Convalescents, sober persons who resisted the sweet seductions of Falernian and Chios wines, drank a kind of barley-water ptisana, a sorry liquid, of which the following is the recipe for the use of the abstemious of the present day. They placed barley in water, and left it there until it swelled; it was then dried in the sun, then beaten to deprive it of its husk, and ground. Then, when it had been boiled in water for a long time, it was again exposed to the sun. When they wished to drink barley-water, a small quantity of this flour was boiled, the water was strained off, and a few drops of vinegar were added.[XXVI_29] The disciples of Comus have always shuddered at this beverage, when only mentioned.
The oxycratus was not much better. It was a mixture of water and vinegar, with which the lower orders contented themselves when they could obtain nothing more exhilarating to drink;[XXVI_30] and with which the soldiers, especially in the camp, were compelled to quench their thirst.[XXVI_31]
Some passages from Pliny, and also from other authors, prove that the ancients were acquainted with cider.[XXVI_32] It is, however, asserted that the use of this beverage goes no farther back than three or four centuries, either in England or France;[XXVI_33] but this cannot be a fact with regard to the last-named country, since the capitulars of Charlemagne place among the number of ordinary trades that of sicerator, or “cider maker.” This “wine of apples,”[XXVI_34] it is said, was very common among the Hebrews. That is possible, but it would, nevertheless, be difficult to prove it from the holy writings, since the word schecar, which has been translated by sicera, and which, again, has been rendered into cider, signifies all kinds of intoxicating beverage, whether made from grain, honey, or fruit.[XXVI_35]
Gaul, covered with forests, and swarming with bees, possessed an immense quantity of wild honey, of which, by the aid of fermentation in water, the inhabitants composed a strong and intoxicating drink, called hydromel. This beverage, highly esteemed both in Rome and Greece, was prepared in the following manner: rain water was kept some time, and then boiled until reduced to one-third, to which honey was added.[P] This mixture was exposed to the sun for the space of forty days; it was then placed in a vessel, and by these means they obtained, in time, a vinous hydromel very similar to our Madeira wine.[XXVI_36] To make oxymel, still more heady, ten pounds of honey were mixed with two pints and a half of old vinegar, and one pound of sea-salt; the whole boiled only an instant in five pints of water. This liquor was left to get very old.[XXVI_37]
Juice of quinces and honey, boiled in water, produced hydromelon, a delicious drink, which our century might envy the delicate drinkers of Athens and Rome,[XXVI_38] especially when roses had been added to this nectar, which changed it into hydrorosatum.[XXVI_39]
The apomeli was nothing more than water in which honeycomb had been boiled.[XXVI_40] Omphacomeli, an ingenious mixture of honey and verjuice, quenched thirst during the summer, and produced that agreeable gaiety which is to drunkenness what doziness is to sleep.[XXVI_41]
A mixture of honey and juice of myrtle seed, of course diluted with water, composed myrtites, the aromatic flavour of which flattered the palate, and rendered the breath more sweet.[XXVI_42] Sometimes pomegranates were substituted for the myrtle, and it was then called rhoites, and possessed an agreeable and pungent flavour.[XXVI_43]
Wine made of dates enjoyed a general esteem in the east. The Romans, who knew also how to appreciate it, prepared it by throwing into water some common, though very ripe, dates; and when they had well soaked, they were put under a press.[XXVI_44] The same means were employed to procure fig wine; but often the sediment of grapes was used instead of water, to prevent its being too sweet.[XXVI_45]
“Artificial wines” were also procured by the aid of several other kinds of fruits, such as sorbs, medlars, and mulberries.[XXVI_46] Fermentation dispelled the sweet and insipid flavour which generally distinguishes these fruits; and, at the commencement of a repast, the guests swallowed with delight large cups of these beverages.[XXVI_47]
It was also the custom to serve very cold water, in which certain plants had been infused, and which was freshened by being surrounded with snow after it had been boiled for some time. The invention of this iced water is attributed to the Emperor Nero, who made great use of it; and who appears to have bitterly regretted it when, dethroned and flying from his assassins, he was constrained through excessive thirst to drink muddy water from a ditch. The unfortunate Cæsar then, for the first time, thought of the strange vicissitudes of fortune, and casting a sorrowful glance at the disgusting fluid he held in his hand, “Alas!” he exclaimed, with a sigh, “is this the iced water that Nero drank?”[XXVI_48]