[2221] These varieties of the oak will be considered in the next chapter.
[2222] At the Olympic games celebrated in honour of Jupiter. At Olympia there was a statue of that god, one of the master-pieces of Phidias.
[2223] Implying thereby, that the city that could produce a man who could so distinguish himself, stood in no need of walls.
[2224] In the Circus.
[2225] In B. vii. c. 29.
[2226] B. vii. c. 29.
[2227] Livy says eight. He saved the life of Servilius, the Master of the Horse.
[2228] “Glandes.” Under this name, for which we do not appear to have any English equivalent, were included, as already mentioned, not only the acorn of the oak, but the nut or mast of the beech, and probably most of the hard or kernel fruits. In the present instance Pliny probably alludes only to the fruit of the oak and the beech. Acorns are but little used as an article of food in these days. Roasted, they have been proposed as a substitute for coffee.
[2229] The acorn of the Quercus ballota of Linnæus is probably meant, which is still much used in the province of Salamanca, and forms an agreeable article of food. This acorn, Fée says, contains a considerable proportion of saccharine matter, and is better roasted in the ashes than boiled in water. It is not, however, used as a dessert, as in the time of the Romans. These acorns are sold at market in Andalusia in the month of October.
[2230] So far as it goes, the kernel of the mast or beech-nut is not unpalatable; but in the English beech it is very diminutive.