CHAP. 35. (29).—THE MYRTLE.
The nature of the juices that are found in the myrtle are particularly remarkable, for it is the only one[2057] of all the trees, the berries of which produce two kinds of oil[2058] as well as of wine, besides myrtidanum,[2059] of which we have already spoken. The berry of this was also put to another use in ancient times, for before pepper[2060] was known it was employed in place of it as a seasoning; so much so, indeed, that a name has been derived from it for the highly-seasoned dish which to this day is known by the name of “myrtatum.”[2061] It is by the aid of these berries, too, that the flavour of the flesh of the wild boar is improved, and they generally form one of the ingredients in the flavouring of our sauces.
CHAP. 36.—HISTORICAL ANECDOTES RELATIVE TO THE MYRTLE.
This tree was seen for the first time in the regions of Europe, which commence on this side of the Ceraunian mountains,[2062] growing at Circeii,[2063] near the tomb of Elpenor there:[2064] it still retains its Greek[2065] name, which clearly proves it to be an exotic. There were myrtles growing on the site now occupied by Rome, at the time of its foundation; for a tradition exists to the effect that the Romans and the Sabines, after they had intended fighting, on account of the virgins who had been ravished by the former, purified themselves, first laying down their arms, with sprigs of myrtle, on the very same spot which is now occupied by the statues of Venus Cluacina; for in the ancient language “cluere” means to purify.
This tree is employed, too, for a species of fumigation;[2066] being selected for that purpose, because Venus, who presides over all unions, is the tutelary divinity of the tree.[2067] I am not quite sure, too, whether this tree was not the very first that was planted in the public places of Rome, the result of some ominous presage by the augurs of wondrous import. For at the Temple of Quirinus, or, in other words, of Romulus himself, one of the most ancient in Rome, there were formerly two myrtle-trees, which grew for a long period just in front of the temple; one of these was called the Patrician tree, the other the Plebeian. The Patrician myrtle was for many years the superior tree, full of sap and vigour; indeed, so long as the Senate maintained its superiority, so did the tree, being of large growth, while the Plebeian tree presented a meagre, shrivelled appearance. In later times, however, the latter tree gained the superiority, and the Patrician myrtle began to fail just at the period of the[2068] Marsic War,[2069] when the power of the Senate was so greatly weakened: and little by little did this once majestic tree sink into a state of utter exhaustion and sterility. There was an ancient altar[2070] also, consecrated to Venus Myrtea, known at the present day by the name of Murcia.
CHAP. 37.—ELEVEN VARIETIES OF THE MYRTLE.
Cato[2071] makes mention of three varieties of the myrtle, the black, white, and the conjugula, perhaps so called from its reference to conjugal unions, and belonging to the same species as that which grew where Cluacina’s statues now stand: at the present day the varieties are differently distinguished into the cultivated and the wild[2072] myrtle, each of which includes a kind with a large leaf. The kind known as “oxymyrsine,”[2073] belongs only to the wild variety: ornamental gardeners classify several varieties of the cultivated kind; the “Tarentine,”[2074] they speak of as a myrtle with a small leaf, the myrtle of this country[2075] as having a broad leaf, and the hexasticha[2076] as being very thickly covered with leaves, growing in rows of six: it is not, however, made any use of. There are two other kinds, that are branchy and well covered. In my opinion, the conjugula is the same that is now called the Roman myrtle. It is in Egypt that the myrtle is most odoriferous.
Cato[2077] has taught us how to make a wine from the black myrtle, by drying it thoroughly in the shade, and then putting it in must: he says, also, that if the berries are not quite dry, it will produce an oil. Since his time a method has been discovered of making a pale wine from the white variety; two sextarii of pounded myrtle are steeped in three semi-sextarii of wine, and the mixture is then subjected to pressure.
The leaves[2078] also are dried by themselves till they are capable of being reduced to a powder, which is used for the treatment of sores on the human body: this powder is of a slightly corrosive nature, and is employed also for the purpose of checking the perspiration. A thing that is still more remarkable, this oil is possessed of a certain vinous flavour, being, at the same time, of an unctuous nature, and remarkably efficacious for improving[2079] wines. When this is done, the wine strainer[2080] is dipped in the oil before it is used, the result of which is that it retains the lees of the wine, and allows nothing but the pure liquor to escape, while at the same time it accompanies the wine and causes a marked improvement in its flavour.
Sprigs of myrtle, if carried by a person when travelling on foot, are found to be very refreshing[2081] on a long journey. Rings, too, made of myrtle which has never been touched by iron, are an excellent specific for swellings in the groin.[2082]