] And she was succeeded by the Four Seasons dressed in character, and each of them bearing its appropriate fruits. Next to them came two incense-burners made of ivy-wood, covered with gold, and six cubits in height, and a large square golden altar in the middle of them. And then again Satyrs, having garlands of ivy-leaves made of gold, and clad in purple robes. And some of them bore golden wine-jars, and others bore goblets. After them marched Philiscus the poet, being a priest of Bacchus, and with him all the artisans who were concerned in the service of Bacchus. And next to them were carried the Delphian tripods, as prizes for the trainers of the athletes; the one for the trainer of the boys nine cubits in height, and the other, twelve cubits in height, for the trainer of the men.

28. "After them was a four-wheeled wagon fourteen cubits long, and eight cubits wide; and it was drawn by a hundred and eighty men; and in it was placed an image of Bacchus ten cubits high, pouring libations of wine out of a golden goblet, having on a purple tunic reaching down to the feet; and he was clad in a purple garment embroidered with gold; and in front of him there lay a golden Lacedæmonian goblet, holding fifteen measures of wine, and a golden tripod, in which was a golden incense-burner, and two golden bowls, full of cassia and saffron; and a shade covered it round adorned with ivy-leaves, and vine-leaves, and all sorts of other green leaves; and to it were fastened chaplets, and fillets, and thyrsi, and drums, and turbans, and satyric and comic and tragic masks. And the wagon was followed by priests and priestesses, and newly initiated votaries, and by companies of every nation, and by people bearing the mystic fan. And after this came the Bacchanalian women, called Macetæ, and Mimallones, and Bassaræ, and Lydians, with dishevelled hair, and wearing garlands, some of snakes, and others of [317]branches of yew and of vine-leaves and ivy-leaves, and some held daggers in their hands, and others held snakes. And after them another four-wheeled wagon was drawn, of the width of eight cubits, and it was drawn by sixty men; and in it was a statue of Nysa, of eight cubits high, in a sitting posture, clothed in a box-coloured tunic embroidered with gold, and it was also clad in a Laconian cloak; and this statue rose up by mechanism, without any one applying his hand to it; and it poured libations of milk out of a golden bottle, and then it sat down again; and in its left hand it bore a thyrsus wrapped round with turbans, and it was crowned with a garland of ivy-leaves, made of gold, and with gorgeous bunches of grapes inlaid with precious stones; and it had a parasol over it; and on the corners of the wagon were fastened four golden lamps.

"And next to that another four-wheeled wagon was drawn along, twenty cubits in length and sixteen in width, and it was drawn by three hundred men. And on it there was a wine-press twenty-four cubits in length and fifteen in breadth, full of grapes; and sixty Satyrs were trampling on the grapes, singing a song in praise of the wine-press, to the music of a flute. And Silenus presided over them; and the new wine ran out over the whole road. Next to that was drawn along a wagon, twenty-five cubits long and fourteen broad; and that was drawn by six hundred men. And on this wagon was a sack holding three thousand measures of wine, consisting of leopards' skins, sewn together. And this too allowing its liquor to escape, gradually flowed over the whole road. And it was followed by Satyri and Sileni, to the number of a hundred and twenty, all wearing garlands, and carrying some casks of wine, and some bowls, and some large Thericlean goblets, all made of gold.

29. And next to that was carried a silver vessel containing six hundred measures of wine, being drawn on a four-wheeled wagon by six hundred men. And under its lips, and under its ears, and under its bottom, it had figures of animals engraved; and in the middle it was crowned with a golden crown, inlaid with precious stones. Next to that there were carried two silver goblets, twelve cubits in circumference and six cubits in height; and these had figures standing out in relief above, and also on their round parts all round. And [318]on their feet they had chased figures of animals two cubits and a half long and a cubit high, in great numbers: and ten large bathing-vessels, and sixteen ewers, of which the larger ones contained thirty measures, and the smaller ones five; then six kettles, and twenty-four banoti,[318:1] on five side-boards; and two silver wine-presses, on which were twenty-four urns; and a table of solid silver twelve cubits round; and thirty other tables six cubits each in circumference: and in addition to this, four tripods, one of which was sixteen cubits in circumference, and was made entirely of silver; but the other three, which were less, were studded with precious stones in the middle. And after these there were carried some Delphic tripods, made of silver, eighty in number, smaller than those previously described, being also of a square, or four-cornered shape. And six-and-twenty water-cans, and sixteen Panathenaic jars, and a hundred and sixty wine-coolers, the largest of which contained six measures, and the smallest contained two; and all these were made of silver.

30. "And next to them, those men followed in the procession who carried the articles of gold-plate,—four Lacedæmonian goblets, having crowns on them made to represent vine-leaves, each containing four measures; and two of Corinthian workmanship placed on sideboards, and these had figures of animals in richly chased work of great beauty, in a sitting posture, and on their necks and on their bellies were other reliefs curiously wrought, and each of them contained eight measures. And there was a wine-press in which there were ten urns, and two jars, each holding five measures, and two flagons, each holding two measures, and twenty-two wine-coolers, the largest of which contained thirty measures, and the smallest one measure. There were also exhibited four large golden tripods, and a large sideboard for gold plate, that being also made of gold itself and studded with precious stones, ten cubits in height, having six rows of shelves in it, on which were figures of animals of the size of four palms, most exquisitely wrought, in very great numbers; and two goblets, and two crystal goblets mounted in gold; and four more sideboards, two of them four cubits high; and three others which were smaller, and ten water-cans, and an altar three cubits high, and twenty-five dishes for holding barley loaves.

[319] "After this had been carried by, there walked sixteen hundred boys clad in white tunics, and crowned some with ivy, and some with pine, of whom two hundred and fifty carried golden choes, and four hundred carried silver ones; and of the rest three hundred and twenty carried golden wine-coolers, and some carried silver ones. And after them other boys carried jars, for the purpose of drinking sweet wine out of; twenty of which were gold, and fifty silver, and three hundred were painted with every kind of colour and hue; and all the spectators who were present in the stadium took a moderate draught of the sweet wine, which was mixed in these ewers and firkins."

31. After these things he enumerates tables four cubits high, on which were many things worth looking at, which were all carried round for the spectators to see, being beautifully wrought. "And among them was a representation of the bed-chamber of Semele, in which were seen statues clad in golden tunics, inlaid with precious stones of the greatest value. And it would not be right to pass over this four-wheeled wagon, of the length of twenty-two cubits and of the breadth of fourteen, drawn by five hundred men. And on it was a cave exceedingly deep, overgrown with ivy and yew, and out of it flew doves, and pigeons, and turtle-doves, all along the road as the wagon proceeded, having their feet tied with slight threads, so as to be easily caught by the spectators. And out of the cave there also rose two fountains, one of milk and one of wine, and around it all the nymphs had garlands of gold, and Mercury had a golden herald's wand, and very superb raiment. And on another four-wheeled wagon, on which the return of Bacchus from the Indians was represented, there was a figure of Bacchus twelve cubits high, riding upon an elephant, clad in a purple robe, and having on a crown of vine-leaves, and ivy-leaves of gold, and bearing in his hands a spear like a thyrsus, made also of gold; and he wore sandals embroidered with golden figures. And there sat before him, on the neck of the elephant, a Satyr five cubits in height, crowned with a chaplet of golden pine-leaves, and holding in his right hand a goat's horn made of gold, with which he appeared to be blowing signals. And the elephant had golden furniture; and on his neck he had a crown of ivy-leaves made of gold; and he was followed by [320]five hundred maidens dressed in purple tunics, with golden girdles; and those who went first, to the number of a hundred and twenty, wore crowns of pine-leaves made of gold; and they were succeeded by a hundred and twenty Satyrs clad in complete armour, some of silver and some of brass. And after them there marched five troops of asses, on which rode Sileni and Satyri, all wearing crowns. And of the asses some had gold and some silver frontlets and furniture.

32. "And after them came twenty-four chariots drawn by four elephants each, and sixty chariots each drawn by a pair of goats, and twelve chariots by antelopes, and seven by oryxes, and fifteen by buffaloes, eight by pairs of ostriches, and seven by gnus, and four by pairs of zebras, and four chariots also drawn each by four zebras. And on all these animals rode boys wearing the garments of charioteers, and the broad hats called petasi; and besides them were smaller boys still, armed with little peltæ, and thyrsi-spears, and they also were dressed in golden-broidered garments; and the boys who were acting as charioteers were crowned with pine-leaf chaplets, and the smaller boys with ivy-leaves. And besides this there were three pair of camels, on either side three, and they were followed by cars drawn by mules; and these had on them barbaric palanquins, on which sat women from India and other countries, habited as prisoners. And of the camels, some bore three hundred minæ weight of frankincense, and three hundred of myrrh, and two hundred of saffron, and cassia, and cinnamon, and iris, and two hundred of other spices. And next to them came some Æthiopians bearing presents, some of whom carried six hundred elephant's tusks, and others carried two thousand fagots of ebony, and others carried sixty gold and silver goblets, and a quantity of gold-dust. And after them came two huntsmen, having hunting-spears with golden points; and twenty-four hundred dogs were led in the procession, some Indian dogs, and others Hyrcanian and Molossian hounds, and hounds of other breeds too.

"After them came a hundred and fifty men carrying trees from which were suspended birds and beasts of every imaginable country and description; and then were carried a lot of cages, in which were parrots, and peacocks, and guinea-fowls, and pheasants, and other Æthiopian birds in great numbers."

[321] And when he had mentioned many other things, and enumerated herds of animals, he continued, "A hundred and thirty Æthiopian sheep, three hundred Arabian sheep, twenty Eubœan sheep, some white hornless cattle, six-and-twenty Indian cows, eight Æthiopian oxen, one immense white bear, fourteen leopards, sixteen panthers, four lynxes, three arceti, one cameleopard, and one rhinoceros from Æthiopia.

33. "And after these beasts came an image of Bacchus flying to the altar of Rhea when he was pursued by Juno, having on a golden crown, Priapus standing by him crowned with a crown of ivy-leaves of gold, and the statue of Juno had also a golden crown on its head. And there were images of Alexander and of Ptolemy, crowned with chaplets of ivy-leaves made of gold. And the statue of Virtue, which stood by the side of that of Ptolemy, had a golden crown of olive-leaves. And Priapus was with them, having a crown of ivy-leaves made of gold. And the city of Corinth had a large image there, standing by the side of Ptolemy, and that also wore a golden diadem; and by all these lay a large golden beaufet full of articles of gold plate, and a golden goblet containing five measures. And this wagon was followed by women having very sumptuous dresses and ornaments, and they bore the names of cities, some of cities of Ionia, and other Grecian towns, as many as, occupying the islands, and the coast of Asia, were made subject to the Persians; and they all wore golden crowns. And on other chariots there was borne a golden thyrsus ninety cubits long, and a silver spear sixty cubits long; and on another a golden phallus, a hundred and twenty cubits long, chased all over, and wreathed with golden garlands, having on the end a golden star, the circumference of which was six cubits.

"Now in all the numerous things which we have enumerated as forming part of this procession, we have selected those only in which gold and silver were contained. But there were numerous other articles and parts of the exhibition well worth seeing, and vast numbers of beasts and of horses, and twenty-four enormous lions. There were also other four-wheeled wagons in great numbers, bearing not only statues of kings, but also full of images of the gods. And after them proceeded a band of six hundred men, among whom were three hundred harp-players playing on their instruments, [322]having harps made entirely of gold, and golden crowns on their heads; and after them came two thousand bulls all of the same colour, with gilded horns, and having frontlets of gold, and crowns in the middle of their foreheads, and necklaces and breastplates on their necks and chests, and these were all made of gold.

34. "And after this came a procession in honour of Jupiter and of many other gods; and after all these, came a procession in honour of Alexander, who had a golden statue borne on a chariot drawn by real elephants, having Victory and Minerva on each side of him. And numbers of thrones were borne in the procession, made of ivory and gold, on one of which lay a crown of gold; on another a pair of horns made of gold; on another was a golden chaplet; and on another a single horn made of solid gold. And on the throne of Ptolemy Soter lay a crown which had been made of ten thousand pieces of gold money. And there were also carried in the procession three hundred and fifty golden incense burners, and golden altars, all crowned with golden crowns, on one of which were firmly placed four golden lamps ten cubits high. There were also carried twelve stoves with golden tops, one of which was twelve cubits in circumference, and forty cubits in height; and another was fifteen cubits high. There were also carried nine Delphic tripods made of gold, each four cubits high, and eight others six cubits high; another thirty cubits high, on which were figures of animals carved in gold, four cubits high, and a crown of vine-leaves of gold going all round. There were also carried in the procession seven palm-trees overlaid with gold, eight cubits high, and a golden herald's staff forty-five cubits long, and a thunderbolt overlaid with gold forty cubits in size, and a gilt shrine, the circumference of which was forty cubits; and besides all this, a pair of horns eight cubits long. And an immense number of gilded figures of animals was also exhibited, the greater part of which were twelve cubits high; and beasts of enormous size, and eagles twenty cubits high. And golden crowns were also exhibited to the number of three thousand and two hundred. And there was a separate mystic crown made of gold studded with valuable stones, eighty cubits high. This was the crown which was placed at the door of the temple of Berenice; and there was also an ægis of gold. There were [323] also exhibited a vast number of golden chaplets, which were borne by young maidens sumptuously attired, one of which was two cubits high, and sixteen cubits in circumference.

"There was also exhibited a golden breastplate twelve cubits broad, and another breastplate of silver eighteen cubits broad, having on it two golden thunderbolts of the size of ten cubits each, and a garland of oak-leaves studded with precious stones; and twenty golden shields, and sixty-four suits of complete armour also of gold, and two golden greaves three cubits in height, and twelve golden dishes, and a most countless number of flagons, and thirty-six vessels for wine, and ten large anointing vessels, and twelve ewers, and fifty large dishes for barley loaves, and tables of different sorts, and five repositories for gold plate, and a horn thirty cubits long made of solid gold. And all these articles of gold plate were exclusive of those carried in the procession of Bacchus. Then there were four hundred wagons of silver plate, and twenty wagons of gold plate, and eight hundred of perfumes and spices.

35. "And after all these things came a procession of troops, both cavalry and infantry, all armed and appointed in a most superb manner: infantry to the number of fifty-seven thousand six hundred; and cavalry to the number of twenty-three thousand two hundred. And all these marched in the procession, all clad in suitable apparel, and all having their appropriate armour; and there were also great numbers of suits of armour besides lying for inspection, too numerous for any one to count, (but Callixenus has made a catalogue of them;) and they were also crowned in the assembly with twenty golden crowns. And first of all Ptolemy and Berenice were crowned with twenty-three, standing on golden chariots, in the sacred precincts of Dodona. And the expense of money which was incurred on this occasion, amounted to two thousand two hundred and thirty-nine talents, and fifty minæ; and this was all counted by the clerks of the treasury, owing to the eagerness [323:1] of those who had given the crowns, before the spectacle came to an end. But Ptolemy Philadelphus, [324]their son, was crowned with twenty golden crowns, two of them on golden chariots, and one six cubits high on a pillar, and five five cubits high, and six four cubits high."

36. Now my friends and fellow-banqueters, what kingdom ever possessed such quantities of gold as this? For Egypt did not acquire all this by taking money from the Persians and from Babylon, or by working mines, or by having a river Pactolus, bearing down gold-dust in its waters. For its only river is that which can really be called the Golden Stream—the Nile, which together with its boundless supplies of food does bring down gold without alloy, which is dug up out of the soil without danger, in quantities sufficient for all men, diffused over the whole soil like the gifts of Triptolemus. On which account the Byzantine poet, who had the name of Parmeno given to him, says—

O god of Egypt, mighty Nile.

But king Philadelphus surpassed most kings in riches; and he pursued every kind of manufacturing and trading art so zealously, that he also surpassed every one in the number of his ships. Now the largest ships which he had were these:—two of thirty banks of oars, one of twenty, four of thirteen, two of twelve, fourteen of eleven, thirty of nine, thirty-seven of seven, five of six, seventeen of five. And from quadriremes down to light half-decked triremes, for purposes of war, he had twice as many as all these put together. And the vessels which were sent to the different islands and to the other cities under his dominion, and to Libya, amounted to more than four thousand. And concerning the numbers of his books, and the way in which he furnished his libraries, and the way in which he collected treasures for his Museum, why need I speak? for every one remembers all these things.

37. But since we have mentioned the subject of the building of ships, let us speak (for it is worth hearing of) of the ships which were built also by Ptolemy Philopator, which are mentioned by the same Callixenus in the first book of his Account of Alexandria, where he speaks as follows:—"Philopator built a ship with forty ranks of rowers, being two hundred and eighty cubits long and thirty-eight cubits from one side to the other; and in height up to the gunwale it was forty-eight cubits; and from the highest part of the stern to the water-line was fifty-three cubits; and it had four rudders, [325]each thirty cubits long; and oars for the thranitæ, the largest thirty-eight cubits in length, which, from having lead in their handles, and because they were very heavy in the part inside the ship, being accurately balanced, were, in spite of their bulk, very handy to use. And the ship had two heads and two sterns, and seven beaks, one of which was longer than all the rest, and the others were of smaller size; and some of them were fixed to the ears of the ship; and it had twelve undergirths to support the keel, and each was six hundred cubits in length. And it was well proportioned to a most extraordinary degree; and all the appointments of the vessel were admirable, for it had figures of animals on it not less than twelve cubits in size, both at the head and at the stern, and every part of it was inlaid and ornamented with figures in wax; and the space between the oars down to the very keel had a running pattern of ivy-leaves and thyrsi; and there was a great store of every kind of equipment to supply all parts of the ship that might require any.[325:1] And when it put to sea it held more than four thousand rowers, and four hundred supernumeraries; and on the deck were three thousand marines, or at least two thousand eight hundred and fifty. And besides all these there was another large body of men under the decks, and a vast quantity of provisions and supplies. And the vessel was launched originally from a sort of framework, which they say was erected and made out of the wood of fifty ships of five ranks of oars; and it was launched by the multitude with great acclamations and blowing of trumpets. But after that a Phœnician devised a new method of launching it, having dug a trench under it, equal to the ship itself in length, which he dug close to the harbour. And in the trench he built props of solid stone five cubits deep, and across them he laid beams crosswise, running the whole width of the trench, at four cubits' distance from one another; and then making a channel from the sea he filled all the space which he had excavated with water, out of which he easily brought the ship by the aid of whatever men happened to be at hand; then closing the entrance which had been originally made, he drained the water off again by means of engines; and when this had been done the vessel rested securely on the before-mentioned cross-beams.

[326] 38. "Philopator also built a vessel for the river which he called Thalamegus, or the Carrier of his Bed-chamber, in length half a stadium, and in width at the broadest part thirty cubits; and the height together with the frame for the awning was little short of forty cubits. And its appearance was not exactly like ships of war, nor merchant vessels either, but it was something different from both, on account of the necessity imposed by the depth of the river. For below it was flat and broad; but in its main hull it was high. And the parts at the extremity, and especially at the head, extended a sufficient length, so as to exhibit a very pretty and elegant sweep. This ship also had two heads and two sterns. And it rose to a considerable height above the water, as was necessary, because the waves in the river often rise very high. And in the middle of its hull were constructed banqueting-rooms and sleeping-rooms, and everything else which may be convenient for living in. And round the ship were double corridors running about three sides, each of which was not less than five plethra in circumference. And the arrangement of the lower one was like a peristyle, and that in the upper part was covered in, and surrounded with walls and windows on all sides. And when you first came into the vessel by the stern your eye was met by a colonnade, open in front, and surrounded by pillars. And opposite to it in the bow of the vessel there was a sort of propylæum constructed, made of ivory and most expensive woods. And after you had passed through that, then you came to something like a proscenium, covered in overhead. And again in the same way in the middle of the vessel was another colonnade, open behind, and an entrance of four folding-doors led to it. And both on the right hand and on the left there were windows, admitting a pleasant breeze.

"To these was joined a room of very large size, and that was adorned with pillars all round, and it was capable of containing twenty couches. And the greater part of it was made of split cedar, and of Milesian cypress. And the doors which were round it, being twenty in number, were put together with beams of citron wood, having ivory ornaments. And all the nails and fastenings which were visible were made of red brass, which had taken a polish like that of gold from the fire. And of the pillars the bodies were of cypress-wood, but the capitals were of Corinthian workmanship, adorned with ivory and gold. The whole of the capitals of the pillars [327]were of gold; and there was a sort of girdle on them having figures of animals beautifully carved in ivory, more than a cubit high, of which the workmanship was not so conspicuous as the exquisite beauty of the materials. There was a beautiful roof to the banqueting-room, square, and made of cypress wood. And its ornaments were all carved, having a golden face. Next to this banqueting-chamber was a sleeping-chamber holding seven couches; and to that there was joined a narrow passage, which separated the woman's chamber from this one by the width of the hold. And by the passage was a banqueting-room holding nine couches, very like the large one in the sumptuousness of its furniture; and a bed-chamber holding five couches. As to the rooms then on the first deck this was the general appearance presented.

39. "But when you had ascended by the stairs which were close to the before-mentioned sleeping chamber, there was another chamber capable of containing five couches, having a vaulted oblong roof. And near to it was a temple of Venus, in form like a rotunda, in which was a marble statue of the goddess. And opposite to this was another banqueting-room, very sumptuous, adorned all round with columns: for the columns were all made of Indian stone. And near to this banqueting-room were more sleeping-chambers, with furniture and appointments corresponding to what has been already mentioned. And as you went on towards the head of the vessel was another apartment dedicated to Bacchus, capable of holding thirteen couches, surrounded with pillars, having its cornices all gilt as far down as the epistyle which ran round the room, but the roof corresponded to the character of the god. And in it there was on the right hand a large cave constructed, the colour of which was stone, for in fact it was made of real stone and gold; and in it images were placed of all the relations of the king, made of the stone called lychnites. And there was another banqueting-room, very pleasant, above the roof of the greatest apartment, having an arrangement like that of a tent, so that some of it had no actual roof; but there were arched and vaulted beams running along the top at intervals, along which purple curtains were stretched whenever the vessel was in motion. And after this there was an open chamber occupying the same room above that was occupied by the portico before mentioned as being below. And a winding [328]ladder joined on to it, leading to the secret walk, and a banqueting-room capable of containing nine couches, constructed and furnished in the Egyptian style. For round pillars were run up in it, with alternate tambours of white and black, all placed in parallel lines. And their heads were of round shape; and the whole of the figures round them were engraved like roses a little expanded. And round that part which is called the basket there were not tendrils and rough leaves, as is the case in Grecian pillars, but calyxes of the river-lotus, and the fruit of newly budding dates. And sometimes many other kinds of flowers were also represented. And under the roof of the capital which lies upon the tambour, where it joins on to the head, there were ornaments like the flower leaves of the Egyptian bean intertwined together. This then is the way in which the Egyptians construct and ornament their pillars, and this is the way in which they variegate their walls with black and white bricks: and sometimes also they employ the stone which is called alabaster. And there were many other ornaments all over the main hull of the vessel, and over the centre, and many other chambers and divisions in every part of it.

"And the mast of this vessel was seventy cubits in height, and it had a linen sail, adorned with a purple fringe. And the whole of the wealth which had been so carefully preserved by king Philadelphus was dissipated by the last Ptolemy, who also excited the war against Gabinius, who was not a man, but a mere flute-player and conjuror."

40. But concerning the ship built by Hiero, the tyrant of Syracuse, which also Archimedes the geometrician superintended, I do not think it right to be silent, since a certain man named Moschion has given a description of it, which I read over with great care very lately.

Moschion, then, writes as follows:—"Diocles, a citizen of Abdera, speaks with great admiration of the engine called Helepolis, which was brought by Demetrius against the city of the Rhodians, and applied to their walls. And Timæus extols highly the funeral pile made for Dionysius the tyrant of Sicily. And Hieronymus lavishes his admiration on the building and adorning of the chariot in which the body of Alexander was borne to the tomb. And Polycletus speaks in high terms of the candlestick which was made for the king of [329]Persia. But Hiero, the king of the Syracusans, who was in every respect a friend to the Romans, was very attentive to the furnishing of temples and gymnasia; and was also very earnest in ship-building, having built a great number of vessels to carry corn; the construction of one of which I will describe. For the wood, he caused such a number of trees to be cut down on Mount Ætna as would have been sufficient for sixty triremes, and when this was done he prepared nails, and planks for the sides and for the inside, and wood for every other purpose that could be required, some from Italy and some from Sicily. And for ropes he provided cordage from Spain, and hemp, and pitch from the river Rhone; and he collected great quantities of useful things from all quarters. And he collected also shipwrights and other artisans. And having appointed Archias the Corinthian the superintendent of them all, and the principal architect, he bade them labour at the construction with zeal and earnestness, he himself also devoting his days to watching its progress. And in this way he finished half the ship in six months; and every part of the vessel as soon as it was finished was immediately covered over with plates of lead. And there were three hundred workmen employed in working up the timber, besides the subordinate journeymen whom they had to assist them. And it was arranged to draw this portion that was done so far down to the sea, that it might receive the last finishing strokes there. And when there was a great inquiry as to the best method of launching it into the sea, Archimedes the mechanician launched it by himself with the aid of a few persons. For having prepared a helix he drew this vessel, enormous as it was, down into the sea. And Archimedes was the first person who ever invented this helix. But after the remainder of the ship had also been completed in six months more, and it had been surrounded all round with brazen nails, the greater part of which weighed ten minæ, and the rest were half as big again—(and they were driven in through holes made beforehand by gimlets, so as to hold the planks firm; and they were fastened to the wood with leaden plugs; pieces of cloth being put under, impregnated with pitch)—after, I say, Hiero had completed the external figure of the vessel, he laboured at the interior.

41. "And the vessel was constructed with twenty banks of [330]oars, and three entrances, having the lowest entrance leading to the hold, to which the descent was by two ladders of many steps each: and the next was contrived for those who wished to go down to the eating-rooms: and the third was for the armed men. And on each side of the middle entrance were apartments for the men, each with four couches in them, thirty in number. And the supper-room for the sailors was capable of holding fifteen couches, and it had within it three chambers, each containing three couches; and the kitchen was towards the stern of the ship. And all these rooms had floors composed of mosaic work, of all kinds of stones tesselated. And on this mosaic the whole story of the Iliad was depicted in a marvellous manner. And in all the furniture and the ceilings and the doors everything was executed and finished in the same admirable manner. And along the uppermost passage was a gymnasium and walks, having their appointments in all respects corresponding to the size of the vessel. And in them were gardens of all sorts of most wonderful beauty, enriched with all sorts of plants, and shaded by roofs of lead or tiles. And besides this there were tents roofed with boughs of white ivy and of the vine, the roots of which derived their moisture from casks full of earth, and were watered in the same manner as the gardens. And the tents themselves helped to shadow the walks. And next to these things was a temple devoted to Venus, containing three couches, with a floor of agate and other most beautiful stones, of every sort which the island afforded. And its walls and its roof were made of cypress-wood, and its doors of ivory and citron-wood. And it was furnished in the most exquisite manner with pictures and statues, and with goblets and vases of every form and shape imaginable.

42. "And next to that was a drawing-room capable of containing five couches, with its walls and doors made of box-wood, having a book-case in it, and along the roof a clock, imitated from the dial at Achradina. And there was also a bath-room, capable of containing three couches, having three brazen vessels for holding hot water, and a bath containing five measures of water, beautifully variegated with Tauromenian marble. And many rooms were also prepared for the marines, and for those who looked to the pumps. And besides all this there were ten stalls for horses on each side of the [331]walls; and by them the fodder for the horses was kept, and the arms and furniture of the horsemen and of the boys. There was also a cistern near the head of the ship, carefully shut, and containing two thousand measures of water, made of beams closely compacted with pitch and canvass. And next to the cistern there was a large water-tight well for fish, made so with beams of wood and lead. And it was kept full of sea-water, and great numbers of fish were kept in it. And on each side of the walls there were also projecting beams, placed at well-proportioned intervals; and to these were attached stores of wood, and ovens, and baking places, and mills, and many other useful offices. And all round the outside of the ship ran atlases six cubits high, which supported the weight which was placed above them, and the triglyph, all being placed at convenient distances from one another. And the whole ship was adorned with suitable pictures.

43. "And in the vessel were eight towers of a size proportioned to the burden of the ship, two at the stem, and as many at the head, and the rest in the middle of the ship. And to each of these were fastened two large beams, or yards, from which port-holes were fixed, through which stones were let down upon any enemy who might come against the ship. And on each of the towers stood four young men fully armed, and two archers. And the whole of the interior of the towers was full of stones and darts. And a wall, having buttresses and decks, ran all through the ship, supported on trestles; and on these decks was placed a catapult, which hurled a stone weighing three talents, and an arrow twelve cubits long. And this engine was devised and made by Archimedes; and it could throw every arrow a furlong. And besides all this, there were mats composed of stout ropes [331:1] suspended by brazen chains; and as there were three masts, from each of them were suspended two large yards bearing stones, from which hooks and leaden weights were let down upon any enemy which might attack the vessel. And there was also a palisade all round the ship, made of iron, as a defence against those who might attempt to board it; and iron ravens, as they were called, all round the ship, which, being shot forth by engines, seized on the vessels of the enemy, and brought [332]them round so as to expose them to blows. And on each of the sides of the ship stood sixty young men clad in complete armour; and an equal number stood on the masts, and on the yards which carried the stones; and they were also on the masts, up at the mast-head, which was made of brass. On the first there were three men, and on the second two, and on the third one. And they had stones brought up to them in wicker baskets by means of pulleys, and arrows were supplied to them by boys, within the defended parts of the mast-heads. And the vessel had four wooden anchors and eight iron ones. And of the masts, the second and third were easily found; but the first was procured with difficulty among the mountains of the Bruttii, and was discovered by a swineherd. And Phileas, a mechanic of Tauromenium, brought it down to the seaside. And the hold, although of a most enormous depth, was pumped out by one man, by means of a pulley, by an engine which was the contrivance of Archimedes. And the name of the ship was 'The Syracusan;' but when Hiero sent it to sea, he altered its name and called it 'The Alexandrian.'

"And it had some small launches attached to it, the first of which was one of the light galleys called cercurus, able to hold a weight of three thousand talents; and it was wholly moved by oars. And after that came many galleys and skiffs of about fifteen hundred talents burthen. And the crew also was proportionably numerous; for besides the men who have been already mentioned, there were six hundred more, whose post was at the head of the ship, always watching for the orders of the captain. And there was a tribunal instituted to judge of all offences which might be committed on board the ship, consisting of the captain and the pilot, and the officer of the watch; and they decided in every case according to the laws of the Syracusans.

44. "And they put on board the ship sixty thousand measures of corn, and ten thousand jars of Sicilian salt-fish, and twenty thousand talents weight of wool, and of other cargo twenty thousand talents weight also. And besides all this, there were the provisions necessary for the crew. And Hiero, when he had understood that there was no harbour in Sicily large enough to admit this ship, and, moreover, that some of the harbours were dangerous for any vessel, determined to [333]send it as a present to Alexandria to Ptolemy the king of Egypt. For there was a great dearth of corn in Egypt. And he did so; and the ship came to Alexandria, where it was put in port. And Hiero honoured Archimelus, also, the epigrammatic poet, who wrote an epigram on the ship, with a thousand bushels of wheat, which he also sent at his own expense to the Piræus; and the epigram runs thus—

Who placed this monstrous mass upon the earth;
What master led it with untiring cables,
How was the deck nail'd to the mighty beams,
And with what axe did men the vessel form?
Surely it equals Ætna in its height,
Or any isle which rises from the sea
Where the Ægean wave entwined foams
Amid the Cyclades; on either side
Its breadth is equal, and its walls alike.
Sure 'twas the giants' work, who hoped to reach
By such vast ladder to the heights of heaven.
Its topmast reaches to the stars; and hides
Its mighty bulwarks 'mid the endless clouds.
It holds its anchors with untiring cables,
Like those with which proud Xerxes bound the strait
Which between Sestos and Abydos foams.
A deftly carved inscription on the side
Shows what strong hand has launch'd it on the deep;
It says that Hiero, Hierocles' son,
The king of Sicily, pride of Dorian race,
Sends it a wealthy messenger of gifts
To the Ægean islands; and the God
Who rules the sea, great Neptune, convoys it
Safe o'er the blue and foaming waves to Greece.

And I intentionally pass over the sacred trireme built by Antigonus, which defeated the commanders of Ptolemy off Leucolla, a city under the dominion of Cos; and after that, Antigonus consecrated it to Apollo; but it was not one-third, or perhaps not even one-fourth part of the size of the Syracusan or Alexandrian vessel."

45. All this, then, we have said about the catalogue of the ships, not beginning with the Bœotians,[333:1] but with the shows and processions exhibited at public assemblies. And since I know that my excellent friend Ulpian will attack us again, and ask what that thing is which Callixenus calls ἐγγυθήκη, we tell him that there is a speech which is attributed to [334]Lysias the orator, written about the ἐγγυθήκη, which begins with these words—"If, O judges, Lysimanes had said anything reasonable or moderate." And going on a little, he proceeds to say—"I should not have been eager to plead in an action about this chest (ἐγγυθήκη), which is not worth thirty drachmæ." And presently he tells us that the chest was a brazen one—"But when I wished last year to repair it I gave it to a brazier; for it is well put together, and has the faces of Satyrs and large heads of oxen carved upon it. There is also another coffer of the same size; for the same workman made many such articles of the same size, and alike in many particulars." In these words Lysias, having said that the chest was made of brass, shows plainly enough, as Callixenus also said, that they were things that might be used as stands for kettles. For so Polemo Periegetes said, in the third of those books of his which are addressed to Adæus and Antigonus, where he explains the subject of the picture which is at Phlius, in the portico of the polemarchs, painted by Sillax the Rhegian, who is mentioned by Epicharmus and Simonides. And his words are—"Ἐγγυθήκη, and a large goblet on it." And Hegesander the Delphian, in his book entitled a Commentary on Statues and Images, says that the pedestal dedicated by Glaucus the Chian at Delphi is like an iron ἐγγυθήκη, the gift of Alyattes. And that is mentioned by Herodotus, who calls it ὑποκρητηρίδιον (a stand for a goblet). And Hegesander uses the same expression. And we ourselves have seen that lying at Delphi, a thing really worth looking at, on account of the figures of animals which are carved upon it, and of other insects, and living things, and plants. . . . . . . . can be put upon it, and goblets, and other furniture.

But the thing which is called by the Alexandrians ἀγγοθήκη is a triangular vessel, hollow in the middle, capable of receiving an earthen wine-jar inside of it. And poor men have this made of wood, but rich men have it of brass or of silver.

46. Having said this much about the ἐγγυθήκη, let us now go on to speak of those kings who are and have been fond of good cheer. For the king, who is the namesake of the above-mentioned Antiochus, and the son of Demetrius, according to the account of Posidonius, used to entertain a great crowd of people every day, and in addition to what they ate on the [335]spot, he would give every one of the guests large heaps, consisting of entire joints of meat of beasts, and birds, and fishes, undivided and ready dressed, enough to fill a wagon. And besides all this, he gave them heaps of honey-cakes, and of garlands, of myrrh, and frankincense, with large fillets and bandages of golden embroidery as long as a man. And another king, Antiochus, when celebrating the games at Daphne, himself also made very sumptuous entertainments, as Posidonius himself relates; and he was the first person who ever made a distribution among the guests of whole joints of meat; and also of geese, and hares, and antelopes alive. And golden chaplets were also given to the guests, and a great quantity of silver plate, and of slaves, and horses, and camels. And each man was bound to get on the camel and drink a draught of wine, and then to accept of the camel and of the boy who stood by it. "And," says he, "all the natives and inhabitants of Syria, on account of the fertility of the land, are accustomed to make frequent feasts after their necessary labours, in order that they may rejoice together, using their gymnasia as baths, and anointing themselves with expensive oil and perfumes; and at their grammatea (for that is the name which they give to their public entertainments) living as if in their own houses, and gratifying their stomachs the greater part of the day with wine and meat, and also carrying away a quantity of the same to their own homes, they thus spend the day, listening also to the music of the loud lyre made of the tortoise shell, so that whole cities resound with noises of this kind."

47. And I, my friends, praise very much the entertainment which was given by Alexander the king of Syria. And this Alexander was a supposititious son of Antiochus Epiphanes, substituted on account of the hatred which all men bore to Demetrius, concerning whom our companion Athenæus has spoken in his treatise on the Kings who have reigned in Syria. Now that entertainment was conducted as nearly as may be in this fashion.

Diogenes the Epicurean, having a very tolerable acquaintance with the doctrines of the sect which he professed, was by birth a native of Seleucia, in the district of Babylon. And he was kindly received by the king, although the monarch rather inclined to the doctrines of the Stoic school. [336]Accordingly, Alexander treated him with great distinction, although a man of anything but a reputable course of life, and so given to calumny and envy, that if he could raise a laugh by it, he could not abstain from even the king himself. And when he preferred to the king a request that had no great connexion with philosophy—namely, that he might be allowed to wear a purple robe and a golden crown, having a face of Virtue in the centre of it, as he claimed to be addressed as the priest of Virtue, he agreed to it all, and besides that, made him a present of the crown. And these ornaments Diogenes, being in love with a woman who was one of the Bacchanalian singers, gave to her. But Alexander, hearing of this, collected a banqueting party of philosophers and eminent men, and among them he invited Diogenes. And when he arrived he begged him to take his seat with his crown and his purple robe on. And when he replied that that would be unseemly, the king nodded to his servants to introduce the musicians, among whom this singing woman appeared, crowned with the crown of Virtue, and clothed also in the purple robe. So when every one burst into laughter at this, the philosopher kept quiet, and never stopped praising the singing woman.

But Antiochus, who succeeded Alexander in the kingdom, could not tolerate the abusive language of this Diogenes, and accordingly ordered him to be put to death. But Alexander was at all times, and in all circumstances, of a gentle disposition, and affable to every one in conversation, and not at all like Athenion the Peripatetic philosopher, who had a philosophical school at Athens, and at Messene, and also at Larissa in Thessaly, and who subsequently became tyrant of Athens; concerning whom Posidonius of Apamea gives a very particular account, which I, even though it is rather long, will quote, in order that we may come to a thorough understanding and appreciation of those men who profess to be philosophers, and that we may not be taken in by their ragged cloaks and unshaven chins. For, as Agatho says—

If I do tell the truth I shall not please you;
And if I please you, I shall speak no truth.

But "let truth," as the saying is, "be one's friend." At all events, I will quote the account given of the man.

48. "In the school of Erymneus the Peripatetic there was a certain man of the name of Athenion, who applied himself [337]very perseveringly to philosophical discussions. He, having bought an Egyptian female slave, made her his mistress. And when she became a mother, either by him or by some one else, the child was bred up by Athenion, and received the same name as his master. And having been taught literature, he became accustomed to lead his master about when he became an old man, in company with his mother; and when he died he succeeded him as his heir, and became a citizen of Athens, being enrolled under the name of Athenion. And having married a very beautiful girl, after that he betook himself to the profession of a sophist, hunting out for boys to come to his school. And having pursued his profession of sophist at Messene and at Larissa in Thessaly, and having amassed a considerable fortune, he returned to Athens. And having been appointed an ambassador by the Athenian people, when the chief power in all that district was lodged in the hands of Mithridates, he insinuated himself into the good graces of the king, and became one of his friends, being held by him in the greatest honour; in consequence of which he wrote letters to the Athenians to raise their spirits, as one who had the greatest influence with the king of Cappadocia, leading them to hope that they should be discharged of all their existing debts, and live in peace and concord with him; and also that they should recover their democratic constitution, and receive great presents both publicly and privately. And the Athenians boasted of all these promises which were made to them, feeling sure that the supremacy of the Romans would be put an end to.

49. "Now when all Asia had revolted to the King, Athenio set out to return to Athens; and being tossed about by a storm he was driven to Carystus. And when the Cecropidæ heard this, they sent some ships of war to conduct him back, and a litter with silver feet. And now he is entering the city; and almost the whole of the citizens has poured out to meet him; and many other spectators came together, marvelling at this preposterous freak of fortune, that this intrusive citizen, Athenion, foisted into Athens in such a manner, should be conducted into the city on a litter with silver feet, and lying on purple clothes, a man who had never before seen even a purple patch on his ragged cloak; when no one, not even of the Romans, had ever exhibited such pomp and insulting show [338] in Attica before. So there ran to this spectacle men, women, children, all expecting some glorious honours from Mithridates. While Athenio, that ancient beggar, who gave lectures for trifling sums of money, was now making a procession through the country and through the city, relying on the king's favour, and treating every one with great insolence. There met him also the artisans of the spectacles of Bacchus, calling him a messenger of the young Bacchus, and inviting him to the common altar, and to the prayers and libations which were to be offered at it; and he, who had formerly come out of a hired house, into the * * * * * * was conducted into a mansion adorned with couches, and pictures, and statues, and a display of silver plate. And from it he issued forth, dragging on the ground a bright cloak, and with a golden ring on his finger, having on it a carved portrait of Mithridates. And numbers of attendants went before him and followed him in procession. And in the plot of ground belonging to the artisans, sacrifices were performed in honour of the return of Athenio, and libations made with formal proclamation by a herald. And the next day many people came to his house and awaited his appearance; and the whole Ceramicus was full of citizens and foreigners, and there was a voluntary thronging of the whole population of the city to the assembly. And at last he came forth, being attended by all who wished to stand well with the people, as if they had been his body-guards, every one hastening even to touch his garment.

50. "He then having ascended the tribunal which had been erected for the Roman generals in front of the portico of Attalus, standing on it, and looking round on all the people in a circle, and then looking up, said, 'O men of Athens, the state of affairs and the interests of my country compel me to relate to you what I know. But the greatness of the affairs that must be mentioned, owing to the unexpected character which circumstances have assumed, hinders me from doing so.' And when all the bystanders called out to him with one accord to be of good cheer, and to tell them, 'I tell you, then,' said he, 'of things which have never been hoped for, nor even imagined by any one in a dream. The king Mithridates is master of Bithynia, and of Upper Cappadocia; and he is master of the whole of Asia, without any break, as far as Pamphylia and Cilicia: and the kings of the Armenians [339]and Persians are only his guards; and he is lord of all the nations which dwell around the Palus Mæotis, and the whole of Pontus, so that his dominions are upwards of thirty thousand furlongs in circumference. And the Roman commander in Pamphylia, Quintus Oppius, has been surrendered to him, and is following him as a prisoner, but Manius Aquillius, a man of consular rank, who has celebrated a triumph for his victory over the Sicilians, is fastened by a long chain to Bastarna, a man of gigantic stature, and is dragged by him on foot at the tail of his horse. And of the other Roman citizens in Asia some have fallen down at the images of the gods, and the rest have put on square cloaks and acknowledge again the claims of their original country. And every city honouring him with more than human honours, calls the king a god; and oracles everywhere promise him the dominion over the whole world, on which account he is now sending large armies against Thrace and Macedonia, and every part of Europe is coming over bodily to his side. For ambassadors are coming to him, not only from the Italian tribes, but also from the Carthaginians, begging him to enter into alliance with them for the destruction of the Romans.'

51. "Having stopped a little after saying this, and having given time for the multitude to converse together about the news thus unexpectedly announced to them, he wiped his face, and went on, 'What then do I advise?—Not to bear this state of anarchy any longer, which the Roman senate makes continue, while it is deciding what constitution you are to enjoy for the future. And do not let us be indifferent to our temples being closed, to our gymnasia being left in the dirt, to our theatre being always empty, and our courts of justice mute, and the Pnyx, consecrated by the oracles of the gods, being taken from the people. Let us not, O Athenians, be indifferent to the sacred voice of Bacchus being reduced to silence, to the holy temple of Castor and Pollux being closed, and to the schools of the philosophers being silenced as they are.' And when this slave had said all this and a good deal more, the multitude conversing with one another and running together to the theatre elected Athenio general over the entire army. And then, the Peripatetic coming into the orchestra, walking like Pythocles, thanked the Athenians, and said, 'Now you yourselves are your own generals, and I am [340]the commander-in-chief: and if you exert all your strength to co-operate with me I shall be able to do as much as all of you put together.' And he, having said this, appointed others to be his colleagues in the command, proposing whatever names he thought desirable.

52. "And a few days afterwards, the philosopher having thus appointed himself tyrant, and having proved how much weight is to be attached to the doctrine of the Pythagoreans about plots against others, and what was the practical effect of the philosophy which the admirable Pythagoras laid down, as Theopompus has related in the eighth book of his Philippics, and Hermippus, the Callimachean, has corroborated the account, he immediately removed all the citizens who were right-thinking and of a good disposition (contrary to the sentiments of, and rules laid down by, Aristotle and Theophrastus; showing how true is the proverb which says, Do not put a sword into the hand of a child); and he placed sentinels at the gates, so that many of the Athenians, fearing what he might be going to do, let themselves down over the walls by night, and so fled away. And Athenio sending some horsemen to pursue them slew some of them, and brought back some in chains, having a number of body-guards about his person of the kind called phractici. And often he convened assemblies, pretending great attachment to the side of the Romans; and bringing accusations against many as having kept up communications with the exiles, and aiming at a revolution, he put them to death. And he placed thirty guards at each gate, and would not allow any one to go either in or out. And he seized on the property of many of the people, and collected such a quantity of money as to fill several wells; and he also sent all over the country people to lie in wait, as it were, for every one who was travelling, and they brought them to him; and he put them to death without any trial, torturing and racking them into the bargain. And he also instituted prosecutions for treason against several people, saying that they were co-operating with the exiles to effect their return. And some of the parties prosecuted fled out of fear before the trials came on, and some were condemned before the tribunals, he himself giving his own vote and collecting those of the others. And he brought about in the city a scarcity of the things necessary for life, [341] stinting the citizens of their proper quantity of barley and wheat. He also sent out heavy-armed soldiers over the country, to hunt out any of those who had fled and who could be found within the borders of the land, or any of the Athenians who were escaping beyond the borders. And whoever was detected he beat to death; and some of them he exhausted beforehand with tortures; and he caused proclamation to be made, that all must be in their houses by sunset, and that no one should presume to walk abroad with a lantern-bearer.

53. "And he not only plundered the property of the citizens, but that of foreigners also, laying his hands even on the property of the god which was laid up at Delos; sending Apellicon into the island, who was a Scian by birth, but who had become a citizen of Athens, and who lived a most whimsical and ever-changing course of life. For at one time he was a philosopher, and collected all the treatises of the Peripatetics, and the whole library of Aristotle, and many others; for he was a very rich man; and he had also stolen a great many autograph decrees of the ancients out of the temple of the Mighty Mother, and whatever else there was ancient and taken care of in other cities; and being detected in these practices at Athens he would have been in great danger if he had not made his escape; and a short time afterwards he returned again, having paid his court to many people, and he then joined himself to Athenion, as being a man of the same sect as he was. And Athenion, having embraced the doctrines of the Peripatetics, measured out a chœnix of barley, as four days' allowance for the ignorant Athenians, giving them what was barely food enough for fowl, and not the proper nutriment for men. And Apellicon, coming in great force to Delos, and living there more like a man exhibiting a spectacle than a general with soldiers, and placing guards in a very careless manner on the side of Delos, and leaving all the back of the island unguarded, and not even putting down a palisade in front of his camp, went to rest. And Orobius, the Roman general, hearing of this, who was at that time in command at Delos, watching for a moonless night, led out his troops, and falling on Apellicon and his soldiers, who were all asleep and drunk, he cut the Athenians and all those who were in the army with them to pieces, like so many sheep, to the number of six hundred, and he took [342]four hundred alive. And that fine general, Apellicon, fled away without being perceived, and came to Delos; and Orobius seeing that many of those who fled with him had escaped to the farmhouses round about, burnt them in the houses, houses and all; and he destroyed by fire also all the engines for besieging cities, together with the Helepolis which Apellicon had made when he came to Delos. And Orobius having erected in that place a trophy and an altar, wrote this inscription on it—

This tomb contains the foreigners here slain,
Who fought near Delos, and who fell at sea,
When the Athenians spoil'd the holy isle,
Aiding in war the Cappadocian king."

54. There was also at Tarsus an Epicurean philosopher who had become the tyrant of that city, Lysias by name; who having been created by his countrymen Stephanephoros, that is to say, the priest of Hercules, did not lay down his command, but seized on the tyranny.[342:1] He put on a purple tunic with a white centre, and over that he wore a very superb and costly cloak, and he put on white Lacedæmonian sandals, and assumed also a crown of golden daphne leaves. And he distributed the property of the rich among the poor, and put many to death who did not surrender their property willingly.

55. These are the commanders who became such from having been philosophers; concerning whom Demochares said,—"Just as no one could make a spear out of a bulrush, so no one could make a faultless general out of Socrates." For Plato says that Socrates served in three military expeditions, one to Potidæa, and another to Amphipolis, and another against the Bœotians, in which last it was that the battle of Delium took place. And though no one has mentioned this circumstance, he himself says that he gained the prize of the most eminent valour, since all the other Athenians fled, and many were slain. But all this is an erroneous statement. For the expedition against Amphipolis took place in the archonship of Alcæus, when Cleon was the general; and it [343]was composed entirely of picked men, as Thucydides relates. Socrates then, a man who had nothing but his ragged cloak and his stick, must have been one of these picked men. But what historian or poet has mentioned this fact? Or where has Thucydides made the slightest mention of Socrates, this soldier of Plato's? And what is there in common between a shield and a philosopher's staff? And when was it that Socrates bore a part in the expedition against Potidæa, as Plato has said in his Charmides, where he states that he then yielded the prize of preeminent valour to Alcibiades? though Thucydides has not mentioned it, nor has Isocrates in his Oration on the Pair-horse Chariot. And what battle ever took place when Socrates gained the prize of preeminent valour? And what eminent and notorious exploit did he perform; for indeed there was actually no battle at all at that time, as Thucydides tells us.

But Plato not being content with all these strange stories, introduces the valour which was displayed, or rather which was invented by him at Delium. For if Socrates had even taken Delium, as Herodicus the Cratetian has reported in his Treatise to Philosocrates, he would have fled disgracefully as all the rest did, when Pagondas sent two squadrons of cavalry unperceived round the hill. For then some of the Athenians fled to Delium, and some fled to the sea, and some to Oropus, and some to Mount Parnes. And the Bœotians, especially with their cavalry, pursued them and slew them; and the Locrian cavalry joined in the pursuit and slaughter. When then this disorder and alarm had seized upon the Athenians, did Socrates alone, looking proud and casting his eyes around, stand firm, turning aside the onset of the Bœotian and Locrian cavalry? And yet does Thucydides make no mention of this valour of his, nor even any poet either. And how was it that he yielded to Alcibiades the prize of preeminent valour, who had absolutely never joined in this expedition at all? But in the Crito, Plato, that favourite of Memory, says that Socrates had never once gone out of Attica, except when he once went to the Isthmian games. And Antisthenes, the Socratic philosopher, tells the same tale as Plato about the Aristeia; but the story is not true. For this Dog flatters Socrates in many particulars, on which account we must not believe either of them, keeping Thucydides for our guide. For Antisthenes [344]even exaggerates this false story, saying,—"'But we hear that you also received the prize of preeminent valour in the battle which took place against the Bœotians.' 'Be quiet, my friend, the prize belongs to Alcibiades, not to me.' 'Yes, but you gave it to him as we are told.'" But Plato's Socrates says that he was present at Potidæa, and that he yielded the prize of preeminent valour to Alcibiades on that occasion. But by the universal consent of all historians the expedition against Potidæa, in which Phormio commanded, was previous to the one against Delium.

56. In every respect then the philosophers tell lies; and they are not aware that they commit numbers of anachronisms in the accounts which they give. And even the admirable Xenophon is not free from this error. For he in his Banquet introduces Callias, the son of Hipponicus, as the lover of Autolycus, the son of Lycon, and making an entertainment in his honour when he gained the victory in the Pancratium. And he represents himself as being present with the rest of the guests, when he perhaps was either not born, or at all events not out of childhood. And this is the time when Aristion was archon. For it was in his archonship that Eupolis exhibited the comedy Autolycus, in which, in the character of Demostratus, he ridicules the victory of Autolycus. And again Xenophon makes Socrates say at this banquet—"And Pausanias, indeed, the lover of Agathon the poet, when speaking in excuse of those who allow themselves to indulge in intemperance, said that a most valiant army might be composed of boys and their lovers: for that of all the men in the world they would be the most ashamed to desert one another. Saying a very strange thing,—if men who are accustomed utterly to disregard all blame, and to behave with utter shamelessness to one another, would be the men above all others ashamed to do anything disgraceful." But that Pausanias never said anything of the sort we may see from the Banquet of Plato. For I know of no book at all which is written by Pausanias. Nor is he introduced by any one else as speaking of lovers and boys, but only by Plato. But whether Xenophon has absolutely invented this story, or whether he fell in with any edition of Plato's Banquet which reports what happened in a different manner, is of no importance; still we must take notice of the blunder as far as the [345]time is concerned. Aristion, in whose time this banquet is represented as having taken place, was archon four years before Euphemus, in whose archonship Plato places the banquet given in honour of the victory of Agathon, at which banquet Pausanias said these things about lovers. So that it is a marvellous and incredible thing that Socrates when supping with Callias should find fault with things as having been said erroneously, which had not yet been said at all, and which were not said till four years afterwards at the banquet of Agathon.

57. But altogether Plato's Banquet is mere nonsense. For when Agathon got the victory Plato was fourteen years old. For the former was crowned at the Lenæa in the archonship of Euphemus. But Plato was born in the year of the archonship of Apollodorus, who succeeded Euthydemus. And when he was eighty-two years old he died in the archonship of Theophilus, who succeeded Callimachus; for he is the eighty-second archon after Apollodorus. But from the archonship of Apollodorus and the birth of Plato, Euphemus is the fourteenth archon; and it is in his archonship that the banquet was given in honour of the victory of Agathon. And Plato himself shows that this entertainment had taken place a long time before, saying in the Banquet . . . . "'Do you think then that this entertainment has taken place but lately, so that I could have been present at it?' 'Indeed I do,' said he. 'How could that be,' said I, 'O Glaucon? Do you not know that Agathon has not been in the city for many years?'" And then a little while after he says—"'But tell me, when did this entertainment take place?' And I replied, 'When we were still children, when Agathon gained the prize in tragedy.'" But that Plato makes many blunders in his chronology is plain from many circumstances. For as the poet said—"The man has a tongue which pays no regard to seasons;" so he writes without sufficient discernment. For he never spoke at random, but always with great consideration.

58. As for instance, writing in the Gorgias, he says—"'Archelaus, then, according to your definition, is a miserable man.' 'Yes, my friend, if, at least, he is an unjust one.'" And then, after expressly stating that Archelaus was possessed of the kingdom of the Macedonians, he goes on to say, [346] "that Pericles also was lately dead." But if Pericles had only lately died, Archelaus was not yet in the enjoyment of his dominions at all; and if Archelaus was king at the time, then Pericles had been dead a long time. Now Perdiccas was king before Archelaus, according to the statement of Nicomedes of Acanthus; and he reigned forty-one years. But Theopompus says he reigned thirty-five years; Anaximenes, forty; Hieronymus, twenty-eight. But Marsyas and Philochorus say that he reigned only twenty-three years. Now, as these all vary so much in their accounts, we will take the smallest number, and say twenty-three. But Pericles died in the third year of the Peloponnesian war, in the archonship of Epameinon, in which year also Alexander died, and Perdiccas succeeded him in the kingdom. And he reigned till the archonship of Callias, in whose year Perdiccas died, and Archelaus succeeded to the kingdom. How, then, can Pericles have died lately, as Plato phrases it? And in the same Gorgias Plato represents Socrates as saying—"And last year, when I drew the lot to be one of the council, when my tribe was the presiding tribe, and I had to put the question to the vote, I caused the people to laugh, as I did not know how to put the question to the vote." Now Socrates did not fall into this error out of ignorance, but out of his firm principles of virtue; for he did not choose to violate the laws of the democracy. And Xenophon shows this plainly in the first book of his Hellenics, where he gives the following account:—"But when some of the prytanes said that they would not put the question contrary to the laws, Callixenus again mounts the tribunal and inveighs against them; and they cried out that he should impeach those who refused. And the prytanes being alarmed, all agreed to put the question except Socrates the son of Sophroniscus; and he said that he would not, but that he would do everything according to the laws."

This was the question which was put to the vote against the generals, Erasinides and his colleagues, because they did not pick up the men who were lost in the naval battle at Arginusæ. And this battle took place in the archonship of Callias, twenty-four years after the death of Pericles.

59. But the dialogue in the Protagoras, which took place after the death of Hipponicus, when Callias had entered upon [347]his patrimonial inheritance, says that Protagoras had arrived in Athens for the second time not many days previously. But Hipponicus, in the archonship of Euthydemus, was a colleague of Nicias in the generalship against the Tanagreans and against those Bœotians who acted as their allies; and he defeated them in a battle. And he died before Eupolis exhibited the Flatterers, which took place in the archonship of Alcæus, but probably not any long time before. For the play proves that the succession of Callias to his patrimonial inheritance was still quite recent. Now in this play Eupolis introduces Protagoras as living at Athens. And Ameipsias, in his Connus, which was exhibited two years before, does not enumerate him among the band of sophists. So it is plain that this happened in the interval between those two periods. But Plato represents Hippias the Elian also, in the Protagoras, as present with some of his own fellow-citizens, men who it is not likely could have remained long in Athens with safety, before the truce for a year was made in the archonship of Isarchus, in the month Elaphebolion. But he represents this dialogue as having taken place, not about the time when the truce had recently been made, but a long time after that; at all events he says—"For if they were savage men, such as Pherecrates the poet exhibited last year at the Lenæan festival." But the play of The Savage Men was exhibited in the archonship of Aristion, who was succeeded as archon by Astyphilus, (being the fifth after Isarchus,) in whose archonship the truce was made; for Isarchus came first, then Ameinias, then Aristion, then Astyphilus: so that it is contrary to history that Plato in his dialogue brings to Athens Hippias and his companions, who were enemies at the time, when this truce had not yet any existence.

60. And among other things Plato says that Chærephon asked the Pythian priestess whether any one was wiser than Socrates? and that she replied, No one. But Xenophon does not agree with all this; but says—"For when Chærephon once asked at Delphi about me, Apollo replied, in the presence of many witnesses, that no man was either more just or more temperate than I was." And how can it be either reasonable or probable that Socrates, who confessed that he knew nothing, should allege that he had been called the wisest of all men by God who knows everything? For if knowing [348]nothing be wisdom, then to know everything must be folly. And what was the need of Chærephon bothering the god, and asking him about Socrates? for he himself might have been believed in his own case, saying that he was not wise. For he must be a stupid man who would put such a question to the god, as if he were to ask him such a question as this, Whether any wool is softer than the Attic wool; or, Whether there are any more powerful nations than the Bactrians and the Medes; or, Whether any one has a more complete pug-nose than Socrates. For people who ask such questions as these have a very neat slap in the face given them by the god, as when a man asked him (whether it is a fable of Æsop's or of some one else),

O mighty son of Leto and of Jove,
Tell me by what means I may rich become:

If you acquire all the land that lies
Between the tow'rs of Sicyon and Corinth.

61. But indeed, no one even of the comic poets has said such things as Plato has said about Socrates, neither that he was the son of a very fierce-looking nurse, nor that Xantippe was an ill-tempered woman, who even poured slops over his head; nor that Alcibiades slept with him under the same cloak; and yet this must have been divulged with boisterous laughter by Aristophanes, as he was present at the banquet according to Plato's account; for Aristophanes would never have suppressed such a circumstance as that, which would have given such a colour to the charge that he corrupted the youth.

Aspasia, indeed, who was the clever preceptress of Socrates in rhetoric, in these verses which are attributed to her, which Herodicus the Cratetian has quoted, speaks thus—

The admirable Socrates then goes a hunting, having the Milesian woman for his tutor in love. But he himself is not hunted, as Plato says, having nets spread for him by Alcibiades. And indeed, he laments without ceasing, being, as I suppose, unsuccessful in his love. For Aspasia, seeing in what a condition he was, says—

Why weep you, my dear Socrates? does love
For that impracticable boy which dwells
Within thy breast, and shoots from out his eyes,
So far thy heart subdue? Did I in vain
Engage to make him docile to thy suit?

And that he really did love Alcibiades Plato shows plainly in the Protagoras, although he was now little less than thirty years of age; for he speaks in this manner, "'Whence are you come from, O Socrates? It seems to me you are come from your pursuit of Alcibiades's beauty. And, indeed, the man, when I saw him the other day, appeared to me to be a handsome man; a man, indeed, O Socrates, as he may well be called, just as much so as we are; and he has a firmly grown beard.' 'Well, what of that? are not you an admirer of Homer, who said that the most beautiful season of life was that of a young man who began to have a beard? and that is just the age of which Alcibiades is now.'"

62. But most philosophers are of such a disposition that they are more inclined to evil speaking than the Comic writers. Since both Æschines, the pupil of Socrates, in his Telauges, attacks Critobulus the son of Crito as an ignorant man, and one who lives in a sordid manner; and he attacks Telauges himself for wearing a cloak borrowed of a clothes' cleaner by the day for half an obol; and for being girt about with a skin, and for having his sandals fastened with rotten pieces of string. And as for Lysias the orator, he laughs immoderately at him; and in his Aspasia, he calls Hipponicus, the son of Callias, a blockhead; and taking all the women of Ionia in a lump he calls them lascivious and covetous. But his Callias dwells upon the quarrel of Callias with his own father, and the absurd jokes of the sophist Prodicus and [350] Anaxagoras. For he says that Prodicus had Theramenes for a pupil to finish his education; and that the other had Philoxenus, the son of Eryxis, and Ariphrades, the brother of Arignotus, the harp-player, wishing from the notorious impurity of life of the men who have been named and their general want of respectability and intemperance to leave the sort of education they received from their tutors to be inferred. But in his Axiochus he runs Alcibiades down with great bitterness, as a drunkard, and a man always running after other men's wives.

63. But Antisthenes, in the second of his treatises called Cyrus, abusing Alcibiades, says that he is a breaker of the laws, both with respect to women and with respect to every other part of his conduct in life; for he says that he had intrigued with a mother, and daughter, and sister, after the fashion of the Persians. And his Political Dialogue runs down the whole of the Athenian demagogues: and his Archelaus attacks Gorgias, the rhetorician; and his Aspasia attacks Xanthippus and Paralus, the sons of Pericles. For, as for one of them, he says that he is a companion of Archestratus, who is no better than a frequenter of houses of the worst possible fame; and the other he calls an acquaintance and intimate friend of Euphemus, who abused every one he met with vulgar and ill-mannered abuse. And nicknaming Plato Satho, in a witless and vulgar manner, he published a dialogue against him, to which he gave the same name as its title.

For these men believe that there is no such thing as an honest counsellor, or a conscientious general, or a respectable sophist, or a poet worth listening to, or a reasonable people: but Socrates, who spent his time in loose houses with the flute-playing women of Aspasia, and who was always chatting with Piston the armourer, and who gave lessons to Theodote the courtesan, how she ought to make the most of her lovers, as Xenophon tells us in the second book of his Memorabilia, is the only wise man according to them; for they represent him as giving Theodote such rules as neither Nico the Samian, nor Callistrate the Lesbian, nor Philænis the Leucadian, nor even Pythonicus the Athenian, were ever acquainted with as charms to conciliate affection. And yet those people paid much attention to such things. And time would fail me if I were to be inclined to quote the attacks which philosophers [351]have made on people; for, as the same Plato says, a regular crowd of Gorgons and Pegasi, and other monsters, keeps flowing in upon me in immense numbers, and of preposterous appearance, so that I will keep silence.

64. When Masurius had said this, and when all had admired his wisdom, after silence was restored Ulpian said,—You seem to me, O guests, to be overwhelmed with impetuous speeches which come upon you unexpectedly, and to be thoroughly soaked in unmixed wine;—

For a man drinking wine, as a horse does water,
Speaks like a Scythian, not knowing even koppa,
But voiceless, lies immersed in a cask,
And sleeps as if he'd drunk medicinal poppy;

as says Parmeno the Byzantian. Have you been all turned into stone by the before-mentioned Gorgons? Concerning whom, that there really have been some animals who were the causes of men being turned into stone, Alexander the Myndian speaks at length, in the second book of his History of Beasts, saying—"The Nomades in Libya (where it is born) call the animal named the Gorgon, 'The Looking-down:' and it is as most people say, conjecturing from its skin, something like a wild sheep; but as some say, it is like a calf. And they say that it has such a breath that it destroys every one who meets it; and that it has a mane let down from its forehead over its eyes, and when it has shaken it aside, which it does with difficulty by reason of its weight, and then looks out through it, it slays the man who is beheld by it, not by its breath, but by some natural violence which proceeds from its eyes. And it was discovered in this way: Some of the soldiers of Marius, in his expedition against Jugurtha, having beheld the Gorgon, thought because it held its head down, and moved slowly, that it was a wild sheep, and in consequence they rushed upon it, intending to kill it with the swords which they had about them; but it, being disturbed, shaking aside the mane which hung down over its eyes, immediately caused the death of those who were rushing upon it. And when others again and again did the same thing, and lost their lives by so doing, and when all who proceeded against it were invariably killed, some of the soldiers inquired the nature of the animal from the natives; and by the command of Marius some Nomad horsemen laid an [352]ambush against it from a distance, and shot it with darts, and returned to the camp, bringing the dead monster to the general." And that this account is the true one, the skin and the expedition of Marius both prove. But the statement made by the historian is not credible, namely, that there are in Libya some oxen which are called Opisthonomi,[352:1] because they do not advance while feeding, but feed constantly returning backwards, for their horns are a hindrance to their feeding in the natural manner, inasmuch as they are not bent upwards, as is the case with all other animals, but they bend downwards and overshadow the eyes; for this is incredible, since no other historian testifies to such a circumstance.

65. When Ulpian had said this, Laurentius bearing witness to the truth of his statement, and adding something to his speech, said, that Marius sent the skins of these animals to Rome, and that no one could conjecture to what animal they belonged, on account of the singular appearance which they presented; and that these skins were hung up in the temple of Hercules, in which the generals who celebrate a triumph give a banquet to the citizens, as many poets and historians of our nation have related. You then, O grammarians, as the Babylonian Herodicus says, inquiring into none of these matters—

Fly ye to Greece along the sea's wide back,
Pupils of Aristarchus, all more timid
Than the pale antelope, worms hid in holes,
Monosyllabic animals, who care
For σφὶν and σφῶιν, and for μὶν, and νὶν,
This shall be your lot, grumblers—but let Greece
And sacred Babylon receive Herodicus.

'Tis sweet when one has plann'd a new device,
To tell it to the world. For those who are
Wise for themselves alone have, first of all,
No judge to criticise their new invention.
And envy is their portion too: for all
That seems to be commended by its novelty,
Should be imparted freely to the people.

And when this conversation had terminated, most of the guests took their departure secretly, and so broke up the party.

FOOTNOTES:

BOOK VI.

1. Since you ask me every time that you meet me, my friend Timocrates, what was said by the Deipnosophists, thinking that we are making some discoveries, we will remind you of what is said by Antiphanes, in his Poesy, in this manner—

In every way, my friends, is Tragedy
A happy poem. For the argument
Is, in the first place, known to the spectators,
Before one single actor says a word.
So that the poet need do little more
Than just remind his hearers what they know.
For should I speak of Œdipus, at once
They recollect his story—how his father
Was Laius, and Jocasta too his mother;
What were his sons', and what his daughters' names,
And what he did and suffer'd. So again
If a man names Alcmæon, the very children
Can tell you how he in his madness slew
His mother; and Adrastus furious,
Will come in haste, and then depart again;
And then at last, when they can say no more,
And when the subject is almost exhausted,
They lift an engine easily as a finger,
And that is quite enough to please the theatre.
But our case is harder. We are forced
T' invent the whole of what we write; new names,
Things done before, done now, new plots, new openings,
And new catastrophes. And if we fail in aught,
Some Chremes or some Phido hisses us.
While Peleus is constraint by no such laws,
Nor Teucer.

O thou who rulest, patroness and queen,
Over this holy spot of sacred Brauron,
Bow-bearing daughter of Latona and Jove,
As the tragedians call you; who alone
Have power to do and say whate'er they please.

2. But Timocles the comic writer, asserting that tragedy is [354]useful in many respects to human life, says in his Women celebrating the Festival of Bacchus—

My friend, just hear what I'm about to say.
Man is an animal by nature miserable;
And life has many grievous things in it.
Therefore he has invented these reliefs
To ease his cares; for oft the mind forgets
Its own discomforts while it soothes itself
In contemplation of another's woes,
And e'en derives some pleasure and instruction.
For first, I'd have you notice the tragedians;
What good they do to every one. The poor man
Sees Telephus was poorer still than he,
And bears his own distress more easily.
The madman thinks upon Alcmæon's case.
Has a man weak sore eyes? The sons of Phineus
Are blind as bats. Has a man lost his child?
Let him remember childless Niobe.
He's hurt his leg; and so had Philoctetes.
Is he unfortunate in his old age?
Œneus was more so. So that every one,
Seeing that others have been more unfortunate,
Learns his own griefs to hear with more content.

3. And we accordingly, O Timocrates, will restore to you the relics of the feast of the Deipnosophists, and will not give them, as Cothocides the orator said, meaning to ridicule Demosthenes, who, when Philip gave Halonnesus to the Athenians, advised them "not to take it if he gave it, but only if he restored it." And this sentence Antiphanes jested upon in his Neottis, where he ridicules it in this manner—

My master has received (ἀπέλαβεν) as he took (ἔλαβεν)
His patrimonial inheritance.
How would these words have pleased Demosthenes!

A. For did I give them anything? Tell me that.

B. No, you restored it, holding a deposit.

According, therefore, to the above-mentioned poets, so we, restoring but not giving to you what followed after the previous conversation, will now tell you all that was said afterwards.

4. Then came into us these servants, bringing a great quantity of sea fish and lake fish on silver platters, so that we marvelled at the wealth displayed, and at the costliness of the entertainment, which was such that he seemed almost to have engaged the Nereids themselves as the purveyors. And one of the parasites and flatterers said that Neptune was sending fish to our Neptunian port, not by the agency of those who at Rome sell rare fish for their weight in money; but that some were imported from Antium, and some from Terracina, and some from the Pontian islands opposite, and some from Pyrgi; and that is a city of Etruria. For the fishmongers in Rome are very little different from those who used to be turned into ridicule by the comic poets at Athens, of whom Antiphanes says, in his Young Men—

I did indeed for a long time believe
The Gorgons an invention of the poets,
But when I came into the fish-market
I quickly found them a reality.
For looking at the fishwomen I felt
Turn'd instantly to stone, and was compell'd
To turn away my head while talking to them.
For when I see how high a price they ask,
And for what little fish, I'm motionless.

'Tis easier to get access to the general,
And one is met by language far more courteous,
And by more civil answer from his grace,
Than from those cursed fishfags in the market.
For when one asks them anything, or offers
To buy aught of them, mute they stand like Telephus,
And just as stubborn; ('tis an apt comparison,
For in a word they all are homicides;)
And neither listen nor appear to heed,
But shake a dirty polypus in your face;
Or else turn sulky, and scarce say a word,
But as if half a syllable were enough,
Say "se'n s'lings this," "this turb't eight'n-pence."
This is the treatment which a man must bear
Who seeks to buy a dinner in the fish-market.

When I behold a general looking stern,
I think him wrong, but do not greatly wonder,
That one in high command should think himself
Above the common herd. But when I see
The fishmongers, of all tribes far the worst,
Bending their sulky eyes down to the ground,
And lifting up their eyebrows to their foreheads,
I am disgusted. And if you should ask,
"Tell me, I pray you, what's this pair of mullets?"
"Tenpence." "Oh, that's too much; you'll eightpence take?"
"Yes, if you'll be content with half the pair."
"Come, eightpence; that is plenty." "I will not
Take half a farthing less: don't waste my time."
Is it not bitter to endure such insolence?

I used to think the race of fishmongers
Was only insolent in Attica;
But now I see that like wild beasts they are
Savage by nature, everywhere the same.
But here is one who goes beyond his fellows,
Nourishing flowing hair, which he doth call
Devoted to his god—though that is not the reason,
But he doth use it as a veil to hide
The brand which marks his forehead. Should you ask him,
What is this pike's price? he will tell you "tenpence;"
Not say what pence he means; then if you give him
The money, he will claim Ægina's coinage;
While if you ask for change, he'll give you Attic.
And thus he makes a profit on both sides.

[357] Poets are nonsense; for they never say
A single thing that's new. But all they do
Is to clothe old ideas in language new,
Turning the same things o'er and o'er again,
And upside down. But as to fishmongers,
They're an inventive race, and yield to none
In shameless conduct. For as modern laws
Forbid them now to water their stale fish,
Some fellow, hated by the gods, beholding
His fish quite dry, picks with his mates a quarrel,
And blows are interchanged. Then when one thinks
He's had enough, he falls, and seems to faint,
And lies like any corpse among his baskets.
Some one calls out for water; and his partner
Catches a pail, and throws it o'er his friend
So as to sprinkle all his fish, and make
The world believe them newly caught and fresh.

7. And that they often do sell fish which is dead and stinking is proved by what Antiphanes says in his Adulterers, as follows—

There's not on earth a more unlucky beast
Than a poor fish, for whom 'tis not enough
To die when caught, that they may find at once
A grave in human stomachs; but what's worse,
They fall into the hands of odious fishmongers,
And rot and lie upon their stalls for days;
And if they meet with some blind purchaser,
He scarce can carry them when dead away;
But throws them out of doors, and thinks that he
Has through his nose had taste enough of them.

Is it not quite a shame, that if a man
Has fresh-caught fish to sell, he will not speak
To any customer without a frown
Upon his face, and language insolent?
And if his fish are stale, he jokes and laughs—
While his behaviour should the contrary be:
The first might laugh, the latter should be shamed.

And that they sell their fish very dear we are told by Alexis in his Pylæan Women—

Yes, by Minerva, I do marvel at
The tribe of fishmongers, that they are not
All wealthy men, such royal gains they make.
For sitting in the market they do think it
A trifling thing to tithe our properties;
But would take all at one fell swoop away.

[358] There never was a better lawgiver
Than rich Aristonicus. For he now
Does make this law, that any fishmonger
Who puts a price upon his fish, and then
Sells it for less, shall be at once dragg'd off
And put in prison; that by their example
The rest may learn to ask a moderate price,
And be content with that, and carry home
Their rotten fish each evening; and then
Old men, old women, boys, and all their customers,
Will buy whatever suits them at fair price.

There never has, since Solon's time, been seen
A better lawgiver than Aristonicus.
For he has given many different laws,
And now he introduces this new statute,
A golden statute, that no fishmonger
Should sell his fish while sitting, but that all
Shall stand all day i' the market. And he says
Next year he will enact that they shall sell
Being hung up; for so they will let off
Their customers more easily, when they
Are raised by a machine like gods in a play.

9. And Antiphanes, in his Hater of Wickedness, displays their rudeness and dishonesty, comparing them to the greatest criminals who exist among men, speaking as follows—

Are not the Scythians of men the wisest?
Who when their children are first born do give them
The milk of mares and cows to drink at once,
And do not trust them to dishonest nurses,
Or tutors, who of evils are the worst,
Except the midwives only. For that class
Is worst of all, and next to them do come
The begging priests of mighty Cybele;
And it is hard to find a baser lot—
Unless indeed you speak of fishmongers,
But they are worse than even money-changers,
And are in fact the worst of all mankind.

10. And it was not without some wit that Diphilus, in his Merchant, speaks in this manner of fish being sold at an exorbitant price—

I never heard of dearer fish at any time.
Oh, Neptune, if you only got a tenth
Of all that money, you would be by far
The richest of the gods! And yet if he,
The fishmonger I mean, had been but civil,
I would have given him his price, though grumbling;
And, just as Priam ransom'd Hector, I
Would have put down his weight to buy the conger.

Living and dead, the monsters of the deep
Are hostile to us always. If our ship
Be overturn'd, they then at once devour
Whatever of the crew they catch while swimming:
And if they're caught themselves by fishermen,
When dead they half undo their purchasers;
For with our whole estate they must be bought,
And the sad purchaser comes off a beggar.

And Archippus, in his play called the Fish, mentions one fishmonger by name, Hermæus the Egyptian, saying—

The cursedest of all fish-dealers is
Hermæus the Egyptian; who skins
And disembowels all the vilest fish,
And sells them for the choicest, as I hear.

11. And perhaps it is natural for fishermen to be proud of their skill, even to a greater degree than the most skilful generals. Accordingly, Anaxandrides, in his Ulysses, introduces one of them, speaking in this way of the fisherman's art—

The beauteous handiwork of portrait painters
When in a picture seen is much admired;
But the fair fruit of our best skill is seen
In a rich dish just taken from the frying-pan.
For by what other art, my friend, do we
See young men's appetites so much inflamed?
What causes such outstretching of the hands?
What is so apt to choke one, if a man
Can hardly swallow it? Does not the fish-market
Alone give zest to banquets? Who can spread
A dinner without fried fish, or anchovies,
Or high-priced mullet? With what words or charms
Can a well-favour'd youth be caught, if once
The fisherman's assistance be denied?
His art subdues him, bringing to the fish-kettle
The heads of well-boil'd fish; this leads him on
To doors which guard th' approach to a good dinner,
And bids him haste, though nought himself contributing.

12. And Alexis says this with reference to those who are too anxious as to buying their fish, in his Rich Heiress—

Whoever being poor buys costly fish,
And though in want of much, in this is lavish,
He strips by night whoever he may meet.
So when a man is stripp'd thus, let him go
[360] At early morn and watch the fish-market.
And the first man he sees both poor and young
Buying his eels of Micio, let him seize him,
And drag him off to prison by the throat.

And Diphilus, in his Merchant, says that there is some such law as this in existence among the Corinthians—

And Sophilus, in his Androcles, wishes that the same custom prevailed at Athens also, thinking that it would be a good thing if two or three men were appointed by the city to the regulation of the provision markets. And Lynceus the Samian wrote a treatise on purveying against some one who was very difficult to please when making his purchases; teaching him what a man ought to say to those homicidal fishmongers, so as to buy what he wants at a fair rate and without being exposed to any annoyance.

[361] 13. Ulpian again picking out the thorns from what was said, asked—Are we able to show that the ancients used silver vessels at their banquets? and is the word πίναξ a Greek noun? For with reference to the line in Homer—

The swineherd served up dishes (πίνακας) of rich meat,[361:1]

Aristophanes the Byzantine said that it was a modernism to speak of meats being placed on platters (πίνακες), not being aware that in other places the poet has said—

Dishes (πίνακας) of various meats the butler brought.[361:2]

I ask also, if any men among the ancients had ever acquired a multitude of slaves, as the men of modern times do: and if the word τήγανον (frying-pan) is ever found, and not the form τάγηνον only. So that we may not fix our whole attention on eating and drinking, like those who from their devotion to their bellies are called parasites and flatterers.

14. And Æmilianus replied to him,—The word πίναξ, when used of a vessel, you may find used by Metagenes the comic writer, in his Valiant Persians: and Pherecrates, my friend, has used the form τήγανον in his Trifles, where he says—

He said he ate anchovies from the frying-pan (τηγάνον).

To sit before the frying-pans (τήγανα) burning rushes.

Receive him now with rays and frying-pans (τήγανα).

Smelling of frying-pans (τήγανα).

The bellows rouses Vulcan's guardian dogs,
With the warm vapour of the frying-pan (τήγανον).

But every lovely woman walks along
Fed with the choicest morsels from the frying-pan (τήγανον).

And the dish
Doth laugh and bubble up with barbarous talk,
And the fish leap ἐν μέσοισι τηγάνοις.

'Tis sweet to eat fried meat, at any feast
For which one has been at no cost oneself.

[362] And Pherecrates, in his Ant Men says—"Are you eating fried meat (Σὺ δ' ἀποτηγανίζεις)?"

But Hegesander the Delphian says that the Syracusans call a dish τήγανον, and the proper τήγανον they call ξηροτήγανον; on which account he says that Theodorides says in some poem—

He in a τήγανον did boil it well,
In a large swimming dish.

Where he uses τήγανον for λοπας. But the Ionians write the word ἤγανον without the letter τ, as Anacreon says—

Putting his hand within the frying-pan ἤγανον.

15. But with respect to the use of silver plate, my good friend Ulpian, you make me stop to consider a little; but I recollect what is said by Alexis in his Exile—

For where an earthen pot is to be let
For the cook's use.

For down to the times of the supremacy of the Macedonians the attendants used to perform their duties with vessels made of earthenware, as my countryman Juba declares. But when the Romans altered the way of living, giving it a more expensive direction, then Cleopatra, arranging her style of living in imitation of them, she, I mean, who ultimately destroyed the Egyptian monarchy, not being able to alter the name, she called gold and silver plate κέραμον; and then she gave the guests what she called the κέραμα to carry away with them; and this was very costly. And on the Rosic earthenware, which was the most beautiful, Cleopatra spent five minæ every day. But Ptolemy the king, in the eighth book of his commentaries, writing of Masinissa the king of the Libyans, speaks as follows—"His entertainments were arranged in the Roman fashion, everything being served up in silver κέραμον. And the second course he arranged in the Italian mode. His dishes were all made of gold; made after the fashion of those which are plaited of bulrushes or ropes. And he employed Greek musicians.

16. But Aristophanes the comic writer, whom Heliodorus the Athenian says, in his treatise concerning the Acropolis, (and it occupies fifteen books,) was a Naucratite by birth, in his play called Plutus, after the god who gave his name to the play and appeared on the stage, says that dishes of silver [363]were in existence, just as all other things might be had made of the same metal. And his words are—

But every vinegar cruet, dish and ewer
Is made of brass; while all the dirty dishes
In which they serve up fish are made of silver.
The oven too is made of ivory.

Epicrates and his good friend Phormisius,
Received many and magnificent gifts
From the great king; a golden cruet-stand,
And silver plates and dishes.

The whole house shone
With store of gold, and of much silver plate.

17. And Philippides, in his Disappearance of Silver, speaks of the use of it as ostentatious and uncommon, and aimed at only by some foreigners who had made fortunes but lately—

And Alexis, in his Little House, introducing a young man in love displaying his wealth to his mistress, represents him as making her some such speech as this—

And I am myself acquainted with one of our own fellow-citizens who is as proud as he is poor, and who, when all his silver plate put together scarcely weighed a drachma, used to keep calling for his servant, a single individual, and the only one he had, but still he called him by hundreds of different names. "Here, you Strombichides, do not put on the table [364]any of my winter plate, but my summer plate." And the character in Nicostratus, in the play entitled the Kings, is just such another. There is a braggart soldier, of whom he speaks—

There is some vinegar and a wine-cooler,
Thinner than thinnest gauze.

For there were at that time people who were able to beat out silver till it was as thin as a piece of skin.

A three-legg'd table now is laid, and on it
A luscious cheesecake, O ye honour'd gods,
And this year's honey in a silver dish.

A silver dish, bearing a stinking shad.

But at his supper he does sport a cruet
Of shining silver, richly chased with figures,
And bas-reliefs of dragons: such as Thibron
Used to display, most delicate of men,
Stripp'd of his wealth by arts of Tantalus.

And Theopompus the Chian, in his Letters of Advice to Alexander, when he enters into a discussion about Theocritus his fellow-citizen, says—"But he drinks out of silver cups and out of golden cups, and uses other vessels of the same kind upon his table. A man who formerly not only did not drink out of silver vessels, but who had not brazen ones either, but was content with the commonest earthenware, and even that very often cracked and chipped. And Diphilus says, in his Painter—

A splendid breakfast then appear'd, consisting
Of all that was desirable or new;
First every kind of oyster; then a phalanx
Of various side-dishes, and a heap
Of broilèd meats fresh from the gridiron,
And potted meats in silver mortars pounded.

And a large basket full of silver plate.

A bath, maid-servants, lots of silver plate.

But I am come in quest of silver plate.

And Lysias, in his Oration on the Golden Tripod, if indeed [365]the speech be a genuine one of his, says—"It was still possible to give silver or gold plate." But those who pique themselves on the purity of their Greek, say that the proper expression is not ἀργυρώματα and χρυσώματα, but ἀργυροῦς κόσμος and χρυσοῦς κόσμος.

19. When Æmilianus had said this, Pontianus said—For formerly gold was really exceedingly scarce among the Greeks; and there was not indeed much silver; at least, not much which was extracted from the mines; on which account Duris the Samian says that Philip, the father of the great king Alexander, as he was possessed of one flagon of gold, always put it under his pillow when he went to bed. And Herodotus of Heraclea says, that the Golden Lamb of Atreus, which was the pregnant cause of many eclipses of the sun, and changes of kings, and which was, moreover, the subject of a great many tragedies, was a golden flagon, having in the centre a figure of a golden lamb. And Anaximenes of Lampsacus, in the first of those works of his, called Histories, says that the necklace of Eriphyle was so notorious because gold at that time was so rare among the Greeks; for that a golden goblet was at that time a most unusual thing to see; but that after the taking of Delphi by the Phocians, then all such things began to be more abundant. But formerly even those men who were accounted exceedingly rich used to drink out of brazen goblets, and the repositories where they put them away they called χαλκόθηκαι.

And Herodotus says that the Egyptian priests drink out of brazen goblets; and he affirms that silver flagons could not be found to be given to all the kings, even when they sacrificed in public; and, accordingly, that Psammetichus, who was later than the other kings, performed his libations with a brazen flagon, while the rest made their offerings with silver ones. But after the temple at Delphi had been plundered by the tyrants of Phocis, then gold became common among the Greeks, and silver became actually abundant; and afterwards, when the great Alexander had brought into Greece all the treasures from out of Asia, then there really did shine forth what Pindar calls "wealth predominating far and wide."

20. And the silver and gold offerings which were at Delphi were offered originally by Gyges the king of the Lydians. For before the reign of this monarch Apollo had no silver, [366]and still less had he gold, as Phanias the Eresian tells us, and Theopompus, too, in the fortieth book of his History of the Transactions of the Reign of Philip. For these writers relate that the Pythian temple was adorned by Gyges, and by Crœsus who succeeded him; and after them by Gelo and Hiero, the tyrants of Syracuse: the first of whom offered up a tripod and a statue of Victory, both made of gold, about the time that Xerxes was making his expedition against Greece; and Hiero made similar offerings. And Theopompus uses the following language—"For anciently the temple was adorned with brazen offerings: I do not mean statues, but caldrons and tripods made of brass. The Lacedæmonians, therefore, wishing to gild the face of the Apollo that was at Amyclæ, and not finding any gold in Greece, having sent to the oracle of the god, asked the god from whom they could buy gold; and he answered them that they should go to Crœsus the Lydian, and buy it of him. And they went and bought the gold of Crœsus. But Hiero the Syracusan, wishing to offer to the god a tripod and a statue of Victory of unalloyed gold, and being in want of the gold for a long time, afterwards sent men to Greece to seek for it; who, coming after a time to Corinth, and tracing it out, found some in the possession of Architeles the Corinthian, who had been a long time buying it up by little and little, and so had no inconsiderable quantity of it; and he sold it to the emissaries of Hiero in what quantity they required. And after that, having filled his hand with it he made them a present of all that he could hold in his hand, in return for which Hiero sent a vessel full of corn, and many other gifts to him from Sicily."

21. And Phanias relates the same circumstances in his history of the Tyrants in Sicily, saying that the ancient offerings had been brass, both tripods, and caldrons, and daggers; and that on one of them there was the following inscription—

Look on me well; for I was once a part
Of the wide tower which defended Troy
When Greeks and Trojans fought for fair-hair'd Helen;
And Helicon, brave Antenor's son,
Brought me from thence, and placed me here, to be
An ornament to Phœbus' holy shrine.

And in the tripod, which was one of the prizes offered at the funeral games in honour of Patroclus, there was the inscription—

[367] I am a brazen tripod, and I lie
Here as an ornament of Delphi's shrine.
The swift Achilles gave me as a prize
What time he placed Patroclus on the pile,
And Tydeus' mighty son, brave Diomede,
Offer'd me here, won by his speedy coursers
In the swift race by Helle's spacious wave.

22. And Ephorus, or Demophilus, his son, in the thirtieth book of his Histories, speaking of the temple of Delphi, says, "But Onomarchus and Phayllus and Phalæcus not only carried off all the treasures of the god, but at last their wives carried off also the ornaments of Eriphyle, which Alcmæon consecrated at Delphi by the command of the god, and also the necklace of Helen, which had been given by Menelaus. For the god had given each of them oracles: he had said to Alcmæon, when he asked him how he could be cured of his madness—

You ask a precious gift, relief from madness;
Give me a precious gift yourself; the chain
With which your mother buried, steeds and all,
Your sire, her husband, brave Amphiaraus.

And he replied to Menelaus, who consulted him as to how he might avenge himself on Paris—

Bring me the golden ornament of the neck
Of your false wife; which Venus once did give
A welcome gift to Helen; and then Paris
Shall glut your direst vengeance by his fall.

And it so fell out that a violent quarrel arose among the women about these ornaments—which should take which. And when they had drawn lots for the choice, the one of them, who was very ugly and stern, got Eriphyle's necklace, but the one who was conspicuous for beauty and wanton got the ornaments of Helen; and she, being in love with a young man of Epirus, went away with him, but the other contrived to put her husband to death.

23. But the divine Plato, and Lycurgus the Lacedæmonian, not only forbad all costly ornaments to be introduced into their model states, but they would not permit even silver or gold to be brought into them, thinking that of the products of mines, iron and copper were sufficient, and banishing the other metals as injurious to those states which were in good order. But Zeno the Stoic, thinking everything unimportant except the legitimate and honest use of the precious metals, [368]forbad either praying for or deprecating them; but still he recommended chiefly the use of those which were more commonly accessible and less superfluous; in order that men, having the dispositions of their minds formed so as neither to fear nor to admire anything which is not honourable on the one hand or discreditable on the other, should use only what is natural as much as possible, and yet should not fear what is of an opposite character, but abstain from such in obedience to reason and not to fear. For nature has not banished any of the above-mentioned things out of the world, but has made subterranean veins of these metals, the working of which is very laborious and difficult, in order that they who desire such things may arrive at the acquisition after toil and suffering; and that not only those men themselves who work in the mines, but those also who collect what has been extracted from the mines, may acquire this much wished for opulence at the expense of countless labours.

Therefore a little of these metals lies on the surface just to serve as a sample of the rest which is beneath, since in the remotest corners of the earth also there are rivers bearing down gold-dust in their waters; and women and men destitute of bodily strength scratching among the sand, detach these particles from the sand, and then they wash them and bring them to the smelting-pot, as my countryman Posidonius says is done among the Helvetians, and among others of the Celtic tribes. And the mountains which used formerly to be called the Rhipæan mountains, and which were subsequently named the Olbian (as if happy), and which are now called the Alps, (they are mountains in Gaul,) when once the woods upon them had caught fire spontaneously, ran with liquid silver. The greater quantity of this metal, however, is found by mining operations carried on at a great depth, and attended by great hardship, according to the statement of Demetrius Phalereus, in consequence of the desire of avarice to draw Pluto himself out of the recesses of the earth; and, accordingly, he says facetiously that—"Men having often abandoned what was visible for the sake of what was uncertain, have not got what they expected, and have lost what they had, being unfortunate by an enigmatical sort of calamity."

24. But the Lacedæmonians being hindered by their national institutions from introducing silver or gold into Sparta, as the [369]same Posidonius relates, or from possessing any in private, did possess it nevertheless, but then they deposited it among their neighbours the Arcadians. But subsequently the Arcadians became enemies to them instead of friends, as they had been; picking a quarrel with them with the express view of seizing on this deposit without being called to account for it, by reason of the enmity now subsisting. Therefore it is said that the gold and silver which had formerly been at Lacedæmon was consecrated at Delphi to Apollo; and that when Lysander brought gold publicly into the city he was the cause of many evils to the state by so doing. And it is said that Gylippus, who delivered the Syracusans, was put to death by starvation, having been condemned by the Ephori, because he had embezzled some of the money sent to Sparta by Lysander. But that which had been devoted to the god and been granted to the people as a public ornament and public property, it was not decent for any mortal to treat with contempt.

25. But that tribe of Gauls which is called the Cordistæ, does not introduce gold into their country either, still they are not the less ready to plunder the territories of their neighbours, and to commit injustice; and that nation is a remnant of the Gauls who formed the army of Brennus when he made his expedition against the temple of Delphi. And a certain Bathanatius, acting as their leader, settled them as a colony in the districts around the Ister, from whom they call the road by which they returned the Bathanatian road, and even to this day they call his posterity the Bathanati. And these men proscribe gold, and do not introduce it into their territories, as a thing on account of which they have suffered many calamities; but they do use silver, and for the sake of that they commit the most enormous atrocities. Although the proper course would be, not to banish the whole class of the thing of which they were formerly plundered, but the impiety which could perpetrate such a sacrilege. And even if they did not introduce silver into their country, still they would commit excesses in the pursuit of copper and iron; and even if they had not these things, still they would continue to rage in war against other nations for the sake of meat and drink, and other necessaries.

26. When Pontianus had delivered his opinion in these [370]terms, and while most of the guests were endeavouring to solve the questions proposed by Ulpian, Plutarch, being one of those who was attending to the other subjects of discussion, said,—The name parasite was in former days a respectable and a holy name. At all events, Polemo (whether he was a Samian or a Sicyonian, or whether he prefers the name of an Athenian, which Heraclides the Mopseatian gives him, who also speaks of him as being claimed by other cities; and he was also called Stelocopas, as Herodicus the Cratetian has told us,) writing about parasites, speaks as follows—"The name of parasite is now a disreputable one; but among the ancients we find the word parasite used as something sacred, and nearly equivalent to the title Messmate. Accordingly, at Cynosarges, in the temple of Hercules, there is a pillar on which is engraven a decree of Alcibiades; the clerk who drew it up being Stephanus the son of Thucydides; and in it mention is made of this name in the following terms—'Let the priest perform the monthly sacrifices with the parasites; and let the parasites select one bastard, and one of the sons of the same, according to the usual national customs; and whoever is unwilling to take the place of a parasite, let the priest report him to the tribunal.' And in the tables of the laws concerning the Deliastæ it is written—'And let two heralds, of the family of the heralds, of that branch of it which is occupied about the sacred mysteries, be chosen; and let them be parasites in the temple of Delos for a year.' And in Pallenis this inscription is engraved on the offerings there found—'The Archons and parasites made these offerings, who, in the archonship of Pythodorus, were crowned with a golden crown;[370:1] and the parasites were, in the archonship of Lycostratus, Gargettius; in the archonship of Pericletus, Pericles Pitheus; in that of Demochares, Charinus.' And in the laws of the king, we find the following words—'That the parasites of the Acharnensians shall sacrifice to Apollo.' But Clearchus the Solensian, and he was one of the disciples of Aristotle, in the first book of his Lives, writes thus—'But now they call a parasite a man who is ready for anything; but in former times he was a man picked out as a companion.'" Accordingly, in the ancient laws, most cities mention parasites among the most honourable of their [371]officers; and, indeed, they do so to this day. And Clidemus says in his Attic Women—

And then they chose some parasites for Hercules.

And Themiso, in his Pallenis, says—"That the king, who from time to time fills that office, and the parasites, whom they appoint from the main body of the people, and the old men, and the women who still have their first husbands, shall take care of such and such things."

27. And from this you perceive, my good friend Ulpian, that you may raise another question, who the women are who still have their first husbands? But (for we are still speaking about the parasites) there is also an inscription on a pillar in the Anaceum to the following effect—"Of the best bulls which are selected, one-third is to be appropriated to the games; and of the remaining two-thirds, one is to go to the priest, and the other to the parasites." But Crates, in the second book of his treatise on the Attic Dialect, says—"And the word parasite is now used in a disreputable sense; but formerly those people were called parasites who were selected to collect the sacred corn, and there was a regular Hall of the parasites; on which account the following expressions occur in the law of the king—"That the king shall take care of the Archons that they are properly appointed, and that they shall select the parasites from the different boroughs, according to the statutes enacted with reference to that subject. And that the parasites shall, without any evasion or fraud, select from their own share a sixth part of a bushel of barley, on which all who are citizens of Athens shall feast in the temple, according to the national laws and customs. And that the parasites of the Acharnensians shall give a sixth part of a bushel from their collection of barley to the guild of priests of Apollo. And that there was a regular Hall for the parasites is shown by the following expressions in the same law—"For the repairs of the temple, and of the magistrates' hall, and of the hall of parasites, and of the sacred house, they shall pay whatever sums of money the contractors appointed by the priests think necessary." From this it is evident that the place in which the parasites laid up the first-fruits of the consecrated corn was called the Parasitium, or the Hall of the parasites.

[372] And Philochorus gives the same account in his book entitled the Tetrapolis, where he mentions the parasites who were elected for the temple of Hercules; and Diodorus of Sinope, a comic poet, in his Heir, (from which I will cite some testimonies presently,) says the same. And Aristotle, in his treatise on the Constitution of the Methoneans, says—"Parasites were two in number for each of the archons, and one for the polemarchs. And they received a fixed allowance from others, and they also took dishes of fish from the fishermen."

28. But the meaning which is now given to the name parasite is one which Carystius of Pergamus, in his treatise on the Didascaliæ, says was first invented by Alexis, forgetting that Epicharmus, in his Hope or Plutus, has introduced one in a drinking party, where he says—

But here another stands at this man's feet,

* * * * *

Seeking for food which shall not cost him anything,
And he will drink up an entire cask,
As if it were a cupfull.

And he introduces the parasite himself, making the following speech to some one who questioned him—

I sup with any one who likes, if he
Has only got the good sense to invite me;
And with each man who makes a marriage feast,
Whether I'm asked or not, there I am witty;
There I make others laugh, and there I praise
The host, who gives the feast. And if by chance
Any one dares to say a word against him,
I arm myself for contest, and overwhelm him.
Then eating much and drinking plentifully,
I leave the house. No link-boy doth attend me;
But I do pick my way with stumbling steps,
Both dark and desolate; and if sometimes
I do the watchmen meet, I swear to them
By all the gods that I have done no wrong;
But still they set on me. At last, well beaten,
I reach my home, and go to sleep on the ground,
And for a while forget my blows and bruises,
While the strong wine retains its sway and lulls me.

29. And the parasite of Epicharmus makes a second speech of the same kind. And a parasite of Diphilus speaks thus—

When a rich man who gives a dinner asks me,
I look not at the ceiling or the cornices,
Nor do I criticise Corinthian chasings,
But keep my eyes fixed on the kitchen smoke,
[373] And if it goes up strong and straight to heaven,
I joy and triumph, and I clap my wings;
But it be but thin and moving sidewise,
Then I perceive my feast too will be thin.

But Homer is the first person, as some say, who introduced the character of a parasite, saying of Podes that he was a beloved guest of Hector—

There stood a Trojan, not unknown to fame,
Eetion's son, and Podes was his name,—
With riches honour'd, and with courage blest,
By Hector loved, his comrade and his guest.[373:1]

For the word εἰλαπίνη comes to the same thing as δεῖπνον, on which account he makes him wounded by Menelaus in the belly, as Demetrius the Scepsian says; as also he represents Pandarus as wounded in the tongue, because of his having perjured himself; and it is a Spartan who wounds him, one of a nation very much devoted to temperance.

30. But the ancient poets called parasites flatterers; from whom also Eupolis gave this title to his play, where he represents a chorus of flatterers speaking thus—

But we will tell you now
The mode of life adopted
By the whole flattering band,
And listen ye, and learn
How well-bred we all are.
For first of all a boy,
Another person's slave,
Attends us; and we are
Content with very little.
I have two well-made garments,
And always have one on;
I hie me to the forum,
And when I see a man,
A foolish man but rich,
I make my way to him,
And if he says a word
I praise his wit and laugh,
Delighted at his jests.
And then we go to supper,
My friends and I, pursuing
Each different game so long
As we can save our money.
And then the parasite
Must show his wit and manners,
Or out of doors be turned.
And one there was, Acestor,
[374] A branded slave, if I
Am bound to tell the truth,
And he was treated so.
For not one single joke
Did he ope his lips to utter,
And so the slaves expell'd
And pilloried the knave,
And gave him up to Œneus.

Why you must be a parasite, my friend;
And 'tis Ischomachus who does support you.

And the word is constantly used among the later writers. And the verb παρασιτέω, to be a parasite, occurs in Plato the comic writer, in his Laches. For he says—

See how these youths do play the parasite.

And Alexis says that there are two kinds of parasites, in his Pilot, where we find this passage—

32. And Timocles, in his Dracontius, hits off the parasite very neatly, and describes his character thus—

Shall I then let a man abuse the parasites?
No, surely, for there is no race of men
More useful in such matters. And if company
Be one of the things which makes life pass agreeably,
Surely a parasite does this most constantly.
Are you in love? he, at the shortest notice,
Feels the same passion. Have you any business?
His business is at once the same as yours;
And he's at hand to help you as you wish;
Thinking that only fair to him that feeds him.
'Tis marvellous how he doth praise his friends—
[375] He loves a feast where he is ask'd for nothing.
What man, what hero, or what god exists,
Who does not scorn such habits and such principles?
But that I mayn't detain you all the day,
I think that I can give you one clear proof
In what respect men hold a parasite;
For they receive the same rewards as those
Who at Olympia bear the palm of victory—
They both are fed for nothing for their virtues;
And wheresoe'er there is no contribution,
That place we ought to call the Prytaneum.

For look, the parasite, if you judge aright,
Shares both the life and fortune of his friends.
There is no parasite who'd wish his friends
To be unfortunate; but on the contrary
His constant prayer will be, that all may prosper.
Has any one a fortune? he don't envy him;
He'd rather always be at hand to share it.
He is a genuine friend, and eke a safe one,
Not quarrelsome, ill-humour'd, peevish, sulky,
But skill'd to keep his temper. Do you mock him?
He laughs himself; he's amorous or mirthful,
Just as his friend is i' th' humour. He's a general,
Or valiant soldier, only let his pay
Be a good dinner, and he'll ask no more.

I wish now to inform him
What is my disposition.
If any one gives a dinner,
I'm always to be found,
So that the young men scoffing
Because I come in first
Do call me gravy soup.
Then if there be occasion
To check a drunken guest,
Or turn him out by force,
You'd think I were Antæus;
Or must a door be forced?
I butt like any ram;
Or would you scale a ladder?
I'm Capaneus, and eager
To climb like him to heaven.
Are blows to be endured?
A very anvil I;
Or Telamon or Ajax,
If wounds are to be given;
While as a beauty-hunter
E'en smoke itself can't beat me.[375:1]

For being hungry, and yet eating nothing,
He is a Tithymallus or Philippides;
For water-drinking he's a regular frog;
For eating thyme and cabbages, a snail;
For hating washing he's a pig; for living
Out in the open air, a perfect blackbird;
For standing cold and chattering all the day,
A second grasshopper; in hating oil
He's dust; for walking barefoot in the morning,
A crane; for passing sleepless nights, a bat.

You know my ways;
That there's no pride in me, but I am just
Like this among my friends: a mass of iron
To bear their blows, a thunderbolt to give them;
Lightning to blind a man, the wind to move one;
A very halter, if one needs be choked;
An earthquake to heave doors from off their hinges;
A flea to leap quick in; a fly to come
And feast without a formal invitation;
Not to depart too soon, a perfect well.
I'm ready when I'm wanted, whether it be
To choke a man or kill him, or to prove
A case against him. All that others say,
Those things I am prepared at once to do.
And young men, mocking me on this account,
Do call me whirlwind—but for me, I care not
For such light jests. For to my friends I prove
A friend in deeds, and not in words alone.

But Diphilus in his Parasite, when a wedding-feast is about to take place, represents the parasite as speaking thus—

Do you not know that in the form of curse
These words are found, If any one do fail
To point the right road to a traveller,
To quench a fire; or if any one spoil
The water of a spring or well, or hinders
A guest upon his way when going to supper?

The man who first devised the plan of feasting
At other folk's expense, must sure have been
A gentleman of very popular manners;
But he who ask'd a friend or any stranger
To dinner, and then made him bear his share,
May he be banish'd, and his goods all seized.

36. And Diodorus of Sinope, in his Orphan Heiress, has these expressions, when speaking of a parasite, and they are not devoid of elegance—

[377] I wish to show and prove beyond a doubt
How reputable, and how usual too,
This practice is; a most divine contrivance.
Other arts needed not the gods to teach them;
Wise men invented them; but Jove himself
Did teach his friends to live as parasites,
And he confessedly is king o' the gods.
For he does often to men's houses come,
And cares not whether they be rich or poor;
And wheresoe'er he sees a well-laid couch,
And well-spread table near, supplied with all
That's good or delicate, he sits him down,
And asks himself to dinner, eats and drinks,
And then goes home again, and pays no share.
And I now do the same. For when I see
Couches prepared, and handsome tables loaded,
And the door open to receive the guests,
I enter in at once, and make no noise,
But trim myself, behaving quietly,
To give no great annoyance to my neighbour,
And then, when I have well enjoy'd the whole
That's set before me, and when I have drunk
Of delicate wines enough, I home return,
Like friendly Jupiter. And that such a line
Was always thought respectable and honest,
I now will give you a sufficient proof.
This city honours Hercules exceedingly,
And sacrifices to him in all the boroughs,
And at these sacred rites it ne'er admits
The common men, or parasites, or beggars;
But out of all the citizens it picks
Twelve men of all the noblest families,
All men of property and character;
And then some rich men, imitating Hercules,
Select some parasites, not choosing those
Who are the wittiest men, but who know best
How to conciliate men's hearts with flattery;
So that if any one should eat a radish,
Or stinking shad, they'd take their oaths at once
That he had eaten lilies, roses, violets;
And that if any odious smell should rise,
They'd ask where you did get such lovely scents.
So that because these men behave so basely,
That which was used to be accounted honourable,
Is now accounted base.

When first I wish'd to play the parasite
With that Philoxenus, while youth did still
Raise down upon my cheeks, I learnt to bear
Hard blows from fists, and cups and dishes too,
[378] And bones, so great that oftentimes I was
All over wounds; but still it paid me well,
For still the pleasure did exceed the pain.
And even in some sort I did esteem
The whole affair desirable for me.
Is a man quarrelsome, and eager too
To fight with me? I turn myself to him;
And all the blame which he does heap upon me,
I own to be deserved; and am not hurt.
Does any wicked man call himself good?
I praise that man, and earn his gratitude.
To day if I should eat some boilèd fish
I do not mind eating the rest to-morrow.
Such is my nature and my principle.

But Antidotus, in his play which is entitled Protochorus, introduces a man resembling those who in the Museum of Claudius still practise their sophistries; whom it is not even creditable to remember; and he represents him speaking thus—

Stand each one in your place, and listen to me,
Before I write my name, and take my cloak.
If any question should arise to day
About those men who live as parasites,
I have at all times much esteem'd their art,
And from my childhood have inclined to learn it.

38. And among the parasites these men are commemorated by name: Tithymallus, who is mentioned by Alexis in his Milesian Woman, and in his Ulysses the Weaver. And in his Olynthians he says—

This is your poor man, O my darling woman;
This is the only class, as men do say,
Who can put death to flight. Accordingly
This Tithymallus does immortal live.

Calling him Tithymallus, parasite.

Alas me, how I am in love! ye gods!
Not Tithymallus did so long to eat,
Nor Cormus ever to steal another's cloak,
Nor Nilus to eat cakes, nor Corydus
To exercise his teeth at other's cost.

39. Corydus also was one of the most notorious parasites. And he is mentioned by Timocles, in his The Man who Rejoices at Misfortunes of others, thus—

To see a well-stock'd market is a treat
To a rich man, but torture to a poor one.
Accordingly once Corydus, when he
Had got no invitation for the day,
Went to buy something, to take home with him.
And who can cease to laugh at what befel him?—
The man had only fourpence in his purse;
Gazing on tunnies, eels, crabs, rays, anchovies,
He bit his lips till the blood came in vain;
Then going round, "How much is this?" said he—
Then frighten'd at the price, he bought red herrings.

I fear to look at Corydus in the face,
Seeming so glad to dine with any one;
But I will not deny it; he's the same,
And never yet refused an invitation.

This Corydus who has so often practised
His jokes and witticisms, wishes now
To be Blepæus, and he's not far wrong,
For mighty are the riches of Blepæus.

Beware of Corydus the wary brassfounder;
Unless you make your mind up long before
To leave him nothing. And I warn you now
[380] Never to eat your fish with such a man
As Corydus; for he's a powerful hand,
Brazen, unwearied, strong as fire itself.

But that Corydus used to cut jokes, and was fond of being laughed at for them, the same Alexis tells to in his Poets—

I have a great desire to raise a laugh,
And to say witty things, and gain a fame
Second alone to that of Corydus.

And Lynceus the Samian repeats several of his sayings, and asserts that his proper name was Eucrates. And he writes thus concerning him—"Eucrates, who was called Corydus, when he was once feasting with some one whose house was in a very shabby condition, said, 'A man who sups here ought to hold up the house with his left hand like the Caryatides.'"

40. But Philoxenus, who was surnamed Pternocopis, when it happened to be mentioned that thrushes were very dear, and that too while Corydus was present, who was said formerly to have prostituted himself—"I," said he, "can recollect when a lark (κόρυδος) only cost an obol." (And Philoxenus too was a parasite, as Axionicus has stated in his Chalcidian. But the statement is thoroughly proved.) Menander too mentions him in his Cecryphalus, calling him Pternocopis only. And Machon the comic writer mentions him.—But Machon was either a Corinthian or Sicyonian by birth, living, however, in my own city of Alexandria; and he was the tutor of Aristophanes the grammarian, as far as comedy went. And he died in Alexandria, and an inscription to the following effect is placed upon his tomb—

Bring, O light dust, the conqueror's ivy wreath
To Machon, who shall live beyond the tomb,
Machon the comic poet; for you hold
No dirty drone, but you embrace at last
A worthy relic of antique renown
These words from the old bard himself might flow,
City of Cecrops; even by the Nile
Is found at times a plant to all the Muses dear.

And surely this is equivalent to a statement that he was an Alexandrian by birth. However that may be, Machon mentions Corydus in these terms—

A messmate once ask'd Eucrates (Corydus)
On what terms he and Ptolemy did stand.
I'm sure, said he, I cannot tell myself:
For oft he drenches me like any doctor;
But never gives me solid food to eat.

[381] And Lynceus, in the second book of his treatise on Menander, says the men who got a reputation for saying witty things were Euclides the son of Smicrinus, and Philoxenus called Pternocopis. And of them Euclides did at times say apophthegms not unworthy of being written down and recollected; but in all other matters he was cold and disagreeable. But Philoxenus did not particularly excel in short curt sayings, but still whatever he said, whether in the way of gossip, or of a bitter attack on any of his companions, or of relation of occurrences, was full of pleasant and witty conversation. And yet it happened that Euclides was not very popular, but that Philoxenus was loved and respected by every one.

41. But Alexis, in his Trophonius, mentions a certain Moschion, a parasite, calling him "a messmate of every one," and saying—

Then comes Moschion,
Who bears the name of messmate in the world.

And in his Pancratiast, Alexis, giving a regular catalogue of the dinner hunters, says—

But Epicrates was nicknamed Cyrebion, and he was the son-in-law of Æschines the orator, as Demosthenes tells us in the oration about the False Embassy. And Anaxandrides, in his Ulysses, mentions such epithets as these, which the Athenians used to affix to people out of joke; saying—

For ye are always mocking one another;
I know it well. And if a man be handsome
You call him Holy Marriage . . . .
If a man be a perfect dwarf, a mannikin,
You call him Drop. Is any one a dandy?
He is called Ololus; you know an instance.
Does a man walk about all fat and heavy,
Like Damocles? you call him Gravy Soup.
Does any one love dirt? his name is Dust.
Does any one bedaub his friends with flattery?
[382] They call him Dingey. Does one want a supper?
He is the fasting Cestrinus; and if
One casts one's eye upon a handsome youth,
They dub one Cænus, or The Manager.
Does one in joke convey a lamb away?
They call one Atreus; or a ram? then Phrixus:
Or if you take a fleece, they name you Jason.

42. And he mentions Chærephon the parasite in the passage which precedes this. But Menander mentions him likewise in the Cecryphalus: and in his Anger he says—

The man does not differ the least from Chærephon,
Whoever he may be. He once was ask'd to supper
At four o'clock, and so he early rose,
And measuring the shadow on the dial
By the moon's light, he started off and came
To eat his supper at the break of day.

That witty fellow Chærephon delay'd me,
Saying that he should make a marriage feast
The twenty-second of the month, that then
He might dine with his friends the twenty-fourth,
For that the goddess's affairs were prospering.

And he mentions him also in his Man-woman, or the Cretan. But Timocles in his Letters mentions him especially as having attached himself as a parasite to Demotion, who was an intemperate man—

But Demotion was one who spared for nothing,
Thinking his money never could run dry,
But dinners gave to all who liked to come.
And Chærephon, that wretchedest of men,
Treated his house as though it were his own.
And yet is not this a most shameful thing,
To take a branded slave for a parasite?
For he's a perfect clown, and not in want.

Let us go now to sup, just as we are,
Bearing our torches and our garlands with us;
'Twas thus that Chærephon, when supperless,
Used to manœuvre for an invitation.

Let us start off to go to supper now,
'Tis one of twenty covers as he told me;
Though Chærephon perhaps may add himself.

They say that Chærephon all uninvited
Came to the wedding feast of Ophelas,
[383] Thrusting himself in in unheard-of fashion.
For carrying a basket and a garland
When it was dark, he said that he had come
By order of the bride, bringing some birds,
And on this pretext he did get his supper.

I Mars invoke, and mighty Victory,
To favour this my expedition.
I also call on Chærephon—but then
He's sure to come, e'en if I call him not.

Once Chærephon a lengthen'd journey took
Out of the city to a wedding feast,
And on his way met Diphilus the poet,
Who greeted him—"Take my advice, O Chærephon,
And fasten four stout nails to your two cheeks;
Lest, while you shake your head in your long journey,
You should put both your jaws quite out of joint.

Chærephon once was purchasing some meat,
And when the butcher was by chance, he says,
Cutting him out a joint with too much bone,
He said, O butcher, don't weigh me that bone.
Says he, The meat is sweet, indeed men say
The meat is always sweetest near the bone.
But Chærephon replied, It may be sweet,
But still it weighs much heavier than I like.

And Callimachus attributes to Chærephon a certain treatise, in the list which he gives, entitled, A Catalogue of all sorts of Things. And he writes thus:—"Those who have written about feasts:—Chærephon in his Cyrebion;" and then he quotes the first sentence—"Since you have often written to me;" and says that the work consisted of three hundred and seventy-five lines. And that Cyrebion was a parasite has been already mentioned.

There was a parasite named Archephon,
Who, having sail'd from Attica to Egypt,
Was ask'd by Ptolemy the king to supper.
Then many kinds of fish which cling to rocks
Were served up, genuine crabs, and dainty limpets;
And last of all appear'd a large round dish
With three boil'd tench of mighty size, at which
The guests all marvell'd; and this Archephon
Ate of the char, and mackerel, and mullets,
[384] Till he could eat no longer; when he never
Had tasted anything before more tender
Than sprats and worthless smelts from the Phalerum;
But from the tench he carefully abstain'd.
And this did seem a most amazing thing,
So that the king inquired of Alcenor,
Whether the man had overlook'd the tench.
The hunchback said; No, quite the contrary,
He was the first to see them, Ptolemy,
But still he will not touch them, for this fish
Is one he holds in awe; and he's afraid
And thinks it quite against his country's rules
That he, while bringing nothing to the feast,
Should dare to eat a fish which has a vote.

45. And Alexis in his Wine-Bibber introduces Stratius the parasite as grumbling at the man who gives him his dinner, and speaking thus—

I'd better be a parasite of Pegasus,
Or the Boreadæ, or whoever else
Is faster still, than thus to Demeas
Eteobutades, the son of Laches,
For he is not content to walk, but flies.

And Axionicus the comic poet, in his Etrurian, mentions Gryllion the parasite in these words—

They cannot now make the excuse of wine,
As Gryllion was always used to do.

And Aristodemus, in the second book of his Memoranda of Laughable Things, gives the following list of parasites—Sostratus the parasite of Antiochus the king, Evagoras the Hunchback, parasite of Demetrius Poliorcetes, and Phormio parasite of Seleucus. And Lynceus the Samian, in his Apophthegms, says—"Silanus the Athenian, when Gryllion the parasite of Menander the satrap was passing by in a superb robe, and accompanied by a great number of attendants, being asked who he was, said, "He is a jaw worthy of Menander." But Chærephon the parasite, coming once to a wedding feast [385]without being invited, and sitting down the last of all, when the gynæconomi had counted those who were invited, and desired him to depart as having made the number of guests to exceed the legitimate number of thirty, said, 'Count us over again, and begin with me.'"

46. And that it was a custom for the officers called gynæconomi [385:1] to superintend the banquets, and to examine into the number of those who had been invited, and see whether it was in accordance with the law, we may learn from Timocles in his Litigious Man, where he says—

Open the doors at once, that we may be
More in the light against the gynæconomus
Shall enter and begin to count the guests,
As he is bound to do by this new law,
A marvellous statute. It were better far
That he should ask who are without a dinner.

Knowing that by some new law lately pass'd,
The cooks who minister at marriage feasts
Have given in their names and are enroll'd
In the books of the gynæconomi,
So that they may the number learn of those
Who are invited, lest a man should feast
More than the legal number.

And Philochorus, in the seventh book of his history of the Affairs of Attica, says—The gynæconomi used, in conjunction with the judges of the Areopagus, to examine the parties in private houses, and at marriage feasts, and at all other festivals and sacrifices.

47. And Lynceus records the following sayings of Corydus:—"Once when a courtesan whose name was Gnome was supping with Corydus, the wine ran short, on which he desired every one to contribute two obols; and said that Gnome should contribute whatever the people thought fit. And once when Polyctor the harp-player was eating lentil porridge, and had got a stone between his teeth, 'O you unhappy man!' said Corydus, 'even a lentil strikes you.'" [386]And perhaps he is the same person whom Machon mentions; for he says—

It seems that once a wretched harp-player,
Being about to build himself a house,
Begg'd of a friend to lend him a few stones;
And many more will I repay, he said,
When I've display'd my art to all the people.

And once, when somebody said to Corydus that he sometimes kissed the neck, and the breasts, and even the navel (ὀμφαλὸς) of his wife, "That is very wrong," said he; "for even Hercules went from Omphale to Hebe." And when Phyromachus dipped a piece of bread into some lentil porridge, and upset the dish, he said that it was right that he should be fined, because he did not know how to eat properly, though he professed to. And once, at Ptolemy's table, when a ragout was carried round to the guests, but was finished before it came to him—"O Ptolemy," said he, "am I drunk, or am I right in thinking that these dishes are carried round?" And when Chærephon the parasite said that he was unable to stand much wine, he rejoined, "No, nor stand what is put into the wine either." And once, when at some entertainment Chærephon rose up from supper quite naked—"O Chærephon," said he, "you are just like a bottle, so that we can see how nearly full you are." And when Demosthenes received that goblet from Harpalus—"This man," said he, "who calls other men hard drinkers, has himself swallowed a large cup." And, as he was in the habit of bringing dirty loaves to supper, once, when somebody else brought some which were blacker still, he said, "that he had not brought loaves, but the shades of loaves."

48. And Philoxenus the parasite, who was surnamed Pternocopis, once was dining with Python, and olives (ἐλάαι) were put on the table, and after a little while a dish of fish was brought; and he, striking the dish, said—

Μάστιξεν δ' ἐλαᾷν.

And once, at supper, when the man who had invited him had set loaves of black bread before him, he said; "Do not give me too many, lest you should darken the room." And Pausimachus said of a certain parasite who was maintained by an old woman, "That the man who lived with the old woman fared in exactly the contrary manner to the old woman [387]herself; for that he was always large." And he is the man of whom Machon writes in this manner:—

They say that Moschion the water drinker
Once, when he was with friends in the Lyceum,
Seeing a parasite who was used to live
Upon a rich old woman, said to him,
"My friend, your fate is truly marvellous;
For your old dame does give you a big belly."

And the same man, hearing of a parasite who was maintained by an old woman, and who lived in habits of daily intimacy with her, said—

Nothing is strange henceforth, she brings forth nothing,
But the man daily doth become big-bellied.

And Ptolemy, the son of Agesarchus, a native of Megalopolis, in the second book of his history of Philopator, says that men to dine with the king were collected from every city, and that they were called jesters.

49. And Posidonius of Apamea, in the twenty-third book of his histories, says, "The Celtæ, even when they make war, take about with them companions to dine with them, whom they call parasites. And these men celebrate their praises before large companies assembled together, and also to private individuals who are willing to listen to them: they have also a description of people called Bards, who make them music; and these are poets, who recite their praises with songs. And in his thirty-fourth book, the same writer speaks of a man whose name was Apollonius, as having been the parasite of Antiochus surnamed Grypus, king of Syria. And Aristodemus relates that Bithys, the parasite of king Lysimachus, once, when Lysimachus threw a wooden figure of a scorpion on his cloak, leaped up in a great fright; but presently, when he perceived the truth, he said, "I, too, will frighten you, O king!—give me a talent." For Lysimachus was very stingy. And Agatharchides the Cnidian, in the twenty-second book of his history of Europe, says that Anthemocritus the pancratiast was the parasite of Aristomachus, the tyrant of the Argives.

50. And Timocles has spoken in general terms of parasites in his Boxer, when he calls them ἐπισίτιοι in these words—

You will find here some of the parasites (ἐπισίτιοι)
Who eat at other men's tables till they burst,
That you might say they give themselves to athletes
To act as quintain sacks.

For those men are properly called ἐπισίτιοι who do any service for their keep. Plato says, in the fourth book of his treatise on Politics, "And the ἐπισίτιοι do these things, who do not, as others do, receive any wages in addition to their food." And Aristophanes says, in his Storks—

For if you prosecute one wicked man,
Twelve ἐπισίτιοι will come against you,
And so defeat you by their evidence.

He wishes to remain an ἐπισίτιος
Among them, and will never ask for wages.

51. And Diphilus, in his Synoris (and Synoris is the name of a courtesan), mentioning Euripides (and Euripides is the name given to a particular throw on the dice), and punning on the name of the poet, says this at the same time about parasites:—

And in the amended edition of the same play, speaking of a parasite in a passion, he says—

Is then the parasite angry? is he furious?
Not he; he only smears with gall the table,
And weans himself like any child from milk.

A surly man should never be a parasite.

52. And Menander, in his Passion, speaking of a friend who had refused an invitation to a marriage feast, says—

This is to be a real friend: not one
Who asks, What time is dinner? as the rest do.
And, Why should we not all at once sit down?
And fishes for another invitation
To-morrow and next day, and then again
Asks if there's not a funeral feast to follow.

And Alexis in his Orestes, Nicostratus in his Plutus, Menander in his Drunkenness, and in his Lawgiver, speak in the same way; and Philonides, in his Buskins, says—

I being abstinent cannot endure
Such things as these.

But there are many other kindred nouns to the noun παράσιτος: there is ἐπίσιτος, which has already been mentioned; and οἰκόσιτος, and σιτόκουρος, and αὐτόσιτος; and besides these, there is κακόσιτος and ὀλιγόσιτος: and Anaxandrides uses the word οἰκόσιτος in his Huntsmen—

A son who feeds at home (οἰκόσιτος) is a great comfort.

And a man is called οἰκόσιτος who serves the city, not for hire, but gratis. Antiphanes, in his Scythian, says—

The οἰκόσιτος quickly doth become
A regular attendant at th' assembly.

We found a bridegroom willing to keep house (οἰκόσιτος)
At his own charges, for no dowry seeking.

You do not get your hearers there for nothing (οἰκοσίτους).

He feeds his messmate (ἐπισίτιον) while he shivers thus
In Megabyzus' house, and he will have
Food for his wages.

And he also uses the word in a peculiar sense in his Women dining together, where he says—

It is a well-bred custom not to assemble
A crowd of women, nor to feast a multitude;
But to make a domestic (οἰκοσίτους) wedding feast.

[390] And the word σιτόκουρος is used by Alexis, in his Woman sitting up all Night or the Weavers—

You will be but a walking bread-devourer (σιτόκουρος)

And Menander calls a man who is useless, and who lives to no purpose, σιτόκουρος, in his Thrasyleon, saying—

A lazy ever-procrastinating fellow,
A σιτόκουρος, miserable, useless,
Owning himself a burden on the earth.

Wretch, you were standing at the door the while,
Having laid down your burden; while, for us,
We took the wretched σιτόκουρος in.

And Crobylus used the word αὐτόσιτος (bringing one's own provisions), in The Man hanged—

A parasite αὐτόσιτος, feeding himself,
You do contribute much to aid your master.

And Eubulus has the word κακόσιτος (eating badly, having no appetite), in his Ganymede—

Sleep nourishes him since he's no appetite (κακόσιτος).

And the word ὀλιγόσιτος (a sparing eater) occurs in Phrynichus, in his The solitary Man—

What does that sparing eater (ὀλιγόσιτος) Hercules there?

How sparingly you eat, who in one day
Swallow the food of an entire trireme.

53. When Plutarch had said all this about parasites, Democritus, taking up the discourse, said, And I myself, 'like wood well-glued to wood,' as the Theban poet has it, will say a word about flatterers.

For of all men the flatterer fares best,

as the excellent Menander says. And there is no great difference between calling a man a flatterer and a parasite. Accordingly, Lynceus the Samian, in his Commentaries, gives the name of parasite to Cleisophus, the man who is universally described as the flatterer of Philip, the king of the Macedonians (but he was an Athenian by birth, as Satyrus the Peripatetic affirms, in his Life of Philip). And Lynceus says—"Cleisophus, the parasite of Philip, when Philip rebuked him for being continually asking for something, replied, 'I am very forgetful.' Afterwards, when Philip had given him a wounded horse, he sold him; and when, after a time, the king [391]asked him what had become of him, he answered, 'He was sold by that wound of his.' And when Philip laughed at him, and took it good-humouredly, he said, 'Is it not then worth my while to keep you?'" And Hegesander the Delphian, in his Commentaries, makes this mention of Cleisophus:—"When Philip the king said that writings had been brought to him from Cotys, king of Thrace, Cleisophus, who was present, said, 'It is well, by the gods.' And when Philip said, 'But what do you know of the subjects mentioned in these writings?' he said, 'By the great Jupiter, you have reproved me with admirable judgment.'"

54. But Satyrus, in his Life of Philip, says, "When Philip lost his eye, Cleisophus came forth with him, with bandages on the same eye as the king; and again, when his leg was hurt, he came out limping, along with the king. And if ever Philip ate any harsh or sour food, he would contract his features, as if he, too, had the same taste in his mouth. But in the country of the Arabs they used to do these things, not out of flattery, but in obedience to some law; so that whenever the king had anything the matter with any one of his limbs, the courtiers pretended to be suffering the same inconvenience: for they think it ridiculous to be willing to be buried with him when he dies, but not to pay him the compliment of appearing to be subject to the same sufferings as he is while alive, if he sustains any injury." But Nicolaus of Damascus,—and he was one of the Peripatetic school,—in his very voluminous history (for it consisted of a hundred and forty-four books), in the hundred and eleventh book says, that Adiatomus the king of the Sotiani (and that is a Celtic tribe) had six hundred picked men about him, who were called by the Gauls, in their national language, Siloduri—which word means in Greek, Bound under a vow. "And the king has them as companions, to live with him and to die with him; as that is the vow which they all take. In return for which, they also share his power, and wear the same dress, and eat the same food; and they die when he dies, as a matter of absolute necessity, if the king dies of any disease; or if he dies in war, or in any other manner. And no one can even say that any of them has shown any fear of death, or has in the least sought to evade it when the king is dead."

55. But Theopompus says, in the forty-fourth book of his [392]Histories, that Philip appointed Thrasydæus the Thessalian tyrant over all those of his nation, though a man who had but little intellect, but who was an egregious flatterer. But Arcadion the Achæan was not a flatterer, who is mentioned by the same Theopompus, and also by Duris in the fifth book of his History of Macedonian Affairs. Now this Arcadion hated Philip, and on account of this hatred voluntarily banished himself from his country. And he was a man of the most admirable natural abilities, and numbers of clever sayings of his are related. It happened then once, when Philip was sojourning at Delphi, that Arcadion also was there; and the Macedonian beheld him and called him to him, and said, How much further, O Arcadion, do you mean to go by way of banishment? And he replied—

Until I meet with men who know not Philip.

But Phylarchus, in the twenty-first book of his History, says that Philip laughed at this, and invited Arcadion to supper, and that in that way he got rid of his enmity. But of Nicesias the flatterer of Alexander, Hegesander gives the following account:—"When Alexander complained of being bitten by the flies and was eagerly brushing them off, a man of the name of Nicesias, one of his flatterers who happened to be present, said,—Beyond all doubt those flies will be far superior to all other flies, now that they have tasted your blood." And the same man says that Cheirisophus also, the flatterer of Dionysius, when he saw Dionysius laughing with some of his acquaintances, (but he was some way off himself, so that he could not hear what they were laughing at,) laughed also. And when Dionysius asked him on what account he, who could not possibly hear what was said, laughed, said—I feel that confidence in you that I am quite sure that what has been said is worth laughing at.

56. His son also, the second Dionysius, had numerous flatterers, who were called by the common people Dionysiocolaces. And they, because Dionysius himself was not very sharp sighted, used to pretend while at supper not to be able to see very far, but they would touch whatever was near them as if they could not see it, until Dionysius himself guided their hands to the dishes. And when Dionysius spat, they would often put out their own faces for him to spit upon: and then [393]licking off the spittle and even his vomit, they declared that it was sweeter than honey. And Timæus, in the twenty-second book of his Histories, says that Democles the flatterer of the younger Dionysius, as it was customary in Sicily to make a sacrifice from house to house in honour of the nymphs, and for men to spend the night around their statues when quite drunk, and to dance around the goddesses—Democles neglecting the nymphs, and saying that there was no use in attending to lifeless deities, went and danced before Dionysius. And at a subsequent time being once sent on an embassy with some colleagues to Dion, when they were all proceeding in a trireme, he being accused by the rest of behaving in a seditious manner in respect of this journey, and of having injured the general interests of Dionysius, when Dionysius was very indignant, he said that differences had arisen between himself and his colleagues, because after supper they took a pæan of Phrynichus or Stesichorus, and some of them took one of Pindar's and sang it; but he, with those who agreed with him, went entirely through the hymns which had been composed by Dionysius himself. And he undertook to bring forward undeniable proof of this assertion. For that his accusers were not acquainted with the modulation of those songs, but that he on the contrary was ready to sing them all through one after the other. And so, when Dionysius was pacified, Democles continued, and said, "But you would do me a great favour, O Dionysius, if you were to order any one of those who knows it to teach me the pæan which you composed in honour of Æsculapius; for I hear that you have taken great pains with that."

And once, when some friends were invited to supper by Dionysius, Dionysius coming into the room, said, "O, my friends, letters have been sent to us from the generals who have been despatched to Naples;" and Democles interrupting him, said, "By the gods, they have done well, O Dionysius." And he, looking upon him, said, "But how do you know whether what they have written is in accordance with my expectation or the contrary?" And Democles replied, "By the gods, you have properly rebuked me, O Dionysius." Timæus also affirms that there was a man named Satyrus, who was a flatterer of both the Dionysii.

57. And Hegesander relates that Hiero the tyrant was [394]also rather weak in his eyes; and that his friends who supped with him made mistakes in the dishes on purpose, in order to let him set them right, and to give him an opportunity of appearing clearer-sighted than the rest. And Hegesander says that Euclides, who was surnamed Seutlus, (and he too was a parasite,) once when a great quantity of sow-thistles (σόγκος) was set before him at a banquet, said, "Capaneus, who is introduced by Euripides in his Suppliant Women, was a very witty man—

Detesting tables where there was too much pride (ὄγκος).

But those who were the leaders of the people at Athens, says he, in the Chremonidean war, flattered the Athenians, and said, "that everything else was common to all the Greeks; but that the Athenians were the only men who knew the road which leads to heaven." And Satyrus, in his Lives, says that Anaxarchus, the Eudæmonical philosopher, was one of the flatterers of Alexander; and that he once, when on a journey in company with the king, when a violent and terrible thunderstorm took place, so as to frighten everybody, said—"Was it you, O Alexander, son of Jupiter, who caused this?" And that he laughed and said—"Not I; for I do not wish to be formidable, as you make me out; you also desire me to have brought to me at supper the heads of satraps and kings." And Aristobulus of Cassandria says that Dioxippus the Athenian, a pancratiast, once when Alexander was wounded and when the blood flowed, said—

'Tis ichor, such as flows from the blessed gods.

58. And Epicrates the Athenian, having gone on an embassy to the king, according to the statement of Hegesander, and having received many presents from him, was not ashamed to flatter the king openly and boldly, so as even to say that the best way was not to choose nine archons every year, but nine ambassadors to the king. But I wonder at the Athenians, how they allowed him to make such a speech without bringing him to trial, and yet fined Demades ten talents, because he thought Alexander a god; and they put Evagoras to death, because when he went as ambassador to the king he adored him. And Timon the Phliasian, in the third book of his Silli, says that Ariston the Chian, an acquaintance and pupil of Zeno the Citiean, was a flatterer [395]of Persæus the philosopher, because he was a companion of Antigonus the king. But Phylarchus, in the sixth book of his Histories, says that Nicesias the flatterer of Alexander, when he saw the king in convulsions from some medicine which he had taken, said—"O king, what must we do, when even you gods suffer in this manner?" and that Alexander, scarcely looking up, said—"What sort of gods? I am afraid rather we are hated by the gods." And in his twenty-eighth book the same Phylarchus says that Apollophanes was a flatterer of Antigonus who was surnamed Epitropus, who took Lacedæmon, and who used to say that the fortune of Antigonus Alexandrized.

59. But Euphantus, in the fourth book of his Histories, says that Callicrates was a flatterer of Ptolemy, the third king of Egypt, who was so subtle a flatterer that he not only bore an image of Ulysses on his seal, but that he also gave his children the names of Telegonus, and Anticlea. And Polybius, in the thirteenth book of his Histories, says that Heraclides the Tarentine was a flatterer of the Philip whose power was destroyed by the Romans; and that it was he who overturned his whole kingdom. And in his fourteenth book, he says that Philo was a flatterer of Agathocles the son of Œnanthe, and the companion of the king Ptolemy Philopator. And Baton of Sinope relates, in his book about the tyranny of Hieronymus, that Thraso, who was surnamed Carcharus, was the flatterer of Hieronymus the tyrant of Syracuse, saying that he every day used to drink a great quantity of unmixed wine. But another flatterer, by name Osis, caused Thraso to be put to death by Hieronymus; and he persuaded Hieronymus himself to assume the diadem, and the purple and all the rest of the royal apparel, which Dionysius the tyrant was accustomed to wear. And Agatharchides, in the thirtieth book of his Histories, says—"Hæresippus the Spartan was a man of no moderate iniquity, not even putting on any appearance of goodness; but having very persuasive flattering language, and being a very clever man at paying court to the rich as long as their fortune lasted. Such also was Heraclides the Maronite, the flatterer of Seuthes the king of the Thracians, who is mentioned by Xenophon in the seventh book of the Anabasis.

60. But Theopompus, in the eighteenth book of his Histories, speaking of Nicostratus the Argive, and saying [396]how he flattered the Persian king, writes as follows—"But how can we think Nicostratus the Argive anything but a wicked man? who, when he was president of the city of Argos, and when he had received all the distinctions of family, and riches, and large estates from his ancestors, surpassed all men in his flatteries and attentions to the king, outrunning not only those who bore a part in that expedition, but even all who had lived before; for in the first place, he was so anxious for honours from the barbarian, that, wishing to please him more and to be more trusted by him, he brought his son to the king, a thing which no one else will ever be found to have done. And then, every day when he was about to go to supper he had a table set apart, to which he gave the name of the Table of the King's Deity, loading it with meat and all other requisites; hearing that those who live at the doors of the royal palace among the Persians do the same thing, and thinking that by this courtier-like attention he should get more from the king. For he was exceedingly covetous, and not scrupulous as to the means he employed for getting money, so that indeed no one was ever less so. And Lysimachus was a flatterer and the tutor of Attalus the king, a man whom Callimachus sets down as a Theodorean, but Hermippus sets him down in the list of the disciples of Theophrastus. And this man wrote books also about the education of Attalus, full of every kind of adulation imaginable. But Polybius, in the eighth book of his Histories, says, "Cavarus the Gaul, who was in other respects a good man, was depraved by Sostratus the flatterer, who was a Chalcedonian by birth."

61. Nicolaus, in the hundred and fourteenth book of his Histories, says that Andromachus of Carrhæ was a flatterer of Licinius Crassus, who commanded the expedition against the Parthians; and that Crassus communicated all his designs to him, and was, in consequence, betrayed to the Parthians by him, and so destroyed. But Andromachus was not allowed by the deity to escape unpunished. For having obtained, as the reward of his conduct, the sovereignty over his native place Carrhæ, he behaved with such cruelty and violence that he was burnt with his whole family by the Carrhans. And Posidonius the Apamean, who was afterwards surnamed Rhodius, in the fourth book of his Histories, says that Hierax of Antioch, who used formerly to accompany the [397]singers called Lysiodi on the flute, afterwards became a terrible flatterer of Ptolemy, seventh king of Egypt of that name, who was also surnamed Euergetes; and that he had the very greatest influence over him, as also he had with Ptolemy Philometor, though he was afterwards put to death by him. And Nicolaus the Peripatetic states that Sosipater was a flatterer of Mithridates, a man who was by trade a conjurer. And Theopompus, in the ninth book of his History of Grecian Affairs, says that Athenæus the Eretrian was a flatterer and servant of Sisyphus the tyrant of Pharsalus.

62. The whole populace of the Athenians, too, was very notorious for the height to which it pushed its flattery; accordingly, Demochares the cousin of Demosthenes the orator, in the twentieth book of his Histories, speaking of the flattery practised by the Athenians towards Demetrius Poliorcetes, and saying that he himself did not at all like it, writes as follows—"And some of these things annoyed him greatly, as they well might. And, indeed, other parts of their conduct were utterly mean and disgraceful. They consecrated temples to Leæna Venus and Lamia Venus, and they erected altars and shrines as if to heroes, and instituted libations in honour of Burichus, and Adeimantus, and Oxythemis, his flatterers. And poems were sung in honour of all these people, so that even Demetrius himself was astonished at what they did, and said that in his time there was not one Athenian of a great or vigorous mind." The Thebans also flattered Demetrius, as Polemo relates in the treatise on the Ornamented Portico at Sicyon; and they, too, erected a temple to Lamia Venus. But she was one of Demetrius's mistresses, as also was Leæna. So that why should we wonder at the Athenians, who stooped even to become flatterers of flatterers, singing pæans and hymns to Demetrius himself?

Accordingly Demochares, in the twenty-first book of his Histories, says—"And the Athenians received Demetrius when he came from Leucadia and Corcyra to Athens, not only with frankincense, and crowns, and libations of wine, but they even went out to meet him with hymns, and choruses, and ithyphalli, and dancing and singing, and they stood in front of him in multitudes, dancing and singing, and saying that he was the only true god, and that all the rest of the gods were either asleep, or gone away to a distance, or were no gods at [398]all. And they called him the son of Neptune and Venus, for he was eminent for beauty, and affable to all men with a natural courtesy and gentleness of manner. And they fell at his feet and addressed supplications and prayers to him."

63. Demochares, then, has said all this about the adulatory spirit and conduct of the Athenians. And Duris the Samian, in the twenty-second book of his Histories, has given the very ithyphallic hymn which they addressed to him—

Behold the greatest of the gods and dearest
Are come to this city,
For here Demeter [398:1] and Demetrius are
Present in season.
She indeed comes to duly celebrate
The sacred mysteries
Of her most holy daughter—he is present
Joyful and beautiful,
As a god ought to be, with smiling face
Showering his blessings round.
How noble doth he look! his friends around,
Himself the centre.
His friends resemble the bright lesser stars,
Himself is Phœbus.
Hail, ever-mighty Neptune's mightier son;
Hail, son of Venus.
For other gods do at a distance keep,
Or have no ears,
Or no existence; and they heed not us—
But you are present,
Not made of wood or stone, a genuine god.
We pray to thee.
First of all give us peace, O dearest god—
For you are lord of peace—
And crush for us yourself, for you've the power,
This odious Sphinx;
Which now destroys not Thebes alone, but Greece—
The whole of Greece—
I mean th' Ætolian, who, like her of old,
Sits on a rock,
And tears and crushes all our wretched bodies.
Nor can we him resist.
For all th' Ætolians plunder all their neighbours;
And now they stretch afar
Their lion hands; but crush them, mighty lord,
Or send some Œdipus
Who shall this Sphinx hurl down from off his precipice,
Or starve him justly.

[399] 64. This is what was sung by the nation which once fought at Marathon, and they sang it not only in public, but in their private houses—men who had once put a man to death for offering adoration to the king of Persia, and who had slain countless myriads of barbarians. Therefore, Alexis, in his Apothecary or Cratevas, introduces a person pledging one of the guests in a cup of wine, and represents him as saying—

Boy, give a larger cup, and pour therein
Four cyathi of strong and friendly drink,
In honour of all present. Then you shall add
Three more for love; one for the victory,
The glorious victory of King Antigonus,
Another for the young Demetrius.

* * * * *

Bring a third cup in honour now of Venus,
The lovely Venus. Hail, my friends and guests;
I drink this cup to the success of all of you.

65. Such were the Athenians at that time, after flattery, that worst of wild beasts, had inspired their city with frenzy, that city which once the Pythia entitled the Hearth of Greece, and which Theopompus, who hated them, called the Prytaneum of Greece; he who said in other places that Athens was full of drunken flatterers, and sailors, and pickpockets, and also of false witnesses, sycophants, and false accusers. And it is my opinion that it was they who introduced all the flattery which we have been speaking of, like a storm, or other infliction, sent on men by the gods; concerning which Diogenes said, very elegantly—"That it was much better to go ἐς κόρακας than ἐς κόλακας, who eat up all the good men while they are still alive;" and, accordingly, Anaxilas says, in his Young Woman—

The flatterers are worms which prey upon
All who have money; for they make an entrance
Into the heart of a good guileless man,
And take their seat there, and devour it,
Till they have drain'd it like the husk of wheat,
And leave the shell; and then attack some other.

And Plato says, in his Phædrus—"Nature has mingled some pleasure which is not entirely inelegant in its character of a flatterer, though he is an odious beast, and a great injury to a state." And Theophrastus, in his treatise on Flattery, [400]says that Myrtis the priest, the Argive, taking by the ear Cleonymus (who was a dancer and also a flatterer, and who often used to come and sit by him and his fellow-judges, and who was anxious to be seen in company with those who were thought of consideration in the city), and dragging him out of the assembly, said to him in the hearing of many people, You shall not dance here, and you shall not hear us. And Diphilus, in his Marriage, says—

A flatterer destroys
By his pernicious speeches
Both general and prince,
Both private friends and states;
He pleases for a while,
But causes lasting ruin.
And now this evil habit
Has spread among the people,
Our courts are all diseased,
And all is done by favour.

So that the Thessalians did well who razed the city which was called Colaceia (Flattery), which the Melians used to inhabit, as Theopompus relates in the thirtieth book of his History.

66. But Phylarchus says, that those Athenians who settled in Lemnos were great flatterers, mentioning them as such in the thirteenth book of his History. For that they, wishing to display their gratitude to the descendants of Seleucus and Antiochus, because Seleucus not only delivered them when they were severely oppressed by Lysimachus, but also restored both their cities to them,—they, I say, the Athenians in Lemnos, not only erected temples to Seleucus, but also to his son Antiochus; and they have given to the cup, which at their feasts is offered at the end of the banquet, the name of the cup of Seleucus the Saviour.

Now some people, perverting the proper name, call this flattery ἀρέσκεια, complaisance; as Anaxandrides does in his Samian, where he says—

For flattery is now complaisance call'd.

But those who devote themselves to flattery are not aware that that art is one which flourishes only a short time. Accordingly, Alexis says in his Liar—

A flatterer's life but a brief space endures,
For no one likes a hoary parasite.

[401] And Clearchus the Solensian, in the first book of his Amatory treatises, says—"No flatterer is constant in his friendship. For time destroys the falsehood of his pretences, and a lover is only a flatterer and a pretended friend on account of youth or beauty." One of the flatterers of Demetrius the king was Adeimantus of Lampsacus, who having built a temple in Thriæ, and placed statues in it, called it the temple of Phila Venus, and called the place itself Philæum, from Phila the mother of Demetrius; as we are told by Dionysius the son of Tryphon, in the tenth book of his treatise on Names.

67. But Clearchus the Solensian, in his book which is inscribed Gergithius, tells us whence the origin of the name flatterer is derived; and mentioning Gergithius himself, from whom the treatise has its name, he says that he was one of Alexander's flatterers; and he tells the story thus—"That flattery debases the characters of the flatterers, making them apt to despise whoever they associate with; and a proof of this is, that they endure everything, well knowing what they dare do. And those who are flattered by them, being puffed up by their adulation, they make foolish and empty-headed, and cause them to believe that they, and everything belonging to them, are of a higher order than other people." And then proceeding to mention a certain young man, a Paphian by birth, but a king by the caprice of fortune, he says—"This young man (and he does not mention his name) used out of his preposterous luxury to lie on a couch with silver feet, with a smooth Sardian carpet spread under it of the most expensive description. And over him was thrown a piece of purple cloth, edged with a scarlet fringe; and he had three pillows under his head made of the finest linen, and of purple colour, by which he kept himself cool. And under his feet he had two pillows of the kind called Dorian, of a bright crimson colour; and on all this he lay himself, clad in a white robe.

68. "And all the monarchs who have at any time reigned in Cyprus have encouraged a race of nobly-born flatterers as useful to them; for they are a possession very appropriate to tyrants. And no one ever knows them (any more than they do the judges of the Areopagus), either how many they are, or who they are, except that perhaps some of the most [402]eminent may be known or suspected. And the flatterers at Salamis are divided into two classes with reference to their families; and it is from the flatterers in Salamis that all the rest of the flatterers in the other parts of Cyprus are derived; and one of these two classes is called the Gergini, and the other the Promalanges. Of which, the Gergini mingle with the people in the city, and go about as eavesdroppers and spies in the workshops and the market-places; and whatever they hear, they report every day to those who are called their Principals. But the Promalanges, being a sort of superior investigators, inquire more particularly into all that is reported by the Gergini which appears worthy of being investigated; and the way in which they conduct themselves towards every one is so artificial and gentle, that, as it seems to me, and as they themselves allege, the very seed of notable flatterers has been spread by them over all the places at a distance. Nor do they pride themselves slightly on their skill, because they are greatly honoured by the kings; but they say that one of the Gergini, being a descendant of those Trojans whom Teucer took as slaves, having selected them from the captives, and then brought and settled in Cyprus, going along the sea-coast with a few companions, sailed towards Æolis, in order to seek out and re-establish the country of his ancestors; and that he, taking some Mysians to himself, inhabited a city near the Trojan Ida, which was formerly called Gergina, from the name of the inhabitants, but is now called Gergitha. For some of the party being, as it seems, separated from this expedition, stopped in Cymæa, being by birth a Cretan race, and not from the Thessalian Tricca, as some have affirmed,—men whose ignorance I take to be beyond the skill of all the descendants of Æsculapius to cure.

69. "There were also in this country, in the time of Glutus the Carian, women attaching themselves to the Queens, who were called flatterers; and a few of them who were left crossed the sea, and were sent for to the wives of Artabazus and Mentor, and instead of κολακίδες were called κλιμακίδες from this circumstance. By way of making themselves agreeable to those who had sent for them, they made a ladder (κλίμακια) of themselves, in such a manner that there was a way of ascending over their backs, and also a way of descending, for their mistresses when they drove out in chariots: to such a [403]pitch of luxury, not to say of miserable helplessness, did they bring those silly women by their contrivance. Therefore, they themselves, when they were compelled by fortune to quit that very luxurious way of living, lived with great hardship in their old age. And the others who had received these habits from us, when they were deprived of their authority came to Macedonia; and the customs which they taught to the wives and princesses of the great men in that country by their association with them, it is not decent even to mention further than this, that practising magic arts themselves, and being the objects of them when practised by others, they did not spare even the places of the greatest resort, but they became complete vagabonds, and the very scum of the streets, polluted with all sorts of abominations. Such and so great are the evils which seem to be engendered by flattery in the case of all people who admit from their own inclination and predisposition to be flattered."

70. And a little further Clearchus goes on as follows:—"But still a man may have a right to find fault with that young man for the way in which he used those things, as I have said before. For his slaves stood in short tunics a little behind the couch: and as there are now three men on whose account all this discussion has been originated, and as all these men are men who have separate names among us, the one sat on the couch close to his feet, letting the feet of the young man rest upon his knees, and covering them with a thin cloth; and what he did further is plain enough, even if I do not mention it. And this servant is called by the natives Parabystus, because he works his way into the company of those men even who do not willingly receive him, by the very skilful character of his flatteries. The second was one sitting on a certain chair which was placed close to the couch; and he, holding by the hand of the young man, as he let it almost drop, and clinging to it, kept on rubbing it, and taking each of his fingers in turn he rubbed it and stretched it, so that the man appeared to have said a very witty thing who first gave that officer the name of Sicya.[403:1] The third, however, was the most noble of all, and was called Theer (or the wild beast), who was indeed the principal person of the whole body, and who stood at his master's head, and shared [404]his linen pillows, lying upon them in a most friendly manner. And with his left hand he kept smoothing the hair of the young man, and with his right hand he kept moving up and down a Phocæan fan, so as to please him while waving it, without force enough to brush anything away. On which account, it appears to me, that some high-born god must have been angry with him and have sent a fly to attack the young man, a fly like that with whose audacity Homer says that Minerva inspired Menelaus, so vigorous and fearless was it in disposition.

"So when the young man was stung, this man uttered such a loud scream in his behalf, and was so indignant, that on account of his hatred to one fly he banished the whole tribe of flies from his house: from which it is quite plain that he appointed this servant for this especial purpose."

71. But Leucon, the tyrant of Pontus, was a different kind of man, who when he knew that many of his friends had been plundered by one of the flatterers whom he had about him, perceiving that the man was calumniating some one of his remaining friends, said, "I swear by the gods that I would kill you if a tyrannical government did not stand in need of bad men." And Antiphanes the comic writer, in his Soldier, gives a similar account of the luxury of the kings in Cyprus. And he represents one of them as asking a soldier these questions—

72. The flatterer (κόλαξ) of that young man whom we have been speaking of must have been a μαλακοκόλαξ, (a soft flatterer,) as Clearchus says. For besides flattering such a man as that, he invents a regular gait and dress harmonizing with that of those who receive the flattery, folding his arms and wrapping himself up in a small cloak; on which account some men call him Paranconistes, and some call him a Repository of Attitudes. For really a flatterer does seem to be the very same person with Proteus himself. Accordingly he changes into nearly every sort of person, not only in form, but also in his discourse, so very varied in voice he is.

But Androcydes the physician said that flattery had its name (κολάκεια) from becoming glued (ἀπὸ τοῦ προσκολλᾶσθαι) to men's acquaintance. But it appears to me that they were named from their facility; because a flatterer will undergo anything, like a person who stoops down to carry another on his back, by reason of his natural disposition, not being annoyed at anything, however disgraceful it may be.

And a man will not be much out who calls the life of that young Cyprian a wet one. And Alexis says that there were many tutors and teachers of that kind of life at Athens, speaking thus in his Pyraunus—

I wish'd to try another style of life,
Which all men are accustom'd to call wet.
So walking three days in the Ceramicus,
I found it may be thirty skilful teachers
Of the aforesaid life, from one single school.

The wetness of your life amazes me,
For men do call intemperance now wetness.

73. And Antiphanes, in his Lemnian Women, lays it down that flattery is a kind of art, where he says—

Is there, or can there be an art more pleasing,
Or any source of gain more sure and gainful
Than well-judged flattery? Why does the painter
Take so much pains and get so out of temper?
Why does the farmer undergo such risks?
Indeed all men are full of care and trouble.
But life for us is full of fun and laughter.
[406] For where the greatest business is amusement,
To laugh and joke and drink full cups of wine,
Is not that pleasant? How can one deny?
'Tis the next thing to being rich oneself.

But Menander, in his play called the Flatterer, has given us the character of one as carefully and faithfully as it was possible to manage it: as also Diphilus has of a parasite in his Telesias. And Alexis, in his Liar, has introduced a flatterer speaking in the following manner—

By the Olympian Jove and by Minerva
I am a happy man. And not alone
Because I'm going to a wedding dinner,
But because I shall burst, an it please God.
And would that I might meet with such a death.

And it seems to me, my friends, that that fine epicure would not have scrupled to quote from the Omphale of Ion the tragedian, and to say—

For I must speak of a yearly feast
As if it came round every day.

74. But Hippias the Erythræan, in the second book of his Histories of his own Country, relating how the kingdom of Cnopus was subverted by the conduct of his flatterers, says this—"When Cnopus consulted the oracle about his safety, the god, in his answer, enjoined him to sacrifice to the crafty Mercury. And when, after that, he went to Delphi, they who were anxious to put an end to his kingly power in order to establish an oligarchy instead of it, (and those who wished this were Ortyges, and Irus, and Echarus, who, because they were most conspicuous in paying court to the princes, were called adorers and flatterers,) they, I say, being on a voyage in company with Cnopus, when they were at a distance from land, bound Cnopus and threw him into the sea; and then they sailed to Chios, and getting a force from the tyrants there, Amphiclus and Polytechnus, they sailed by night to Erythræ, and just at the same time the corpse of Cnopus was washed up on the sea-shore at Erythræ, at a place which is now called Leopodon. And while Cleonice, the wife of Cnopus, was busied about the offices due to the corpse, (and it was the time of the festival and assembly instituted in honour of Diana Stophea,) on a sudden there is heard the noise of a trumpet; and the city is taken by Ortyges and his troops, and many of the friends of Cnopus are put to death; and Cleonice, hearing what had happened, fled to Colophon.

[407] 75. "But Ortyges and his companions, establishing themselves as tyrants, and having possessed themselves of the supreme power in Chios, destroyed all who opposed their proceedings, and they subverted the laws, and themselves managed the whole of the affairs of the state, admitting none of the popular party within the walls. And they established a court of justice outside the walls, before the gates; and there they tried all actions, sitting as judges, clothed in purple cloaks, and in tunics with purple borders, and they wore sandals with many slits in them during the hot weather; but in winter they always walked about in women's shoes; and they let their hair grow, and took great care of it so as to have ringlets, dividing it on the top of their head with fillets of yellow and purple. And they wore ornaments of solid gold, like women, and they compelled some of the citizens to carry their litters, and some to act as lictors to them, and some to sweep the roads. And they sent for the sons of some of the citizens to their parties when they supped together; and some they ordered to bring their own wives and daughters within. And on those who disobeyed they inflicted the most extreme punishment. And if any one of their companions died, then collecting the citizens with their wives and children, they compelled them by violence to utter lamentations over the dead, and to beat their breasts, and to cry out shrilly and loudly with their voices, a man with a scourge standing over them, who compelled them to do so—until Hippotes, the brother of Cnopus, coming to Erythræ with an army at the time of a festival, the people of Erythræ assisting him, set upon the tyrants, and having punished a great many of their companions, slew Ortyges in his flight, and all who were with him, and treated their wives and children with the very extremity of ill-usage, and delivered his country."

76. Now from all this we may understand, my friends, of how many evils flattery is the cause in human life. For Theopompus, in the nineteenth book of his history of the Transactions of Philip, says, "Agathocles was a slave, and one of the Penestæ in Thessaly, and as he had great influence with Philip by reason of his flattery of him, and because he was constantly at his entertainments dancing and making him laugh, Philip sent him to destroy the Perrhæbi, and to govern all that part of the country. And the Macedonian constantly [408]had this kind of people about him, with whom he associated the greater part of his time, because of their fondness for drinking and buffoonery, and in their company he used to deliberate on the most important affairs." And Hegesander the Delphian gives a similar account of him, and relates how he sent a large sum of money to the men who are assembled at Athens at the temple of Hercules in Diomea, and who say laughable things; and he ordered some men to write down all that was said by them, and to send it to him. And Theopompus, in the twenty-sixth book of his History, says "that Philip knowing that the Thessalians were an intemperate race, and very profligate in their way of living, prepared some entertainments for them, and endeavoured in every possible manner to make himself agreeable to them. For he danced and revelled, and practised every kind of intemperance and debauchery. And he was by nature a buffoon, and got drunk every day, and he delighted in those occupations which are consistent with such practices, and with those who are called witty men, who say and do things to provoke laughter. And he attached numbers of the Thessalians who were intimate with him to himself, still more by his entertainments than by his presents." And Dionysius the Sicilian used to do very nearly the same thing, as Eubulus the comic poet tells us in his play entitled Dionysius;—

But he is harsh and rigorous to the solemn,
But most good-humour'd to all flatterers,
And all who jest with freedom. For he thinks
Those men alone are free, though slaves they be.

77. And indeed Dionysius was not the only person who encouraged and received those who had squandered their estates on drunkenness and gambling and all such debauchery as that, for Philip also did the same. And Theopompus speaks of such of them in the forty-ninth book of his History, where he writes as follows:—"Philip kept at a distance all men who were well regulated in their conduct and who took care of their property; but the extravagant and those who lived in gambling and drunkenness he praised and honoured. And therefore he not only took care that they should always have such amusements, but he encouraged them to devote themselves to all sorts of injustice and debauchery besides. For what disgraceful or iniquitous practices were there to which [409]these men were strangers, or what virtuous or respectable habits were there which they did not shun? Did they not at all times go about shaven and carefully made smooth, though they were men? And did not they endeavour to misuse one another though they had beards? And they used to go about attended by two or three lovers at a time; and they expected no complaisance from others which they were not prepared to exhibit themselves. On which account a man might very reasonably have thought them not ἑταῖροι but ἑταῖραι, and one might have called them not soldiers, but prostitutes. For though they were ἀνδροφόνοι by profession, they were ἀνδρόπορνοι by practice. And in addition to all this, instead of loving sobriety, they loved drunkenness; and instead of living respectably they sought every opportunity of robbing and murdering; and as for speaking the truth, and adhering to their agreements, they thought that conduct quite inconsistent with their characters; but to perjure themselves and cheat, they thought the most venerable behaviour possible. And they disregarded what they had, but they longed for what they had not; and this too, though a great part of Europe belonged to them. For I think that the companions of Philip, who did not at that time amount to a greater number than eight hundred, had possession so far as to enjoy the fruits of more land than any ten thousand Greeks, who had the most fertile and large estates." And he makes a very similar statement about Dionysius, in his twenty-first book, when he says, "Dionysius the tyrant of Sicily encouraged above all others those who squandered their property in drunkenness and gambling and intemperance of that sort. For he wished every one to become ruined and ready for any iniquity, and all such people he treated with favour and distinction."

78. And Demetrius Poliorcetes was a man very fond of mirth, as Phylarchus relates in the tenth book of his History. But in the fourteenth book he writes as follows:—"Demetrius used to allow men to flatter him at his banquets, and to pour libations in his honour, calling him Demetrius the only king, and Ptolemy only the prefect of the fleet, and Lysimachus only a steward, and Seleucus only a superintendent of elephants, and in this way he incurred no small amount of hatred." And Herodotus states that Amasis the [410]king of the Egyptians was always a man full of tricks, and one who was used to turn his fellow feasters into ridicule; and when he was a private man he says he was very fond of feasting and of jesting, and he was not at all a serious man. And Nicolaus, in the twenty-seventh book of his History, says that Sylla the Roman general was so fond of mimics and buffoons, being a man very much addicted to amusement, that he gave such men several portions of the public land. And the satyric comedies which he wrote himself in his native language, show of how merry and jovial a temperament he was in this way.

79. And Theophrastus, in his treatise on Comedy, tells us that the Tirynthians, being people addicted to amusement, and utterly useless for all serious business, betook themselves once to the oracle at Delphi in hopes to be relieved from some calamity or other. And that the God answered them, "That if they sacrificed a bull to Neptune and threw it into the sea without once laughing, the evil would cease." And they, fearing lest they should make a blunder in obeying the oracle, forbade any of the boys to be present at the sacrifice; however, one boy, hearing of what was going to be done, mingled with the crowd, and then when they hooted him and drove him away, "Why," said he, "are you afraid lest I should spoil your sacrifice?" and when they laughed at this question of his, they perceived that the god meant to show them by a fact that an inveterate custom cannot be remedied. And Sosicrates, in the first book of his History of Crete, says that the Phæstians have a certain peculiarity, for that they seem to practise saying ridiculous things from their earliest childhood; on which account it has often happened to them to say very reasonable and witty things because of their early habituation: and therefore all the Cretans attribute to them preeminence in the accomplishment of raising a laugh.

80. But after flattery, Anaxandrides the comic poet gives the next place to ostentation, in his Apothecary Prophet, speaking thus—

Do you reproach me that I'm ostentatious?
Why should you do so? for this quality
Is far beyond all others, only flattery
Excepted: that indeed is best of all.

[411] And Antiphanes speaks of what he calls a psomocolax, a flatterer for morsels of bread, in his Gerytades, when he says—

You are call'd a whisperer and psomocolax.

What will become of you, you cursed psomocolaces.

The man is a psomocolax.

Always contending and ψωμοκολακεύων.

But the word κόλαξ especially applies to these parasitical flatterers; for κόλον means food, from which come the words βουκόλος, and δύσκολος, which means difficult to be pleased and squeamish. And the word κοιλία means that part of the body which receives the food, that is to say, the stomach. Diphilus also uses the word ψωμοκόλαφος in his Theseus, saying—

They call you a runaway ψωμοκόλαφος.

81. When Democritus had made this speech, and had asked for some drink in a narrow-necked sabrias, Ulpian said, And what is this sabrias? And just as Democritus was beginning to treat us all to a number of interminable stories, in came a troop of servants bringing in everything requisite for eating. Concerning whom Democritus, continuing his discourse, spoke as follows:—I have always, O my friends, marvelled at the race of slaves, considering how abstemious they are, though placed in the middle of such numbers of dainties; for they pass them by, not only out of fear, but also because they are taught to do so; I do not mean being taught in the Slave-teacher of Pherecrates, but by early habituation; and without its being necessary to utter any express prohibition respecting such matters to them, as in the island of Cos, when the citizens sacrifice to Juno. For Macareus says, in his third book of his treatise on Coan Affairs, that, when the Coans sacrifice to Juno, no slave is allowed to enter the temple, nor does any slave taste any one of the things which are prepared for the sacrifice. And Antiphanes, in his Dyspratus,[411:1] says—

[412] 'Tis hard to see around one savoury cakes,
And delicate birds half eaten; yet the slaves
Are not allow'd to eat the fragments even,
As say the women.

And Epicrates, in his Dyspratus, introduces a servant expressing his indignation, and saying—

What can be worse than, while the guests are drinking,
To hear the constant cry of, Here, boy, here!
And this that one may bear a chamberpot
To some vain beardless youth; and see around
Half eaten savoury cakes, and delicate birds,
Whose very fragments are forbidden strictly
To all the slaves—at least the women say so;
And him who drinks a cup men call a belly-god;
And if he tastes a mouthful of solid food
They call him greedy glutton:

from the comparison of which iambics, it is very plain that Epicrates borrowed Antiphanes's lines, and transferred them to his own play.

82. And Dieuchidas says, in his history of the Affairs of Megara—"Around the islands called Arææ [412:1] (and they are between Cnidos and Syme) a difference arose, after the death of Triopas, among those who had set out with him on his expedition, and some returned home, and others remained with Phorbas, and came to Ialysus, and others proceeded with Periergus, and occupied the district of Cameris. And on this it is said that Periergus uttered curses against Phorbas, and on this account the islands were called Arææ. But Phorbas having met with shipwreck, he and Parthenia, the sister of Phorbas and Periergus, swam ashore to Ialysus, at the point called Schedia. And Thamneus met with them, as he happened to be hunting near Schedia, and took them to his own house, intending to receive them hospitably, and sent on a servant as a messenger to tell his wife to prepare everything necessary, as he was bringing home strangers. But when he came to his house and found nothing prepared, he himself put corn into a mill, and everything else that was requisite, and then ground it himself and feasted them. And Phorbas was so delighted with this hospitality, that when he was dying himself he charged his friends to take care that his funeral rites should be performed by free men. And so this custom continued to prevail in the sacrifice of Phorbas, for [413]none but free men minister at this sacrifice. And it is accounted profanation for any slave to approach it."

83. And since among the different questions proposed by Ulpian, there is this one about the slaves, let us now ourselves recapitulate a few things which we have to say on the subject, remembering what we have in former times read about it. For Pherecrates, in his Boors, says—

For no one then had any Manes,[413:1] no,
Nor home-born slaves; but the free women themselves
Did work at everything within the house.
And so at morn they ground the corn for bread,
Till all the streets resounded with the mills.

There is not anywhere, my friend, a state
Of none but slaves; but fortune regulates
And changes at its will th' estates of men.
Many there are who are not free to day,
But will to-morrow free-men be of Sunium,
And the day after public orators;
For so the deity guides each man's helm.

84. And Posidonius, the stoic philosopher, says in the eleventh book of his History, "That many men, who are unable to govern themselves, by reason of the weakness of their intellect, give themselves up to the guidance of those who are wiser than themselves, in order that receiving from them care and advice, and assistance in necessary matters, they may in their turn requite them with such services as they are able to render. And in this manner the Mariandyni became subject to the people of Heraclea, promising to act as their subjects for ever, if they would supply them with what they stood in need of; having made an agreement beforehand, that none of them would sell anything out of the territory of Heraclea, but that they would sell in that district alone. And perhaps it is on this account that Euphorion the epic poet called the Mariandyni Bringers of Gifts, saying—

And they may well be call'd Bringers of Gifts,
Fearing the stern dominion of their kings.

And Callistratus the Aristophanean says that "they called the Mariandyni δωροφόροι, by that appellation taking away whatever there is bitter in the name of servants, just as the [414]Spartans did in respect of the Helots, the Thessalians in the case of the Penestæ, and the Cretans with the Clarotæ. But the Cretans call those servants, who are in their houses Chrysoneti,[414:1] and those whose work lies in the fields Amphamiotæ, being natives of the country, but people who have been enslaved by the chance of war; but they also call the same people Clarotæ, because they have been distributed among their masters by lot.

And Ephorus, in the third book of his Histories, "The Cretans call their slaves Clarotæ, because lots have been drawn for them; and those slaves have some regularly recurring festivals in Cydonia, during which no freemen enter the city, but the slaves are the masters of everything, and have the right even to scourge the freemen." But Sosicrates, in the second book of his History of Cretan Affairs, says, "The Cretans call public servitude μνοία, but the private slaves they call aphamiotæ; and the periœci, or people who live in the adjacent districts, they call subjects. And Dosiadas gives a very similar account in the fourth book of his history of Cretan Affairs.

85. But the Thessalians call those Penestæ who were not born slaves, but who have been taken prisoners in war. And Theopompus the comic poet, misapplying the word, says—

The wrinkled counsellors of a Penestan master.

And Philocrates, in the second book of his history of the Affairs of Thessaly, if at least the work attributed to him is genuine, says that the Penestæ are also called Thessalœcetæ, or servants of the Thessalians. And Archemachus, in the third book of his history of the Affairs of Eubœa, says, "When the Bœotians had founded Arnæa, those of them who did not return to Bœotia, but who took a fancy to their new country, gave themselves up to the Thessalians by agreement, to be their slaves; on condition that they should not take them out of the country, nor put them to death, but that they should cultivate the country for them, and pay them a yearly revenue for it. These men, therefore, abiding by their agreement, and giving themselves up to the Thessalians, were called at that time Menestæ; but now they are called Penestæ; [415]and many of them are richer than their masters. And Euripides, in his Phrixus, calls them latriæ,[415:1] in these words—

Λάτρις πενέστης ἁμὸς ἀρχαίων δόμων.

86. And Timæus of Tauromenium, in the ninth book of his Histories, says, "It was not a national custom among the Greeks in former times to be waited on by purchased slaves;" and he proceeds to say, "And altogether they accused Aristotle of having departed from the Locrian customs; for they said that it was not customary among the Locrians, nor among the Phocians, to use either maid-servants or house-servants till very lately. But the wife of Philomelus, who took Delphi, was the first woman who had two maids to follow her. And in a similar manner Mnason, the companion of Aristotle, was much reproached among the Phocians, for having purchased a thousand slaves; for they said that he was depriving that number of citizens of their necessary subsistence: for that it was a custom in their houses for the younger men to minister to the elder."

87. And Plato, in the sixth book of the Laws, says,—"The whole question about servants is full of difficulty; for of all the Greeks, the system of the Helots among the Lacedæmonians causes the greatest perplexity and dispute, some people affirming that it is a wise institution, and some considering it as of a very opposite character. But the system of slavery among the people of Heraclea would cause less dispute than the subject condition of the Mariandyni; and so too would the condition of the Thessalian Penestæ. And if we consider all these things, what ought we to do with respect to the acquisition of servants? For there is nothing sound in the feelings of slaves; nor ought a prudent man to trust them in anything of importance. And the wisest of all poets says—

Jove fix'd it certain that whatever day
Makes man a slave, takes half his worth away.

And it has been frequently shown by facts, that a slave is an objectionable and perilous possession; especially in the frequent revolts of the Messenians, and in the case of those cities which have many slaves, speaking different languages, in which many evils arise from that circumstance. And also we may come to the same conclusion from the exploits and sufferings of all sorts of robbers, who infest the Italian coasts [416]as piratical vagabonds. And if any one considers all these circumstances, he may well doubt what course ought to be pursued with respect to all these people. Two remedies now are left to us—either never to allow, for the future, any person's slaves to be one another's fellow-countrymen, and, as far as possible, to prevent their even speaking the same language: and he should also keep them well, not only for their sake, but still more for his own; and he should behave towards them with as little insolence as possible. But it is right to chastise them with justice; not admonishing them as if they were free men, so as to make them arrogant: and every word which we address to slaves ought to be, in some sort, a command. And a man ought never to play at all with his slaves, or jest with them, whether they be male or female. And as to the very foolish way in which many people treat their slaves, allowing them great indulgence and great licence, they only make everything more difficult for both parties: they make obedience harder for the one to practise, and authority harder for the others to exercise.

88. Now of all the Greeks, I conceive that the Chians were the first people who used slaves purchased with money, as is related by Theopompus, in the seventeenth book of his Histories; where he says,—"The Chians were the first of the Greeks, after the Thessalians and Lacedæmonians, who used slaves. But they did not acquire them in the same manner as those others did; for the Lacedæmonians and the Thessalians will be found to have derived their slaves from Greek tribes, who formerly inhabited the country which they now possess: the one having Achæan slaves, but the Thessalians having Perrhæbian and Magnesian slaves; and the one nation called their slaves Helots, and the others called them Penestæ. But the Chians have barbarian slaves, and they have bought them at a price." Theopompus, then, has given this account. But I think that, on this account, the Deity was angry with the Chians; for at a subsequent period they were subdued by their slaves. Accordingly, Nymphodorus the Syracusan, in his Voyage along the Coast of Asia, gives this account of them:—"The slaves of the Chians deserted them, and escaped to the mountains; and then, collecting in great numbers, ravaged the country-houses about; for the island is very rugged, and much overgrown with trees. But, a little before [417]our time, the Chians themselves relate, that one of their slaves deserted, and took up his habitation in the mountains; and, being a man of great courage and very prosperous in his warlike undertakings, he assumed the command of the runaway slaves, as a king would take the command of an army; and though the Chians often made expeditions against him, they were able to effect nothing. And when Drimacus (for that was the name of this runaway slave) found that they were being destroyed, without being able to effect anything, he addressed them in this language: 'O Chians! you who are the masters, this treatment which you are now receiving from your servants will never cease; for how should it cease, when it is God who causes it, in accordance with the prediction of the oracle? But if you will be guided by me, and if you will leave us in peace, then I will be the originator of much good fortune to you.'

89. "Accordingly, the Chians, having entered into a treaty with him, and having made a truce for a certain time, Drimacus prepares measures and weights, and a private seal for himself; and, throwing it to the Chians, he said, 'Whatever I take from any one of you, I shall take according to these measures and these weights; and when I have taken enough, I will then leave the storehouses, having sealed them up with this seal. And as to all the slaves who desert from you, I will inquire what cause of complaint they have; and if they seem to me to have been really subject to any incurable oppression, which has been the reason of their running away, I will retain them with me; but if they have no sufficient or reasonable ground to allege, I will send them back to their masters.' Accordingly, the rest of the slaves, seeing that the Chians agreed to this state of things, very good-humouredly did not desert nearly so much for the future, fearing the judgment which Drimacus might pass upon them. And the runaways who were with him feared him a great deal more than they did their own masters, and did everything that he required, obeying him as their general; for he punished the refractory with great severity: and he permitted no one to ravage the land, nor to commit any other crime of any sort, without his consent. And at the time of festivals, he went about, and took from the fields wine, and such animals for victims as were in good condition, and whatever else the [418] masters were inclined or able to give him; and if he perceived that any one was intriguing against him, or laying any plot to injure him or overthrow his power, he chastised him.

90. "Then (for the city had made a proclamation, that it would give a great reward to any one who took him prisoner, or who brought in his head,) this Drimacus, as he became older, calling one of his most intimate friends into a certain place, says to him, 'You know that I have loved you above all men, and you are to me as my child and my son, and as everything else. I now have lived long enough, but you are young and just in the prime of life. What, then, are we to do? You must show yourself a wise and brave man; for, since the city of the Chians offers a great reward to any one who shall kill me, and also promises him his freedom, you must cut off my head, and carry it to Chios, and receive the money which they offer, and so be prosperous.' But when the young man refused, he at last persuaded him to do so; and so he cut off his head; and took it to the Chians, and received from them the rewards which they had offered by proclamation: and, having buried the corpse of Drimacus, he departed to his own country. And the Chians, being again injured and plundered by their slaves, remembering the moderation of him who was dead, erected a Heroum in their country, and called it the shrine of the Gentle Hero. And even now the runaway slaves bring to that shrine the first-fruits of all the plunder they get; and they say that Drimacus still appears to many of the Chians in their sleep, and informs them beforehand of the stratagems of their slaves who are plotting against them: and to whomsoever he appears, they come to that place, and sacrifice to him, where this shrine is."

91. Nymphodorus, then, has given this account; but in many copies of his history, I have found that Drimachus is not mentioned by name. But I do not imagine that any one of you is ignorant, either of what the prince of all historians, Herodotus, has related of the Chian Panionium, and of what he justly suffered who castrated free boys and sold them. But Nicolaus the Peripatetic, and Posidonius the Stoic, in their Histories, both state that the Chians were enslaved by Mithridates, the tyrant of Cappadocia; and were given up by him, bound, to their own slaves, for the purpose of being [419]transported into the land of the Colchians,—so really angry with them was the Deity, as being the first people who used purchased slaves, while most other nations provided for themselves by their own industry. And, perhaps, this is what the proverb originated in, "A Chian bought a master," which is used by Eupolis, in his Friends.

92. But the Athenians, having a prudent regard to the condition of their slaves, made a law that there should be a γραφὲ ὕβρεως, even against men who ill treated their slaves. Accordingly, Hyperides, the orator, in his speech against Mnesitheus, on a charge of αἰκία, says, "They made these laws not only for the protection of freemen, but they enacted also, that even if any one personally ill treated a slave, there should be a power of preferring an indictment against him who had done so." And Lycurgus made a similar statement, in his first speech against Lycophron; and so did Demosthenes, in his oration against Midias. And Malacus, in his Annals of the Siphnians, relates that some slaves of the Samians colonized Ephesus, being a thousand men in number; who in the first instance revolted against their masters, and fled to the mountain which is in the island, and from thence did great injury to the Samians. But, in the sixth year after these occurrences, the Samians, by the advice of an oracle, made a treaty with the slaves, on certain agreements; and the slaves were allowed to depart uninjured from the island; and, sailing away, they occupied Ephesus, and the Ephesians are descended from these ancestors.

93. But Chrysippus says that there is a difference between a δοῦλος and an οἰκέτης; and he draws the distinction in the second book of his treatise on Similarity of Meaning, because he says that those who have been emancipated are still δοῦλοι, but that the term οἰκέτης is confined to those who are not discharged from servitude; for the οἰκέτης, says he, is a δοῦλος, being actually at the time the property of a master. And all the following are called δοῦλοι, as Clitarchus says, in his treatise on Dialects: ἄζοι,[419:1] and θεράποντες,[419:2] and ἀκόλουθοι,[419:3] [420]and διάκονοι,[420:1] and ὑπήρετα [420:2] and also πάλμονες and λάτρεις.[420:3] And Amerias says, that the slaves who are employed about the fields are called ἕρκιται. And Hermon, in his treatise on the Cretan Dialects, says that slaves of noble birth are called μνῶτες. And Seleucus says, that both men and maid servants are called ἄζοι; and that a female slave is often called ἀποφράση and βολίζη; and that a slave who is the son of a slave is called σίνδρων; and that ἀμφιπόλος is a name properly belonging to a female slave who is about her mistress's person, and that a πρόπολος is one who walks before her mistress.

But Proxenus, in the second book of his treatise on the Lacedæmonian Constitution, says that female servants are called among the Lacedæmonians, Chalcides. But Ion of Chios, in his Laertes, uses the word οἰκέτης as synonymous with δοῦλος, and says—

Alas, O servant, go on wings and close
The house lest any man should enter in.

How rich in slaves (εὔδουλος) and how well housed he was (εὔοικος);

using, however, in my opinion, the words εὔδουλος and εὔοικος in a peculiar sense, as meaning rather, good to his slaves and servants, taking εὔοικος from οἰκέτης. And it is generally understood that an οἰκέτης is a servant whose business is confined to the house, and that it is possible he may be a free-born man.

94. But the poets of the old comedy, speaking of the old-fashioned way of life, and asserting that in olden time there was no great use of slaves, speak in this way. Cratinus, in his Pluti, says—

As for those men, those heroes old,
Who lived in Saturn's time,
When men did play at dice with loaves,
And Æginetan cakes
Of barley well and brownly baked
Were roll'd down before men
Who did in the palæstra toil,
Full of hard lumps of dough . . . .

And immediately after this the man who takes up the opposite side of the argument says—

But argue thus: I on the other hand
Shall first of all bring water for the hot baths
On columns raised as through the Pæonium [421:1]
Down to the sea, so that the stream shall flow
Direct to every private person's bath.
Then he shall speak and check the flowing water.
Then too an alabaster box of ointment
Shall of its own accord approach the bather,
And sponges suitable, and also slippers.

95. And Teleclides puts it better than the man whom I have just quoted, in his Amphictyons, where he says—

I will tell you now the life
Which I have prepared for men.
First of all the lovely Peace
Everywhere was always by,
Like spring water which is poured
O'er the hands of feasted guests.
The earth produced no cause for fear,
No pains and no diseases.
[422] And everything a man could want
Came forth unask'd for to him.
The streams all ran with rosy wine,
And barley-cakes did fight
With wheaten loaves which first could reach
A hungry man's open mouth.
And each entreated to be eaten,
If men loved dainty whiteness.
Fish too came straight unto men's doors,
And fried themselves all ready,
Dish'd themselves up, and stood before
The guests upon the tables.
A stream of soup did flow along
In front of all the couches,
Rolling down lumps of smoking meat;
And rivulets of white sauce
Brought to all such as chose to eat
The sweetest forced-meat balls.
So that there was no lack, but all
Did eat whate'er they wanted.
Dishes there were of boil'd meat too,
And sausages likewise and pasties;
And roasted thrushes and rissoles
Flew down men's throats spontaneously.
Then there were sounds of cheesecakes too
Crush'd in men's hungry jaws:
While the boys play'd with dainty bits
Of tripe, and paunch, and liver.
No wonder men did on such fare
Get stout and strong as giants.

96. And in the name of Ceres, my companions, if these things went on in this way, I should like to know what need we should have of servants. But the ancients, accustoming us to provide for ourselves, instructed us by their actions while they feasted us in words. But I, in order to show you in what manner succeeding poets (since the most admirable Cratinus brandished the before-cited verses like a torch) imitated and amplified them, have quoted these plays in the order in which they were exhibited. And if I do not annoy you, (for as for the Cynics I do not care the least bit for them,) I will quote to you some sentences from the other poets, taking them also in regular order; one of which is that strictest Atticist of all, namely, Pherecrates; who in his Miners says—

But what need, I pray you now,
Have we of all you ploughmen,
Or carters, mowers, reapers too,
Or coopers, or brass-founders?
What need we seed, or furrow's line?
For of their own accord
Rivers do flow down every road
(Though half choked up with comfits)
Of rich black soup, which rolls along
Within its greasy flood
Achilles's fat barley-cake,
And streams of sauce which flow
Straight down from Plutus's own springs,
For all the guests to relish.
[424] Meantime Jove rains down fragrant wine,
As if it were a bath,
And from the roof red strings of grapes
Hang down, with well made cakes,
Water'd the while with smoking soup,
And mix'd with savoury omelets.
E'en all the trees upon the hills
Will put forth leaves of paunches,
Kids' paunches, and young cuttle-fish,
And smoking roasted thrushes.

98. And why need I quote in addition to this the passages from the Tagenistæ of the incomparable Aristophanes? And as to the passage in the Acharnenses, you are all of you full of it. And when I have just repeated the passage out of the Thurio-Persæ of Metagenes I will say no more, and discard all notice of the Sirens of Nicophon, in which we find the following lines—

Let it now snow white cakes of pulse;
Let loaves arise like dew; let it rain soup;
Let gravy roll down lumps of meat i' the roads,
And cheese-cakes beg the wayfarer to eat them.

The river Crathis bears down unto us
Huge barley-cakes, self-kneaded and self-baked.
The other river, called the Sybaris,
Rolls on large waves of meat and sausages,
And boilèd rays all wriggling the same way.
And all these lesser streamlets flow along
With roasted cuttle-fish, and crabs, and lobsters;
And, on the other side, with rich black-puddings
And forced-meat stuffings; on the other side
Are herbs and lettuces, and fried bits of pastry.
Above, fish cut in slices and self-boil'd
Rush to the mouth; some fall before one's feet,
And dainty cheese-cakes swim around us everywhere.

And I know too that the Thurio-Persæ and the play of Nicophon were never exhibited at all; on which account I mentioned them last.

99. Democritus now having gone through this statement distinctly and intelligently, all the guests praised him; but Cynulcus said,—O messmates, I was exceedingly hungry, and Democritus has given me no unpleasant feast; carrying me across rivers of ambrosia and nectar. And I, having my mind watered by them, have now become still more exceedingly hungry, having hitherto swallowed nothing but words; so that now it is time to desist from this interminable discussion, [425]and, as the Pæanian orator says, to take some of these things, "which if they do not put strength into a man, at all events prevent his dying"—

For in an empty stomach there's no room
For love of beauteous objects, since fair Venus
Is always hostile to a hungry man;

as Achæus says in Æthon, a satyric drama. And it was borrowing from him that the wise Euripides wrote—

Venus abides in fulness, and avoids
The hungry stomach.

And Ulpian, who was always fond of contradicting him, said in reply to this,—But still,

The market is of herbs and loaves too full.

But you, you dog, are always hungry, and do not allow us to partake of, or I should rather say devour, good discussion in sufficient plenty: for good and wise conversation is the food of the mind. And then turning to the servant he said,—O Leucus, if you have any remnants of bread, give them to the dogs. And Cynulcus rejoined,—If I had been invited here only to listen to discussions, I should have taken care to come when the forum was full;[425:1] for that is the time which one of the wise men mentioned to me as the hour for declamations, and the common people on that account have called it πληθαγόρα:

But if we are to bathe and sup on words,
Then I my share contribute as a listener;

as Menander says; on which account I give you leave, you glutton, to eat your fill of this kind of food—

But barley dearer is to hungry men
Than gold or Libyan ivory;

100. And when Cynulcus had said this, he was on the point of rising up to depart; but turning round and seeing a quantity of fish, and a large provision of all sorts of other eatables being brought in, beating the pillow with his hand, he shouted out,—

Gird thyself up, O poverty, and bear
A little longer with these foolish babblers,
For copious food and hunger sharp subdues thee.

[426]But I now, by reason of my needy condition, do not speak dithyrambic poems, as Socrates says, but even epic poems too. For, reciting poems is very hungry work. For, according to Ameipsias, who said in his Sling, where he utters a prediction about you, O Laurentius,—

There are none of the rich men
In the least like you, by Vulcan,
Who enjoy a dainty table,
And who every day can eat
All delicacies that you wish.
For now, I see a thing beyond belief—
A prodigy; all sorts of kinds of fish
Sporting around this cape—tenches and char,
White and red mullet, rays, and perch, and eels,
Tunnies, and blacktails, and cuttle-fish, and pipe-fish,
And hake, and cod, and lobsters, crabs and scorpions;

as Heniochus says in his Busybody; I must, therefore, as the comic poet Metagenes says—

Without a sign his knife the hungry draws,
And asks no omen but his supper's cause—

101. And when he was silent, Masyrius said,—But since some things have still been left unsaid in our discussion on servants, I will myself also contribute some "melody on love" to the wise and much loved Democritus. Philippus of Theangela, in his treatise on the Carians and Leleges, having made mention of the Helots of the Lacedæmonians and of the Thessalian Penestæ, says, "The Carians also, both in former times, and down to the present day, use the Leleges as slaves." But Phylarchus, in the sixth book of his History, says that the Byzantians used the Bithynians in the same manner, just as the Lacedæmonians do the Helots. But respecting those who among the Lacedæmonians are called Epeunacti, and they also are slaves, Theopompus gives a very clear account in the thirty-second book of his History, speaking as follows:—"When many of the Lacedæmonians had been slain in the war against the Messenians, those who were left being afraid lest their enemies should become aware of their desolate condition, put some of the Helots into the beds of those who were dead; and afterwards they made those men citizens, and called them Epeunacti, because they had been put into the beds [426:1] of those who were dead instead of them." And the [427]same writer also tells us, in the thirty-third book of his History, that among the Sicyonians there are some slaves who are called Catonacophori, being very similar to the Epeunacti. And Menæchmus gives a similar account in his History of the affairs of Sicyon, and says that there are some slaves called Catonacophori, who very much resemble the Epeunacti. And again, Theopompus, in the second book of his Philippics, says that the Arcadians had three hundred thousand slaves, whom they called Prospelatæ, like the Helots.

102. But the class called Mothaces among the Lacedæmonians are freemen, but still not citizens of Lacedæmon. And Phylarchus speaks of them thus, in the twenty-fifth book of his History—"But the Mothaces are foster-brothers of Lacedæmonian citizens. For each of the sons of the citizens has one or two, or even more foster-brothers, according as their circumstances admit. The Mothaces are freemen then, but still not Lacedæmonian citizens; but they share all the education which is given to the free citizens; and they say that Lysander, who defeated the Athenians in the naval battle, was one of that class, having been made a citizen on account of his preeminent valour." And Myron of Priene, in the second book of his history of the Affairs of Messene, says, "The Lacedæmonians often emancipated their slaves, and some of them when emancipated they called Aphetæ,[427:1] and some they called Adespoti,[427:2] and some they called Erycteres, and others they called Desposionautæ,[427:3] whom they put on board their fleets, and some they called Neodamodes,[427:4] but all these were different people from the Helots." And Theopompus, in the seventh book of his history of the Affairs of Greece, speaking of the Helots that they were also called Eleatæ, writes as follows:—"But the nation of the Helots is altogether a fierce and cruel race. For they are people who have been enslaved a long time ago by the Spartans, some of them being Messenians, and some Eleatæ, who formerly dwelt in that part of Laconia called Helos.

103. But Timæus of Tauromenium, forgetting himself, (and Polybius the Megalopolitan attacks him for the assertion, [428]in the twelfth book of his Histories,) says that it is not usual for the Greeks to possess slaves. But the same man, writing under the name of Epitimæus, (and this is what Ister the pupil of Callimachus calls him in the treatise which he wrote against him,) says that Mnason the Phocian had more than a thousand slaves. And in the third book of his History, Epitimæus said that the city of the Corinthians was so flourishing that it possessed four hundred and sixty thousand slaves. On which account I imagine it was that the Pythian priestess called them The People who measured with a Chœnix. But Ctesicles, in the third book of his Chronicles, says that in the hundred and fifteenth Olympiad, there was an investigation at Athens conducted by Demetrius Phalereus into the number of the inhabitants of Attica, and the Athenians were found to amount to twenty-one thousand, and the Metics to ten thousand, and the slaves to four hundred thousand. But Nicias the son of Niceratus, as that admirable writer Xenophon has said in his book on Revenues, when he had a thousand servants, let them out to Sosias the Thracian to work in the silver mines, on condition of his paying him an obol a day for every one of them. And Aristotle, in his history of the Constitution of the Æginetæ, says that the Æginetans had four hundred and seventy thousand slaves. But Agatharchides the Cnidian, in the thirty-eighth book of his history of the Affairs of Europe, says that the Dardanians had great numbers of slaves, some of them having a thousand, and some even more; and that in time of peace they were all employed in the cultivation of the land; but that in time of war they were all divided into regiments, each set of slaves having their own master for their commander.

104. After all these statements, Laurentius rose up and said,—But each of the Romans (and this is a fact with which you are well acquainted, my friend Masyrius) had a great many slaves. For many of them had ten thousand or twenty thousand, or even a greater number, not for the purposes of income, as the rich Nicias had among the Greeks; but the greater part of the Romans when they go forth have a large retinue of slaves accompanying them. And out of the myriads of Attic slaves, the greater part worked in the mines, being kept in chains: at all events Posidonius, whom you are often quoting, the philosopher I mean, says that once [429]they revolted and put to death the guards of the mines; and that they seized on the Acropolis on Sunium, and that for a very long time they ravaged Attica. And this was the time when the second revolt of the slaves took place in Sicily. And there were many revolts of the slaves, and more than a million of slaves were destroyed in them. And Cæcilius, the orator from Cale Acte, wrote a treatise on the Servile Wars. And Spartacus the gladiator, having escaped from Capua, a city of Italy, about the time of the Mithridatic war, prevailed on a great body of slaves to join him in the revolt, (and he himself was a slave, being a Thracian by birth,) and overran the whole of Italy for a considerable time, great numbers of slaves thronging daily to his standard. And if he had not died in a battle fought against Licinius Crassus, he would have caused no ordinary trouble to our countrymen, as Eunus did in Sicily.

105. But the ancient Romans were prudent citizens, and eminent for all kinds of good qualities. Accordingly Scipio, surnamed Africanus, being sent out by the Senate to arrange all the kingdoms of the world, in order that they might be put into the hands of those to whom they properly belonged, took with him only five slaves, as we are informed by Polybius and Posidonius. And when one of them died on the journey, he sent to his agents at home to bring him another instead of him, and to send him to him. And Julius Cæsar, the first man who ever crossed over to the British isles with a thousand vessels, had with him only three servants altogether, as Cotta, who at that time acted as his lieutenant-general, relates in his treatise on the History and Constitution of the Romans, which is written in our national language. But Smindyrides the Sybarite was a very different sort of man, my Greek friends, who, when he went forth to marry Agaroste, the daughter of Cleisthenes, carried his luxury and ostentation to such a height, that he took with him a thousand slaves, fishermen, bird-catchers, and cooks. But this man, wishing to display how magnificently he was used to live, according to the account given to us by Chamæleon of Pontus, in his book on Pleasure, (but the same book is also attributed to Theophrastus,) said that for twenty years he had never seen the sun rise or set; and this he considered a great and marvellous proof of his wealth and happiness. For he, as it seems, used [430]to go to bed early in the morning, and to get up in the evening, being in my opinion a miserable man in both particulars. But Histiæus of Pontus boasted, and it was an honourable boast, that he had never once seen the sun rise or set, because he had been at all times intent upon study, as we are told by Nicias of Nicæa in his Successions.

106. What then are we to think? Had not Scipio and Cæsar any slaves? To be sure they had, but they abided by the laws of their country, and lived with moderation, preserving the habits sanctioned by the constitution. For it is the conduct of prudent men to abide by those ancient institutions under which they and their ancestors have lived, and made war upon and subdued the rest of the world; and yet, at the same time, if there were any useful or honourable institutions among the people whom they have subdued, those they take for their imitation at the same time that they take the prisoners. And this was the conduct of the Romans in olden time; for they, maintaining their national customs, at the same time introduced from the nations whom they had subdued every relic of desirable practices which they found, leaving what was useless to them, so that they should never be able to regain what they had lost. Accordingly they learnt from the Greeks the use of all machines and engines for conducting sieges; and with those engines they subdued the very people of whom they had learnt them. And when the Phœnicians had made many discoveries in nautical science, the Romans availed themselves of these very discoveries to subdue them. And from the Tyrrhenians they derived the practice of the entire army advancing to battle in close phalanx; and from the Samnites they learnt the use of the shield, and from the Iberians the use of the javelin. And learning different things from different people, they improved upon them: and imitating in everything the constitution of the Lacedæmonians, they preserved it better than the Lacedæmonians themselves; but now, having selected whatever was useful from the practices of their enemies, they have at the same time turned aside to imitate them in what is vicious and mischievous.

107. For, as Posidonius tells us, their national mode of life was originally temperate and simple, and they used everything which they possessed in an unpretending and unostentatious [431]manner. Moreover they displayed wonderful piety towards the Deity, and great justice, and great care to behave equitably towards all men, and great diligence in cultivating the earth. And we may see this from the national sacrifices which we celebrate. For we proceed by ways regularly settled and defined. So that we bear regularly appointed offerings, and we utter regular petitions in our prayers, and we perform stated acts in all our sacred ceremonies. They are also simple and plain. And we do all this without being either clothed or attired as to our persons in any extraordinary manner, and without indulging in any extraordinary pomp when offering the first-fruits. But we wear simple garments and shoes, and on our heads we have rough hats made of the skins of sheep, and we carry vessels to minister in of earthenware and brass. And in these vessels we carry those meats and liquors which are procured with the least trouble, thinking it absurd to send offerings to the gods in accordance with our national customs, but to provide for ourselves according to foreign customs. And, therefore, all the things which are expended upon ourselves are measured by their use; but what we offer to the gods are a sort of first-fruits of them.

108. Now Mucius Scævola was one of the three men in Rome who were particular in their observance of the Fannian law; Quintus Ælius Tubero and Rutilius Rufus being the other two, the latter of whom is the man who wrote the History of his country. Which law enjoined men not to entertain more than three people besides those in the house; but on market-days a man might entertain five. And these market-days happened three times in the month. The law also forbade any one to spend in provisions more than two drachmæ and a half. And they were allowed to spend fifteen talents a-year on cured meat and whatever vegetables the earth produces, and on boiled pulse. But as this allowance was insufficient, men gradually (because those who transgressed the law and spent money lavishly raised the price of whatever was to be bought) advanced to a more liberal style of living without violating the law. For Tubero used to buy birds at a drachma a-piece from the men who lived on his own farms. And Rutilius used to buy fish from his own slaves who worked as fishermen for three obols for a pound of fish; [432]especially when he could get what is called the Thurian; and that is a part of the sea-dog which goes by that name. But Mucius agreed with those who were benefited by him to pay for all he bought at a similar valuation. Out of so many myriads of men then these were the only ones who kept the law with a due regard to their oaths; and who never received even the least present; but they gave large presents to others, and especially to those who had been brought up at the same school with them. For they all clung to the doctrines of the Stoic school.

109. But of the extravagance which prevails at the present time Lucullus was the first originator, he who subdued Mithridates, as Nicolaus the Peripatetic relates. For he, coming to Rome after the defeat of Mithridates, and also after that of Tigranes, the king of Armenia, and having triumphed, and having given in an account of his exploits in war, proceeded to an extravagant way of living from his former simplicity, and was the first teacher of luxury to the Romans, having amassed the wealth of the two before-mentioned kings. But the famous Cato, as Polybius tells us in the thirty-fourth book of his History, was very indignant, and cried out, that some men had introduced foreign luxury into Rome, having bought an earthen jar of pickled fish from Pontus for three hundred drachmæ, and some beautiful boys at a higher price than a man might buy a field.

"But in former times the inhabitants of Italy were so easily contented, that even now," says Posidonius, "those who are in very easy circumstances are used to accustom their sons to drink as much water as possible, and to eat whatever they can get. And very often," says he, "the father or mother asks their son whether he chooses to have pears or nuts for his supper; and then he, eating some of these things, is contented and goes to bed." But now, as Theopompus tells us in the first book of his history of the Actions of Philip, there is no one of those who are even tolerably well off who does not provide a most sumptuous table, and who has not cooks and a great many more attendants, and who does not spend more on his daily living than formerly men used to spend on their festivals and sacrifices.

And since now this present discussion has gone far enough, let us end this book at this point.

FOOTNOTES:

BOOK VII.

1. And when the Banquet was now finished, the cynics, thinking that the festival of the Phagesia was being celebrated, were delighted above all things, and Cynulcus said,—While we are supping, O Ulpian, since it is on words that you are feasting us, I propose to you this question,—In what author do you find any mention of the festivals called Phagesia, and Phagesiposia? And he, hesitating, and bidding the slaves desist from carrying the dishes round, though it was now evening, said,—I do not recollect, you very wise man, so that you may tell us yourself, in order that you may sup more abundantly and more pleasantly. And he rejoined,—If you will promise to thank me when I have told you, I will tell you. And as he agreed to thank him, he continued;—Clearchus, the pupil of Aristotle, but a Solensian by birth, in the first book of his treatise on Pictures, (for I recollect his very expressions, because I took a great fancy to them,) speaks as follows:—"Phagesia—but some call the festival Phagesiposia—but this festival has ceased, as also has that of the Rhapsodists, which they celebrated about the time of the Dionysiac festival, in which every one as they passed by sang a hymn to the god by way of doing him honour." This is what Clearchus wrote. And if you doubt it, my friend, I, who have got the book, will not mind lending it to you. And you may learn a good deal from it, and get a great many questions to ask us out of it. For he relates that Callias the Athenian composed a Grammatical Tragedy, from which Euripides in his Medea, and Sophocles in his Œdipus, derived their choruses and the arrangement of their plot.

2. And when all the guests marvelled at the literary accomplishments of Cynulcus, Plutarch said,—In like manner there used to be celebrated in my own Alexandria a Flagon-bearing festival, which is mentioned by Eratosthenes in his treatise entitled Arsinoe. And he speaks as follows:—"When Ptolemy was instituting a festival and all kinds of [434] sacrifices, and especially those which relate to Bacchus, Arsinoe asked the man who bore the branches, what day he was celebrating now, and what festival it was. And when he replied, 'It is called the Lagynophoria; and the guests lie down on beds and so eat all that they have brought with them, and every one drinks out of his own flagon which he has brought from home;' and when he had departed, she, looking towards us, said, 'It seems a very dirty kind of party; for it is quite evident that it must be an assembly of a mixed multitude, all putting down stale food and such as is altogether unseasonable and unbecoming.' But if the kind of feast had pleased her, then the queen would not have objected to preparing the very same things herself, as is done at the festival called Choes. For there every one feasts separately, and the inviter only supplies the materials for the feast."

3. But one of the Grammarians who were present, looking on the preparation of the feast, said,—In the next place, how shall we ever be able to eat so large a supper? Perhaps we are to go on "during the night," as that witty writer Aristophanes says in his Æolosicon, where however his expression is "during the whole night." And, indeed, Homer uses the preposition διὰ in the same way, for he says—

He lay within the cave stretch'd o'er the sheep (διὰ μήλων);

where διὰ μήλων means "over all the sheep," indicating the size of the giant. And Daphnus the physician answered him; Meals taken late at night, my friend, are more advantageous for everybody. For the influence of the moon is well adapted to promote the digestion of food, since the moon has putrefying properties; and digestion depends upon putrefaction. Accordingly victims slain at night are more digestible; and wood which is cut down by moonlight decays more rapidly. And also the greater proportion of fruits ripen by moonlight.

4. But since there were great many sorts of fish, and those very different both as to size and beauty, which had been served up and which were still being constantly served up for the guests, Myrtilus said,—Although all the different dishes which we eat, besides the regular meal, are properly called by one generic name, ὄψον, still it is very deservedly that on account of its delicious taste fish has prevailed over everything else, and has appropriated the name to itself; [435]because men are so exceedingly enamoured of this kind of food. Accordingly we speak of men as ὀψοφάγοι, not meaning people who eat beef (such as Hercules was, who ate beef and green figs mixed together); nor do we mean by such a term a man who is fond of figs; as was Plato the philosopher, according to the account given of him by Phanocritus in his treatise on the Glorious: and he tells us in the same book that Arcesilas was fond of grapes: but we mean by the term only those people who haunt the fish-market. And Philip of Macedon was fond of apples, and so was his son Alexander, as Dorotheus tells us in the sixth book of his history of the Life and Actions of Alexander. But Chares of Mitylene relates that Alexander, having found the finest apples which he had ever seen in the country around Babylon, filled boats with them, and had a battle of apples from the vessels, so as to present a most beautiful spectacle. And I am not ignorant that, properly speaking, whatever is prepared for being eaten by the agency of fire is called ὄψον. For indeed the word is either identical with ἐψὸν, or else perhaps it is derived from ὀπτάω, to roast.

5. Since then there are a great many different kinds of fish which we eat at different seasons, my most admirable Timocrates, (for, as Sophocles says—

A chorus too of voiceless fish rush'd on,
Making a noise with their quick moving tails.

The tails not fawning on their mistress, but beating against the dish. And as Achæus says in his Fates—

There was a mighty mass of the sea-born herd—
A spectacle which fill'd the wat'ry waste,
Breaking the silence with their rapid tails;)

I will now recapitulate to you what the Deipnosophists said about each: for each of them brought to the discussion of the subject some contribution of quotation from books; though I will not mention the names of all who took part in the conversation, they were so numerous.

Whoever buys some ὄψον for his supper,
And, when he might get real genuine fish,
Contents himself with radishes, is mad.

And that you may find it easy to remember what was said, I will arrange the names in alphabetical order. For as [436]Sophocles, in his Ajax Mastigophorus, called fish ἐλλοὶ, saying—

He gave him to the ἐλλοὶ ἰχθύες to eat;

one of the company asked whether any one before Sophocles ever used this word; to whom Zoilus replied,—But I, who am not a person ὀψοφαγίστατος [exceedingly fond of fish], (for that is a word which Xenophon has used in his Memorabilia, where he writes, "He is ὀψοφαγίστατος and the greatest fool possible,") am well aware that the man who wrote the poem Titanomachia [or the Battle of the Giants], whether he be Eumelus the Corinthian, or Arctinus, or whatever else his name may chance to have been, in the second book of his poem speaks thus—

In it did swim the gold-faced ἐλλοὶ ἰχθύες,
And sported in the sea's ambrosial depths.

And Sophocles was very fond of the Epic Cycle, so that he composed even entire plays in which he has followed the stories told in their fables.

6. Presently when the tunnies called Amiæ were put on the table, some one said,—Aristotle speaks of this fish, and says that they have gills out of sight, and that they have very sharp teeth, and that they belong to the gregarious and carnivorous class of fishes: and that they have a gall of equal extent with their whole intestines, and a spleen of corresponding proportions. It is said also that when they are hooked, they leap up towards the fisherman, and bite through the line and so escape. And Archippus mentions them in his play entitled the Fishes, where he says—

But when you were eating the fat amiæ.

And Aristotle, inquiring into the etymology of the name, says that they were called amiæ, παρὰ τὸ ἅμα ἰέναι ταῖς [437] παραπλησίαις (from their going in shoals with their companions of the same kind). But Icesius, in his treatise on the Materials of Food, says that they are full of a wholesome juice, and tender, but only of moderate excellency as far as their digestible properties go, and not very nutritious.

7. But Archestratus,—that writer so curious in all that relates to cookery,—in his Gastrology (for that is the title of the book as it is given by Lycophron, in his treatise on Comedy, just as the work of Cleostratus of Tenedos is called Astrology), speaks thus of the amia:—

But towards the end of autumn, when the Pleiad
Has hidden its light, then dress the amiæ
Whatever way you please. Why need I teach you?
For then you cannot spoil it, if you wish.
But if you should desire, Moschus my friend,
To know by what recipe you best may dress it;
Take the green leaves of fig-trees, and some marjoram,
But not too much; no cheese or other nonsense,
But merely wrap it up in the fig leaves,
And tie it round with a small piece of string,
Then bury it beneath the glowing ashes,
Judging by instinct of the time it takes
To be completely done without being burnt.
And if you wish to have the best o' their kind,
Take care to get them from Byzantium;
Or if they come from any sea near that
They'll not be bad: but if you go down lower,
And pass the straits into the Ægæan sea,
They're quite a different thing, in flavour worse
As well as size, and merit far less praise.

8. But this Archestratus was so devoted to luxury, that he travelled over every country and every sea, with great diligence, wishing, as it seems to me, to seek out very carefully whatever related to his stomach; and, as men do who write Itineraries and Books of Voyages, so he wishes to relate everything with the greatest accuracy, and to tell where every kind of eatable is to be got in the greatest perfection; for this is what he professes himself, in the preface to his admirable Book of Precepts, which he addresses to his companions, Moschus and Cleander; enjoining them, as the Pythian priestess says, to seek

A horse from Thessaly, a wife from Sparta,
And men who drink at Arethusa's fount.

And Chrysippus, a man who was a genuine philosopher, and a thorough man at all points, says that he was the teacher of [438]Epicurus, and of all those who follow his rules, in everything which belongs to pleasure, which is the ruin of everything. For Epicurus says, without any concealment, but speaking with a loud voice, as it were, "For I am not able to distinguish what is good if you once take away the pleasure arising from sweet flavours, and if you also take away amatory pleasures." For this wise man thinks that even the life of the intemperate man is an unimpeachable one, if he enjoys an immunity from fear, and also mirth. On which account also the comic poets, running down the Epicureans, attack them as mere servants and ministers of pleasure and intemperance.

9. Plato, in his Joint Deceiver, representing a father as indignant with his son's tutor, makes him say—

And in his play entitled the Homicide, the same Plato, laughing at one of those gentle philosophers, says—

The man who has a chance to pay his court
To a fair woman, and at eve to drink
Two bottles full of richest Lesbian wine,
Must be a wise man; these are real goods.
These things I speak of are what Epicurus
Tells us are real joys; and if the world
All lived the happy life I live myself,
There would not be one wicked man on earth.

That wisest Epicurus, when a man
Once ask'd him what was the most perfect good
Which men should constantly be seeking for,
Said pleasure is that good. Wisest and best
Of mortal men, full truly didst thou speak:
For there is nothing better than a dinner,
And every good consists in every pleasure.

10. But the Epicureans are not the only men who are addicted to pleasure; but those philosophers are so too who belong to what are called the Cyrenaic and the Mnesistratean sects; for these men delight to live luxuriously, as Posidonius tells us. And Speusippus did not much differ from them, though he was a pupil and a relation of Plato's. At all events, Dionysius the tyrant, in his letters to him, enumerating all the instances of his devotion to pleasure, and also of his covetousness, and reproaching him with having levied contributions on numbers of people, attacks him also on account of his love for Lasthenea, the Arcadian courtesan. And, at the end of all, he says this—"Whom do you charge with covetousness, when you yourself omit no opportunity of amassing base gain? For what is there that you have been ashamed to do? Are you not now attempting to collect contributions, after having paid yourself for Hermeas all that he owed?"

11. And about Epicurus, Timon, in the third book of his Silli, speaks as follows:—

Seeking at all times to indulge his stomach,
Than which there's no more greedy thing on earth.

For, on account of his stomach, and of the rest of his sensual pleasures, the man was always flattering Idomeneus and Metrodorus. And Metrodorus himself, not at all disguising this admirable principle of his, says, somewhere or other, "The fact is, Timocrates, my natural philosopher, that every investigation which is guided by principles of nature, fixes its ultimate aim entirely on gratifying the stomach." For Epicurus was the tutor of all these men; who said, shouting it out, as I may say, "The fountain and root of every good is the pleasure of the stomach: and all wise rules, and all superfluous rules, are measured alike by this standard." And in his treatise on the Chief Good, he speaks nearly as follows: "For I am not able to understand what is good, if I leave out of consideration the pleasures which arise from delicately-flavoured food, and if I [440]also leave out the pleasures which arise from amatory indulgences; and if I also omit those which arise from music, and those, too, which are derived from the contemplation of beauty and the gratification of the eyesight." And, proceeding a little further, he says, "All that is beautiful is naturally to be honoured; and so is virtue, and everything of that sort, if it assists in producing or causing pleasure. But if it does not contribute to that end, then it may be disregarded.

12. And before Epicurus, Sophocles, the tragic poet, in his Antigone, had uttered these sentiments respecting pleasure—

For when a man contemns and ceases thus
To seek for pleasure, I do not esteem
That such an one doth live; I only deem him
A breathing corpse:—he may, indeed, perhaps
Have store of wealth within his joyless house;
He may keep up a kingly pomp and state;
But if these things be not with joy attended,
They are mere smoke and shadow, and contribute,
No, not one jot, to make life enviable.

For what, I pray you, should a mortal do,
But seek for all appliances and means
To make his life from day to day pass happily?
This should be all our object and our aim,
Reflecting on the chance of human life.
And never let us think about to-morrow,
Whether it will arrive at all or not.
It is a foolish trouble to lay up
Money which may become stale and useless.

But every man who lives but sparingly,
Having sufficient means, I call and think
Of all men the most truly miserable.
For when you're dead, you cannot then eat eels;
No wedding feasts are cook'd in Pluto's realms.

O men, whoe'er you are, why do you now
Scorn pleasant living, and turn all your thoughts
To do each other mischief in fierce war?
In God's name, tell me, does some odious fate,
Rude and unlettered, destitute of all
That can be knowledge call'd, or education,
Ignorant of what is bad and what is good,
Guide all your destiny?—a fate which settles
[441] All your affairs at random by mere chance?
I think it must be so: for else, what deity
Who bears a Grecian heart, would ever choose
To see Greeks by each other thus despoil'd,
And falling dead in ghastly heaps of corpses,
When she might see them sportive, gay, and jesting,
Drinking full cups, and singing to the flute?
Tell me, my friend, I pray, and put to shame
This most unpolish'd clownish fortune.

Does not a life like this deserve the name
Of godlike?—Think how far more pleasant all
Affairs would be in all the towns of Greece
Than now they are, if we were but to change
Our fashions, and our habits, and our principles
One little bit. Why should we not proclaim,
"Whoe'er is more than thirty years of age,
Let him come forth and drink. Let all the cavalry
Go to a feast at Corinth, for ten days,
Crown'd with chaplets, and perfumed most sweetly.
Let all who radishes have got to sell
Come in the morning here from Megara.
Bid all th' allies now hasten to the bath,
And mix in cups the rich Eubœan wine?"—
Sure this is real luxury and life,
But we are slaves to a most clownish fortune.

14. The poets say that that ancient hero, Tantalus, was also greatly devoted to pleasure. At all events, the author of the book called The Return of the Atridæ says "that he, when he had arrived among the gods, and had begun to live among them, had leave given him by Jupiter to ask for whatever he wished; and that he, being a man quite insatiable in the gratification of his appetites, asked that it might be granted to him to indulge them to their full extent, and to live in the same manner as the gods. And that Jupiter was indignant at this request, and, according to his promise, fulfilled his prayer; but still, that he might not enjoy what he had before him, but be everlastingly tormented, he hung a stone over his head, on account of which he should be unable to get at any of the things which he had before him." Some of the Stoics also were addicted to this kind of pleasure. At all events, Eratosthenes the Cyrenean, who was a pupil of Ariston the Chian, who was one of the sect of the Stoics, in his treatise which is entitled Ariston, represents his master as subsequently being much addicted to luxury, speaking as follows: [442] "And before now, I have at times discovered him breaking down, as it were, the partition wall between pleasure and virtue, and appearing on the side of pleasure." And Apollophanes (and he was an acquaintance of Ariston), in his Ariston (for he also wrote a book with that title), shows the way in which his master was addicted to pleasure. And why need we mention Dionysius of Heraclea? who openly discarded his covering of virtue, and put on a robe embroidered with flowers, and assumed the name of The altered Man; and, although he was an old man, he apostatized from the doctrines of the Stoics, and passed over to the school of Epicurus; and, in consequence, Timon said of him, not without some point and felicity—

When it is time to set (δύνειν), he now begins
To sit at table (ἡδύνεσθαι). But there is a time
To love, a time to wed, a time to cease.

15. Apollodorus the Athenian, in the third book of his treatise on a Modest and Prudent Man, which is addressed to those whom he calls Male Buffoons, having first used the expression, "more libidinous than the very Inventors themselves (ἄλφησται)," says, there are some fish called ἄλφησται, being all of a tawny colour, though they have a purple hue in some parts. And they say that they are usually caught in couples, and that one is always found following at the tail of the other; and therefore, from the fact of one following close on the tail of the other, some of the ancients call men who are intemperate and libidinous by the same name. But Aristotle, in his work on Animals, says that this fish, which he calls alphesticus, has but a single spine, and is of a tawny colour. And Numenius of Heraclea mentions it, in his treatise on Fishing, speaking as follows:—

The fish that lives in seaweed, the alphestes,
The scorpion also with its rosy meat.

Mussels, alphestæ, and the girl-like fish,
The dainty coracinus.

16. There is another fish called Anthias, or Callicthys; and this also is mentioned by Epicharmus, in his Marriage of Hebe:—

[443] The sword-fish and the chromius too,
Who, as Ananius tells us,
Is far the best of all in spring;
But th' anthias in the winter.

For spring the chromius is best;
The anthias in winter:
But of all fish the daintiest
Is a young shrimp in fig leaves.
In autumn there's a dainty dish,
The meat of the she-goat;
And when they pick and press the grapes,
Young pigs are dainty eating.
Then, too, young puppies you may eat,
And hares, and also foxes.
But when the grasshopper does sing,
Just at the height of summer,
Is the best time for mutton fat;
Then, too, the sea-born tunny
Will many a savoury dish afford,
And beats his compeers all
With garlic seasoning richly drest;
Then, too, the fatted ox
Is sweet to eat both late at night,
And at a noon-day feast.

And I have quoted this piece of Ananius at length, thinking that it might give some suggestions to the present race of Epicures.

17. But Aristotle, in his treatise on the Habits of Animals, says—"They say that wherever the anthias is found, there there is no beast or fish of prey ever seen; and accordingly the collectors of sponge use him as a guide, and dive boldly wherever he is found, and call him the sacred fish." And Dorion also mentions him in his book on Fishes, saying, "Some call the anthias by the name of callicthys, and also by that of callionymus and ellops." And Icesius, in his treatise on Materials, says that he is called wolf by some authors, and by others callionymus: and that he is a fish of very solid meat, and full of delicious juice, and easy of digestion; but not very good for the stomach. But Aristotle says that the callicthys is a fish with serrated teeth, carnivorous and gregarious. And Epicharmus, in his Muses, enumerates the ellops among the fishes, but passes over the callicthys or callionymus in silence as being identical with it; and of the ellops he speaks thus,—

And then the high-priced ellops.

He was the fish of which great Jupiter
Once bought a pair for money, and enjoin'd
His slaves to give him one, and Juno t'other.

But Dorion, in his treatise on Fish, says that the anthias and the callicthys are different fish; and also that the callionymus is not the same as the ellops.

18. But what is the fish which is called the Sacred fish? The author of the Telchinian History, whether it was Epimenides the Cretan, or Teleclides, or any one else, says,—"What are called the sacred fish, are dolphins and pompili." But the pompilus is a very amorous animal; as being sprung himself, at the same time with Venus, from heavenly blood. And Nicander, in the second book of his Œtaica, says—

The pompilus, who points the safest road
To anxious mariners who burn with love,
And without speaking warns them against danger.

And Alexander the Ætolian, in his Crica, if indeed it is a genuine poem, says—

Still did the pompilus direct the helm,
Swimming behind, and guide it down the gulf,
The minister of the gods, the sacred pompilus.

And Pancrates the Arcadian, in his work entitled "Works of the Sea," having first said—

The pompilus, whom all sea-faring men
Do call the sacred fish;

proceeds to say, "that the pompilus is not held in great esteem by Neptune only, but also by those gods who occupy Samothrace. At all events that some old fisherman once threatened to punish this fish, when the golden age still flourished among men; and his name was Epopeus, and he belonged to the island of Icarus. He therefore was one day fishing with his son, and they had no luck in their fishing, and caught nothing but pompili, and so did not abstain from eating them, but he and his son ate every one of them, and not long afterwards they suffered for their impiety; for a whale attacked the ship, and ate up Epopeus in the sight of his son." And Pancrates states, "that the pompilus is an enemy to the dolphin; and even the dolphin does not escape with impunity when he has eaten a pompilus, for he becomes unable to exert himself and tremulous when he has eaten [445]him; and so he gets cast on shore, and is eaten himself by the gulls and cormorants; and he is sometimes, when in this state, caught by men who give themselves up to hunting such large fish. And Timachides the Rhodian mentions the pompili in the ninth book of his Banquet, and says—

The tench o' the sea, and then the pompili,
The holiest of fish.

And Erinna, or whoever it was who composed the poem which is attributed to her, says—

O pompilus, thou fish who dost bestow
A prosp'rous voyage on the hardy sailor,
Conduct (πομπεύσαις) my dear companion safely home.

19. And Apollonius the Rhodian or Naucratian, in his History of the foundation of Naucratis, says, "Pompilus was originally a man; and he was changed into a fish, on account of some love affair of Apollo's. For the river Imbrasus flows by the city of the Samians,—

And join'd to him, the fairest of the nymphs,
The young and noble Chesias, bore a daughter,
The lovely maid Ocyrhoe—her whose beauty
Was the kind Hours' heaven-descended gift.

They say then that Apollo fell in love with her and endeavoured to ravish her; and that she having crossed over to Miletus at the time of some festival of Diana, when the endeavour was about to be made to carry her off, being afraid of such an attempt being made, and being on her guard, entreated Pompilus, who was a seafaring man and a friend of her father, to conduct her safe back again to her own country, saying this,—

O Pompilus, to whose wise breast are known
The rapid depths of the hoarse roaring sea,
Show that your mind doth recollect my sire,
Who was your friend, and save his daughter now.

And they say that he led her down to the shore, and conducted her safely across the sea: and that Apollo appeared and carried off the maiden, and sunk the ship with stones, and metamorphosed Pompilus into a fish of the same name, and that he made

The Pompilus an everlasting slave
Of ships that swiftly pass along the sea.

20. But Theocritus the Syracusan, in his poem entitled [446]Berenice, calls the fish which is called leucus the sacred fish, speaking thus—

And if a mortal seeks the gods with prayer
For a successful hunt, or plenteous gold,
A man who lives by the sea, whose nets he makes
His ploughs to raise his crops; then let him come,
And just at nightfall sacrifice with prayer
To this same goddess the most sacred fish,
Which men call leucus, (loveliest he of fish,)
Then let him bend his nets; and soon he shall
Draw them back from the waters full of prey.

But Dionysius, who was surnamed the Iambic, in his treatise on Dialects, writes thus—"We have heard accordingly an Eretrian fisherman, and many other fishermen, too, of other countries, call the pompilus the sacred fish. Now the pompilus is a sea fish, and is very commonly seen around ships, being something like the tunny called pelamys. However, some one spoken of by the poet catches this fish;—

Sitting upon a high projecting rock
He caught the sacred fish.

Unless, indeed, there be any other kind which is likewise called the sacred fish. But Callimachus in his Galatea calls the chrysophrys the sacred fish, where he says—

Or shall I rather say the gold-brow'd fish,
That sacred fish, or perch, or all the rest
Which swim beneath the vast unfathom'd sea.

The sacred sacred hyca.

But some understand by the term sacred fish, one let go and dedicated to the god, just as people give the same name to a consecrated ox. But others consider that sacred is here only equivalent to great, as Homer speaks of

The sacred might of Alcinous.

And some think that it is only called ἱερὸς as ἱέμενος πρὸς τὸν ῥοῦν (going down stream)."

21. But Clitarchus, in the seventh book of his treatise on Dialects, says—"The nautical people call the pompilus the sacred fish, because it conducts ships out of the open sea into harbour, on which account it is called πόμπιλος from πέμπω, being the same fish as the chrysophrys." And Eratosthenes in his Mercury says—

[447] They left a share of all their booty there;
Still living centipedes, the bearded mullet,
The sea-thrush, with dark spots embroider'd o'er,
Or the swift sacred fish with golden brows.

Now after all this discussion of ours about fish, the excellent Ulpian may ask why Archestratus, speaking in those excellent suggestions of his of the cured fish on the Bosphorus, says—

Those which do come from the Bosphoric seas
Are whitest; only let there be no sample
Of the hard meat o' the fish which grow around
The Lake Mæotis; not in verse can I
That fish correctly name.

22. Anchovies must be next considered. And, indeed, Aristonymus uses the word in the singular number, in his Shivering Sun—

So that there really is not one anchovy.

But of the anchovies there are many kinds, and the one which is called aphritis [447:1] is not produced from roe, as Aristotle says, but from a foam which floats upon the surface of the water, and which collects in quantities when there have been heavy rains. There is also another kind called cobitis, and that is produced from some little worthless gudgeons which are generated in the sand; and from this anchovy itself another kind is produced, which is called the encrasicholus. There is also another anchovy which is the offspring of the sprat; and another which comes from the membras; and another still which comes from the small cestris, which is engendered in the sand and slime. But of all these kinds the aphritis is the best. But Dorion, in his treatise on Fishes, speaks of a fish called the cobites, as good boiled, and also of the spawn of the atherina; and atherina is the name of a fish; and some also call the triglitis an anchovy. But Epicharmus, in his Hebe's Marriage, enumerates the anchovies among the shrimps or membrades; making a distinction between this and what is called the seed. And Icesius says, "Of the anchovy, there is one sort which is white and very thin and frothy, which some people also call the cobitis. And there is another which is not so clean as that, and which is larger; but the [448]clean and thin one is the better of the two." And Archestratus the contriver of delicate dishes, says,—

Use all anchovies for manure, except
The Attic fish; I mean that useful seed
Which the Ionians do call the foam;
And take it fresh; just caught within the bays,
The sacred bays of beautiful Phalerum.
Good is it too, when by the sea-girt isle
Of Rhodes you eat it, if it's not imported.
And if you wish to taste it in perfection,
Boil nettles with it—nettles whose green leaves
On both sides crown the stem; put these in the dish
Around the fish, then fry them in one pan,
And mix in fragrant herbs well steep'd in oil.

23. But Clearchus the Peripatetic, in his treatise on Proverbs, speaks of the anchovy, and says—"Because they want very little fire for the frying-pan, Archestratus recommends people to put them into a pan which is already hot, and to take them off as soon as they hiss. And they are done, and begin to hiss in a moment, like oil; on which account it is said, 'Anchovy, look at the fire.'" And Chrysippus the philosopher, in his treatise on the Things which deserve to be sought for their own Sakes, says, "The anchovy which is found in the sea at Athens, men despise on account of its abundance, and say that it is a poor man's fish; but in other cities they prize it above everything, even where it is far inferior to the Attic anchovy. Moreover some people," says he, "endeavour to rear the Adriatic fowls in this place, which are much less useful than our own kinds, inasmuch as they are smaller. But the people in the Adriatic, on the contrary, send for our breed from hence." Hermippus, too, uses the word ἀφύη in the singular number, in his Demotæ, where he says,—

You seem not now to move even an anchovy.

In preference to the best anchovy.

So that there is not really one anchovy.

But Aristophanes uses the diminutive form, and calls them ἀφύδια in his Friers, saying—

Nor these little Phaleric ἀφύδια.

24. But Lynceus the Samian, in his letter to Diagoras, [449]praising the Rhodian anchovies, and comparing many of the productions of Attica to those of Rhodes, says—"We may compare to the anchovies of Phalerum those which are called the Æniatides, and you may compare the ellops and the orphus with the glauciscus; and with the Eleusinian plaice and turbot, and whatever other fish there may be among them enjoying a reputation higher than that of Cecrops, Rhodes has the fox fish to compare." But the author of the Delight of Life, exhorts the man who is unable to purchase enough to satisfy his appetite, to get fish to eat by robbery, rather than go without it. But Lynceus calls Archestratus an epicure, who in that much celebrated poem of his speaks thus of the shark:—

Are you at Rhodes? e'en if about to die,
Still, if a man would sell you a fox shark,
The fish the Syracusans call the dog,
Seize on it eagerly; at least, if fat:
And then compose yourself to meet your fate
With brow serene and mind well satisfied.

A harp-fish roast, besides a ray,
The head too of a tunny,
And eel, some crabs, and this acharnus,
The great Ænean dainty.

26. The ray, roach, or sea frog may also be mentioned. They are mentioned under the two former names by Aristotle in his treatise on Animals, where he classes them under the head of cartilaginous fish. And Eupolis, in his Flatterers, says—

At Callias's house there is much pleasure,
For he has crabs for dinner, rays besides,
And hares, and women with light twinkling feet.

And there were rays and sea-frogs, sawfish, sharks,
Camitæ, roach, and lobsters with hard shells.

Its sides were like a ray,
Its back was altogether like a roach,
Its head was long, far more like a stag's,
Its flanks were like a scorpion's, son of the sea.

O rays, O dainty grayling.

And Aristotle in the fifth book of his treatise on the Parts of [450] Animals, says that the following are cartilaginous fish; the ray, the turtle, the sea cow, the lamprey, the sea eagle, the sea frog, and the whole of the shark tribe. But Sophron in his Farces, gives one fish the name of botis, saying, "The cestres eat the botis," though it is possible that he may be speaking of some herb. But with respect to the sea frog, the wise Archestratus gives us the following advice in his Apophthegms—

Whenever you behold a frog, why roast him

* * * * *

And . . . . prepare his stomach.

A boiled ray is good about midwinter.
Eat it with cheese and assafœtida;
But all the sons o' the sea whose flesh is lean
Should, as a rule, be dress'd in such a fashion;
And thus I recommend you now again.

And Ephippus the comic poet, in his play called Philyra, (now Philyra is the name of a courtesan), says—

27. There are also fish called boaxes. Aristotle, in his treatise entitled Concerning Animals or Fish, says, "The following animals are marked on the back; the boax and others—the following are marked transversely, the kind of tunny fish called colias." And Epicharmus in his Marriage of Hebe, speaks thus—

And in addition to all these the boax,
The smarides, anchovies, crabs and lobsters.

The white synodons, the boeces, and trinchi.

But Speusippus and the rest of the Attic writers call them boaces. Aristophanes in his play called The Women who occupy Tents, says—

But having had a bellyful of boaces,
I turn'd my steps towards home.

And they derived their name from the noise (βοὴ) which they make, on which account it used to be said that the fish was sacred to Mercury, as the harp fish was to Apollo. But [451]Pherecrates in his Ant-Men, saying—"They say that there is no other fish whatever, which has any voice at all;" adds afterwards,—"By Castor and Pollux, there is at least no other fish except the boax." And Aristophanes the Byzantian says—"That we are wrong to call the fish boax, when we ought to call it boops, since though it is but a little fish, it has very large eyes, so that it might be called boops, having bulls' eyes." But we may reply to him, If we are wrong in naming him as we do, why do we say coracinus, not corocinus? For he derives his name from moving the pupils of his eyes (ἀπὸ τοῦ τὰς κόρας κινεῖν). And so too, why do we not call the fish σείουρος instead of σίλουρος? for he has his name from continually shaking his tail (ἀπὸ τοῦ σείειν τὴν οὐράν)?

28. With respect to the small kind of anchovy called membras, Phrynicus, in his Tragedians, says—

O golden-headed membrades, sons of the sea.

Bambradones and sea-thrushes, and hares,
And furious dragons.

And Sophron in his Manly Qualities, says—"The bambradon, and the needle fish." And Numenius says, in his Treatise on Fishing,

Or a small sprat, or it may be a bembras,
Kept in a well; you recollect these baits.

And Dorion in his book on Fishes, says—"Having taken off the head of a bembras, if it be one of a tolerable size, and having washed it with water, and a small quantity of salt, then boil it in the same manner as you do a mullet; and the bembras is the only kind of anchovy from which is derived the condiment called bembraphya; which is mentioned by Aristonymus in the Sun Shivering—

The carcinobates of Sicily
Resembles the bembraphya.

Still the Attic writers often call them bembrades. Aristomenes says in his Jugglers—

Bringing some bembrades purchased for an obol.

The large anchovy plainly is not now,
Nor e'en the bembras, quite unfortunate.

Fed on the hoary bembrades.

O Hercules, do just survey these bembrades.

But in the Goats of Eupolis we may find the word written also with a μ (not βεμβρὰς but μεμβρὰς). And Antiphanes says, in his Cnœsthis;—

They do proclaim within the fishmarket
The most absurd of proclamations,
For just now one did shout with all his voice
That he had got some bembrades sweet as honey;
But if this be the case, then what should hinder
The honey-sellers crying out and saying,
That they have honey stinking like a bembras?

Who to the young folks making merry, then
Put forth but lately pulse and membrades,
And well-press'd grapes to eat.

No poorer meal, by Bacchus now I swear,
Have I e'er tasted since I first became
A parasite; I'd rather sup on membrades
With any one who could speak Attic Greek;
It would be better for me.

29. There is also a fish called the blennus, and it is mentioned by Sophron, in his play entitled The Fisherman and the Countryman, and he calls it the fat blennus. It is something like the tench in shape. But Epicharmus in his Hebe's Wedding speaks of a fish which he calls baiones, where he says—

Come now and bring me high-backed mullets,
And the ungrateful baiones.

And among the Attic writers there is a proverb, "No baion for me; he is a poor fish."

30. There is also a shell-fish called buglossus. And Archestratus, the Pythagorean, says, because of his temperate habits,

Then we may take a turbot plump, or e'en
A rough buglossus in the summer time,
If one is near the famous Chalcis.

There were buglossi and the harp-fish there.

[453] But the fish called cynoglossus differs from the buglossus. And of them too Epicharmus speaks—

There were the variegated plotides,
And cynoglossi, and sciathides.

31. There are also fish called congers. Icesius says that these are coarser than the common eels; and that their flesh is less firm and less nutritious, and that they are very deficient in palatable juice; but still, that they are good for the stomach. But Nicander, the epic poet, in the third book of his Treatise on Dialects, says that they are also called grylli. But Eudoxus, in the sixth book of his Circuit of the Earth, says that there are numbers of congers caught off Sicyon, each large enough to be a load for a man; and some of them even big enough to be a load for a cart. And Philemon, the comic poet, himself mentioning the extraordinary congers at Sicyon, represents a cook as priding himself on his skill, and saying in the play entitled the Soldier,—

How great a wish has now come over me
To tell to heaven and earth the way in which
I did prepare that supper. Aye, by Pallas,
How sweet it is when everything goes right!
How tender was my fish! and how I dress'd it!
Not done with cheese, or powder'd o'er with dyes,
But looking as he did in life, though roasted.
So mild and gentle was the fire which I
Did to the fish apply, you'd scarce believe it.
It was as when a hen does seize some food,
And carries it away to eat at leisure:
She runs all round with care; another sees her,
And straightway follows her to take it from her.
So here, the man who first found out the pleasure
Of dainty eating, sprang up high and ran
All round and round, with his dish in his hand.
The rest pursued him—it was fine to see them:
Some got a little, some got nothing, some
Got all they wanted. Well, as I was saying,
I took some river fish, eaters of mud.
What if I'd had a scare, or blue-back'd fish
From Attic waters, O thou saving Jupiter!
Or boar from Argive woods, or noble conger
From Sicyon's bay, the conger which the god
Of the deep sea doth bear aloft to heaven,
Fit banquet for his brethren. Then no doubt
The guests who ate would all have seem'd like gods;
I should have been immortal, since the dead
By the mere smell of my meat I bring to life again.

[454] 33. I swear by Minerva that Menecrates the Syracusan himself would not have made such a boast as that, he who was nick-named Jupiter—a man who gave himself airs as being, by his skill in medicine, the only person who could cause man to live. Accordingly he compelled all who came to be cured by him of what is called the sacred disease, to enter into a written agreement that if they recovered they would be his slaves. And they followed him, one wearing the dress of Hercules, and being called Hercules, (and the man who was so called was Nicostratus, an Argive, who had been cured of the sacred disease, and he is mentioned by Ephippus, in his Peltast, where he says—

Did not Menecrates call himself a god,
And Nicostratus of Argos a second Hercules?)

and another followed him in the dress of Mercury, having on a cloak and bearing a caduceus, and wings besides. As Nicagoras of Zelia did, who also became afterwards the tyrant of his country, as Baton relates in the history of the Tyrants at Ephesus. And Hegesander says that he called Astycreon, who had been cured by him, Apollo. And another of those who had been cured by him, went about with him to his cost, wearing the dress of Æsculapius. But Jupiter Menecrates himself, clad in purple, and having a golden crown upon his head, and holding a sceptre, and being shod with slippers, went about with his chorus of gods. And once, writing to Philip the king, he began his letter thus—

"You, indeed, are king of Macedonia, but I am king of medicine; and you are able, when you please, to put men to death, who are in health; but I am able to save those who are sick, and to cause those who are in good health, if they only follow my advice, to live to old age without being attacked by disease. Therefore the Macedonians attend you as body-guards; but all who wish to live attend me; for I, Jupiter, give them life."

And so Philip wrote back to him as to a man out of his senses,—"Philip wishes Menecrates soundness." And he wrote in similar style to Archidemus, also the king of the Lacedæmonians, and to every one else to whom he wrote at all; never omitting to give himself the name of Jupiter. And once Philip invited him and all his gods to supper, and [455] placed them all on the centre couch, which was adorned in the loftiest and most holy-looking and beautiful manner. And he had a table, placed before them on which there was an altar and first-fruits of the different productions of the earth. And whenever eatables were placed before the other guests, the slaves placed incense before Menecrates, and poured libations in his honour. And at last, the new Jupiter, with all his subordinate gods, being laughed at by every one, ran away and fled from the banquet, as Hegesander relates. And Alexis also makes mention of Menecrates in his Minos.

35. And Themiso the Cyprian, the friend of Antiochus the king, as Pythermus the Ephesian relates in the eighth book of his History, not only used to have his name proclaimed in the public assemblies, "Themiso, the Macedonian, the Hercules of Antiochus the king;" but all the people of that country used to sacrifice to him, addressing him as Hercules Themiso; and he himself would come when any of the nobles celebrated a sacrifice, and would sit down, having a couch to himself, and being clad in a lion's skin, and he used also to bear a Scythian bow, and in his hand, he carried a club. Menecrates then himself, though he was such as we have said, never made such a preposterous boast as the cook we have been speaking of,—

I am immortal, for I bring the dead,
By the mere smell of my meat, to life again.

36. But the whole tribe of cooks are conceited and arrogant, as Hegesander says in his Brothers. For he introduces a cook, saying—

Now, I beg you, tell me, in the name of all the gods at once, in what respect this man appears to you to differ from the Celedones in Pindar, who, in the same manner as the Sirens of old, caused those who listened to them to forget their food through delight, and so to waste away?

37. But Nicomachus, in his Ilithyia, himself also introduces a cook, who in arrogance and conceit goes far beyond the artists on the stage. This cook then speaks to the man who has hired him in this way,—

38. And the cook in the Younger Philemon wishes to be a sort of tutor, and speaks in this fashion—

There, let things be as they are. Only take care
The fire may not too small be or too slow
To roast the joints. (As a fire like that
Makes meat not roast but sodden.) Nor too fierce.
(For that again does burn whate'er it catches,
[458] And yet is far from cooking the meat through.)
It is not every one who has a spoon
And knife about him that we call a cook,
Not every one who puts his fish in a pan;
There is more wit and reason in the business.

39. And the Cook in Diphilus's Painter tells us also to whom he thinks it worth his while to hire himself, saying—

40. And Archedicus, in his Treasure, another philosophical cookling, speaks in this way—

In the first place the guests invited came
While still the fish lay on the dresser raw.
"Give me some water." "Bring the fish up quick."
Then placing all my pans upon the fire,
I soak'd the ashes well with oil, and raise
A rapid heat. Meantime the fragrant herbs
And pleasant sharpness of the seasonings
Delight my master. Quickly I serve up
Some fish exactly boil'd; retaining all
His juice, and all his unextracted flavour;
A dish which, any free-born man must know
How to appreciate rightly. In this manner
At the expense of one small pot of oil
I gain employment at full fifty banquets.

And Philostephanus, in his Delian, gives a catalogue of the names of some celebrated cooks in these lines, and those which follow them—

In my opinion you, O Dædalus,
Surpass all cooks in skill and genius,
Save the Athenian Thimbron, call'd the Top.
So here I've come to beg your services,
Bringing the wages which I know you ask.

41. And Sotades, not the Maronite poet, who composed Ionian songs, but the poet of the middle comedy, in the play entitled The Shut-up Women, (for that was the name which he gave to it,) introduces a cook making the following speech,—

First I did take some squills, and fried them all;
Then a large shark I cut in slices large,
Roasting the middle parts, and the remainder
I boil'd and stuff'd with half-ripe mulberries.
Then I take two large heads of dainty grayling,
And in a large dish place them, adding simply
Herbs, cummin, salt, some water, and some oil.
Then after this I bought a splendid pike,
To boil in pickle with all sorts of herbs.
Avoiding all such roasts as want a spit,
[460] I bought too some fine mullet, and young thrushes,
And put them on the coats just as they were,
Adding a little brine and marjoram.
To these I added cuttle-fish and squills.
A fine dish is the squill when carefully cook'd.
But the rich cuttle-fish is eaten plain,
Though I did stuff them all with a rich forced meat
Of almost every kind of herb and flower.
Then there were several dishes of boil'd meats,
And sauce-boats full of oil and vinegar.
Besides all this a conger fine and fat
I bought, and buried in a fragrant pickle;
Likewise some tench, and clinging to the rocks
Some limpets. All their heads I tore away,
And cover'd them with flour and bread crumbs over,
And then prepared them as I dress'd the squills.
There was a widow'd amia too, a noble
And dainty fish. That did I wrap in fig-leaves,
And soak'd it through with oil, and over all
With swaddling clothes of marjoram did I fold it,
And hid it like a torch beneath the ashes.
With it I took anchovies from Phalerum,
And pour'd on them one cruet full of water,
Then shredding herbs quite fine, I add more oil,
More than two cotylæ in quantity.
What next? That's all. This sir is what I do,
Not learning from recipes or books of cookery.

42. However, this is enough about cooks. But we must say something about the conger. For Archestratus, in his Gastronomy, tells us how every part of it should be treated, saying—

In Sicyon my friend you best can get
A mighty head of conger, fat, and strong,
And large; and also take his entrails whole,
Then boil him a long time, well-soak'd in brine.

And after this he goes through the whole country of Italy, saying where the congers are best, describing them like a regular writer of an Itinerary, and he says—

There too fine congers may be caught, and they
Are to all other fish as far superior
As a fat tunny is to coracini.

And all the parts of a fine conger eel
Well hash'd together, overlaid with fat.

And Archedicus, in his Treasure, introduces a cook speaking of some fish which he has been buying in the following terms—

[461] Then for three drachmas I a grayling bought.
Five more I gave for a large conger's head
And shoulders. (Oh, how hard a thing is life!)
Another drachma for the neck. I swear
By Phœbus, if I knew where I could get
Or buy another neck myself, at once
I'd choke the one which now is on my shoulders,
Rather than bring these dishes to this place.
For no one ever had a harder job
To buy so many things at such a price;
And yet if I have bought a thing worth buying
May I be hang'd. They will devour me.
What I now say is what concerns myself.
And then, such wine they spit out on the ground!
Alas! Alas!

43. There is a kind of shark called γαλεὸς, which is eaten. And Icesius, in his treatise on Materials, says that the best and tenderest kind of galei are those called asteriæ. But Aristotle says that there are many kinds of them—the thorny, the smooth, the spotted, the young galeus, the fox shark, and the file shark. But Dorion, in his Book on Fishes, says that the fox shark has only one fin towards his tail, but has none along the ridge of his back. But Aristotle, in the fifth book of his Parts of Animals, says that the centrines is also a kind of shark, and also the notidanus. But Epænetus, in his Cookery Book, calls the latter the enotideus, and says "that the centrines is very inferior to him, and that it has a bad smell; and that the one may be distinguished from the other by the fact of the centrines having a sort of spur on his first fin, while the rest of the kinds have not got such a thing." "And he says that these fishes have no fat or suet in them, because they are cartilaginous."

And the acanthias, or thorny shark, has this peculiarity, that his heart is five-cornered. And the galeus has three young at most; and it receives its young into his mouth, and immediately ejects them again; and the variegated galeus is especially fond of doing this, and so is the fox shark. But the other kinds do not do so, because of the roughness of the skins of the young ones.

44. But Archestratus, the man who lived the life of Sardanapalus, speaking of the galeus as he is found at Rhodes, says that it is the same fish as that which, among the Romans, is brought on the table to the music of flutes, and accompanied with crowns, the slaves also who carry it being [462]crowned, and that it is called by the Romans accipesius. But the accipesius, the same as the acipenser, or sturgeon, is but a small fish in comparison, and has a longer nose, and is more triangular than the galeus in his shape. And the very smallest and cheapest galeus is not sold at a lower price than a thousand Attic drachmæ.[462:1] But Appian, the grammarian, in his essay on the Luxury of Apicius, says that the accipesius is the fish called the ellops by the Greeks. But Archestratus, speaking of the Rhodian galeus, counselling his companions in a fatherly sort of way, says—

Lynceus, the Samian, also quotes these verses in his letter to Diagoras, and says that the poet is quite right in advising the man who cannot afford the price for one, to gratify his appetite by robbery rather than go without it. For he says that Theseus, who I take to have been some very good-looking man, offered to indulge Tlepolemus in anything if he would only give him one of these fish. And Timocles, in his play called The Ring, says—

Galei and rays, and all the fish besides
Which cooks do dress with sauce and vinegar.

There is the variegated scorpion,
The lizard, and the fat sea-grayling too.

The hycca, the callicthys, and the chromis,
The orphus, the sea-grayling too, who haunts
The places where seaweed and moss abound.

If you're at Megara or at Olynthus,
Dress me a grayling's head. For in the shallows
Around those towns he's taken in perfection.

Bœotian eels, and mussels too from Pontus,
Graylings from Megara, from Carystus shrimps,
Eretrian phagri, and the Scyrian crabs.

There was a beautiful dish of the sea-grayling,
And a boil'd pike served up i' savoury pickle.

The man who first discover'd all the good
Of the most precious head of a large grayling,
And then how dainty was the tunny's meat,
Caught where the waves are by no tempests tost,
How good in short is the whole race of fish,
Nereus his name, dwells in this place for ever.

Whole graylings, and large slices of the head.

Take a small eel, and a fine grayling's head,
And slices of a pike fresh from the sea.

And Antiphanes, in his Cyclops, out-heroding even the epicure Archestratus, says—

Give me an Hymettian mullet,
And a ray just caught, a perch
Split open, and a cuttle-fish,
And a well-roasted synodon;
[464] A slice of grayling, and a head
Of mighty conger, luscious food;
A frog's inside, a tunny's flank,
A ray's sharp back, a cestra's loin,
Sea-sparrows, and sea-thrushes too,
Sprats, and anchovies, let me not
Complain of any want.

And Theolytus, the Methymnæan, in his Bacchic Odes, says that Glaucus the deity of the sea became enamoured of Ariadne, when she was carried off by Bacchus in the island of Dia; and that he, attempting to offer violence to her, was bound by Bacchus in fetters made of vine-twigs; but that when he begged for mercy he was released, saying—

There is a place, Anthedon is its name,
On the sea-side, against th' Eubœan isle,
Near to the stream of the still vext Euripus—
Thence is my race; and Copeus was my sire.

And Promathides of Heraclea, in his Half Iambics, traces the pedigree of Glaucus as being the son of Polybus, the son of Mercury, and of Eubœa, the daughter of Larymnus. But Mnaseas, in the third book of his history of the Affairs of Europe, calls him the son of Anthedon and Alcyone; and says that he was a sailor and an excellent diver, and that he was surnamed Pontius; and that having ravished Syme, the daughter of Ialemus and Dotis, he sailed away to Asia, and colonised a desert island near Caria, and called that Syme, from the name of his wife. But Euanthes, the epic poet, in his Hymn to Glaucus, says that he was the son of Neptune and the nymph Nais; and that he was in love with Ariadne, in the island of Dia, and was favoured by her after she had been left there by Theseus. But Aristotle, in his Constitution of the Delians, says that he settled in Delos with the Nereids, and gave oracles to all who wished for them. But Possis, the Magnesian, in the third book of his Amazonis, says that Glaucus was the builder of the Argo, and that he was [465]her pilot when Jason fought the Etrurians, and was the only person unwounded in that naval battle; and that by the will of Jupiter he appeared in the depths of the sea, and so became a sea deity, but was seen by Jason alone. But Nicanor the Cyrenæan, in his Changes of Names, says that Melicerta changed his name and assumed the name of Glaucus.

48. Alexander the Ætolian also mentions him in his poem entitled the Fisherman, saying that he

The herb which in the islands of the blest,
When first the spring doth beam upon the earth,
The untill'd land shows to the genial sun,
And the sun gives it to his weary steeds,
A most refreshing food, raised in the shade.
So that they come in vigour back renew'd
Unto their daily task, and no fatigue
Or pain can stop their course.

But Æschrion the Samian, in some one of his Iambic poems, says that Glaucus the sea-deity was in love with Hydna, the daughter of Scyllus, the diver of Scione. And he makes particular mention of this herb, namely, that any one who eats of it becomes immortal, saying—

And you found too th' agrostis of the gods,
The sacred plant which ancient Saturn sow'd.

And Nicander, in the third book of his Europe, says that Glaucus was beloved by Nereus. And the same Nicander, in the first book of his history of the Affairs of Ætolia, says that Apollo learnt the art of divination from Glaucus; and that Glaucus when he was hunting near Orea, (and that is a lofty mountain in Ætolia,) hunted a hare, which was knocked up by the length of the chace, and got under a certain fountain, and when just on the point of dying, rolled itself on the herbage that was growing around; and, as it recovered its strength by means of the herbage, Glaucus too perceived the virtues of this herb, and ate some himself. And becoming a god in consequence, when a storm came, he, in accordance with the will of Jupiter, threw himself into the sea. But Hedylus, whether he was a Samian or an Athenian I know not, says that Glaucus was enamoured of Melicerta, and threw himself into the sea after him. But Hedyle, the mother of this poet, and daughter of Moschine of Attica, a [466]poetess who composed Iambics, in her poem which is entitled Scylla, relates that Glaucus being in love with Scylla came to her cave—

Bearing a gift of love, a mazy shell,
Fresh from the Erythrean rock, and with it too
The offspring, yet unfledged, of Alcyon,
To win th' obdurate maid. He gave in vain.
Even the lone Siren on the neighbouring isle
Pitied the lover's tears. For as it chanced,
He swam towards the shore which she did haunt,
Nigh to th' unquiet caves of Ætna.

49. There is also a fish called the fuller. Dorion, in his treatise on Fish, says that the juice which proceeds from the boiling of a fuller will take out every kind of stain; and Epænetus also mentions it in his Cookery Book.

50. The eel is well known: and Epicharmus mentions sea-eels in his Muses; but Dorion, in his treatise on Fishes, mentioning those which come from the lake Copais, extols the Copaic eels highly; and they grow to a great size. At all events, Agatharchides, in the sixth book of his history of the Affairs of Europe, says that the largest eels from lake Copais are sacrificed to the gods by the Bœotians, who crown them like victims, and offer prayers over them, sprinkling them with meal; and that once, when a foreigner was astonished at the singular kind of victim and sacrifice, and asked a Bœotian whence it originated, the Bœotian answered, That he only knew one thing; that it was right to maintain the customs of one's ancestors, and that it was not right to make any excuses for them to foreigners. But we need not wonder if eels are sacrificed as victims, since Antigonus the Carystian, in his treatise on Language, says that the fishermen celebrate a festival in honour of Neptune when the tunnies come in season, and they are successful in their pursuit of them; and that they sacrifice to the god the first tunny that is caught; and that this sacrificial festival is called the Thunnæum.

51. But among the people of Phaselis, even salt-fish are offered in sacrifice. At all events, Heropythus, in his Annals of the Colophonians, speaking of the original settlement of Phaselis, says that "Lacius, having conducted the colony, gave as the price of the ground to Cylabras, a shepherd who fed sheep there, some salt-fish, as that was what he asked for. For when Lacius had proposed to him to take as a price for [467]the soil either barley-cakes, or wheat-cakes, or salt-fish, Cylabras chose the salt-fish. And, on this account, the people of Phaselis every year, even to this day, sacrifice salt-fish to Cylabras." But Philostephanus, in the first book of his treatise on the Cities of Asia, writes thus:—"That Lacius the Argive, being one of the men who had come with Mopsus, whom some say was a Lindian, and the brother of Antiphemus who colonized Gela, was sent to Phaselis by Mopsus with some men, in accordance with some directions given by Manto the mother of Mopsus, when the sterns of their ships came in collision off the Chelidoniæ, and were much broken, as Lacius and the vessels with him ran into them in the night, in consequence of their arriving later. And it is said that he purchased the land where the city now stands, in obedience to the prophetic directions of Manto, from a man of the name of Cylabras, giving him some salt-fish for it; for that was what he had selected from all the ships contained. On which account, the people of Phaselis sacrifice salt-fish to Cylabras every year, honouring him as their hero."

52. But concerning eels, Icesius, in his treatise on Materials, says that eels have a better juice in them than any other fish; and in the quality of being good for the stomach, they are superior to most, for they are very satisfying and very nutritious: though he classes the Macedonian eels among the salt-fish. But Aristotle says that eels are fond of the very purest water; on which account, the people who feed eels pour clean water over them; for they get choked in muddy water. For which reason, those who hunt for them make the water muddy, in order that the eels may be choked; for, having very small gills, their pores are almost immediately stopped up by any mud or disturbance in the water: on which account, also, they are often choked during storms, when the water is disturbed by heavy gales. But they propagate their species being entwined together, and then they discharge a sort of viscous fluid from their bodies, which lies in the mud and generates living creatures. And the people who feed eels say that they feed by night, but that during the day they remain motionless in the mud; and they live about eight years at most. But in other places, Aristotle tells us again, that they are produced without either their progenitors laying eggs or bringing forth living offspring, and also that [468]they are not generated by any copulation, but that they are propagated by the putrefaction which takes place in the mud and slime—as it is said of those things which are called the entrails of the earth. From which circumstance, he says that Homer distinguishes between their nature and that of other fish; and says—

The eels and fish within the briny deep,
Were startled at the blaze.

53. But a certain Epicurean,[468:1] who was one of our party, when an eel was served up, said,—Here is the Helen of the feast; I therefore will be the Paris! And, before any one else could stretch out a hand towards it, he seized hold of it and split it up, tearing off one side down to the backbone. And the same man, when presently a hot cheese-cake was set before him, and when all refused it, cried out,

I will attack it were it hot as fire;

and then, rushing upon it eagerly, and swallowing it, he was carried out severely scalded. And Cynulcus said,—The cormorant is carried out from his battle of the throat!

I praise all kinds of eels; but far the best
Is that which fishermen do take in the sea
Opposite to the strait of Rhegium.
Where you, Messenius, who daily put
This food within your mouth, surpass all mortals
In real pleasure. Though none can deny
That great the virtue and the glory is
Of the Strymonian and Copaic eels.
For they are large, and wonderfully fat;
And I do think in short that of all fish
The best in flavour is the noble eel,
Although he cannot propagate his species.

The eels and fish were startled,

And you received full many sightless eels.

But the Athenians, as Tryphon says, form all the cases in the singular number with the υ, but do not make the cases in the [469]plural in a similar manner. Accordingly, Aristophanes, in his Acharnensians, says—

Behold, O boys, the noble eel (ἔγχελυν);

Ἔγχελυν Βοιωτίαν:

And smooth too ὥσπερ ἔγχελυς.

The tunny, orphus, grayling, eel, and sea-dog.

But the Attic writers do not form the cases in the plural number as Homer does. Aristophanes says, in his Knights—

For you have fared like men who're hunting eels (ἐγχέλεις);

Imitating my images of the eels (ἐγχελέων);

I don't delight in rays nor in ἐγχέλεσιν

A cousin of the eels (ἐγχελέων).

Like an eel (ἔγχελυς) complaining of being slippery.

A kite was eating a Mæandrian eel (ἔγχελυν),
But a heron saw him and deprived him of it.

But Aristotle, in his treatise on Animals, writes the word with an ι, ἔγχελις. But when Aristophanes, in his Knights, says—

Your fate resembles that of those who hunt
For mud-fed eels. For when the lake is still
Their labour is in vain. But if they stir
The mud all up and down, they catch much fish.
And so you gain by stirring up the city;

he shows plainly enough that the eel is caught in the mud, (ἐκ τῆς ἴλυος,) and it is from this word ἴλυς that the name ἔγχελυς ends in υς. The Poet, therefore, wishing to show that the violent effect of the fire reached even to the bottom of the river, spoke thus—The eels and fish were troubled; speaking of the eels separately and specially, in order to show the very great depth to which the water was influenced by the fire.

55. But Antiphanes, in his Lycon, jesting on the Egyptians after the manner of the comic poets, says—

[470] They say in other things the Egyptian race
Is clever also, since they think the eel
On a level with the gods; or I may say
By far more valuable. For, as to the gods,—
Those we gain over by our prayers alone;
But as for eels, without you spend at least
Twelve drachmas you can scarce get leave to smell them.
So it is altogether a holy beast.

And Anaxandrides, in his Cities, directing what he says to the Egyptians, speaks as follows—

I never could myself your comrade be,
For neither do our manners nor our laws
Agree with yours, but they are wholly different.
You do adore an ox; I sacrifice him
To the great Gods of heaven. You do think
An eel the mightiest of deities;
But we do eat him as the best of fish.
You eat no pork; I like it above all things.
You do adore a dog; but I do beat him
If e'er I catch him stealing any meat.
Then our laws enjoin the priests to be
Most perfect men; but yours are mutilated.
If you do see a cat in any grief
You weep; but I first kill him and then skin him.
You have a great opinion of the shrew-mouse;
But I have none at all.

How can an ibis or a dog be able
To save a man? For where with impious hearts
Men sin against the all-acknowledged Gods,
And yet escape unpunish'd, who can think
The altar of a cat will be more holy,
Or prompter to avenge itself, than they?

56. But that men used to wrap eels up in beet, and then eat them, is a fact constantly alluded to in the poets of the old comedy; and Eubulus says in his Echo—

The nymph who never knew the joys of marriage,
Clothed with rosy beet will now appear,
Tho white-flesh'd eel. Hail, brilliant luminary,
Great in my taste, and in your own good qualities.

And after this were served up the rich
Entrails of roasted tunnies; then there came
Those natives of the lake, the holy eels,
Bœotian goddesses; all clothed in beet.

[471] The sweet Bœotian Copaic virgin;
For I do fear to name the Goddess.

And that the eels of the river Strymon were also celebrated, Antiphanes tells us in his Thamyras, saying—

And then your namesake river, far renown'd
In all the mouths of men, the mighty Strymon,
Who waters the rich warlike plains of Thrace,
Breeds mighty eels.

And Demetrius the Scepsian, in the sixteenth book of his Trojan Array, says that there were eels of surpassing excellence produced in the neighbourhood of the river Euleus (and this river is mentioned by Antimachus in his work entitled The Tablets, where he says—

Arriving at the springs
Where Euleus with his rapid eddies rises).

57. With respect to the ellops, some mention has already been made of him. But Archestratus also speaks in this way of him—

The best of ellopes which you can eat
Come from the bay of famous Syracuse.
Those eat whene'er you can. For that's the place
Whence this great fish originally came.
But those which are around the islands caught,
Or any other land, or nigh to Crete,
Too long have battled with the eddying currents,
And so are thin and harder to the taste.

58. The erythrinus, or red mullet, has been mentioned too. Aristotle, in his book on Animals, and Speusippus both say that the fishes called erythrinus, phagrus, and hepatus are all very nearly alike. And Dorion has said much the same in his treatise on Fish. But the Cyrenæans give the name of erythrinus to the hyca; as Clitarchus tells us in his Dialects.

59. The encrasicholi are also mentioned by Aristotle as fish of small size, in his treatise on What relates to Animals. But Dorion, in his book on Fishes, speaks of the encrasicholi among those which are best boiled, speaking in the following terms—"One ought to boil the encrasicholi, and the iopes, and the atherinæ, and the tench, and the smaller mullets, and the cuttle-fish, and the squid, and the different kinds of crab or craw-fish."

60. The hepsetus, or boiled fish, is a name given to several small fish. Aristophanes, in his Anagyrus, says—

There is not one dish of hepseti.

An hepsetus fell in with an anchovy
And quick devour'd him.

Ye graces who do love the hepseti.

Contented if just once in each twelve days
He sees an hepsetus well boil'd in beet.

There were some hepseti besides served up
In a dædalean manner. For they call
All clever works by the name of Dædalus;

Will you not now then try the coracini?
Nor trichides, nor any hepseti?

But this word is always used in the plural, ἑψητοὶ, because they are only served up in numbers. Aristophanes, in his Dramata or Niobus, says—

I will say nothing of a dish of hepseti.

The boy came in bringing some hepseti.

A bembras, an anchovy, and a hepsetus.

She's gone to buy a hepsetus.

But in my country Naucratis, what they call hepseti are little fish left in the drains or ditches, when the Nile ceases its overflowing.

61. The hepatus or lebias is the next fish to be noticed. Diocles affirms that this is one of those fish which stick to the rocks; but Speusippus says that the hepatus is the same as the phagrus. But it is a solitary fish, as Aristotle declares, carnivorous, and with serrated teeth; black as to its flesh, and having eyes large, out of all proportion to the rest of its size; and its heart is triangular and white. But Archestratus, the marshal of banquets, says—

Remember that the lebias is best,
As also is the hepatus, in the waves
Which wash the Delian and the Tenian shores.

[473] 62. Then come the elacatenes, or spindle fish. Mnesimachus, in his Horsebreeder, classes together in one line—

The turbot, tunny, tench, elacatene.

But they are a cetaceous fish, very good for curing. Menander, in his Colons, says—

The tench, th' elacatene, and the tail-fin of
The sea-dog are the best for pickling.

And Mnaseas of Patra says, "Of Ichthys and Hesychia, his sister, were born the galene, the lamprey, and the elacatene.

63. The tunny must also not be forgotten. Aristotle says this fish swims into the Black Sea, always keeping the land on the right; but that he sails out again, keeping the land on the left. For that he can see much best with his right eye, but that he is rather blind with his left eye. And under his fins he has a sort of gadfly; he delights in heat, on which account he comes wherever there is sand; and he is most eatable at the season when he gets rid of that fly. But he propagates his species after his time of torpor is over, as we are told by Theophrastus; and as long as his offspring are little, he is very difficult to catch, but when they get larger, then he is easily caught, because of the gadfly. But the tunny lies in holes, although he is a fish with a great deal of blood. And Archestratus says—

Around the sacred and the spacious isle
Of Samos you may see large tunnies caught.
The Samians call them horcyes, and others
Do name them cetus. These 'tis well to buy,
Fit offering for the Gods; and do it quickly,
Nor stop to haggle or bargain for the price.
Good too are those which fair Byzantium,
Or the Carystian marble rocks do breed.
And in the famous isle of Sicily,
The Cephalœdian and Tyndarian shores
Send forth fish richer still. And if you come
To sacred Italy, where Hipponium's cape
Frowns on the waves which lave the Bruttian coast,
Those are the best of all. The tunnies there
Have gain'd the height of fame and palm of victory.
Still those which there you find have wander'd far,
Cross'd many seas, and many a roaring strait,
So that we often catch them out of season.

64. But this fish was called the tunny (θύννος) from rushing (ἀπὸ τοῦ θύειν), and moving rapidly. For it is an impetuous fish, from, at a particular season, having a gadfly in its [474]head; by which Aristotle says that it is driven about, writing thus—"But the tunny fish and the sword fish are driven to frenzy about the time of the rising of the dogstar; for both of them at that season have under their fins something like a small worm, which is called œstrus, resembling a scorpion, and in size something similar to a spider, and this makes them leap about in leaps as large as those of the dolphin." And Theodoridas says,—

The tunnies bend their furious course to Gades.

But Polybius of Megalopolis, in the thirty-fourth book of his History, speaking of the Lusitanian district in Iberia, says, "That in the sea, in these parts, acorn-bearing oaks grow, on the fruit of which the tunnies feed, and grow fat; so that a person who called the tunny the pig of the sea would not err, for the tunnies, like the pigs, grow to a great size on these acorns."

65. And the intestines of this fish are highly extolled, as Eubulus also tells us, in his Ionian,—

And after this the luscious intestines
Of roasted tunnies sail'd upon the table.

Despise not thou the fat Bœotian eel,
Nor grayling, nor the entrails of the tunny.

Next buy the entrails of a tunny, and
Some pettitoes of pigs, to cost a drachma.

And the sweet entrails of the tunny fish.

These things poor men cannot afford to buy,
The entrails of the tunny or the head
Of greedy pike, or conger, or cuttle-fish,
Which I don't think the gods above despise.

The ὑπογάστριον of fish, O Ceres,

we must take notice that the writers of his time apply the term ὑπογάστριον to fish, but very seldom to pigs or other animals; but it is uncertain what animals Antiphanes is speaking of, when he makes use of the term ὑπογάστριον in his Ponticus, where he says—

[475] Whoever has by chance bought dainty food
For these accursed and abandon'd women,
Such as ὑπογάστρια, which may Neptune
Confound for ever; and who seeks to place
Beside them now a dainty loin of meat. . . .

They praised also that part of the tunny which they called "the key," as Aristophon does, in his Peirithus:—

66. But Antigonus the Carystian, in his treatise on Language, says that the tunny is sacrificed to Neptune, as we have already mentioned. But Heracleon the Ephesian says that the Attic writers call the tunny the orcynus. And Sostratus, in the second book of his treatise on Animals, says that the pelamys is called the thunnis, or female tunny-fish; but that when it becomes larger, it is called thunnus; and when it gets to a larger size still, it is called the orcynus; and that when it has grown to a size which is quite enormous, then it is called cetus. And Æschylus likewise mentions the tunny, saying—

I bid you take up hammers now, and beat
The fiery mass of iron, which will utter
No groan, but bear in silence like the tunny.

Turning his eye aside, just like the tunny;

because the tunny cannot see well out of his left eye, as Aristotle has said. Menander, in his Fishermen, says—

And the disturbed and muddy sea which breeds
The largest tunnies.

And in Sophron we find the word θυννοθήρας (a hunter of [476] tunnies); but the same fish which is usually called θύννος, the Attic writers call θυννίς.

67. But as to the thunnis, Aristotle says that this is the female, differing from the male thunnus in having a fin under the belly, the name of which fin is the "ather." But in his treatise on the Parts of Animals, he again distinguishes the thunnis from the thunnus; saying, that "in the summer, about the month Hecatombæon, it drops something like a bag, in which there are a great number of small eggs." And Speusippus, in the second book of his Similitudes, distinguishes the thunnis from the thunnus; and so does Epicharmus, in his Muses. But Cratinus, in his Pluti, says—

For I'm a thunnis, a melænas, or
A thunnus, orphos, grayling, eel, or sea-dog.

And Aristotle, in his treatise on Fishes, says that the thunnis is a gregarious fish, and also a migratory one. But Archestratus, who is so fond of petty details, says—

And then the thunna's tail, which I call thunnis,
That mighty fish, whose home's Byzantium.
Cut it in slices, and then roast it all
With accurate care, strewing on nought but salt,
Most thinly spread; then sprinkle a little oil;
Then eat it hot, first dipping it in brine.
Or if you like to eat them dry they're good;
Like the immortal gods in character,
And figure too; but if you once forget,
And vinegar add to them, then you spoil them.

And the middle slices take
Of the choice Byzantian tunny,
And let them be neatly hidden
Under leaves from beet-root torn.

Antiphanes also praises the tail of the thunnis, in his Couris, where he says—

And some of these iambics may be found in the Acestria, and also in the Countryman, or Butalion. And Hipponax, as Lysanias quotes him in his treatise on the Iambic Poets, says—

For one of them with rapid extravagance
Feasting each day on tunnies and on cheese-cakes,
Like any eunuch of rich Lampsacus,
Ate up his whole estate. So that he now
Is forced to work and dig among the rocks,
Eating poor figs, and small stale loaves of barley,
Food fit for slaves.

68. There is also a fish called the hippurus, or horsetail. Aristotle, in the fifth book of his treatise on the Parts of Animals, says that the hippuri lay eggs, and that these are small at first, but come to a great size, like those of the lamprey; and that they bring forth their young in the spring. But Dorion, in his book upon Fish, says that the hippurus is also called the coryphæna. But Icesius calls it the hippuris; and Epicharmus also mentions them in his Hebe's Wedding, saying—

The sharp-nosed needle-fish,
And the hippurus, and bright chrysophrys.

But Numenius, in his treatise on the Art of Fishing, speaking of the nature of the fish, says that it keeps continually leaping out of the water; on which account it is also called the Tumbler. And he uses the following expressions about it:—

Or the great synodons, or tumbler hippurus.

Th' hippurus of Carystus is the best,
And indeed all Carystian fish are good.

69. There is another fish called the horse; and perhaps it is the same which Epicharmus calls the hippidion, or little horse, when he says—

The coracinus colour'd like a crow,
Fat, well-fed fish; the smooth hippidion,
The phycæ, and the tender squill . . .

The char, the mighty tench of size enormous,
The channus, and the eel; and he who roves
By night, the wary pitynus; the mussel,
The horse-fish, or the sea-green corydulis.

The hyca, or the horse-fish, or the one
Which they do call the thrush.

70. There is a fish, too, called the ioulis, concerning which Dorion says, in his treatise on Fishes, "Recollect that if you boil the ioulis, you must do it in brine; and if you roast them, you must roast them with marjoram." And Numenius says—

And ne'er neglect the medicine which keeps off
To a great degree the greedy fish ioulis,
And scolopendrus that doth poison dart.

But the same writer calls them ioulus, and the entrails of the earth, in the following lines:—

Moreover do not then the bait forget,
Which on the highest hills that fringe the shore
Shall soon be found. And they are called iouli,
Black, eating earth—the entrails of the earth;
Or the long-footed grasshopper, what time
The sandy rocks are sprinkled with the foam
Of the high-rising tide. Then dig them up,
And stow them carefully within your bag.

71. There are also fish called κίχλη, the sea-thrush, and κόσσυφος, the sea-blackbird. The Attic writers call the first κίχλη, with an η; and the reason is as follows:—All the feminine nouns which end in λα have another λ before the λα; as Σκύλλα, σκίλλα, κόλλα, βδέλλα, ἅμιλλα, ἅμαλλα: but those which end in λη do not require a λ to precede the λη; as ὁμίχλη, φύτλη, γενέθλη, αἴγλη, τρώγλη, and, in like manner, τρίγλη. Cratinus says—

Suppose a man had eaten a red mullet (τρίγλην),
Would that alone prove him an epicure?

And Diocles, in the first book of his treatise on Wholesomes, says, "Those fish which are called rocky fish have tender flesh; such as the sea-blackbird, the sea-thrush, the perch, the tench, the phyca, the alphesticus." But Numenius says, in his treatise on Fishing—

[479] The sea-born race of grayling or of orphus,
The black-flesh'd blackbird, or the dainty sea-thrush
Sporting beneath the waves.

Bambradones, sea-thrushes, and sea-hares;
And the bold dragon fish.

And Aristotle, in his treatise on What concerns Animals, says, "And the fishes with black spots, like the sea-blackbird; and the fishes with variegated spots, like the sea-thrush." But Pancrates the Arcadian, in his Works of the Sea, says that the sea-thrush is called by many names:—

Add now to these the sea-thrush red, which they
Who seek to snare the wary fish with bait
Do call the saurus, and th' æolias,
Add too th' orphiscus with his large fat head.

The scarus or the thrush with many names.

72. There is also the sea-boar and the cremys. Aristotle, in his treatise on Animals, says, "But some fish have no teeth and smooth skins, like the needle-fish; and some have stony heads, like the cremys; and some are harsher, with rough skins, like the sea-boar; and some are marked down the back with two lines, like the seserinus; and some are marked with many lines and with red spots, like the salpe." And both Dorion and Epænatus mention the sea-boar; and Archestratus says—

But when you go to Acta's favour'd land,
If you by chance should see a rich sea-boar,
Buy it at once, and let it not escape you,
Not if you buy it at its weight in gold;
Else will the indignation of the gods
O'erpower you; for 'tis the flower of nectar.
But 'tis not all men who can be allow'd
To eat this dainty, no, nor e'en to see it;
Unless they take a strongly-woven mesh
Of marsh-bred rush, and hold it in their hands,
Well used to ply the floats with rapid mind.
And with these dainties you must offer up,
Thrown on the ground, some gifts of lamb and mutton.

73. There is also the harp-fish. Aristotle, in his treatise on Animals, or on Fish, says, "The harp-fish has serrated teeth, is a fish of solitary habits, he lives on seaweed; he has a [480]very loose tongue, and a white and broad heart." Pherecrates, in his Slave-Tutor, says—

The harp-fish is a good fish; be you sure
To buy him when you can. He really is good;
But, I by Phœbus swear, this does perplex me
Exceedingly which men do say, my friend,
That there is secret harm within this harp-fish.

There were hyænides,
And fine buglossi, and the harp-fish too.

And Apollodorus has said that, on account of his name, he was considered to be sacred to Apollo. And Callias, or Diocles, whichever was the author of the play, says in the Cyclops—

A roasted harp-fish, and a ray,
And the head of a well-fed tunny.

I counsel you always to boil a harp-fish
If he is white and full of firmish meat;
But if he's red and also no great size,
Then it were best, when you have prick'd him o'er
With a new sharpen'd knife, to roast him gently.
Sprinkle him then with oil and plenteous cheese,
For he does like to see men liberal,
And is himself intemperate.

74. There is also the cordylus. Aristotle calls this fish an amphibious animal, and says that it dies if it is dried by the sun. But Numenius, in his book on the Art of Fishing, calls it the courylus:—

All things are ready. First I strip the thighs
Of courylus, or pirene, and treat too
In the same way the marine grasshopper.

Mussels, sea-horses, or the sea-green cordylis.

75. There is also a fish called cammorus. Epicharmus, in his Marriage of Hebe, says—

Then after this there are boaces and
Smarides, anchovies, also cammori.

And Sophron, in his Female Farces, mentions them. But they are a species of squill, and this name was given them by the Romans.

76. There is also a fish called the carcharias. Numenius of Heraclea, in his Art of Fishing, says—

[481] At times you may too a carcharias catch,
At times a psamathis who loves the surf.

And Sophron, in his Tunny-hunter, says, "But if your stomach happens to have swallowed a carcharias." But Nicander the Colophonian, in his essay on Dialects, says that the carcharias is also called the lamias and the squill.

77. There is also the cestreus. Icesius says, "Of the fish which are called by one general name of leucisci there are many sorts; for some are called cephali, and some cestres, and some chellones, and some myxini. But the cephali are the best both in flavour and juiciness; the next to them are those called the cestres; the myxini are inferior to either. But the worst of all are the chellones, which are called bacchi; and they are all full of wholesome juice, not very nutritious, but very digestible." And Dorion, in his essay on Fish, mentions the sea cestreus, but does not approve of the river one. And the sea cestreus he subdivides into two species—the cephalus and the nestis. But the cestreus, which is like the sea-urchin about the head, he calls sphondylus. And he says "that the cephalinus differs from the cephalus, and that this last is also called the blepsias." But Aristotle says, in the fifth book of his treatise on the Parts of Animals, "But of the different kinds of cestreus, the chellones begin to be pregnant in the month Poseideon; so does the sargus and the fish called the myxus; and so does the cephalus: and they go thirty days with young. But some of the cestres are not generated by copulation, but are produced by the slime and the sand."

And in other places Aristotle says, "The cestreus is a fish with serrated teeth, but he does not eat other fishes; and, indeed, he is in no respect carnivorous. But of these fish there are several kinds—the cephalus, the chellon, and the pheræus. And the chellon feeds close to land, but the pheræus does not; and they use the following food—the pheræus uses the mucus which proceeds from itself, and the chellon eats slime and sand. It is said, also, that the spawn of the cestreus is not eaten by any other fish, just as the cestreus also eats no other fish." But Euthydemus the Athenian, in his treatise on Cured Fish, says that the spheneus and the dactyleus are both different species of cestres; and also that there is a species which are called cephali, because they have very large heads. And those which are called spheneus,[481:1] are called so because [482]they are thin and four-cornered; and the dactyleis are not so thick as two fingers. But the most excellent of the cestres are those which are caught near Abdera, as Archestratus has told us; and the second-best are those which come from Sinope.

78. But the cestres are called by some writers plotes, as Polemo says, in his treatise on the Rivers in Sicily. And Epicharmus, in his Muses, gives them this name—

Æolians, and plotes, and cynoglossi.
There also were sciathides.

And Aristotle, in his treatise on the Dispositions and Way of Living of Animals, says that "the cestres live even if they are deprived of their tails. But the cestreus is eaten by the pike, and the conger is eaten by the turbot." And there is an often-quoted proverb, "The cestreus is fasting," which is applied to men who live with strict regard to justice, because the cestreus is never carnivorous. Anaxilas, in his Morose Man, attacking Maton the Sophist for his gluttony, says—

Maton seized hold of a large cestreus' head,
And ate it all. But I am quite undone.

Buy if you can a cestreus which has come
From the sea-girt Ægina; then you shall
For well-bred men be fitting company.

The cestreus leaps for joy.

79. But that the nestes are a kind of cestreus, Archippus tells us, in his Hercules Marrying:—

Nestes cestres, cephali.

But all the other soldiers which you have
Are hungry (νήστεις) cestres.

So I a nestis cestreus now run home.

Midas then is a cestreus—see, he walks
Along the city fasting (νῆστις).

I bought me now a nestis cestreus roasted
Of no great size.

Is there within a colony of man cestres?
For that they all are νήστιδες you know.

He usually goes supperless about,
Like a cestrinus nestis.

Who has been drown'd 'tis now four days ago,
Leading the life of a sad nestis cestreus.

80. When all this had been said about this nice dish of fish, one of the cynics coming late in the evening said, "My friends, are we, too, keeping a fast, as if this were the middle day of the Thesmophoria, since we are now fasting like cestres? For, as Diphilus says, in his Lemnian Women—

These men have supp'd, but I, wretch that I am,
Shall be a cestreus through th' extreme of fasting.

But stand in order—

hungry band of cestres,
You who are fed, like geese, on vegetables.

For you shall not take a share of any of these things before either you, or your fellow-pupil Ulpian, tell me why the cestreus is the only fish which is called the faster. And Ulpian said,—It is because he never takes any living bait; and when he is caught, it is neither effected by any meat nor by any living animal; as Aristotle tells us, when he says "perhaps his being hungry makes him lazy;" and also that "when he is frightened he hides his head, as if by so doing he concealed his whole body." But Plato, in his Holidays, says—

As I was going out I met a fisherman,
And he was bringing me some cestres, and
He brought me all those worthless starving fish.

But do you tell me, O you Thessalian wrestler, Myrtilus! why it is that fish are called by the poets ἔλλοπες? And he said,—It is because they are voiceless; but some insist upon it that, by strict analogy, the word ought to be ἴλλοπες, because they are deprived of voice: for the verb ἴλλεσθαι [484]means to be deprived, and ὄψ means voice.[484:1] And are you ignorant of this, when you are an ἔλλοψ yourself? But I, as the wise Epicharmus says, when this dog makes me no answer,—

Am by myself enough well to reply
To what two men have lately said before me.

And I say that they are called ἔλλοπες from being covered with scales, [the word coming from the same root, and being equivalent to λεπιδωτός]. But I will tell you (though that is not a question which has been asked) why the Pythagoreans, who do touch other living creatures, though sparingly, and who allow themselves even to sacrifice some, absolutely abstain altogether from fish alone. Is it because of their silence? for they think silence a very divine quality. Since, then, you, O you Molossian dogs, are always silent, but are still not Pythagoreans, we will now go on to the rest of the discussion about fish.

81. There is a fish called the coracinus. The coracini, which are caught at sea, says Icesius, contain but little nourishment; but they are easily secreted, and have a moderate supply of good juice. But Aristotle, in the fifth book of his Parts of Animals, says that "it happens to nearly all fish to have a rapid growth, and this is the case, in no small degree, with the coracinus; and he lays his eggs close to the land, in places full of weeds and moss." But Speusippus, in the second book of his treatise on Similitudes, says that the black-tail and the coracinus are much alike. But Numenius, in his Treatise on the Art of Fishing, says—

It easily would attract the spotted coracinus.

And perhaps the æoliæ mentioned by Epicharmus, in his Muses, may be the same as coracini. For Epicharmus says—

Æoliæ, plotes, cynoglossi too.

But, in his Hebe's Marriage, he speaks of the æoliæ as a different fish; for he says—

There there were mussels, and the alphastic fish,
And coracini like to coriander seed,
Æoliæ, plotes too, and the cynoglossi.

But Euthydemus, in his essay on Cured Fish, says that the coracinus is by many people called the saperda. And [485]Heracleon the Ephesian has said much the same thing; and so has Philotimus, in his Cookery Book. But that the saperdas and the coracinus are both called the platistacus is affirmed by Parmeno the Rhodian, in the first book of his Culinary Doctrine. But Aristophanes, in his Telmessians, uses the expression "black-finned coracini."

Pherecrates also uses the word in its diminutive form, in his Forgetful Man, where he says—

Being with your κορακινίδια and μαινίδια.

Whoever eats a sea-born coracinus
When he may have a grayling, is a fool.

But the coracini of the Nile are very sweet and delicious in their flesh, as those who have tried them know; and they have got their name from continually moving their eyes (διὰ τὸ τὰς κόρας κινεῖν), and never ceasing. But the Alexandrians call them plataces, which is, more correctly speaking, the name of the whole genus.

82. There is also a fish called the cyprinus, or carp. He also, as Aristotle tells us, is a carnivorous and gregarious fish; and he has his tongue, not in the lower part of the mouth, but in the upper part. But Dorion, mentioning him in his list among the lake and river fish, writes thus: "A scaly fish, whom some people call the cyprinus."

83. There is also the tench. "The tench is very juicy," as Icesius says, "exceedingly attractive to the palate, very easily secreted, not very nutritious, nor is the juice which they give very wholesome. But, in delicacy of flavour, the white kind is superior to the black. But the flesh of the green tench is more dry, and devoid of fat; and they give a much smaller quantity of juice, and what they do give is thinner. Still they are more nutritious, on account of their size." Diocles says that those which are found in rocky situations are very tender. But Numenius, in his treatise on Fishing, calls them, not κώβιοι, but κῶθοι.

A char or tench (κῶθος) of mighty size and bold.

And Sophron, in his Countryman, speaks of "The cothons, who bathe in mud;" and perhaps it was from the name of this fish that he called the son of his Tunny-catcher, in the play, Cothonias. But it is the Sicilians who call the tench κώθων, as Nicander the Colophonian tells us, in his book on [486]Dialects; and Apollodorus confirms the statement, in his treatise on the Modest and Temperate Man. But Epicharmus, in his Hebe's Marriage, names the tench, calling it κώβιος:—

The turtle with their sting behind, and then the tender tench.

And Antiphanes, in his Timon, praising the tench, tells us in what places they are to be found in the greatest perfection, in these lines:—

I come, but I have been to great expense
In buying viands for this marriage feast.
I've bought a pennyworth of frankincense
To offer to the gods and all the goddesses,
And to the heroes I will offer cakes.
But when I bid that rascally house-breaking
Seller of fish to add a dainty dish,
"I'll throw you in," says he, "the borough itself,
For they are all Phalericans." The rest
I do believe were selling our Otrynicans.[486:1]

And the beauteous cuckoos
Which we split in twain,
Then we roast and season them,
And then with pleasure eat them.

And Dorion says that one ought to roast them, first having split them down the back; and, having seasoned them with herbs, and cheese, and spice, and assafœtida, and oil, then one ought to turn them round, and oil them on the other side, and then to sprinkle them with a little salt; and, when one has taken them from the fire, to moisten them with vinegar. But Numenius gives it the epithet of red, from the facts of the case, saying—

Eating sometimes the cuckoo red, sometimes
A few pempherides, or else a lizard.

85. There is also a fish called the carcharias (or [487]sharp-toothed dog). And Archestratus, whom we may call the Hesiod or Theognis of Epicures, speaks of this fish; for Theognis himself was not indifferent to luxury, as he admits, speaking of himself in these words:—

But when the sun, driving his coursers fleet
With solid hoofs along the heavenly road,
Guides them at mid-day in the centre path,
Then let us eat whate'er our heart may prompt,
And gratify our appetite with dainties.
Then let a Spartan maid with rosy hands,
Bring water, and fresh garlands for our brows.

Nor indeed was that wise man indifferent to the charms of boys; at all events, he speaks thus on the subject:—

O Academus, would you now but sing
A tuneful hymn, while in the midst should stand
A beauteous boy, in flower of his youth,
A prize for you and me to combat for,
Then you should know how far the mule excels the ass.

And Archestratus, in these beautiful suggestions of his, exhorts his friends in this way—

In fair Torone's town 'tis best to cook
The hollow entrails of the sharp-tooth'd dog.
Then strew the fish with cummin, sparing be
Of salt, then roast him, and add nothing else
Saving some sea-green oil. Then when 'tis done,
Serve him up with some little seasoning.
And if you boil a part of it within
The hollow of some flat dish, then add
No water, add no wine-made vinegar,
But pour on oil alone, and cummin dry,
And add what fragrant herbs the garden gives.
Then put the saucepan on the ashes hot,
And boil it; let no flame too quickly burn,
And stir it often lest the meat should catch,
And spoil your dinner so, before you know it.
'Tis but few mortals know this wondrous food;
And those who have thick stupid heavy souls,
Refuse to taste it, but are all alarm'd,
Because they say this dog's a cannibal,
And feeds on human flesh. But there is not
A fish that swims which does not like man's flesh
If he can only chance to come across it.

There is a part of this fish which the Romans call thursio, and which is very delicious, and much sought for as an article of luxury.

86. There is also the pike. These, as Aristotle reports, are a solitary and carnivorous fish; and they have a bony [488]tongue, adhering to the mouth, and a triangular heart. But, in the fifth book of his Parts of Animals, he says that they bring forth their young, like the cestres and chrysophryes do, chiefly in those places where rivers fall into the sea; and they bring forth in winter, and they also bring forth twice in the season. But Icesius says that the pike is very juicy, and not very nutritious; and that it is also not very easily secreted; but for delicacy of flavour it is accounted the very first of fish. And this fish has his name, λάβραξ, from his voracity λαβρότης. It is said, also, that in shrewdness he is superior to other fish, being very ingenious at devising means to save himself; on which account, Aristophanes the comic poet says—

The pike, the wisest of all fish that swim.

And Alcæus the lyric poet says that he swims very high in the water. But the wise Archestratus says—

Take the large cestris cephalus from Gæson,
When you do come to fair Miletus' city.
Take too the pike, the offspring of the gods.
For in those waters both these fish are best.
Such is the natural character of the place.
But there are many places where they grow
More fat and large; in famous Calydon,
And in the opulent Ambracia,
And at the Bolbe lake; but there they want
The fragrant fat which here surrounds their belly;
Nor have they such a pungent taste, my friend.
Those which I speak of are most admirable.
Take them and roast them without scaling them,
Soften with salt, and serve them up with brine.
And let no Syracusan, no Italian
Break in upon you while you dress this dish:
For they have no idea of dressing fish,
But spoil them all by seasoning them with cheese,
By sprinkling them with too much vinegar,
And strongly scented assafœtida.
They are good cooks enough to dress the vile
Fish which they take while clinging to the rocks;
And there are many kinds of season'd dishes
Which they can dress quite well enough; but they
Have no idea of dressing good fish plain.

87. And Aristophanes, in his Knights, speaks of the pike taken in the neighbourhood of Miletus as surpassingly good, when he speaks thus:—

But you shall not disturb me thus
Feasting on Milesian pike.

He would not buy a pike's head, nor a locust:

speaking because the brain of the pike is a great delicacy, as is also that of the sea-grayling. And Eubulus, in his Muses, says—

Do not be too expensive, still not mean,
Whate'er you do; not for decency's sake.
Get some small cuttle-fish, or squids, some nestis,
Some small fry of the polypus, some tripe,
And beestings and black-puddings; get besides
A noble head of the Milesian pike.

But the Gæson, which is mentioned by Archestratus, means the lake Gæsonis, which is between Priene and Miletus, connected with the sea, as Neanthes of Cyzicus tells us, in the sixth hook of his Hellenics. But Ephorus, in his fifth book, says that the Gæson is a river near Priene, which flows into the lake Gæsonis. And Archippus, in his Fishes, mentioning the pike, says—

Hermes th' Egyptian is the greatest rogue
Of all the fishmongers; he skins by force
The sharks and rhinès, and takes out the entrails
Of the Milesian pikes, before he sells them.

88. There is also a fish called the latus; and Archestratus says that the best fish of this kind is that which is taken off the coast of Italy, and he speaks thus concerning them:—

Near the well-treed Italia's verdant shores,
Fierce Scylla's strait the famous latus breeds,
Most marvellous of dainties.

But the lati which are found in the river Nile grow to such a size that they weigh more than two hundred pounds; and this fish is exceedingly white, and very delicious, dress it in whatever way you choose. And it is like the fish called the glanis, which is found in the Danube. The Nile produces also many other kinds of fish, and they are all very delicious; but especially does it produce all the different coracini (for there are many different kinds of this fish). It also produces the fish called the mæotes, which are mentioned by Archippus, in his Fishes, in these words:—

Mæotæ, and saperdæ, likewise glanides.

And this fish is found in great numbers in Pontus; and they derive their name from the Palus Mæotis. But the following, as far as I can recollect, from having been a long time absent [490]from the country, are the names of the chief fish found in the Nile. The sweetest of all is the ray; then there is the sea-pig, the snub-nose, the phagrus, the oxyrhynchus, the allabes, the silurus, the synodontis, the elecoris, the eel, the thrissa, the abramis, the blind-fish, the scaly-fish, the bellows-fish, and the cestreus. And there are also a great number of others.

89. There is also a kind of shark, called the leiobatus, whose other name is the rhinè; and he is a white-fleshed fish, as Epænetus tells us in his Cookery Book. Plato says, in his Sophists—

The galeus, the leiobatus, the eel.

90. There is also the lamprey. Theophrastus, in the fifth book of his treatise on those Animals which can live on dry Land, says that the eel and the lamprey can exist for a long time out of the water, because they have very small gills, and so receive but very little moisture into their system. But Icesius affirms that they are not less nutritious than the eel, nor even, perhaps, than the conger. And Aristotle, in his treatise on the Parts of Animals, says that from the time that they are little they grow very rapidly, and that they have sharp serrated teeth; and that they keep on laying small-sized eggs every season of the year. But Epicharmus, in his Muses, calls them not σμύραινα, but μύραινα, without the σ; speaking in this way of them:—

No congers fat were wanting, and no lampreys (μύραιναι).

And Sophron, too, spells the word in the same manner. But Plato or Cantharus, in his Alliance, spells the word with the σ, saying—

The ray, the lamprey (σμύραινα) too, is here.

Dorion, in his treatise on Fishes, says that the river lampreys have only one spine, like the kind of cod which is called gallarias. But Andreas, in his treatise on Poisonous Animals, says that those lampreys which are produced by a cross with the Viper have a poisonous bite, and that that kind is less round than the other, and is variegated. But Nicander, in his Theriacus, says—

That is a terrible deed the lamprey does,
When oft its teeth it gnashes and pursues
Th' unhappy fishermen, and drives them headlong
Out of their boats in haste, when issuing forth
From the deep hole in which it long has lain:
[491] If that the tale is true that it admits
The poisonous viper's love, when it deserts
Its pastures 'neath the sea, for food on land.

But Andreas, in his treatise on Things which are believed erroneously, says that it is quite a mistake to suppose that the lamprey ever breeds with the viper when it comes on marshy ground; for that vipers do not themselves feed in marshes, as they are fond rather of sandy and desert places. But Sostratus, in his books on Animals (and there are two books of his on this subject, and with this title), agrees with those who assert that the lamprey and the viper do breed together.

91. There is another kind of eel also, called the myrus. But the myrus, as Aristotle says, in the fifth book of his treatise on the Parts of Animals, differs from the lamprey; this latter being a variegated fish, and less powerful than the other; while the myrus is a fish of one uniform colour, and strong, and its whole colour is like that of the wryneck, and it has teeth both within and without. And Dorion says, that the myrus has no small bones running through its flesh, but that it is in every part eatable, and exceedingly soft; and that there are two kinds of it, for some are black, and some are of rather a fiery colour, but those which are dark are best. And Archestratus, the voluptuary philosopher says—

Between th' Italian and Sicilian shore,
Where the strait parts them with its narrow waves,
Whenever that most dainty fish is caught
Which men the lamprey call, be sure to buy it;
For in those waters 'tis the best of food.

92. There is a fish, too, called the mænis, or sprat; and Icesius says that they are more juicy than the tench, but that they are inferior in delicacy of flavour, and also in the extent to which they facilitate the secretions of the stomach. But Speusippus, in the second book of his treatise on Things similar to one another, says that both the boax and the smaris resemble the sprat; and these two fishes are mentioned by Epicharmus, in his Earth and Sea, in the following manner:—

When you see many boaces and smarides.

And Epænetus, in his Cookery Book, says, "The smaris, which some people call cynoseuna." But Antiphanes, in his Countryman, or Butalion, calls the sprats the food of Hecate, on [492]account of their diminutive size; and the following is the passage:—

There is also one kind which is called the leucomænis, or white sprat, which some people call the boax. Poliochus, in his Corinthiastes, says—

Let no man, in God's name I beg, persuade you,
Come when he will or whence, so to mistake
As to call leucomænides boaces.

93. There is also the melanurus, or black-tail; and concerning this fish Numenius says, in his Art of Fishing:—

The scorpion or melanurus black,
The guide and leader of the perch.

But Icesius says that he is very like the sargus, but that he is inferior to the latter in the quantity and quality of his juice, and also in delicacy of flavour; but that he is rather exciting food, and very nutritious. And Epicharmus mentions him in his Hebe's Marriage:—

There were sargini, there were melanuri.

Aristotle too, in his treatise on Animals, writes thus: "There are some fish which have barred or spotted tails, among which are the melanuri, and the sargi or sardine; and they have many lines on their skin, dark lines. But Speusippus affirms, in the second book of his treatise on Things similar to one another, that the fish called psyrus resembles the melanurus; but Numenius calls the psyrus, psorus, with an ο, saying—

The psorus, or the salpe, or the dragon-fish
Which haunts the shore.

94. There is also a fish called the mormyrus, a most nutritious fish, as Icesius says. But Epicharmus, in his Hebe's Marriage, calls it the myrmes, unless, at least, he means a different fish by this name. But his expression is—

The sea-swallow, the myrmes too,
And they are larger than the colias tunny.

But Dorion, in his book upon Fishes, calls them mormylus, with a λ. But Lynceus of Samos, in his treatise on the Art of buying Fish, which he addressed to some friend of his, who [493]was very difficult to please when making his purchases, says, "But it is not a useless plan, with reference to men who are obstinate, and who will not abate their price, when you are standing by to disparage their fish, quoting Archestratus (who wrote the book called The voluptuous Life), or some other poet, and repeating this verse:—

The mormyrus that haunts the pebbly shore,
Is a bad, good-for-nothing, worthless fish.

Buy an amia in the autumn . . . .

'But now 'tis spring.' And again you may proceed, if it should be the proper season—

How good the cestreus is when winter comes.

'But now,' you will say, 'it is summer.' And you will go on in this way for some time; and in this way you will drive away a good many of those who are standing about, and who might become purchasers. So when you have done this, you will by this means compel the man to take whatever price you choose to give."

A boil'd torpedo is delicious food.

But Plato the Philosopher says, in the Meno, "You seem very much to resemble the sea-torpedo; for that fish causes any one who comes near it to become torpid." And an allusion to the name occurs also in Homer, where he says—

His hand was torpid (νάρκησε) at the wrist.

A certain torpor (νάρκα) creeps o'er all my skin;

though no one of the ancient writers ever used this form of the word. But Icesius says that it is a fish without much nutriment or much juice in it, but that it has some cartilaginous sort of substance diffused all over it, very good for the stomach. And Theophrastus, in his book on Animals which live in Holes, says that the torpedo works its way underground because of the cold. But in his treatise on Poisonous Animals, and on Animals which sting, he says that the torpedo can send the power which proceeds from it through wood, and through harpoons, so as to produce torpor in those [494]who have them in their hands. But Clearchus the Solensian has explained the cause of this in his treatise on Torpor; but, since his explanation is rather a long one, I do not recollect his exact words, but will refer you to the treatise itself.

But the torpedo, says Aristotle, is one of the cartilaginous and viviparous fish; and, to provide itself with food, it hunts after little fish, touching them, and causing them all to become torpid and motionless. And Diphilus of Laodicea, in his essay on the Theriaca of Nicander, says that it is not every part of the animal which produces this torpor, but only some particular parts of it; and he says that he has arrived at this fact by a long series of experiments. But Archestratus speaks of—

A boil'd torpedo done in oil and wine,
And fragrant herbs, and some thin grated cheese.

I counsel you to season well and stuff
Torpedos whole, and then to roast them thoroughly.

Then I took a torpedo, calculating
If my wife touch'd it with her tender fingers
That they would get no hurt from its backbone.

96. There is also the sword-fish. Aristotle says that this fish has its lower jaw short, but its upper one bony, long, and in fact as large as all the rest of the body of the fish; and this upper jaw is what is called the sword; but that this fish has no teeth. And Archestratus says—

But take a slice of sword-fish when you go
To fair Byzantium, and take the vertebræ
Which bend his tail. He's a delicious fish,
Both there and where the sharp Pelorian cape
Juts out towards the sea.

Now, who is then so great a general, or so great a critic in dishes and banquets, as this poet from Gela [494:1] (or, I should rather say, from Catagela), who, for the sake of his epicurism, sailed through those straits; and who also, for the sake of the same epicurism, investigated the different qualities and juices of each separate part of every fish, as if he had been laying the foundation of some science which was useful to human life?

[495] 97. There is also a fish called the orphos (ὄρφως); but the word is also spelt with an ο (ὄρφος), as Pamphilus tells us. But Aristotle, in the fifth book of his Parts of Animals, where he says that the growth of most fish is very rapid, says, "The orphos also grows to a large fish from a little one with great rapidity; but he is a carnivorous fish, with serrated teeth, and of a solitary disposition. And there is this peculiarity in him, that it cannot be ascertained what means he has of propagating his species, and that he can live a long time after he has been cut in pieces. He is also one of those fish which bury themselves in holes during the winter season, and he is fond of keeping close to the land, rather than of going into the deep sea; but he does not live more than two years. And Numenius, speaking of this fish, says—

Now with such baits as these it is not hard
To draw the lengthy scorpion from his bed,
Or the rough orphus: for they're easily caught.

The grayling, or the sea-born race of orphi,
Or the dark flesh'd sea-blackbird.

But Dorion says that the young orphus is called by some the orphacines. And Archippus says, in his Fishes,—

The orphus came to them, the priest o' the god.

A hot slice of the newly taken orphus.

For he has brought you here, old dame, to dwell,
A rotten food for orphi and for phagri,
And other gristly boneless fish around.

If a man be inclined to purchase orphi,
And likes to leave alone the membrades.

Now this word ὀρφὼς, in the nominative case singular, is accented with an acute on the ultima by the Attic writers; so Archippus writes the word, in his Fishes, in the lines which I have already quoted; and Cratinus also, in his Ulysses, as I have above quoted it, writes—

τέμαχος ὀρφὼ χλιαρόν.

98. There is also a fish called orcynus. Dorion, in his treatise on Fishes, says that the orcyni come from the sea near the Pillars of Hercules to the waters on our coasts; on [496]which account, a great number are taken in the Iberian and Tyrrhenian seas; and that from thence they are dispersed over the rest of the sea. But Icesius says that those which are caught near Cadiz are the fattest, and next to them those which are taken near Sicily. But that those which are taken at any great distance from the Pillars of Hercules have very little fat on them, because they have swum a very great distance. Accordingly, at Cadiz, it is only the shoulders by themselves which are dried and cured; as also it is only the jaws and palate of the sturgeon, and that part which is called the melandryas, which is cured. But Icesius says that the entrails are very rich, and very different in flavour from the other parts; and that the parts about the shoulders are superior even to these.

99. There is also the cod and the hake. The cod, says Aristotle, in his work on Living Animals, has a large wide mouth like the shark, and he is not a gregarious fish; and he is the only fish which has his heart in his stomach, and in his brain he has stones like millstones. And he is the only fish who buries himself in a hole in the hot weather, when the Dog-star rages; for all others take to their holes in the winter season. And these fish are mentioned by Epicharmus, in his Hebe's Wedding:—

And there are channæ with their large wide mouths,
And cod with their huge bellies.

But the cod is different from the hake, as Dorion tells us, in his work upon Fish, where he writes thus: "The ὄνος (cod), which some call γάδος." There is also the gallerides, which some call a hake, and some a maxinus. But Euthydemus, in his work on Cured Fish, says, "Some call this fish the bacchus, and some call it the gelaria, and some call it the hake." But Archestratus says—

Anthedon's famous for its cod, which some
Do call gallerias; there its size is great,
But the flesh spongy, and in many respects
I do not think it good, though others praise it.
But this man likes one thing, and that another.

100. There is the polypus, declined πολύπους, πολύποδος; at least this is the way the Attic writers use the word, and so does Homer:—

As when a polypus (πουλύποδος in the genitive) is dragged from out his lair:

[497] keeping the analogy to the noun ποὺς, from which it is derived. But in the accusative case we find the form πολύπουν, just as we find Ἀλκίνουν and Οἰδίπουν. Æschylus, too, has the form τρίπουν, as an epithet of a caldron, in his Athamas, from ποὺς, as if it were a simple noun like νοῦς. But the form πώλυπος is Æolic. For the Attics always say πολύπους. Aristophanes, in his Dædalus, says—

When then I had this polypus (πουλύπους) and cuttle-fish.

He put before me a polypus (πουλύπουν).

They are the blows of a polypus press'd tight.

The man's a fool and has the mind of a polypus (πουλύποδος).

I want, it seems, a heap of polypi (πουλύπων).

First of all you like the polypodes (τοὺς πουλύποδας).

I myself eat like any polypus (πουλύπους).

But others use the accusative case πολύποδα, in strict analogy with ποὺς, ποδὸς, ποδὶ, πόδα. Eupolis, in his Demi, has—

The man's a fellow-citizen of mine,
A very polypus in disposition.

101. Diocles, in the first book of his treatise on Wholesome Things, says—"The molluscous fish are calculated to give pleasure, and to excite the amorous propensities; especially the polypi (οἱ πολύποδες)." And Aristotle relates that the polypus has eight feet, of which the two highest and the two lowest are the smallest, and those in the middle are the largest; and they have also two feelers, with which they bring their food to their mouth. And they have their eyes placed above their two upper feet; and their mouth and teeth are between their feet. And when the polypus is dissected, he has a brain divided into two parts; and what is called his ink is not black, like the cuttle-fish, but of a reddish colour, in that part of him which is called the poppy; but the poppy lies above the stomach, like a bladder: and it has no intestines, like other fish. But for food it uses at times the flesh of small shell-fish, and casts the shells outside its body; by which the [498] hunters know where to find it. And it propagates its species by becoming intertwined with the female, and is a long time about it, because it is destitute of blood: and it ejects its young through the orifice which is called the spiracle, which is the only passage for its body; and it lays eggs in clusters, like bunches of grapes.

102. They say, also, that the polypus, when it is in want of food, will eat even itself. And among those who relate this fact is Pherecrates the comic poet; for he, in the play entitled The Countryman, says—

They live on green anthrysca, and on bracana,
And snails and slugs. And when they're very hungry,
Then, like the polypus, they e'en at night
Nibble their fingers.

A polypus with all his feelers
And limbs unhurt; whose wicked tooth
Has not devour'd himself, my friend,
Is ready for our supper.

But all this is a mistake; for the fact is, that he is pursued by the congers, and has his feet hurt in that manner. And it is said that if any one strews salt over his hole, he immediately comes out. It is also affirmed, that when he flies in alarm, he changes his colour, and becomes like the places in which he conceals himself. As also Theognis of Megara says, in his Elegies—

Remark the tricks of that most wary polypus,
Who always seems of the same colour and hue
As is the rock near which he lies.

And Clearchus makes a similar statement in the second book of his treatise on Proverbs, where he quotes the following lines, without saying from whose writings they come—

My son, my excellent Amphilochus,
Copy the shrewd device o' the polypus,
And make yourself as like as possible
To those whose land you chance to visit.

103. And the same Clearchus says that, in olden time, about Trœzen, it was considered impious to try to catch either the polypus, which was called sacred, or that one which was called the rower. And it was contrary to law to eat either that or the sea-tortoise. But the polypus is a fish very apt to decay, and also very stupid; for it goes towards the hand of the people who are pursuing it: and sometimes even [499]when it is pursued, it does not attempt to get out of the way. Their females waste away after laying their eggs, and get powerless; by reason of which they are easily taken. And sometimes they have been seen leaving the sea, and going on dry land, especially towards any rough or rugged ground; for they shun smooth places: and of all plants they especially delight in the olive, and they are often found embracing the trunk of an olive with their feelers. They have also been discovered clinging to such fig-trees as grow near the sea-shore, and eating the figs, as Clearchus tells us, in his treatise on those Animals which live in the Water. And this also is a proof that they are fond of the olive,—that if any one drops a branch of this tree down into the sea, in a place where there are polypi, and holds it there a little time, he without any trouble draws up as many polypi as he pleases, clinging to the branch. And all their other parts are exceedingly strong, but their neck is weak.

104. It is also said that the male has something corresponding to the parts of generation in one of his arms, in which there are his two large feelers; and that it is a limb full of nerves, sticking to the arm all along as far as the middle. But, in the fifth book of his treatise on the Parts of Animals, Aristotle says—"The polypus propagates his species in the winter, and brings forth in the spring; and it lies in its hole for about two months: and it is a very prolific animal. But the male differs from the female, both in having a longer head, and also in having what the fishermen call its parts of generation in one of its feelers. And when it brings forth, it sits on its eggs, on which account it is worse to eat at that season; and the polypus lays its eggs either in its bed, or in any potsherd, or hollow place or vessel of that sort. And after fifty days, the little polypi come forth out of the egg in immense numbers, like young spiders. But the female polypus sometimes sits upon the eggs, and sometimes clings to the mouth of the bed, holding on with one of its feelers." Theophrastus, in his treatise on those Animals which change their Colour, says that the polypus generally becomes like only to those places which are rocky, doing this both out of fear and for the sake of protecting itself. But, in his book on those Animals which live on dry Land, he says that the polypi are not fond of sea-water. But, in his treatise on those Things which are different according to the Differences of their [500]Situation, Theophrastus says that there are no polypi about the Hellespont; for that sea is cold, and not very salt, and that both these circumstances are unfavourable to the polypus.

105. "But the fish called the nautilus," says Aristotle, "is not a polypus, though it resembles a polypus in its feelers. And the back of the nautilus is covered with a shell; and it rises up out of the bottom of the sea, having its shell upon its back, in order that it may not catch the water. But when it has turned round, then it sails on, putting up two of its feelers, which have a thin membrane growing between them, just as the feet of some birds are which have a membrane of skin between their toes. And their other two feelers they let down into the sea, instead of rudders; but when they see anything coming towards them, then out of fear they draw in those feet, and fill themselves with salt water, and so descend to the bottom as rapidly as possible." But, in his treatise on Animals and Fishes, he says—"Of the polypi there are two sorts; one, that which changes its colour, the other the nautilus."

106. Now, on this nautilus there is an epigram quoted of Callimachus of Cyrene, which runs thus:—

I was a shell, O Venus Zephyritis,[500:1]
Now I'm the pious offering of Selena,
The gentle nautilus. When balmy winds
Breathe soft along the sea, I hold my course,
Stretching my sails on their congenial yards.
Should calm, the placid goddess, still the waves,
I row myself along with nimble feet,
So that my name suits rightly with my acts.
Now have I fallen on the Iulian shore,
To be a pleasant sport to Arsinoe.
No more shall Halcyons' dew-besprinkled eggs,
My dainty meal, lie thick within my bed
As formerly they did, since here I lie.
But give to Cleinias's daughter worthy thanks;
For she does shape her conduct honestly,
And from Æolian Smyrna doth she come.

Posidippus also wrote this epigram on the same Venus which is worshipped in Zephyrium:—

Oh, all ye men who traffic on the streams,
Or on the land who hold a safer way,
[501] Worship this shrine of Philadelphus' wife,
Venus Arsinoe, whom Callicrates,
The naval leader, first did firmly place
On this most beautiful Zephyrian shore.
And she will on your pious voyage smile,
And amid storms will for her votaries
Smooth the vex'd surface of the wide-spread sea.

I hate the colour-changing polypus,
Clinging with bloodless feelers to the rocks.

107. Now the different species of polypus are these: the eledone, the polypodine, the bolbotine, the osmylus; as both Aristotle and Speusippus teach us. But, in his book on Animals and their Properties, Aristotle says that the polypus, the osmylus, the eledone, the cuttle-fish, and the squid, are all molluscous. Epicharmus, in his Hebe's Wedding, says—

A polypus, a cuttle-fish, and quickly-moving squid,
A foul-smelling bolbitine, and chattering old woman.

The Carian and the Thasian polypi
Are far the best; Corcyra too can breed
Fish of large size and very numerous.

But the Dorians spell the word with an ω, πωλύπους; as, for instance, Epicharmus. Simonides too has the expression, πώλυπον διζήμενος. But the Attics spell the word πολύπους, with an ο: and it is a cartilaginous fish; for χονδρώδης and σελαχώδης have the same meaning;—

The polypodes and the dog-shark.

Moreover, all the fish belonging to the species of the cuttle-fish are called molluscous. But the whole tribe of . . . . . is cartilaginous.

108. There is also a fish called the pagurus; and it is mentioned by Timocles or Xenarchus, in his Purple, thus—

But I, as being a skilful fisherman,
Have carefully devised all sorts of arts
To catch those vile paguri, enemies
To all the gods and all the little fishes.
And shall I not without delay beguile
An old buglossus? That would be well done.

109. There is also the pelamys. Phrynichus mentions it in his Muses; and Aristotle, in the fifth book of his treatise on the Parts of Animals, says the pelamydes and the tunnies [502]breed in the Black Sea, but not anywhere else. Sophocles also mentions them, in his Shepherds:—

There, too, the foreign pelamys does winter,
The stranger from the Hellespont. For she
Doth come with many of her kind in summer
To these cool waters of the Bosphorus.

110. Then there is the perch. He also is mentioned by Diocles; and Speusippus, in the second book of his treatise on Things Resembling one another, says that the perch, the canna, and the phycis are all nearly alike. And Epicharmus says:—

The comaris, the sea-dog, and the cestra
And variegated perch.

At one time perch, and at another strophades,
Which keep around the rocks. The phycis too,
Th' alphestes, and the red-flesh'd scorpion.

There is also the phycis. This also is mentioned by Epicharmus, in his Hebe's Wedding; and by Speusippus, in the second book of his treatise on Things Resembling one another; and by Numenius: all whose testimonies are at hand. Aristotle, in his book upon Animals and their Properties, says that the phycis is surrounded with prickles and spotted. But the perch is marked with lines, and with bars running in an oblique direction. And there is a proverb also, "The perch follows the black-tail."

111. We have also the needle-fish. This also is mentioned by Epicharmus, who says—

The oxyrhynchi, and the needle-fish,
And the hippuri.

But Dorion, in his work on Fish, says—"The belone, which they also call the needle-fish." Aristotle too, in the fifth book of his Parts of Animals, calls this fish the belone. But, in his book on Animals and their Properties, or else in his work on Fishes, he calls it the needle-fish; and says that it has no teeth. And Speusippus calls it the belone.

112. There is also the rhinè. Dorion, in his book on Fishes, says that the rhinès are best at Smyrna; and that all the cartilaginous fish are especially good in the gulf of Smyrna. And Archestratus says—

And the far-famed Miletus does produce
All cartilaginous fish in high perfection,
[503] But first of all one ought to take account
Both of the rhina and leiobatus,
Known for his spacious back. Still before all
Give me a roasted crocodile to eat,
Fresh from the oven, a most dainty dish
For all the children of Ionia.

113. There is next the scarus, or char. Aristotle says that this fish has serrated teeth, and is a solitary fish, and carnivorous; and that it has a small mouth, and a tongue which does not adhere closely to the mouth, and a triangular heart of a whitish colour and with three lobes; and that its gall and spleen are black, and that of its gills one is double and one single; and that it alone of all fish chews the cud. And that it delights in seaweed for food, on which account the fishermen use seaweed as a bait to catch it with. And it is in season in the summer. And Epicharmus, in his Hebe's Wedding, says—

We fish for spari, and for scari too,
Whose very dung may not be thrown away.

But Seleucus of Tarsus, in his treatise on Fishing, says that the scarus is the only fish which never sleeps; by reason of which it is not easily caught, even by night. But this may be the case on account of its timid nature. And Archestratus says, in his Gastronomy,—

Seek now a scarus, fresh from Ephesus,
And in the winter season eat a mullet
Caught in the waves of sandy Teichioussa,
A village of Miletus, near the Carians,
The crooked-footed Carians.

Wash and then roast the mighty scarus which
Comes from the sea that laves Chalcedon's walls:
That too is good which near Byzantium swims,
With back as broad as a large oval shield.
Take him and cook him whole as I shall tell you.
Sprinkle him o'er with oil and grated cheese,
Then place him in the oven hanging up,
So as to escape the bottom, and then roast him,
And sprinkle him with salt and cummin seed
Well mix'd together; and again with oil,
Pouring out of your hand the holy stream.

Nicander of Thyatira says that there are two kinds of scari; and that one is called the onias, and the other the æolus.

[504] 114. Then there is the sparus. Icesius says that this is a more juicy fish than the sprat, and more nutritious than most other fish. And Epicharmus says, in his Hebe's Wedding,—

Neptune then arrives himself
Laden with most beauteous nets
In the boats of fair Phœnicia,
Then we all do spari catch,
And scari too, that sacred fish,
Whose very dung may not be thrown away.

The sparus or the hycas fond of company.

115. There is also the scorpion. Diocles, in the first book of his treatise on Wholesome Things, addressed to Plistarchus, says—"Of fresh fish, the following have drier meat: the scorpions, the sea-cuckoo, the sea-sparrow, the sargi, and the rough-tail. But the mullet is not so dry as these are; for all fish which keep near the rocks have softer flesh." And Icesius says—"There are two kinds of scorpion; one of which lives in the sea, and the other in marshes. And the one which lives in the sea is red, but the other is rather black. But the sea-mullet is superior to the other, both in taste and in nutritious qualities. But the scorpions have purging qualities, are easy of secretion, very juicy, and very nutritious; for they are a cartilaginous fish." The scorpion brings forth its young twice a-year, as Aristotle tells us, in the fifth book of his Parts of Animals. But Numenius says, in his treatise on Fishing,—

The phycides, the alphestes, and besides
The red-flesh'd scorpion, and the black-tail quick,
Which guides the perch all through the stormy sea.

But that he is a fish which has the power of stinging, Aristotle tells us, in his book about Fishes or Animals. And Epicharmus, in his Muses, says that the scorpion is a variegated fish:—

The variegated scorpion, the grayling,
The fat and well-fed lizards.

The scorpion is a solitary fish, and feeds on seaweed. But, in the fifth book of his Parts of Animals, Aristotle speaks of scorpions and scorpides in different places; but it is uncertain whether he means the same fish; because we ourselves have often eaten the scorpæna and the scorpion, and there is no [505]one who does not know that both their juice and their meat are quite different. But Archestratus, that skilful cook, in his Golden Words, tells us—

When you're at Thasos buy a scorpion,
But let him not be longer than one cubit;
Avoid the larger sizes.

116. Then there is the scombrus, or tunny, which is mentioned by this name by Aristophanes, in his Gerytades. Icesius says that that species of tunny called scombrus is smaller in size, but more nutritious, than the species called colias; and also more juicy, though not more easily digested. Epicharmus, in his Hebe's Wedding, mentions them thus:—

Sea-swallows, and mormyri, both of which
Are larger than the coliæ and the scombri,
But less than those whose name is thynnides.

117. The sargus is another fish. He (as Icesius tells us) is a fish of very exciting and astringent properties, and more nutritious than the melanurus, or blacktail. But Numenius, in his treatise on Fishing, says that the sargus is a very cunning fish as respects the catching him:—

The rich sea-blackbird, or the thrush who sports
Beneath the waves; the sargus too who rushes
Now here with sudden movement, and now there,
The greatest enemy to the fisher's nets.

And Aristotle, in the fifth book of his treatise on the Parts of Animals, says that the sargus brings forth its young twice in the year; once in the spring, and once in the autumn. And Epicharmus, in his Hebe's Wedding, says—

The sargus, and the chalcis, and the . . .

But he speaks of the sarginus, or sargus, as an excellent fish, in the following lines—

There the sarginus was, the melanurus,
And the dear tænia, thin but delicious.

And in a similar manner Dorion, in his treatise on Fishes, speaks, calling them sargini and chalcides, on this very account. But the wise Archestratus says—

Now when the bright Orion's star doth set,
And the fair mother of the vinous grape
Doth shed her hair, then take a roasted sargus,
Well sprinkled o'er with cheese, of mighty size,
Smoking, and soften'd with sharp vinegar.
For he is hard by nature. And remember
This is the way all hard fish should be cook'd.
[506] But those whose meat is good and soft by nature,
It is enough to sprinkle well with salt,
And lightly to anoint with oil. For they
Have virtue and delights within themselves.

The aon, and the phagrus, and the pike,
And the dung-eating, bloated, dirty salpe,
Which still have a sweet flavour in the summer.

And Aristotle, in the fifth book of his Parts of Animals, says that the salpe has young once a-year only, in the autumn; and that his skin is covered with numerous red lines. Moreover, he has serrated teeth, and is a solitary fish. And he says that it is stated by the fishermen that he may be caught with a cucumber, being very fond of that kind of food. And Archestratus says—

I always do account the fish call'd salpe
A worthless fish. But it is least tasteless
When the wheat ripens. And the choicest kinds
Are caught at Mitylene.

There is the salpe too, of the same size,
Which the seafaring fishermen do call
The ox, because he grinds within his teeth
The stout seaweed with which he fills his belly.

He also is a spotted or variegated fish; on which account his friends used to nickname Mnaseas the Locrian (or, as some call him, the Colophonian),—the man who wrote the poem called The Sports,—Salpe, on account of the variety of things in his collection. But Nymphodorus the Syracusan, in his Voyage round Asia, says that it was a Lesbian woman, named Salpe, who wrote the book called The Sports. But Alcimus, in his Affairs of Sicily, says that in Messene, in Sicily, there was a man named Botrys, who was the author of some "Sports" very like those which are attributed to Salpe. But Archippus uses the word in the masculine form, Salpes, saying—

The ceryx shouted out,
The salpes trumpeted and fetch'd seven obols.

And there is a similar fish produced in the Red Sea, which is called the stromateus; and it has gold-coloured lines running along the whole of his body, as Philo tells us, in his book on Mines.

[507] 119. There is also the synodon and the synagris. They also are mentioned by Epicharmus, when he says—

Synagrides, and mazi, and the synodons,
With red spots variegated.

And Numenius, in his treatise on Fishing, writes the word with an υ, συνόδους; and says—

Then the white synodon, and boax, and triccus.

Fish with these baits then, if you wish to eat
The mighty synodon, or diving horsetail.

But Dorion writes the word σινόδους, with an ι; and so does Archestratus, in the following lines:—

But try to catch a well-fed sinodon,
And you will find the best in narrow straits.
All this advice to Cyrus I have given,
And now to you, Cleænus, I impart it.

But who would eat an eel, or sinodon's head.

120. There is also the saurus, or lizard. Alexis mentions this fish, in his Leuce. It is a cook who is speaking:—

And Ephippus, in his Cydon, gives a list of many other fishes, and among them he mentions the lizard, in the following lines:—

Slices of tunny, and of glanis,
Of shark, and rhinè, and of conger,
Cephalus, perch, and lizard too,
And phycis, brinchus, also mullet,
Sea-cuckoo, phagrus, myllus, sparus,
Lebias, æolias, and sea-swallow,
Thritta, and squid, and cuttle-fish,
Sea-sparrow, and dracænides.
The polypus, the squid, and orphus,
The tench, th' anchovy, and the cestres,
And last of all the needle-fish.

Of fish with teeth serrated, you may eat
The grim torpedo, the sea-frog, the perch,
The lizard, and the trichias, and the phycis,
The brinchus, and the mullet, and sea-cuckoo.

[508] There is also the scepinus; and this fish is mentioned by Dorion, in his treatise on Fish; and he says that it is also called the attageinus, or sea-woodcock.

Æoliæ were there, and plotes too,
And cynoglossi and sciathides.

Use then this bait, and you perhaps may catch,
If such your wish, a mighty synodon,
Or the quick leaping hippurus, or the phagrus
Proud with his high-raised crest, or in a shoal
Of trusty comrades, the fresh sciadeus.

There is also the syagris; and this fish is mentioned by Epicharmus, in his Hebe's Wedding, and also in his Earth and Sea.

122. Then there is the sphuræna, or hammer-fish; and these fish, Icesius says, are more nutritious than the congers, but very unpleasant and unpalatable to the taste; and, as to their juicy qualities, they are tolerable. But Dorion says—"The sphuræna, which they call the cestra." And Epicharmus, in his Muses, having named the cestra, does not after that mention the sphuræna, thinking them the same fish—

The chalcides, the sea-dog, and the cestra,
And perch with variegated back.

And Sophron, in his Male Farces, says—"The cestræ, which eat the botis." But Speusippus, in the second book of his treatise on Things which resemble one another, puts down the cestra, the needle-fish, and the sea-lizard as very nearly like one another. And the Attic writers in general call the sphuræna the cestra, and do not so often use the name of sphuræna. Accordingly, Strattis, in his Macedonians, when some Athenian asks the question, as being ignorant of the name, and saying,

But what is the sphuræna?

You, O Athenians, do call it the cestra.

A. The sphuræna is a common fish.

B. You should say cestra, in strict Attic Greek.

The cestra and the pike.

The cestra and the variegated perch.

And when I have the cuttle-fish and polypus.

And the penultima of this word has the acute accent, like that in the word αἰτία, as Philemon tells us; like these words, παιδία, ταινία, οἰκία. But Aristotle says that the cuttle-fish has eight feet, of which the two lowest are the largest; and that it has two proboscises, and between them it has its eyes and mouth placed. And it has two teeth, one above and one below; and what is called a shell on its back. And the ink is contained in what is called the mutis, which answers to the liver; and it lies near its mouth, being something like a bladder. Its belly is wide and smooth, like the paunch of an ox. And the little cuttle-fish feed on small fish, extending their proboscises like fishermen's lines, and catching their prey with them. It is said, too, that when a storm comes, they seize hold of the rocks with their proboscises, as if they were anchors, and so fix themselves firm. And when the cuttle-fish is pursued, it discharges its ink, and is hidden in it, making it appear as if it were flying forwards. And it is also said, that when the female is struck by a harpoon, the male fish come to its assistance, dragging it on; but if the male fish be taken, the female fish flees away. But the cuttle-fish does not live more than a year, as neither does the polypus. But, in the fifth book of his Parts of Animals, Aristotle says—"The cuttle-fish and the squids swim together, being united together at the mouths, and also touching one another with their feelers, so as to join in that manner; and they also join proboscis to proboscis. But of all the molluscous fish, the cuttle-fish is the earliest in the spring to bring forth its young; and they do not bring forth at every season. But they go with young fifteen days; and when they lay their eggs, the male follows the female, and breathes upon the eggs and makes them firm. And they move in pairs; and the male is more variegated than the female, and blacker on the back."

The polypus, likewise the cuttle-fish,
And the swift-moving squid.

And we must also take notice of this, with reference to [510]Speusippus, who says that the cuttle-fish and the squid are the same fish. But when Hipponax, in his Iambics, uses the words σηπίης ὑπόσφαγμα, the interpreters have explained the expression as meaning "the ink of the cuttle-fish." But the word ὑπόσφαγμα is, properly speaking, equivalent, to ὑπότριμμα, a dish compounded of various ingredients, as Erasistratus tells us, in his Cookery Book. And he writes as follows—"But ὑπόσφαγμα is made with roast meat and blood stirred up and compounded with cheese, and salt, and cummin, and assafœtida; but the meat may also be boiled." And Glaucus the Locrian, in his Cookery Book, writes as follows—"Ὑπόσφαγμα is blood boiled, and assafœtida, and boiled lees of wine; or sometimes honey and vinegar, and milk and cheese, and sweet-smelling herbs are shred and mixed together in it." And Archestratus, that man of the most varied learning, says—

The cuttle-fish of Abdera and the middle of Maronea.

Has any fish or cuttle-fish been bought?

Osmulia, mœnidea, and cuttle-fish.

. . . But eat, my friend,
This cuttle-fish, and this small polypus.

But concerning the boiling of the small polypus, Alexis, in his Wicked Woman, introduces a cook speaking as follows—

Now these three cuttle-fish I have just bought
For one small drachma. And when I've cut off
Their feelers and their fins, I then shall boil them.
And cutting up the main part of their meat
Into small dice, and rubbing in some salt,
After the guests already are sat down,
I then shall put them in the frying-pan,
And serve up hot towards the end of supper.

125. The next fish is the mullet; and τρίγλη is like κίχλη, ending in η. For the feminine nouns which end in λα require another λ before the λα; as σκύλλα, Τελέσιλλα. But all the words which have γ united to λ end in η; as τρώγλη, αἴγλη, ζεύγλη. But Aristotle, in the fifth book of his Parts of Animals, says that the mullet brings forth three times in the year; and states that the fishermen have adopted this opinion from the spawn being seen three times a-year in certain localities. And perhaps it is from the word τρὶς (three times) that it has its name; just as the fish called ἀμία has its name [511]from its being a fish which does not go about by itself, but in shoals (ἅμα). And the σκάρος is so called from σκαίρω (to leap); as also is the καρίς. And the ἀφύη is so named as being ἀφυὴς, which is equivalent to δυσφυὴς, that is to say, slowly propagated. Then θύννος has its name from θύω (to rush), because it is an impetuous fish, from being driven about by its fly in the head at the time of the rising of the Dog-star. But it is a fish with serrated teeth, gregarious, and spotted all over, and also carnivorous: and when it has had young three times it becomes barren; for some little worms are engendered in its womb, which devour the young as soon as they are conceived. And from the actual facts, Epicharmus calls them hump-backed, in his Hebe's Wedding, where he says—

He brought the hump-back'd mullet too,
And the ungrateful bæones.

But Sophron, in his Male Farces, speaks of a fish which he calls τρίγολη, saying,

The trigola which cuts the navel string.

The trigola which loves calm weather.

. . . . . trigola . . . .

The bearded mullet (τρίγλη).

But Diocles, in his books addressed to Plistarchus, says that the mullet is a fish of hard flesh; and Speusippus says that the sea-cuckoo, the sea-swallow, and the mullet are all alike; on which account Tryphon says, in his treatise on Animals, that some people think that the trigola is the sea-cuckoo, from its likeness to it, and from the dryness of its hindquarters; which Sophron indicates, when he says—

The fat mullets and the hinder parts of the trigola.

The mullet is not wholesome for the nerves,
For it is sacred to the chaste Diana,
And all excitement hates.

But the mullet is attributed to Hecate as her fish, on account of the common derivation of their names; for Hecate is called τριοδῖτις, as presiding over places where three roads meet, and τρίγληνος, as having three eyes; and also they provide her a banquet on the thirtieth day of each month (ταῖς τριακάσι). [512]And, on similar principles, they assign to Apollo the fish κίθαρος, from κιθάρα (the harp); and the βόαξ to Mercury, from βοάω (to speak); and the κιττὸς to Bacchus, from κισσὸς (ivy); and the φάλαρις to Venus, as Aristophanes in his Birds says, from the similarity of its name to the word φαλλός. And so the bird called the νῆσσα (or duck), they call Neptune's bird; and the sea production which we call ἀφυὰ, and others ἀφρύα, and which is more generally called ἀφρὸς (foam), they also give to him; though they say that this also is very dear to Venus, because she herself was born of foam. But Apollodorus, in his books concerning the Gods, says that the mullet is sacrificed to Hecate on account of the resemblance of their names; for that the goddess is τρίμορφος, of a triple form. But Melanthus, in his treatise on the Eleusinian Mysteries, says that both the τρίγλη and the μαινὶς (or sprat), are sacred to Hecate, because Hecate is also a goddess of the sea. But Hegesander the Delphian says that the mullet is accustomed to be carried about in the Artemisia, because it is accustomed diligently to hunt out and destroy the sea-hares, which are poisonous animals; on which account, as it does this to the great benefit of mankind, the mullet as a huntress is considered sacred to the goddess who is also a huntress. And Sophron has called the mullet "bearded," because those which have beards are better flavoured than those which have not. And there is a place at Athens called Τρίγλα, and there there is a shrine to Ἑκάτη Τριγλανθίνη; on which account Chariclides, in his Chain, says—

O mistress Hecate, Trioditis,
With three forms (τρίμορφε) and three faces (τριπρόσωπε),
Propitiated with mullets (τρίγλαις).

127. And if the mullet, while alive, be choked with wine, and then a man drinks the wine, he will no longer be able to indulge in the pleasures of Venus, as Terpsicles tells us in his book on Amatory Pleasures. And if a woman drinks this same wine, she never becomes pregnant. Birds, too, are affected in the same manner. But Archestratus, that very learned man, after he has praised the Milesian mullet which are found at Teichius, proceeds to say—

If you at Thasos are, then buy a mullet;
You ne'er will get a worse, unless indeed
You go to Tius; but even those are fair:
But at Erythræ they are caught in shore
And are most excellent.

And do not eat a red-flesh'd mullet hard,
Brought from Æxona; nor of any turtle,
Or mighty melanurus from those seas.

But Nausicrates, the comic poet, praises the mullets from Æxona, in his Captains of Ships, saying—

The most belovèd tænia, which are thin,
But highly flavour'd, and need little fire.

And Mithæcus, in his Cookery Book, says—"Having taken out the entrails of the tænia, and cut off its head, and washed it, and having cut it into slices, sprinkle over it cheese and oil." But this fish is found in the greatest number and in the finest condition off Canopus, which is near Alexandria; and also off Seleucia, which is close to Antioch. But when Eupolis, in his Prospaltii, says—

His mother was a Thracian woman,
A seller of tæniæ;

he then means by the word ταινία, not the fish, but those pieces of woven work and girdles with which women bind their waists.

129. Another fish is the trachurus, or rough-tail. Diocles mentions this as a dry fish. And Numenius, in his Art of Fishing, says—

The aconia and the wagtail too,
And the . . . . trachurus.

When it is summer buy a good-sized head
Of fresh taulopias, just when Phaethon
Is driving his last course. Dress it with speed,
Serve it up hot, and some good seasoning with it,
Then take its entrails, spit and roast them too.

130. There is also the τευθὶς, [which is a kind of cuttle-fish, different from the σηπίς.] Aristotle says that this also is a [514]gregarious fish, and that it has a great many things in common with the sepia; such as the same number of feet, and the two proboscises: but of this kind the lower feet are the smaller, and the upper feet the larger; and of the proboscises, that on the right side is the thickest: and the whole body is delicate, and of a more oblong shape than the sepia. And the teuthis also has ink in its mutis, which, however, is not black, but of a pale colour. And its shell is very small, and cartilaginous.

There is also the teuthus; and the only difference between the teuthus and the teuthis is in size: and the teuthus is of the size of three spans; and it is of a reddish colour. And of its two teeth, the lower one is the smallest, and the upper one is the largest; and both of them are black, and like a hawk's beak. And when it is slit open, it has a paunch like a pig's paunch. Aristotle, in the fifth book of his Parts of Animals, says that both the teuthus and the sepia are short-lived fish. And Archestratus, who travelled and sailed over the whole earth, for the sake of gratifying his greedy appetite, says,—

The best of all the teuthides are those
Caught near Pierian Dium, near the stream
Of Baphyras. And in Ambracia's port
You will see mighty shoals of this same fish.

Teuthides, thornbacks, rays, and fat
Anchovies, lumps of meat, and paunches too.
I took the teuthides, cut off their fins,
Adding a little fat; I then did sprinkle
Some thin shred herbs o'er all for seasoning.

There is also a sort of cake or confectionary called τευθὶς, which is mentioned by Iatrocles, in his book on the Art of making Bread, as Pamphilus quotes.

There were hyænides, buglossi,
There was the harp-fish too in numbers.

And he also calls them not only ὑαινίδες, but also ὕες in the following lines—

There were too chalcides and sea-pigs (ὕες),
And sea-hawks, and the fat sea-dog.

[515] Unless, indeed, when he uses the word ὗς here, he means the same animal which is also called κάπρος, the sea-boar. But Numenius, in his Art of Fishing, enumerates plainly enough some sort of ὕαινα or plaice, when he says—

The cantharis, hyæna, and the mullet.

And Dionysius, in his Cookery Book, also speaks of the hyæna or plaice. And Archestratus, that prince of cooks and epicures says,—

At Ænus or at Potus buy the sea-pig,
Which some men call the digger of the sand,
Then boil his head, adding no seasoning,
But only water, stirring it full often,
And add some pounded hyssop; if you want
Anything more, pour on some pungent vinegar;
Steep it in that, then eat it with such haste
As if your object were to choke yourself.
But roast its neck, and all its other parts.

And perhaps it is the sea-pig which Numenius, in his Art of Fishing, calls the psamathis, or sand-fish, when he says—

Sometimes the fierce carcharias, and sometimes
The psamathis, delighting in the surf.

132. Then there is the hyces. Callimachus, in his epigrams, calls the hyces the sacred fish, in these lines—

And he does deem the sacred hyces god.

The spar, or the gregarious hyces;
Or phagrus, ever wand'ring near the rocks.

And Timæus, in the thirteenth book of his Histories, speaking of the town in Sicily, (I mean the town of Hyccara,) says that this town derived its name from the circumstance of the first man who arrived at the place finding abundance of the fish called hyces, and those too in a breeding condition; and they, taking this for an omen, called the place Hyccarus. But Zenodotus says that the Cyrenæans call the hyces the erythrinus. But Hermippus of Smyrna, in his essay on Hipponax, when he speaks of the hyces, means the iulis; and says that it is very hard to catch; on which account Philetas says—

Nor was the hyces the last fish who fled.

133. There is also the phagrus. Speusippus, in the second book of his Things resembling one another, says that the phagrus, the erythrinus, and the hepatus, are very much [516]alike. And Numenius also has mentioned it in the lines which have been quoted not long ago. But Aristotle says that he is a carnivorous and solitary fish; and that he has a heart of a triangular shape, and that he is in season in the spring. And Epicharmus, in his Hebe's Wedding, speaks of the

Aones, and the phagri, and the pikes.

And Metagenes also mentions them in his Thurio-Persæ. And Ameipsias says in his Connus—

A food for orphi and selachia,
And for the greedy phagri.

And Icesius says—"The phagrus, and the chromis, and the anthias, and the acharnanes, and the orphi, and the synodons, and the synagrides, are all very nearly akin to one another; for they are sweet and astringent, and nutritious, but in the same proportion they are hard of digestion. And those of them, which are fleshy, and which are caught nearer land, are the most nutritious, and those also which have the least fat." But Archestratus says—

'Tis when the dogstar rises in the sky
That you should eat the phagrus; specially
If you in Delos or Eretria are,
Or other favouring harbours of the sea;
But, if you can, purchase his head alone,
And tail; and bring no more within your doors.

Eating a number of large phagri.

Then, going to the market, they will buy
A great abundance of large phagri, and
Slices of tender round Copaic eel.

There is also a kind of stone called the phagrus. For the whetstone is called so among the Cretans, as Simmias testifies.

The channa, with large mouth, and then the cod,
With deep and spacious belly.

The channas and the eel, and pitinus,
Who only roams by night.

Dorion also mentions him in his treatise on Fishes. But Aristotle, in his book on Animals, calls the channa a fish [517]variegated with red and black; and he calls it also ποικιλόγραμμος, because it is marked with black lines.

There is the sword-fish and the chromias,
Who, in the spring, as Ananius says,
Is of all fish the daintiest.

The hyces, or the beautiful callicthys,
Or else the chromis, and sometimes the orphus.

You may catch noble chromises in Pella,
And they are fat when it is midsummer;
And in Ambracia likewise they abound.

The chrysophrys, sacred to Cytherean Venus.

And Icesius says that these fish are the best of all fish in sweetness, and also in delicacy of flavour in other respects. They are also most nutritious. They produce their young, as Aristotle says, in a manner similar to the cestres, wherever there are flowing rivers. Epicharmus mentions them in his Muses; and Dorion also, in his book on Fishes. And Eupolis, in his Flatterers, says—

I spent a hundred drachmas upon fish,
And only got eight pike, and twelve chrysophryes.

Pass not the chrysophrys from Ephesus
Unheeded by; which the Ephesians call
The ioniscus. Take him eagerly,
The produce of the venerable Selinus;
Wash him, and roast him whole, and serve him up,
Though he be ten full cubits long.

137. There is a fish, too, called the chalcis; and others which resemble it, namely, the thrissa, the trichis, and the eritimus. Icesius says, the fish called the chalcis, and the sea-goat, and the needle-fish, and the thrissa, are like chaff, destitute alike of fat and of juice. And Epicharmus, in his Hebe's Wedding, says—

The chalcides, the sea-pig too,
The sea-hawk, and the fat sea-dog.

But you would thus harpoon, in the same way,
That chalcis and the little tiny sprat.

[518] But the χαλκεὺς is different from the χαλκὶς; and the χαλκεὺς is mentioned by Heraclides, in his Cookery Book; and by Euthydemus, in his book on Cured Fish, who says that they are bred in the country of the Cyzicenes, being a round and circular fish.

But the thrissa is mentioned by Aristotle in his book on Animals and Fishes, in these words—"The following are stationary fish: the thrissa, the encrasicholus, the membras anchovy, the coracinus, the erythrinus, and the trichis." And Eupolis mentions the trichis in his Flatterers;—

He was a stingy man, who once in his life
Before the war did buy some trichides;
But in the Samian war, a ha'p'orth of meat.

If trichides were to be a penny a hundred.

But Dorion, in his treatise on Fishes, speaks also of the river Thrissa; and calls the trichis trichias. Nicochares, in his Lemnian Women, says—

The trichias, and the premas tunny too,
Placed in enormous quantities for supper.

(But there was a kind of tunny which they used to call premnas. Plato, in his Europa, has these lines—

He once, when fishing, saw one of such size
A man could scarcely carry it, in a shoal
Of premnades, and then he let it go,
Because it was a boax.)

And Aristotle, in the fifth book of his Parts of Animals, calls it a trichias also, but in the book which is entitled Ζωïκὸν, he calls it trichis. And it is said that this fish is delighted with dancing and singing, and that when it hears music it leaps up out of the sea.

Dorion also mentions the eritimi, saying, that they are much the same as the chalcides, and that they are very nice in forced meat. And Epænetus, in his book upon Fishes, says—"The sea-weasel; the smaris, which some call the dog's-bed; the chalcides, which they also call sardini; the eritimi, the sea-hawk, and the sea-swallow." And Aristotle, in the fifth book of his Parts of Animals, calls them sardines. And Callimachus, in his Names used by different Nations, writes thus—"The encrasicholus, the eritimus, are names used by the Chalcedonians; the trichidia, the chalcis, the ictar, the [519]atherina." And in another part, giving a list of the names of fishes, he says—"The ozæna, the osmylnion, are names used by the Thurians; the iopes, the eritimi, are names used by the Athenians." And Nicander mentions the iopes in his Bœotian,—

But as when round a shoal of newly born
Iopes, phagri, or fierce scopes roam,
Or the large orphus.

O wretched fish, the first of trichides
To be immersed in pickle.

For they used to steep in pickle all the fish which were proper to be dressed on the coals. And they called pickle, Thasian brine; as also the same poet says in his Wasps,—

For before that it twice drank in the brine.

138. There is also a fish called the thratta. And since we have brought the discussion to this point, and have also discussed the thrissa; let us now examine what the thrattæ are, which are mentioned by Archippus, in his play called the Fishes. For in that play, in the treaty between the Fishes and the Athenians, he introduces the following sentences—

And it is agreed on further
That both the high contracting parties
Shall restore all they now do hold
Of each other's property.
We shall give up thus the Thrattæ,
And the flute-playing Atherina,
And Thyrsus's daughter Sepia,
And the mullet, and Euclides,
Who was archon t'other day,
And the coraciontes too,
Who from Anagyrus come;
And the offspring of the tench,
Who swims round sacred Salamis;
And the frog who's seated near,
From the marshes of Oreum.

Now in these lines, perhaps a man may ask what sort of thrattæ among the fishes are meant here, which the fish agree to give up to the men. And since I have got some private things written out on this subject, I will now recite to you that portion of them which bears most on the subject.

The thratta, then, is really a genuine sea-fish; and Mnesimachus in his Horse-breeder, mentions it; and Mnesimachus is a poet of the middle comedy. And he speaks thus—

[520] The mullet, and the lebias, and the sparus,
The bright æolias, and the thratta too,
The sea-swallow, the caris, and the cuttle-fish.

But Dorotheus of Ascalon, in the hundred and eighth book of his Collection of Words, writes this name θέττα, either because he fell in with a copy of the drama with an incorrect text, or because, as he himself was unused to the word, he altered it so before he published it. But the name thetta does absolutely never occur in any Attic writer whatever. But that they were used to call a sea-fish by the name of thratta, that Anaxandrides establishes, speaking in this manner in his play called Lycurgus,—

And sporting with the little coracini,
With little perches, and the little thrattæ.

139. We come now to the sea-sparrow. Diocles enumerates this fish among the drier kinds. But Speusippus, in the second book of his Things resembling one another, says that the sea-sparrow and the buglossus and the tænia are very much alike. But Aristotle, in the fifth book of his Parts of Animals, writes—"And in the same manner the greater number of the small fish have young once a year; such as those which are called chyti, which are surrounded by a net, namely, the chromis, the sea-sparrow, the tunny, the pelamys, the cestreus, the chalcis, and others of the same sort." And in his treatise on Animals he says—"These fish are cartilaginous, the sea-cow, the turtle, the torpedo, the ray, the sea-frog, the buglossa, the sea-sparrow, the mussel." But Dorion, in his book on Fishes, says—"But of flat fish there is the buglossus, the sea-sparrow, the escharus, which they also call the coris." The buglossi are mentioned also by Epicharmus in his Hebe's Wedding—

Hyænides, buglossi, and a citharus.

And Lynceus the Samian, in his Letters, says that the finest sea-sparrows are procured near Eleusis, in Attica. And Archestratus says—

[521] Remember then to get a fine sea-sparrow,
And a rough-skinn'd buglossus, near the port
Of sacred Chalcis.

But the Romans call the sea-sparrow rhombus; which, however, is a Greek name. And Nausicrates, in his Sea Captains, having first mentioned the sea-grayling, proceeds in this manner—

140. So now, having given you, O Timocrates, the whole of the conversation which took place among the Deipnosophists on the subject of fish, we may conclude our book here; and unless you want some other kind of food, we will end by setting before you what Eubulus has said in his Lacedæmonians, or Leda;—

Besides all this you now shall have
A slice of tunny, a slice of pork,
Some paunch of kid, some liver of goat,
Some ram, the entrails of an ox,
A lamb's head, and a kid's intestines;
The belly of a hare, a pudding,
Some tripe, black-puddings, and a sausage.

Being sated, therefore, with all this, let us now take due care of our bodies, in order to be able to feed comfortably on what is coming next.

FOOTNOTES:

TRANSCRIBER'S NOTES

Book VII. was missing from the Table of Contents in the original. The transcriber has added Book VII. and extrapolated the chapter summary from page headings within the chapter.

The following corrections have been made to the text:

Page 3: must we ask["as" not printed in the original] some one else

Page 18: ἄριστον is synonymous with δεῖπνον[original has accent on the ε instead of the ι]

Page 18: δεῖπνον[original has accent on the ε instead of the ι] they took, then arm'd them

Page 75: 'Tis good for health with scents to feed the brain.[period missing in original]

Page 93: But Theophrastus[original has Theophrastes], in his book on Plants

Page 112: sauce of onions, mustard and capers mix'd[original has "mix d"]

Page 113: cucumbers which give seed, in his Ulysses[original has Ulysseses]

Page 127: [original has extraneous opening parenthesis]for those which are called by the Parians

Page 166: used by Cratinus in his Ulysses[original has Ulysseses]

Page 166: [original has extraneous single quote]Obey us now, and glut us with your melodies.

Page 207: Give me, said he, some[original has come] crust of bread

Page 217: all are full of rheum and phlegm.[period missing in original]

Page 258: lentil soup obtained mention from the[original has the the] former Epicharmus

Page 265: It[original has Is] is the hardest work of all

Page 273: On this commission[original has commision] from his country seat

Page 291: by brave and just men made.[period missing in original]

Page 296: blend the flying ring.[296:3][footnote anchor added by transcriber]

Page 302: And pour'd libations on the flaming thighs.[302:1] [footnote anchor added by transcriber]

Page 305: hyacinth in vernal bloom.[305:1][footnote anchor added by transcriber]

Page 307: products of a peaceful reign.[307:1][footnote anchor added by transcriber]

Page 307: Agamemnon says to Idomeneus[307:2][footnote anchor added by transcriber]

Page 329: For[original has Eor] having prepared a helix

Page 349: his ears are charm'd.[period missing in original]

Page 374: By comic writers, we, the blackfaced men.[period missing in original]

Page 374: Have you any business?[question mark missing in original]

Page 404: in a most friendly manner.[original has comma]

Page 412: Around the islands called Arææ[412:1][footnote anchor added by transcriber]

Page 412: Periergus uttered curses against[original has againt] Phorbas

Page 443: passes over the[original has the the] callicthys

Page 459: in his Delian, gives a catalogue[original has catologue] of the names

Page 480: And fine buglossi, and the harp-fish too.[period missing in original]

Page 500: for that[original has that that] sea is cold, and not very salt

Page 504: Neptune then arrives[original has arives] himself

Page 513: A.[A. missing in original] Those yellow fleshed fish

[301:1] [footnote number added by transcriber]

[305:1] [printed as footnote [304:2]—renumbered and moved to following page by transcriber]

BOOK I.—EPITOME.
The Character of Laurentius—Hospitable and Liberal Men—Those who have written about Feasts—Epicures—The Praises of Wine—Names of Meals—Fashions at Meals—Dances—Games—Baths—Partiality of the Greeks for Amusements—Dancing and Dancers—Use of some Words—Exercise—Kinds of Food—Different kinds of Wine—The Produce of various places—Different Wines	1-57

BOOK II.—EPITOME.
Wine—Drinking—The evils of Drunkenness—Praises of Wine—Water—Different kinds of Water—Sweetmeats—Couches and Coverlets—Names of Fruits—Fruit and Herbs—Lupins—Names of—Plants—Eggs—Gourds—Mushrooms—Asparagus—Onions—Thrushes—Brains—The Head—Pickle—Cucumbers—Lettuce—The Cactus—The Nile	57-121

BOOK III.
Cucumbers—Figs—Apples—Citrons—Limpets—Cockles—Shell-fish—Oysters—Pearls—Tripe—Pigs' Feet—Music at Banquets—Puns on Words—Banquets—Dishes at Banquets—Fish—Shell-fish—Fish—Cuttle-fish—Bread—Loaves—Fish—Water Drinking—Drinking Snow—Cheesecakes—Χόνδοος	121-210

BOOK IV.
Feast of Caranus—Supper of Iphicrates—Cooks—Dancing at Banquets—The Attic Banquet—Athenian Feasts—The Copis—The Phiditia—Cleomenes—Persian Banquets—Alexander the Great—Cleopatra—Banquets at Phigalea—Thracian Banquets—Celtic Banquets—Roman Banquets—Gladiatorial Combats—Temperance of the Lacedæmonians—The Theory of Euxitheus—Lentils—Spare Livers—Persæus—Diodorus—Extravagance—Luxury of the Tarentines—Extravagance of Individuals—Cooks' Apparatus—Use of Certain Words—Tasters—The Delphians—Musical Instruments—Kinds of Flutes—Wind Instruments	210-287

[vi]BOOK V.
Banquets—Baths—Banquets—The Banquets described by Homer—Banquets—The Palaces of Homer's Kings—Conversation at Banquets—Customs in Homer's Time—Attitudes of Guests—Feast given by Antiochus—Extravagance of Antiochus—Ptolemy Philadelphus—Procession of Ptolemy Philadelphus—A large Ship built by Ptolemy—The Ship of Ptolemy Philopator—Hiero's Ship—Banquet given by Alexander—Athenio—The Valour of Socrates—Plato's account of Socrates—Socrates—The Gorgons	287-352

BOOK VI.
Tragedy—Fishmongers—Misconduct of Fishmongers—Use of particular Words—Use of Silver Plate—Silver Plate—Golden Trinkets—Use of Gold in different Countries—Parasites—Gynæconomi—Parasites—Flatterers of Dionysius—Flatterers of Kings—Flattery of the Athenians—Flatterers—The Tyrants of Chios—The Conduct of Philip—Flatterers and Parasites—The Mariandyni—Slaves—Drimacus—Condition of Slaves—Slaves—Banquets—The Effects of Hunger—The Mothaces—Slaves under the Romans—The Fannian Law	353-432

BOOK VII.
The Phagesia—Fish—Epicures—Fish—Cooks—Sharks—Fish—Glaucus—Eels—The Tunny-Fish—Fish—Pike—Fish—The Polybus—Fish	433-521

A.	But I have sought this tranquil solitude, To ponder deeply on this wondrous book.
B.	I pray you, what's the nature of its treasures?
A.	"Sauce for the million," by Philoxenus.
B.	Oh, let me taste this wisdom.
A.	Listen then; "I start with onions, and with tunnies end."
[8]B.	With tunnies? Surely, then, he keeps the best And choicest of his dishes for the last.
A.	Listen. In ashes first your onions roast Till they are brown as toast, Then with sauce and gravy cover; Eat them, you'll be strong all over. So much for earth; now list to me, While I speak of the sons of the sea.

A.	Come, now, take these almonds, And break them
(B.	I would rather break your head,) with a stone.

A.	What fruits this land produces! Superior, O Hipponicus, to the world. What honey, what bread, what figs!
Hipp.	It does, by Jove! Bear wondrous figs.

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.

A.	I am a pupil of Soterides, Who, when his king was distant from the sea Full twelve days' journey, and in winter's depth, Fed him with rich anchovies to his wish, And made the guests to marvel.
B.	How was that?
A.	He took a female turnip, shred it fine Into the figure of the delicate fish; Then did he pour on oil and savoury salt With careful hand in due proportion. On that he strew'd twelve grains of poppy seed, Food which the Scythians love; then boil'd it all. And when the turnip touch'd the royal lips, Thus spake the king to the admiring guests: "A cook is quite as useful as a poet, And quite as wise, and these anchovies show it."

A.	But how can you be generous, if the son Of old Ischomachus of Myconos?
B.	I, a good man, may banquet with the good, For friends should have all their delights in common.

A.	Shall we, then, take our ἀκρατισμὸς there?
B.	No; at the Isthmus all the slaves prepare The sweet ἄριστον,—

A.	Tell me, I pray you, how you life define.
B.	To drink full goblets of rich Chian wine. You see how tall and fine the forest grows Through which a sacred river ceaseless flows; While on dry soils the stately beech and oak Die without waiting for the woodman's stroke.

A.	I Sicon come with duly moisten'd clay.
B.	What have you drunk then?
A.	That you well may say.

A.	Whence do you come, friend? speak.
B.	From Acanthus I.
A.	Acanthus? then I trow, Since you're a countryman of wine so strong, You must be fierce yourself; Your country's name is thorny,[50:1] but I hope Your manners are not quite so rough and prickly.

A.	Sacrifices feasts produce, Drinking then from feasts proceeds.
B.	Such rotation has its use.
A.	Then the drinking riot breeds; Then on riot and confusion Follow law and prosecution; Law brings sentence; sentence chains; Chains bring wounds and ulcerous pains.

A.	Man in no one respect resembles wine: For man by age is made intolerable; But age improves all wine.
B.	Yes; for old wines cheer us, But old men only snarl, abuse, and jeer us.

A.	Have you remark'd, my friend, That none can with this favour'd land contend In honey, loaves, and figs?
B.	Aye, figs indeed!
A.	In myrtles, perfumes, wools, in choicest breed Of cattle, and in cheese; and on what ground Can fountains like the Attic springs be found?

A.	At all events he's one complaint, For he is hungry ever.
B.	The keen Thessalian race you paint, Who can be sated never.

A.	Place now a couch for seven.
B.	Here it is.
A.	And five Sicilian couches.
B.	Well, what next
A.	And five Sicilian pillows.

A.	And what is this?
B.	A τρίπους.
A.	How is that? Has it not four feet? 'tis a τετράπους.
B.	It may be strictly; but its name is τριπους.
A.	Still I can see four feet.
B.	At all events You are no Œdipus, to be so puzzled.

A.	Bring me one τράπεζα more, With three feet, not one with four.
B.	Where can I a τρίπους τράπεζα find?

A.	And in my sleep I thought I saw a prize.
B.	What was it?
A.	Listen—There came up to me, While still within th' arena's spacious bounds, One of my rivals, bringing me a crown— A ripe revolving crown of damascenes.
B.	Oh Hercules! and were the damascenes ripe?

A.	What now is Plato doing? The grave Speusippus too and Menedemus? In what are they now spending all their time? What care is theirs, and what their conversation? What is their subject of deliberation? Tell me, I beg of you, by the mighty Terra, In learned language, if at least you know.
B.	Indeed, I can inform you most exactly. For at the great Panathenaic feast, I saw a company of youths assembled Within the schools of the old Academy, And heard some strange and marvellous assertions. For they were nature's mysteries discussing, Drawing distinctions subtle 'tween the life Of animated things, both men and beasts, And that of trees and all the race of herbs. And then, while occupied in these discussions They turned to gourds their deep investigations, Asking their species and their character.
A.	And to what sage conclusion did they come? What was their definition, of what genus Did they decide this plant to be, my friend? I pray you tell 'em, if you know at least.
B.	At first they all stood silent for a while, And gazed upon the ground and knit their brows In profound solemn meditation: Then on a sudden, while the assembled youths Were stooping still considering the matter, One said a gourd was a round vegetable; But others said it was a kind of grass; While others class'd it as a sort of tree. On hearing this, a certain old physician Coming from Sicily interrupted them As but a pack of triflers. They were furious, Greatly enraged, and all most loudly cried With one accord, that he insulted them; For that such sudden interruptions To philosophical discussion Were ill-bred and extremely unbecoming. And then the youths thought no more of the gourd. But Plato, who was present, mildly said, Not being at all excited by what pass'd, That the best thing that they could do would be The question to resume of the gourd's nature. They would not hear him, and adjourn'd the meeting.

A.	What then shall I buy? Tell me, I pray you.
B.	Go not to more expense than a neat table; Buy a rough-footed hare; some ducklings too, As many as you like; thrushes, and blackbirds, And other small birds; there are many wild sorts.
A.	Yes, and they're very nice.

A.	He first takes off his coat, and then he sups, After what fashion think you?
B.	Why, like a Spartan.
A.	A measure then of vinegar . . . .
B.	Bah!
A.	Why bah?
B.	A measure holds but such and such a quantity Of the best Cleonæan vinegar.

A.	'Tis silly to say a word about roast meat To men who're ne'er content. But now, my girl, Just take these apples.
B.	They are fine to look at.
A.	Indeed they are, and good too, O ye gods! For this seed has arrived not long ago In Athens, coming from the mighty king.
B.	I thought it came from the Hesperides; For there they say the golden apples grow.
A.	They have but three.
B.	That which is very beautiful Is rare in every place, and so is dear.

B.	I thought, I swear by Dian, that they came From out the garden of the Hesperides, For they, they say, do keep the golden apples.
A.	They have but three.
B.	That which is very beautiful Is rare in every place, and so is dear.
A.	I'll sell you these now for a single penny, And even that I'll put down in the bill.
B.	Are they not pomegranates? how fine they are!
A.	Fine! yes—they say that Venus did herself Plant this the parent tree in Cyprus, where it stands. Take it, my dear Berbeias.
B.	Thank you kindly.
A.	Take also these three; they are all I had.

A.	What are these long cockles, O my friend, Which you do think so much of?
B.	Solens, to be sure. This too is the sweet-flesh'd cockle, dainty food, The dish much loved by widows.

THE DEIPNOSOPHISTS OR BANQUET OF THE LEARNED OF ATHENÆUS.

By C. D. YONGE, B.A.

WITH AN APPENDIX OF POETICAL FRAGMENTS, RENDERED INTO ENGLISH VERSE BY VARIOUS AUTHORS, AND A GENERAL INDEX.

LONDON: HENRY G. BOHN, YORK STREET, COVENT GARDEN. MDCCCLIV.

LONDON: R. CLAY, PRINTER, BREAD STREET HILL.

PREFACE.

CONTENTS.

BOOK I.—EPITOME.

FOOTNOTES:

BOOK II.

FOOTNOTES:

BOOK III.—EPITOME.

FOOTNOTES:

BOOK IV.

FOOTNOTES:

BOOK V.

FOOTNOTES:

BOOK VI.

FOOTNOTES:

BOOK VII.

FOOTNOTES:

TRANSCRIBER'S NOTES

THE

DEIPNOSOPHISTS

OR

BANQUET OF THE LEARNED

OF

ATHENÆUS.

WITH AN APPENDIX OF POETICAL FRAGMENTS,
RENDERED INTO ENGLISH VERSE BY VARIOUS AUTHORS,
AND A GENERAL INDEX.

LONDON:
HENRY G. BOHN, YORK STREET, COVENT GARDEN.
MDCCCLIV.

LONDON:
R. CLAY, PRINTER, BREAD STREET HILL.

A.	There are here near three minas' weight of meat Well boiled.
B.	What next?
A.	There is a calf's nose, and A heel of bacon, and four large pig's-feet.
B.	A noble dish, by Hercules!
A.	And three calves-feet.

A.	I would much rather roast a little fish, Than here repeat whole plays of Æschylus.
B.	What do you mean by little fish? Do you intend To treat your friends as invalids? 'Twere better To boil the extremities of eatable animals, Their feet and noses.

A.	And then you sacrifice a pig's extremities To Venus,—what a joke!
B.	That is your ignorance; For she in Cyprus is so fond of pigs, O master, that she drove away the herd Of swine from off the dunghill where they fed, And made the cows eat dirt instead of them.

A.	Tell us, I pray you now then, how the supper Will be prepared.
B.	Undoubtedly I will. [160] In the first place, a dish of well-minced eel; Then cuttle-fish, and lamb, a slice of rich Well-made black pudding; then some pig's feet boil'd; Some liver, and a loin of mutton, And a mighty number of small birds; and cheese In honey steep'd, and many a slice of meat.

A.	The well-warm'd legs of pigs.
B.	A noble dish, I swear by Vesta.
A.	Then some boiled cheese Bubbled upon the board.

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.

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?

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. . . . . .

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.

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.