CHAP. 22. (18.)—TWELVE KINDS OF WINE WITH MIRACULOUS PROPERTIES.
There are some miraculous properties, too, in certain wines. It is said that in Arcadia there is a wine grown which is productive of fruitfulness[1489] in women, and of madness in men; while in Achaia, and more especially in the vicinity of Carynia, there is a wine which causes abortion; an effect which is equally produced if a woman in a state of pregnancy happens only to eat a grape of the vine from which it is grown, although in taste it is in no way different from ordinary grapes: again, it is confidently asserted that those who drink the wine of Trœzen never bear children. Thasos, it is said, produces two varieties of wine with quite opposite properties. By one kind sleep is produced,[1490] by the other it is prevented. There is also in the same island a vine known as the “theriaca,”[1491] the wine and grapes of which are a cure for the bites of serpents. The libanian vine[1492] also produces a wine with the smell of frankincense, with which they make libations to the gods, while, on the other hand, the produce of that known as “aspendios,”[1493] is banished from all the altars: it is said, too, that this last vine is never touched by any bird.
The Egyptians call by the name of “Thasian,”[1494] a certain grape of that country, remarkable for its sweetness and its laxative qualities. On the other hand, there is in Lycia a certain grape which proves astringent to the stomach when relaxed. Egypt has a wine, too, known as “ecbolas,”[1495] which is productive of abortion. There are some wines, which at the rising of the Dog-star change their nature in the wine-lofts[1496] where they are kept, and afterwards recover[1497] their original quality. The same is the case, too, with wines when carried across the seas: those that are able to withstand the motion of the waves, appear afterwards to be twice as old[1498] as they really are.
CHAP. 23. (19.)—WHAT WINES IT IS NOT LAWFUL TO USE IN THE SACRED RITES.
As religion is the great basis of the ordinary usages of life, I shall here remark that it is considered improper to offer libations to the gods with any wines which are the produce of an unpruned vine, or of one that has been struck by lightning, or near to which a dead man has been hung, or of grapes that have been trodden out by sore feet, or made of must from husks that have been cut,[1499] or from grapes that have been polluted by the fall of any unclean thing upon them. The Greek wines are excluded also from the sacred ministrations, because they contain a portion of water.
The vine itself is sometimes eaten; the tops of the shoots[1500] are taken off and boiled, and are then pickled in vinegar[1501] and brine.
CHAP. 24.—HOW MUST IS USUALLY PREPARED.
It will be as well now to make some mention of the methods used in preparing wines; indeed, several of the Greeks have written separate treatises on this subject, and have made a complete art of it, such, for instance, as Euphronius, Aristomachus, Commiades, and Hicesius. The people of Africa are in the habit of neutralizing such acidity[1502] as may be found with gypsum, and in some parts with lime. The people of Greece, on the other hand, impart briskness to their wines when too flat, with potters’ earth, pounded marble, salt, or sea-water; while in Italy, again, brown pitch is used for that purpose in some parts, and it is the universal practice both there as well as in the adjoining provinces to season their new wines with resin: sometimes, too, they season them with old wine-lees or vinegar.[1503] They make various medicaments, also, for this purpose with the must itself. They boil it down till it becomes quite sweet, and has lost a considerable portion of its strength; though thus prepared, they say it will never last beyond a single year. In some places they boil down the must till it becomes sapa,[1504] and then mix it with their wines for the purpose of modifying their harshness. Both for these kinds of wines, as, indeed, all others, they always employ vessels which have themselves received an inner coat of pitch; the method of preparing them will be set forth in a succeeding Book.[1505]
CHAP. 25. (20.)—PITCH AND RESIN.
Of the trees from which pitch and resin distil, there are some which grow in the East, and others in Europe: the province of Asia,[1506] which lies between the two, has also some of both kinds. In the East, the very best commodity of this kind, and of the finest quality, is that produced by the terebinth,[1507] and, next to it, that from the lentisk,[1508] which is also known as the mastich. The next in quality to these is the juice of the cypress,[1509] being of a more acrid flavour than any other. All the above juices are liquid and of a resinous nature only, but that of the cedar[1510] is comparatively thick, and of a proper consistency for making pitch. The Arabian resin[1511] is of a pale colour, has an acrid smell, and its fumes are stifling to those employed in boiling it. That of Judæa is of a harder nature, and has a stronger smell than that from the terebinth[1512] even. The Syrian[1513] resin has all the appearance of Attic honey, but that of Cyprus is superior to any other; it is the colour of honey, and is of a soft, fleshy nature. The resin of Colophon[1514] is yellower than the other varieties, but when pounded it turns white; it has a stifling smell, for which reason the perfumers do not employ it. That prepared in Asia from the produce of the pitch-tree is very white, and is known by the name of “spagas.”