Alexis Soyer’s The Pantropheon traces the history of food and its preparation from antiquity, arguing that agriculture and cookery were central to early civilizations and their laws and religion. The deck covers the book’s chapters on the origins of agriculture, Hebrew and Roman farming practices, grain supply regulation, and Roman culinary uses of ingredients such as sesame.
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Chapter 1 · Question
To whom did various nations attribute the origin of agriculture?
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Chapter 1 · Answer
The chapter says every nation credited a beneficent deity: the Egyptians chose Osiris, the Greeks Ceres and Triptolemus, and the Latins Saturn or their king Janus, whom they placed among the gods in gratitude. All nations agree that whoever introduced this discovery was most useful to man by elevating his mind to sociability and civilization.
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I. AGRICULTURE4 cards
To whom did various nations attribute the origin of agriculture?
The chapter says every nation credited a beneficent deity: the Egyptians chose Osiris, the Greeks Ceres and Triptolemus, and the Latins Saturn or their king Janus, whom they placed among the gods in gratitude. All nations agree that whoever introduced this discovery was most useful to man by elevating his mind to sociability and civilization.
Chapter 1
Why does the author cite Cuvier when dating the origin of agriculture?
The author invokes Cuvier to justify taking Moses as guide rather than dating society from periods lost in the night of ages. Cuvier notes no western nation has an uninterrupted chronology beyond three thousand years, that Herodotus reaches only about 2,300 years, and that the Pentateuch, received by Samaritans and Jews, is the oldest book of the western nations.
Chapter 1
What examples show the Hebrews' devotion to agricultural labour?
The chapter lists Judah's chief and Benjamin's youngest son following the plough; Gideon threshing and winnowing when an angel appeared; Ruth gleaning when Boaz first saw her; King Saul driving oxen when told Jabesh was in danger; and Elisha called to prophesy while at his father's plough. The author says such incidents could be multiplied without end.
Chapter 1
How did Mosaic law and land rules encourage Hebrew agriculture?
Moses regarded agriculture as the first of arts and urged the Hebrews to prefer it, praising the free, healthy country life. No one could hold enough land to neglect any portion, and no Hebrew could be dispossessed of his father's field or permanently alienate family land. The seventh-year rest of the land obliged them to store reserves of grain, fruit, wine, and oil.
Chapter 1
I. AGRICULTURE.4 cards
What does the chapter say about the first man's occupation and the origin of agriculture?
The chapter cites Genesis (ii. 15, iii. 23) to present the first man as placed in a garden to cultivate and keep it, and later driven forth to till the ground. The author argues agriculture is thus the earliest human employment, tracing its beginnings to the scriptural account and to ancient traditions recorded by Plutarch and Ovid.
Chapter 2
How does the chapter describe the Jewish sabbatical year and its agricultural rules?
Citing Leviticus (xxv. 3, 6) and the Mishna, the chapter explains that the land was to be sown six years and rest in the seventh, with the spontaneous produce left for the poor, servants, strangers, and cattle. It notes the land was held as not permanently alienable, since it belonged ultimately to God (Leviticus xxv. 23).
Chapter 2
What ancient sources does the chapter cite for the practice of agriculture among the Jews and other nations?
The chapter draws on Josephus (De Bello Judaico), Diodorus Siculus, Aristotle's De Republica, Juvenal, and the Mishna, alongside Genesis and Leviticus. It uses these to show agriculture's antiquity and its role in Jewish law and society, and to compare practices among surrounding peoples.
Chapter 2
What does the chapter say about Roman writers on agriculture and their works?
The chapter cites Varro (De Re Rustica), Cato (De Re Rustica), Columella, Pliny, and Virgil's Georgics as authorities on Roman farming. It references their discussions of soils, sowing, and farm equipment, presenting them as the main classical sources for Roman agricultural practice.
Chapter 2
II. CEREALS.4 cards
Why did the Romans invoke the god Robigus each April 25th?
The Romans made an annual appeal to the god Robigus on April 25th to prevent mildew from corrupting robus, a variety of corn heavier than triticum and noted for its brilliant polish. The festival was founded by King Numa Pompilius, according to the chapter.
Chapter 3
How did Augustus use barley to punish cowardly cohorts?
Augustus threatened that if his cohorts did not fight bravely, he would execute every tenth man and feed the remainder on barley. Barley was a favorite dish among the Athenians but an ignominious food among the Romans, so the punishment was degradation as much as diet.
Chapter 3
What was sesame used for in Roman cooking, and what saying came from it?
The Romans prepared sesame into wholesome, agreeable cakes served at dessert. From these dainty cakes came the saying 'sesame cakes,' applied to sweet and flattering expressions known as honied words (paroles sucrées in French). Pliny classed sesame among seeds sown in March; Columella placed it among vegetables.
Chapter 3
How did Greek and Roman law regulate the corn supply?
The Twelve Tables punished premeditated arson of a neighbor's corn with death and lesser negligence with a fine or whipping. Greece appointed a Sitocome and officers like sitones and sitophylaces to oversee corn; public distributors called siturches and sitometres limited purchases, with law forbidding delivery of more than fifty measures to one person.
Chapter 3
II. CEREALS.4 cards
What does Soyer's chapter on cereals trace regarding grain?
The chapter surveys the history of cereals from the earliest ages, drawing on classical and biblical sources such as Livy, Pliny, Cato, Virgil, Xenophon, Herodotus, and the Bible. It treats grain cultivation, varieties, and the role of bread in ancient societies, presenting the material as a historical compilation rather than original research.
Chapter 4
How does the chapter connect bread to Roman political life?
The chapter invokes the phrase 'Panem et Circenses' (bread and circuses) in its notes, linking grain supply to Roman public order. It cites sources including Suetonius, Dio Cassius, and Plutarch on the distribution of bread and its political importance, showing that the author treats the bread supply as a tool of statecraft.
Chapter 4
What kinds of sources does Soyer rely on for the cereal chapter?
The chapter's notes cite Roman historians and poets (Livy, Pliny, Virgil, Suetonius, Tacitus, Dio Cassius), Greek writers (Xenophon, Herodotus, Dioscorides, Galen, Demosthenes, Plutarch), legal texts (the Twelve Tables, Ulpian), the Bible, and later English chroniclers such as Stow and Fabian.
Chapter 4
What does the chapter suggest about ancient grain varieties and their uses?
Drawing on Pliny, Dioscorides, Galen, and Virgil, the chapter discusses different cereals and their qualities, including distinctions among grains and their dietary or medicinal properties. The author compiles ancient opinion on these varieties rather than testing them, so the claims reflect classical authorities as reported by Soyer.
Chapter 4
III. GRINDING OF CORN.3 cards
What did the Druids' name and oak rituals suggest about early ancestors' food?
The chapter argues that the oak likely furnished the first food of northern ancestors: they lived amid vast oak forests, revered the tree, held an annual ceremony where the Druid high priest cut the parasitic mistletoe, and the very name Druid derived from a Celtic word meaning oak. The author presents this as probable, not certain.
Chapter 5
What laws protected watermills under Honorius, Arcadius, and Zeno?
Honorius and Arcadius decreed in 398 that anyone diverting water from mills for personal profit would be fined five pounds of gold, and any magistrate encouraging such an act would pay the same. Emperor Zeno upheld this law and made it stricter, adding that the buildings or land into which the water had been turned would be confiscated.
Chapter 5
How did Belisarius power mills on the Tiber during the Gothic siege?
The chapter states that under Justinian, when the Goths besieged Rome, Belisarius built mills on the Tiber. Two boats fixed two feet apart channeled the stream to spin a hydraulic wheel suspended by its axle between them, and that wheel turned the mills. The system differed little from Vitruvius's design described over five centuries earlier.
Chapter 5
III. GRINDING OF CORN.4 cards
How did the ancient Greeks and Romans grind corn, according to the chapter?
The chapter describes hand-mills and millstones as the early means of grinding corn among the ancients, with the work often assigned to slaves and women. It cites classical authorities such as Homer, Pliny, and Virgil for details of these mills and the labor involved, presenting grinding as a household and servile task before larger milling establishments developed.
Chapter 6
What does the chapter say about the introduction of water-mills?
The chapter discusses ancient water-mills, citing Vitruvius and others on their construction, and notes references in later Roman sources and legislation concerning aqueducts and mills. It treats water-power as a later development compared with hand-grinding, drawing on classical and early medieval testimony rather than claiming a single inventor.
Chapter 6
What role did donkeys and animals play in ancient milling?
The chapter mentions animal-driven mills, where donkeys or other beasts turned the millstones, citing classical sources such as Apuleius and Terence. Such mills appear as a familiar part of ancient bakery establishments, with the animal labor distinguished from the hand-grinding done by slaves and women.
Chapter 6
How does the chapter connect milling to later English and monastic records?
The chapter extends its survey to medieval England, citing Ethelbert's laws, Strutt's Manners, and the Monasticon Anglicanum for mills attached to monasteries and manors. It presents milling as an established institution with legal and monastic records, showing continuity from classical practice into medieval English arrangements.
Chapter 6
IV. MANIPULATION OF FLOUR.4 cards
How did Sarah and the early Hebrews bake bread in Abraham's time?
Sarah made round pieces of flattened paste from flour and water, placed them on the hearth, and covered them with hot ashes. The Jewish people in the Desert ate no other kind, and the Prophet Elijah ate this simple food under a juniper tree. At solemn periods the Hebrews also used a gridiron on coals or a frying-pan, producing dry, thin, brittle cakes like the Passover cake.
Chapter 7
What was seor, and what does Pliny say about it?
Seor was the substance the Jews used to raise dough, perhaps flour diluted with water left to get sour. Pliny assures that of all means the ancients used to make bread savoury and light, this is the most simple and easy. The chapter suggests the Hebrews likely learned leaven preparation from the Egyptians, since the Bible's first allusion to it comes at the Passover before the Exodus.
Chapter 7
What was the Greek bread artolaganos, and who made it?
Artolaganos was a relishing bread in which a renowned baker introduced wine, pepper, oil, and milk. Greek market-women, who ran the bread trade, invited children to taste it. It was one of seventy-two bread varieties the Greeks created by mixing milk, oil, honey, cheese, and wine with fine flour, all called artos with a distinguishing epithet.
Chapter 7
What rules governed the Roman college of bakers?
No member could quit on any pretext; the son followed the father's profession, and marrying a baker's daughter made a man a baker. A baker raised to senator had to abandon his fortune to his replacement, though he could decline and stay at his kneading-trough. Alliances with gladiators and comedians were forbidden, with scourging, banishment, and confiscation as penalties; a prodigal baker was expelled like a dishonest bankrupt.
Chapter 7
IV. MANIPULATION OF FLOUR.4 cards
What does the chapter say about the antiquity of bread-making among the Hebrews?
The chapter cites Genesis, Exodus, and Leviticus to show that baking bread was an established practice among the Hebrews, with references to cakes baked on hearths and in ovens. It draws on Calmet and Fleury to describe Hebrew customs of preparing flour and dough, presenting these scriptural citations as evidence that manipulation of flour for bread is of very early origin.
Chapter 8
How does the chapter connect the Latin word for bread with shepherds and pasture?
The chapter notes the etymology linking 'panis' (bread) with 'pane,' and connects the Latin 'paître' (to pasture) with 'manger' (to eat), citing Nonnius Marcellus and Isidore. It uses this wordplay to suggest an ancient association between pastoral life and the eating of bread, presenting the linguistic link as evidence of bread's early place in daily life.
Chapter 8
What role did Roman bakers' guilds and regulations play according to the chapter?
The chapter cites Roman legal texts and authors such as Pliny and Aurelius Victor to describe regulations governing bakers (pistores), including rules about who may be a baker and exemptions. It presents the Roman state as closely regulating the baking trade, using these citations to show the organized, legally controlled status of bakers in Roman society.
Chapter 8
What does the chapter say about the reputation of bread and bakers in antiquity?
Drawing on Pliny, Juvenal, and Athenaeus, the chapter describes ancient attitudes toward bread and those who made it, including remarks on the quality of different breads and the social standing of bakers. It presents these classical authors' opinions as evidence of how bread was valued and how the baking trade was regarded in Greek and Roman society.
Chapter 8
V. FRUMENTA.2 cards
What did Pliny claim about barley and oats in the same field?
Pliny fancied the two plants so analogous that a field owner who sowed barley might find oats at harvest, while his neighbour might find the reverse. The author notes that nature in his own day is not subject to such frolics, and farmers can be reasonably sure of reaping what they sow.
Chapter 9
How did Soterides satisfy King Nicomedes's demand for loaches?
Nicomedes demanded loaches late at night, threatening the cook's life if refused. Soterides peeled long radishes, shaped them like the fish, and seasoned them with oil, salt, black pepper, and other secret ingredients. He served them fried, and the king ate them all, declaring the next day he had never liked loaches so much.
Chapter 9
V. FRUMENTA.3 cards
Which ancient medical writers does the chapter cite on the dietetic qualities of grains?
The chapter repeatedly cites Hippocrates (De Victûs Ratione) and Galen (De Aliment. Facultat., lib. i) on the dietetic properties of grains, alongside Theophrastus in Gaza's version. These authorities are invoked to establish how different grains were judged for nourishment and digestion, reflecting the ancient medical tradition of evaluating foods by their humoral and nutritional effects rather than by modern nutritional science.
Chapter 10
Which Roman agricultural writers does the chapter draw on for grain cultivation and use?
The chapter cites Cato (R. R., including cap. lxxxvi), Varro (De Ling. Lat.), Columella (book ii and xii. 55), and Virgil (Georgics, book iv) for Roman practices of grain cultivation, storage, and preparation. Pliny the Elder (Natural History xviii) and Pliny the Younger (Epistles) also appear, giving the chapter a dense base of Roman agricultural and epistolary testimony.
Chapter 10
How does the chapter use Athenæus and other Greek sources in discussing frumenta?
The chapter cites Athenæus (Deipnosophists, books i, iii, vii, and 13) for Greek testimony on grains and related foods, and also draws on Plato's Gorgias, Martial, and modern works such as St. John's The Hindoos and Andrieux. This mix shows the author's comparative method, ranging from classical banquets to Indian and modern European observations on grain.
Chapter 10
VI. GRAINS: SEEDS.4 cards
What medicinal properties did Pliny attribute to mustard seed?
Pliny affirmed that mustard is a sovereign remedy against the bite of the most venomous serpents when applied to the wound, and that taken inwardly it removes any fear of poisoning from certain mushrooms. The chapter notes that nineteenth-century doctors were apparently little inclined to adopt the worthy naturalist's method.
Chapter 11
What etymology of 'mustard' does the chapter offer, and what is the alternate story?
The chapter suggests mustard may derive from 'mustum ardens' (burning wine), since the Romans fermented the seed in new sweet wine. Alternatively, gastronomic writers say the condiment was once called sauve or senevé, and the name changed after a damaged motto at Dijon led to the derisive term moutarde. The author calls this etymology ingenious, if not true.
Chapter 11
How did the Romans use coriander to preserve meat in summer?
The Romans considered coriander strengthening and digestive, like mustard. During the great heat of summer they bruised or pounded it, mixed it with vinegar, and laid it over any kind of meat, which this coating preserved in a perfect state of freshness.
Chapter 11
What did Zeno of Citium compare himself to, and why?
Asked to explain why he was irritable with friends but affable after drinking wine, Zeno said he was of the same nature as the lupin: its bitterness is insupportable before soaking, but it becomes exquisitely mild once well steeped. Pliny and Zeno both held that soaking lupin in boiling water makes it mild enough to eat.
Chapter 11
VII. VEGETABLES.4 cards
Why did the Romans call vegetables legumina, according to the chapter?
The chapter states the Romans said this great family of herbs took the name legumina because they were chosen and picked by hand. Roman horticulturists prided themselves on preparing the ground, the attention the plants required, and the health-giving virtues experience attributed to them. Heathen theology also consecrated several vegetables to religious solemnities, and some nations honored them with incense.
Chapter 12
How did Roman family names Fabius, Cicero, and Lentulus connect to vegetables?
The chapter says illustrious Roman families did not disdain to borrow their names from leguminous plants: Fabius from beans (faba), Cicero from chick-peas (cicer arietinum), and Lentulus from lentils (lenticula). It adds that Cicero once preferred a dish of beet-root to the oysters and lampreys he passionately loved. The author argues this shows Roman enthusiasm for vegetables.
Chapter 12
How did Apicius advise preserving vegetables?
Apicius, described as a profound culinary chemist who spent immense treasures inventing dishes and killed himself when his remaining fortune seemed insufficient, advises choosing vegetables before they are perfectly ripe, putting them in a vessel coated with pitch, and covering it hermetically. The author leaves readers to judge this process against those science has since discovered.
Chapter 12
What do Charlemagne's capitulars say about vegetables, and what does Anderson claim about England?
Charlemagne's capitulars list lettuces, cresses, endive, parsley, chervil, carrots, leeks, turnips, onions, garlic, scallions, and eschalots as found only in the emperor's kitchen-gardens; he sold them for considerable revenue. Anderson claims that around 1548 England cultivated scarcely any vegetables, importing them from Holland and Flanders, and that even Queen Catherine could not procure a salad.
Chapter 12
VIII. DRIED VEGETABLES.4 cards
Why did the Flamen of Jupiter and Pythagoreans avoid beans?
The Flamen of Jupiter was forbidden to eat or even name beans, and Pythagoras's followers avoided them for fear of chewing a soul in transmigration. The bean's little black spot was read as a type of death, and grave writers added that beans were hard to digest, stupefying, and stopped hens laying. Hippocrates shared such fears when beans blossomed.
Chapter 13
How did the bean's reputation recover, and what foods did it appear in?
Despite the prejudices, green beans graced luxurious tables and ripe ones replaced wheat and other corn. The Pyanepsia festival of Apollo honored the bean, which took precedence over other boiled vegetables offered to the god. Isidorus reportedly called it man's first culinary vegetable; David ate it and Ezekiel mixed it into his bread.
Chapter 13
What was the Twelfth-night cake's bean custom in Europe?
Since the middle ages the bean featured in the Twelfth-night cake across Europe, granting an ephemeral royalty sung by poets. Thomas Randolph records Lady Flemyng as queen of the bean in 1568. English cakes held raisins with one bean and one pea: whoever got the bean was king, the pea queen. Philip IV of Spain called the new Portuguese sovereign a 'king of the bean.'
Chapter 13
How did the Romans regard lentils, and why?
The Romans held lentils in low esteem, claiming their moisture caused heaviness of mind and made men reserved, indolent, and lazy. They linked the name to lentus (slow), and classed lentils among funereal, ill-omened foods; Marcus Crassus took his army's resort to lentils as a sign of coming defeat against the Parthians. Virgil and Pliny spoke more kindly of them.
Chapter 13
VIII. DRIED VEGETABLES.1 cards
What dried vegetables does the chapter say were used in ancient times?
The chapter discusses dried vegetables such as lentils, beans, peas, and other legumes, noting their use from earliest ages. It cites classical authorities including Pliny, Athenæus, and Galen on their preparation and food value, and references biblical passages such as II. Reg. xvii. 28 and Ezech. iv. 9 as evidence of dried pulse in ancient diets.
Chapter 14
IX. KITCHEN GARDEN. (part 1)4 cards
What did the Egyptians, Greeks, and Romans believe about cabbage's effects?
The Egyptians adored the cabbage and raised altars to it, then served it as the first dish of their repasts; the Greeks and Romans imitated this and ascribed to the cabbage the quality of preserving from drunkenness. The red cabbage particularly received these honours. From Italy the victorious legions introduced it among the Gauls.
Chapter 15
What medical claims did Cato and Hippocrates make for cabbage?
Hippocrates prescribed boiled cabbage with salt for a violent cholic, and Erasistratus saw it as a remedy against paralysis. The author notes that Cato affirmed the plant cures all diseases and claimed he used it to keep the plague from his family, adding that Romans supposedly went six hundred years without physicians because of it. The author says the faculty later banished cabbage to the kitchen.
Chapter 15
How did the Romans obtain giant asparagus, and what did Augustus say about it?
The Romans cultivated asparagus with extreme care; at Ravenna they raised stems each weighing three pounds. Asparagus was boiled only briefly, so Augustus, wishing an affair concluded without delay, would say: 'Let that be done quicker than you would cook asparagus.' The author also reports travellers claiming twelve-foot asparagus in Getulia and twenty-cubit plants in the mountains.
Chapter 15
What did Diphilus and Martial say about beet, and how does the author respond?
Diphilus placed beet far above cabbage, recommending it boiled with mustard and calling it an excellent vermifuge; the Greeks preferred the pale Sicilian sort from Ascrea in Bœotia. Martial called beet an insipid dish. The author counters that Martial perhaps composed his epigram after dinner, and offers Apicius's recipes as proof the dish was esteemed.
Chapter 15
IX. KITCHEN GARDEN. (part 2)4 cards
What did Pliny jokingly reproach the rich for regarding artichokes?
Pliny, in a jesting whim, reproaches the rich with having deprived the lower classes and asses of a food which nature seemed to have destined for them. The chapter notes the wealthy only began to appreciate artichokes about a century after they were known in Italy, and that the vegetable was then very dear and did not succeed well.
Chapter 16
How did Aristoxenus make his lettuce so prized by neighbors?
The philosopher Aristoxenus watered his celebrated lettuce with sweet, excellent wine rather than water, communicating to them a delicate perfume and exquisite taste whose cause baffled neighboring gastronomists. He visited the plot every evening and would joke that he was gathering relishing green cakes the earth prepared for him.
Chapter 16
What medicinal uses of lettuce does the chapter report?
Galen mentions that in old age he found no better remedy against wakefulness than lettuce. The biographer of Augustus reports the Emperor, attacked with hypochondria, recovered only by using lettuces recommended by Musa, his first physician. The chapter also notes lettuce possesses a narcotic virtue noticed by ancient physicians.
Chapter 16
According to the chapter, how did the Romans prepare cucumbers?
The Romans prepared cucumbers several ways: scraped and eaten with œnogarum, or with a condiment of thyme, wild mint, pepper, and alisander plus garum, oil, and honey; boiled with parsley, seed, gravy, and oil, then peppered; seasoned with pepper, pennyroyal, honey, wine, gravy, vinegar, and sylphium; or boiled with already-cooked brains, cummin, and honey.
Chapter 16
IX. KITCHEN GARDEN. (part 3)4 cards
What did the Greeks and Romans believe garlic did for soldiers and sailors?
The chapter states garlic was thought to excite the courage of warriors, so it was fed to fighting cocks and carried in ample provision by Greek and Roman sailors as well as soldiers. It was also widely believed that garlic neutralized the effects of foul air, which is why reapers and peasants used it lavishly. Greek and Roman cooks, however, used it only seldom, as a second- or third-rate ingredient.
Chapter 17
What properties did the ancients attribute to horse-radish?
The author reports that the ancients credited horse-radish with remarkable powers: taken fasting, it was said to turn the most inveterate poisons into inoffensive drinks; washing the hands in its juice supposedly allowed one to handle dangerous venomous reptiles; and it was claimed as an efficacious remedy for numerous evils. The author admits it attacks and soon spoils the enamel of the teeth, and notes Apicius served it with pepper and garum.
Chapter 17
How was garlic regarded in Egypt, Greece, and by King Alphonso of Castile?
Garlic was known from remote ages and was a god in Egypt. The Greeks held it in horror, yet it formed part of their military food, giving rise to the proverb 'Eat neither garlic nor beans,' meaning abstain from war and law. The chapter also reports that in 1368 Alphonso, King of Castile, who had an extreme repugnance to garlic, founded a knighthood forbidding any knight who had eaten it from appearing before him for at least a month.
Chapter 17
What did parsley symbolize and how was it used in crowns and games?
Hercules crowned himself with parsley, and such a crown later became the prize of the Nemean and Isthmian Games. Anacreon celebrated parsley as the emblem of joy and festivity, and Horace had his banqueting hall ornamented with roses and parsley. Fable made it the food of Juno's coursers, Homer's warriors fed it to their chargers, and it was also admitted at mournful funeral repasts as a symbol of mourning.
Chapter 17
IX. KITCHEN GARDEN.4 cards
Which ancient authors does Soyer cite on kitchen-garden cultivation?
Soyer draws repeatedly on the Roman writers on husbandry—Cato, Varro, and Columellus—as well as Pliny, Athenæus, the Geoponics, and Apicius's cookery recipes. These citations show he builds the chapter from classical agricultural manuals and culinary texts rather than original fieldwork, treating them as authorities on how vegetables were grown, valued, and prepared in antiquity.
Chapter 18
How does Soyer connect biblical manna and Egyptian fare to vegetables?
Soyer repeatedly cites Numbers xi. 5, where the Israelites in the wilderness recall the fish, cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions, and garlic of Egypt. He uses this passage to argue that such garden produce was a prized part of ancient diet, linking scriptural memory of Egypt with the classical and Eastern evidence he gathers elsewhere in the chapter.
Chapter 18
What role does Apicius play in the chapter's evidence?
Apicius is cited more than almost any other source, with recipes drawn from his De Obsoniis for dishes using garden vegetables such as cabbage, leeks, and other greens. Soyer uses these recipes to show not only that vegetables were cultivated but how they were actually cooked and seasoned in Roman kitchens, making Apicius his chief witness for preparation rather than mere growth.
Chapter 18
How does Soyer treat the medical and dietetic reputation of vegetables?
Soyer cites Hippocrates' Aphorisms, Galen's De Alimentis Facultatibus, and Dioscorides on the properties of vegetables, showing that ancient writers judged garden produce by dietetic and medical qualities, not just flavor. The chapter thus presents vegetables as both food and regimen, with physicians and naturalists assessing their effects on the body alongside cooks who prepared them.
Chapter 18
X. PLANTS USED IN SEASONING.4 cards
How did the ancients use poppy seed in food?
Poppy seed was offered fried at the start of the second course and eaten with honey. It was sometimes sprinkled on the crust of a household bread covered with white of egg, and some was put into panada or pap intended for children—perhaps, the author suggests, to make them sleep sooner.
Chapter 19
What claims did the chapter record about rocket's practical uses?
The chapter reports that persons about to be whipped were advised to swallow a cup of wine in which rocket had been steeped, as it was asserted this made pain supportable. It was also claimed that rocket taken with honey removed facial freckles. The author notes these recipes' credibility is uncertain, but says rocket was esteemed, with wild and garden rocket mixed to temper heat by coldness.
Chapter 19
What accusation did Pythagoras make against orach, and what happened?
Pythagoras reproached orach with causing livid paleness, dropsy, and scrofula in those who ate it. Nevertheless, greedy curiosity brought it into culinary preparations, and the guests of Apicius tasted the supposedly fatal orach more than once without knowing its pernicious properties. History does not record that they suffered any ill effects.
Chapter 19
What was believed about fennel's juice, and how often was fennel used in cooking?
Fennel was employed but seldom in the preparation of dishes or pastry. However, it was believed that the juice of its stalk had the property of restoring or strengthening the sight.
Chapter 19
X.4 cards
What golden centerpiece stood on the royal table at Queen Victoria's 1838 coronation banquet?
A massive gold fountain about three feet high and two feet in diameter spouted four different sorts of wine into as many shells, from which it dripped into four reservoirs and was served with a golden ladle. The chapter says it can still be seen with the regalia in the Tower of London.
Chapter 20
How did Soyer roast the 535-pound baron of beef at the 1850 Exeter agricultural dinner?
He roasted it in the open air in the castle yard using gas: a few bricks without mortar and sheets of iron formed a temporary cover six feet six inches by three feet three inches, with 216 small jets from half-inch pipes. After eight hours it was thoroughly dressed, costing under five shillings for gas.
Chapter 20
What did Sir Edward Russell's 1746 punch bowl contain, and how was it served?
A marble garden basin was filled with four barrels of brandy, eight barrels of filtered water, 25,000 citrons, eighty pints of lemon juice, 1,300 weight of sugar, five pounds of nutmeg, 300 biscuits, and a pipe of Malaga wine. An awning covered it, and a cabin boy rowed a rose-wood boat on the punch to serve over six thousand guests.
Chapter 20
What did Soyer's triumphal arch at the Exeter dinner consist of?
The arch, designed and erected by the author, stood 17 feet high and 10 wide, composed of farm produce: a swan, turkeys, geese, ducks, fowls, pigeons, rabbits, a barn-door cock, ox, calf, ram and stag heads, whole lambs, plus vegetables, sheaves, fruits and flowers of the county, surmounted by agricultural implements. An eighty-pound black pig's head topped the beef.
Chapter 20
X. PLANTS USED IN SEASONING.3 cards
Which classical sources does Soyer cite for plants used in seasoning?
The chapter's notes cite a wide range of ancient authorities, including Pliny (Natural History books xix, xx, xxi, xxv, xxvii), Dioscorides, Columella, the Geoponica, Apicius, Cato, Ovid, Virgil, Juvenal, Martial, Athenaeus, Strabo, and Lampridius. These citations show Soyer builds his account of ancient seasonings from classical agricultural, medical, and culinary texts rather than from original experiment.
Chapter 21
What kinds of sources does Soyer rely on for Roman seasoning practices?
Soyer draws on agricultural writers such as Cato, Columella, and the Geoponica, medical-natural authors such as Pliny and Dioscorides, and culinary compilations such as Apicius. He also cites poets like Virgil, Ovid, and Martial. The mix means his account of Roman seasoning combines practical farming advice, medical lore, and literary allusion, not a single consistent source.
Chapter 21
How does Soyer's citation style affect how the chapter should be read?
The chapter is largely a chain of numbered citations to ancient authors, with little continuous argument in the excerpted text. Readers should treat the notes as pointers to primary sources rather than as verified claims. Soyer assembles classical testimony about seasoning plants, so the chapter is best read as a compilation of ancient references, not as an independent botanical study.
Chapter 21
XI. FRUITS.4 cards
How did the Hebrew legislator's rules protect fruit trees and their planters?
The chapter says the Hebrew legislator forbade cutting down fruit trees even on enemies' lands, declared the first three years' fruit impure and the fourth consecrated to the Lord, and exempted from military service anyone who had planted a vineyard or fruit trees until the first vintage.
Chapter 22
Which deities did heathen nations assign to protect orchards and specific trees?
The chapter states that heathen nations invented protective divinities—Pomona, Vertumnus, and Priapus—whose sole care was protecting orchards from bad seasons and driving off insects and robbers. Each kind also had a patron: the olive under Minerva, the palm cherished by the Muses, the pine and cone consecrated to Cybele, and Bacchus ripening the fig and grape.
Chapter 22
When were fruits served and eaten in Greek and Roman meals?
Among the Greeks, fruits appeared at the second course and were eaten cooked, raw, or as preserves. The Romans sometimes breakfasted on a small quantity of dried fruits, and the third course of their cœna, or principal repast, offered an incredible profusion of produce from their own orchards and from three parts of the world.
Chapter 22
How did wealthy Romans preserve fruit, and what extravagant orchard displays did they build?
The chapter describes an expensive Roman process: fruit was chosen carefully and put with stalks attached into honey, each spaced so they did not touch. Rich patricians, after exhausting luxury in clothes, homes, and banquets, planted fruit trees on high towers and housetops, suspending forests overhead, along with vast reservoirs to keep exquisite fish alive.
Chapter 22
XII. STONE FRUIT.4 cards
What roles did the olive tree play in ancient symbolism and ritual?
The chapter says the olive was considered venerable and holy, taking precedence over other trees. Minerva gave it birth; its foliage crowned victory, signified hopes of peace, and made suppliants inviolable. Hercules' arrows were made of its wood, and princes borrowed their sceptre from it, as did shepherds their crook.
Chapter 23
How did the Romans preserve olives for the table?
The chapter describes a lye of quick-lime and oak ashes in water, in which olives soaked eight to ten hours, then washed and soaked eight days in clear soft water changed several times. They were then placed in cooled brine saturated with salt until an egg floated, infused with fennel stems. Large colymbades were sometimes crushed so brine penetrated, with herbs added.
Chapter 23
What does the chapter say about Mithridates and Lucullus and the cherry?
The author argues credit is shared: Mithridates planted and grafted cherries, while ancient authors say Lucullus brought them to Europe and displayed the tree in his triumph. Theophrastus reportedly places Mithridates' good cherries passing into Greece 300 years before Christ, 228 years before Lucullus. Xenophanes and Diphilus also mentioned cherries earlier.
Chapter 23
How were dates used as food and drink according to the chapter?
The chapter states dates were eaten raw or prepared, mixed with viands, and their syrup used as sauce. Unripe dates sun-dried became soft and pulpy, then preserved for export. Riper dates were squeezed for sweet juice kept in vessels or buried. Dried dates were ground into flour for desert caravans, and crushed in soft water they made wine producing strong spirit.
Chapter 23
XII. STONE FRUIT.3 cards
Which authors does the chapter cite on the cultivation and qualities of stone fruit?
The citations include Theophrastus (Historia Plantarum), Pliny (Natural History books xiii and xv), Columella, Virgil's Georgics, Athenæus, Galen, and Dioscorides. These authorities are invoked for planting, varieties, and alimentary properties of stone fruit, with Apicius cited for culinary preparation.
Chapter 24
How does the chapter connect stone fruit to biblical and Jewish sources?
It cites Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy, plus the Mishna and Josephus, and references Guénée's Lettres de Quelques Juifs. These appear in connection with oils, offerings, and dietary matters, showing the author weaving stone fruit into scriptural and Jewish antiquarian discussion rather than treating it as mere botany.
Chapter 24
What later European sources does the chapter cite regarding stone fruit?
It cites Ruellius, Matthiolus on Dioscorides, Salmasius, Pontanus, Natalis Comes, the Dictionnaire des Origines, Mémoires de Dangeau, Gaillard's history of Francis I, and Olivier de Serres's Théâtre d'Agriculture. These extend the discussion from antiquity into Renaissance and French scholarship on fruit.
Chapter 24
XIII. PIP FRUIT.4 cards
How did the Romans first obtain quinces before they learned to cultivate the tree?
The Romans initially could not rear quince plants imported from abroad in boxes, so for a long time they contented themselves with excellent quinces preserved in honey, sent from Iberia and Syria to the great capital. Only later did they learn to cultivate the quince tree and introduce it into Gaul, where it succeeded admirably.
Chapter 25
How did the pear called Bon Chrétien get its name?
Louis XI of France summoned Saint François de Paule from Calabria hoping to recover his health through the saint's intercession. The saint brought with him the seeds of this pear, and since he was called at court Le Bon Chrétien, the fruit received the name of him to whom France owed its introduction.
Chapter 25
What sumptuary law did Solon impose on Athenian wedding banquets?
Solon thought his fellow citizens fared too sumptuously on their wedding-day, so to curtail expense he ordered that the bridegroom should be content with a single apple while his guests regaled themselves at his expense. The author notes the law was religiously observed by the Greeks, and the Persians thought it so original they adopted it in turn.
Chapter 25
How did lemons first reach the Romans, and how did they use them?
The Athenians received the lemon tree from the Persians, neighbours of the Medes, and from Attica it spread over Greece. Lemons were known to the Romans only very late, and at first were used only to keep moths from their garments. Their acidity was unpleasant to the Romans, and Apicius makes no use of it.
Chapter 25
XIII. PIP FRUIT.4 cards
What medicinal uses does the chapter attribute to figs?
The chapter cites Galen and Dioscorides on figs' medicinal properties, noting their use in dietetics and as remedies. It references ancient physicians who classified figs among foods affecting the humours. The author compiles classical authorities rather than offering original medical claims, presenting fig preparations as part of the ancient regimen for health and digestion.
Chapter 26
How does the chapter connect figs to biblical and ancient Jewish sources?
The chapter cites Genesis, Numbers, Kings, and Chronicles, noting figs among foods of the Holy Land and references in scripture. It mentions Guénée's letters on Jewish customs and connects the fig to ancient Near Eastern diet. The author treats scriptural mentions as historical evidence for the fig's long cultivation and dietary importance.
Chapter 26
What does the chapter say about the fig's name and Greek origins?
The chapter notes the Greek word sukon for fig, linked to phainô, and cites Athenaeus and Plutarch on the fig's place in Greek custom and language. It discusses the fig's association with Athenian life and the nickname sykophant, showing how the fruit entered Greek vocabulary and social commentary.
Chapter 26
Which Roman authors does the chapter cite on fig cultivation and varieties?
The chapter cites Cato, Varro, Columella, Pliny, and Palladius on fig cultivation, varieties, and preservation. It references Apicius for recipes and Virgil and Ovid for poetic mentions. The author uses these sources to show Roman agricultural practice and the fig's standing among cultivated fruits.
Chapter 26
XIV. SHELL FRUIT.4 cards
How did the ancients supposedly increase the fertility of the almond tree?
According to the chapter, they made a hole in the tree and inserted a stone into it. This was described as an infallible means of augmenting fertility, thanks to the virtue of this "new manure," after which the branches soon bent under the weight of almonds. The author presents this as a belief of the ancients rather than a verified practice.
Chapter 27
What was the Roman custom of strewing walnuts after a wedding meant to signify?
After the wedding feast, the bridegroom strewed baskets of walnuts in the nuptial chamber for children to pick up. Some said it was an offering to Jupiter to gain his patronage for the husband and Juno's virtues for the wife; others saw the double-enveloped walnut as a presage of abundance. The most reasonable view, per certain commentators, was that walnuts were children's playthings, so the gesture signaled renouncing youthful frivolities for family life.
Chapter 27
What was the recipe for Mithridates' antidote against poison found by Pompey?
When Pompey captured Mithridates' palace, he had the famous antidote recipe sought out. It was simple: pound two walnuts, two dried figs, twenty leaves of rue, and a grain of salt; swallow the mixture with a little wine. According to the chapter, this protected a person from the most active poison for the space of twenty-four hours.
Chapter 27
How were chestnuts prepared to make them more agreeable and wholesome?
They were peeled of their tough skins, put in boiling water to soften the bitter pellicle (tan), then stripped of it by finger pressure. After shaking in a sieve and washing in cold water to remove bitter water, they were cooked without water in a well-covered vessel over moderate fire. Dutour adds that boiling fifteen to twenty minutes then drying in a cooling oven lets green chestnuts keep all year.
Chapter 27
XIV. SHELL FRUIT.4 cards
What does the chapter say about the almond's origin and ancient uses?
The chapter treats the almond among shell fruit, citing Theophrastus and Dutour on the tree. It notes the almond appears in Genesis among the gifts Jacob sent to Egypt, and that the Hebrews used almond-shaped ornaments in the tabernacle and temple. The author also cites Apicius and Pliny for its culinary and medicinal employment among the ancients.
Chapter 28
How does the chapter describe the walnut's standing among the ancients?
The chapter presents the walnut as highly valued, citing Pliny, Varro, and Dioscorides. It notes the tree was associated with marriage customs, with references to Catullus and Servius on nuts thrown at weddings. The author also mentions medicinal uses from Galen and Avicenna, and Cato and Macrobius on cultivation and preservation.
Chapter 28
What does the chapter report about the chestnut in ancient food and medicine?
The chapter discusses the chestnut with citations to Athenaeus, Galen, and Dioscorides, treating it as a food and a medicinal simple. It notes the tree and its fruit were known to Greek and Roman writers, and that the nut was used in various preparations. The author draws on these authorities rather than offering his own experiments.
Chapter 28
What does the chapter say about the pistachio and its ancient reputation?
The chapter includes the pistachio among shell fruit, citing Athenaeus and Nicander among others. It notes the nut was known in antiquity and discussed by classical authorities on food and medicine. The author presents these citations as evidence of the fruit's place in ancient diet rather than as his own botanical claim.
Chapter 28
XV. ANIMAL FOOD.4 cards
According to the chapter, when and why did the magiric (cookery) science begin?
The author argues cookery began in the year of the world 1656, after the great cataclysm. He states that men were then obliged to be fed with more substantial food, and were allowed to add animated beings and all that had life and motion to vegetables and herbs. Cooking meat, however simple, required attention and study that developed the sense of taste.
Chapter 29
How does the chapter explain the introduction of animal food at Tyre?
The author recounts that in the time of Pygmalion a young sacrificer burned his fingers picking up a fallen piece of a victim and put them in his mouth. Tasting the fat, he swallowed a mouthful, then more, hid a piece under his cloak, and supped with his wife. The prince condemned them to death, but other sacrificers secretly imitated them until meat passed from altars to mortal tables.
Chapter 29
What does the chapter say about vegetarian critics such as Plutarch and Rousseau?
The author notes that some ideologists and dreamers opposed meat, including Pythagoras and Rousseau, though he claims Rousseau was fond of mutton chops and bœuf à la mode. Plutarch was a vegetarian and wrote a treatise arguing flesh is not man's natural food. The author answers that meat was eaten, comparing this to silencing a philosopher who denied motion by simply walking.
Chapter 29
What rules does the Mosaic law impose regarding cattle, according to the chapter?
The chapter says the Mosaic law forbids mutilating animals, requires the Hebrews to treat the companions of their labour generously, to care for a brother's and even an enemy's oxen, not to yoke together species of unequal strength, and to give cattle at least one day of rest each week so they do not suffer from constant labour.
Chapter 29
XV. ANIMAL FOOD.4 cards
What does the chapter say about the earliest human diet according to Scripture?
The chapter cites Genesis to argue that the first humans were given plants for food (Gen. i. 29), and only after the Flood was meat explicitly permitted (Gen. ix. 3). It presents this as a scriptural basis for the view that flesh-eating came later than a vegetable diet.
Chapter 30
Which ancient authors does the chapter cite as opposing the eating of flesh?
The chapter references Plutarch (De Esu Carnium) and Porphyry (De Non Necandis) among those who argued against killing and eating animals. It also cites Jerome and Arnobius in the same vein, presenting abstention from flesh as a position held by several ancient writers.
Chapter 30
What role did swine play in Roman law and urban administration?
The chapter notes Roman legal provisions on swine, including Ulpian's De Officio Præfect. Urbis and the Theodosian and Valentinian codes concerning suarii and pecuarii. It suggests swine-keeping and pork supply were regulated matters tied to the city prefect's office and public provisioning.
Chapter 30
How does the chapter describe the antiquity of hunting and its regulation?
The chapter cites Homer and Xenophon on hunting and references ancient legal rules, including the Twelve Tables, on animals and their ownership. It presents hunting and the keeping of animals as practices governed by early law, with provisions addressing theft of cattle and related offenses.
Chapter 30
XVI. ANIMALS. (part 1)4 cards
Why did the Egyptian priests refuse to eat pork, according to the chapter?
The Egyptian priests never allowed a ham at their feasts and fled at the sight of pigs, which they considered unclean beings whose presence defiled them. Yet the whole nation respected pigs for their service in turning up the earth and covering seeds thrown upon it, so the abstention was specific to the priests rather than the general population.
Chapter 31
What reasons does the chapter give for Jewish prohibition of pork?
The law of Moses forbade Jews to eat the pig or touch it after death, and tradition further barred pronouncing its name, looking at it, or selling it to foreigners. The chapter suggests the fear of a frightful malady to which pigs were subject in Palestine may have caused the prohibition, citing a Jewish doctor's remark about leprosy. Some theologians believed the expected Messiah would permit pork.
Chapter 31
How did the Greeks and Romans regard the pig religiously and symbolically?
The Greeks and Romans offered swine's flesh in sacrifice to the Earth, the Lares, and Ceres, and struck medals commemorating the rite. The pig was an emblem of fecundity for both nations and became a sign of pardon and peace on Italian banners; kings immolated two on their wedding day, and conquered nations prostrated before the standard promising Roman clemency.
Chapter 31
What was the hog à la Troyenne and how was it prepared?
It was the masterpiece of Roman cooks, named for the armed cohorts hidden in the Trojan horse: from the hog's interior issued thrushes, ortolans, and fig-peckers. The animal was bled under the shoulder, intestines drawn out by the throat and washed with wine, then stuffed with peppered gravy and small game, half covered in barley paste, roasted in a portable oven, then boiled on the other side.
Chapter 31
XVI. ANIMALS. (part 2)3 cards
How did the Greeks treat the killing of an ox during sacrifice?
The sacrificer fled after striking the ox, then threw away the axe and accused it of causing the death. The axe was seized and tried; someone blamed the grinder who sharpened the blade, who blamed the grinding stone, so the trial never ended and the offense went unpunished.
Chapter 32
What did Athens and Rome do about eating lamb?
Athens forbade eating lamb that had not been shorn; epicures still bought one daily for ten drachmas, its head ornamenting the first course. Rome imitated Greece, and Campania's flocks barely met demand, with Romans considering autumn lamb more flavorful and wholesome than spring lamb.
Chapter 32
How was the Bœuf Gras celebrated in France?
On Shrove Tuesday in provincial towns, a fatted ox decorated with flowers and ribbons was led through the streets as an emblem of the earth's fecundity. In Paris the ox, often an Agricultural Society prize-winner, had gilded horns and was paraded Shrove Sunday to Tuesday with costumed butchers, bands, and a gilt triumphal car of heathen divinities.
Chapter 32
XVI. ANIMALS. (part 3)4 cards
Which Greeks reportedly considered dog meat good food, and who endorsed it as wholesome?
The chapter says the Greeks ate dogs and thought them good, and that Hippocrates, described as the most wise and least gluttonous of their physicians, was convinced the animal furnished a wholesome and light food. The author presents this as a regrettable fact about an otherwise admired people.
Chapter 33
How did the Romans regard dog meat, according to the chapter?
The author says the Romans liked dog meat and probably prepared it like hare, which they thought it resembled in taste. However, he adds that fashionable Roman society never favourably received the dish, and the legislators of ancient gastronomy repulsed it with disdain. Common people likely ate it, especially at the annual Capitol celebration.
Chapter 33
What annual Roman ceremony involving a goose and a dog commemorated the Capitol's deliverance?
At the solemnity celebrating the Capitol's deliverance from the Gauls' siege, a goose was carried in triumph on a soft cushion, followed by a dog nailed to a cross whose cries amused the populace. The rite commemorated the geese whose cries alarmed the garrison and the dogs that slept while the Gauls scaled the Capitol.
Chapter 33
Why were geese honoured and dogs punished in the Roman commemoration?
The chapter explains that the Gauls scaled the Capitol while the dogs slept, and Rome would have been lost had the geese's cries not alarmed the garrison. The ceremony thus commemorated the signal service of one animal and the fatal negligence of the other, though the author notes the garrison should have kept better watch.
Chapter 33
XVI. ANIMALS.4 cards
Which animals does the chapter say Jewish law forbade eating, and on what authority?
The chapter cites Leviticus xi. 7-8 for the prohibition, and adds the examples of the Maccabees (I. Macchab. i. 65-66; II. Macchab. vi. 18 and following) as those who refused to eat forbidden flesh. It also notes Maimonides and the Barakama as further Jewish authorities on the dietary rules.
Chapter 34
What does the chapter report about the pig in Egyptian religion and its use as food?
Citing Herodotus (ii. 47) and Plutarch's De Iside et Osiride with Ælian, the chapter reports that the Egyptians regarded the pig as unclean and sacrificed and ate it only on particular festivals, not as ordinary food. The author presents this as a religious restriction rather than a matter of taste.
Chapter 34
How does the chapter describe Roman attitudes toward eating beef?
The chapter indicates that the Romans long regarded the ox as a working animal and its flesh as coarse food, citing Varro and others; beef appears in Roman diet mainly through sacrificial and festival contexts. The author argues the Romans preferred other meats, so beef was not a staple of the ordinary table.
Chapter 34
What role does the chapter assign to Apicius in Roman cookery?
The chapter repeatedly cites Apicius (books ii, vii, viii) for recipes and preparations of various animals, treating his work as the standard source for Roman kitchen practice. The author uses these citations to show how elaborate Roman dishes were seasoned and cooked, rather than to describe ordinary fare.
Chapter 34
XVII. POULTRY.3 cards
How did the Fannian law lead to the invention of the capon?
The consul C. Fannius, fearing the huge consumption of hens would leave none in the empire, ordered Romans to stop fattening and eating hens. The law said nothing about young cocks, and this silence saved Roman gastronomy: the capon was invented. Fannius reportedly praised a roast capon, and the consul later repented that his law had named only hens.
Chapter 35
What method did Roman breeders use to fatten hens?
Hens were kept in a warm, narrow, dark place; the feathers of their wings and tails were plucked, and they were gorged twice a day for three weeks with balls of barley flour mixed with soft water. Great cleanliness was kept, heads cleansed, and insects excluded. Later barley flour kneaded with milk, then water and honey, or wheaten bread soaked in wine and hydromel, were used.
Chapter 35
How did Themistocles use fighting cocks before battling Xerxes?
Marching against Xerxes, Themistocles met some cocks fighting furiously. He halted his troops to observe them and addressed a spirited discourse on the subject. He conquered, and on returning to Athens desired that a cock-fight be held every year to commemorate his victory. These cruel games spread through Greece, with birds obtained at high price from Rhodes, Bœotia, Mela, and Chalcis.
Chapter 35
XVII. POULTRY.3 cards
Which authors are cited for poultry recipes and cookery?
Apicius is cited most often for recipes, with numerous references to specific books and chapters of his work on cookery. Martial supplies epigrams on poultry dishes, and Athenaeus is cited repeatedly for banquets and food lore. These citations indicate that the chapter's account of preparing and serving poultry rests chiefly on Apicius for recipes and on Athenaeus and Martial for dining context.
Chapter 36
What kinds of birds does the chapter treat under poultry?
The citations point to a broad range: domestic fowls and chickens, geese, ducks, and other waterfowl, peafowl, pheasants, and smaller birds, plus exotic birds such as the Meleagrides mentioned in the lexicographers Hesychius and Suidas. Poultry here is not limited to the barnyard chicken but covers the many birds that ancient sources discussed as food.
Chapter 36
How does the chapter connect poultry to religion and ritual?
Citations to Leviticus, the Canticles, Genesis, and St. Chrysostom, together with Selden's work on Syrian gods and Tibullus, show that birds figured in sacrifice, dietary law, and sacred imagery. The chapter thus treats poultry not only as food but as a subject of religious regulation and symbolism in both biblical and classical traditions.
Chapter 36
XVIII. MILK, BUTTER, CHEESE, AND EGGS.3 cards
How did the Greeks first refer to butter, and what did the name bouturos mean?
According to the chapter, the Greeks first called butter "oil of milk," and later called it bouturos, meaning "cow cheese," probably because of the quantity made from cow's milk. The author notes it was only about fifty years after Aristotle that butter began to be noticed as an aliment, imitating the Parthians and Scythians who sent it to them.
Chapter 37
How did the Scythians make butter, according to Herodotus?
Herodotus recorded that the Scythians received milk in large pails and beat it for a long time to separate the most delicate part. They assigned this labor to enemies captured in war, whom they deprived of sight to prevent escape. The chapter presents this as an interesting detail on butter manipulation among the Scythians.
Chapter 37
What was the "Butter Tower" of Rouen Cathedral and why was it built?
The chapter states that George d'Amboise, archbishop of Rouen around 1500, saw oil was scarce in his diocese during Lent and authorized the use of butter, on condition each diocesan paid six deniers Tournois (about a farthing) for permission. The money collected was used to construct the tower, which acquired the name "Butter Tower."
Chapter 37
XVIII. MILK, BUTTER, CHEESE, AND EGGS.4 cards
What ancient uses and opinions did classical authors record about milk?
The chapter cites Hippocrates and Galen on milk's dietetic properties, and notes Pliny and others on its uses. It reports that ancient physicians debated milk's suitability, with some recommending it in certain illnesses. The author draws on Greek and Roman sources to show milk was both a common food and a subject of medical opinion, not merely a drink.
Chapter 38
How does the chapter describe the history of butter in antiquity?
The chapter notes butter was known to classical peoples but used more as a medicine or cosmetic than a table food in Greek and Roman culture, and that northern peoples used it more widely. It cites Pliny and later French regulations, showing butter's status shifted over centuries from remedy to staple.
Chapter 38
What does the chapter say about ancient cheese-making and cheese varieties?
The chapter describes cheese made from the milk of various animals, citing Columella and Varro on preparation, and notes specific cheeses prized in antiquity. It mentions Apicius giving recipes using cheese, and that cheese was a common food across Greek and Roman societies, with regional varieties valued.
Chapter 38
What role did eggs play in ancient and later cookery according to the chapter?
The chapter discusses eggs as food and in medicine, citing Galen and Pliny, and notes Apicius used eggs in numerous recipes. It mentions eggs' symbolic and dietary importance, and that they were prepared in various ways, showing eggs were a versatile staple in ancient kitchens.
Chapter 38
XIX. HUNTING.4 cards
According to the chapter, what did Roman ladies believe eating stag flesh would do?
The author relates that distinguished Roman ladies, at an age when most of life lay behind them, ate stag flesh eagerly because the stag was thought free of maladies and to live far beyond the span assigned to other creatures. They hoped thereby to survive their great-grandchildren. The author notes Galen later argued such meat was heating and indigestible, more likely to provoke disease than prevent it.
Chapter 39
How did the Greeks and Romans care for and use hunting dogs?
The chapter states Greeks and Romans reared hunting dogs with extreme care and began using them at eight or ten months. Dogs had short, sonorous names like Lance, Flower, and Blade. The strongest came from England and Scotland; Crete, Tuscany, and Umbria produced the most expert; Gallic dogs surpassed all in agility and speed. Females were generally preferred, and dogs were always chained until the chase began.
Chapter 39
What restrictions did Roman law place on hunting?
By Roman law hunting was unrestricted, with one exception: no person could pursue game on another's land without the owner's permission. The chapter contrasts this with the private parks of the wealthy, such as Fulvius Hirpinus's forty acres near Viterbo, which Lucullus and Hortensius then outdid, spawning many imitators.
Chapter 39
What tribute did Athelstan impose on Constantine, King of Wales, and how did Edgar change it?
After subduing Constantine, King of Wales, Athelstan imposed an annual tribute of gold, silver, cattle, and, remarkably, a number of hawks and keen-scented dogs capable of unkenneling wild beasts. Edgar, Athelstan's successor, changed the tribute of money into an annual tribute of three hundred wolves' skins. The chapter cites this as evidence of English kings' love of hunting.
Chapter 39
XIX. HUNTING.4 cards
How did ancient authors such as Xenophon and Plato regard hunting?
The chapter cites Xenophon, Plato, Aristotle, and Plutarch as praising hunting as an honourable and useful pursuit, valued for training body and mind and for supplying food. The author argues through these citations that hunting held an esteemed place among the ancients, being recommended by philosophers and lawgivers rather than dismissed as mere sport.
Chapter 40
What role did hunting play in the diet and table of the ancients?
Hunting supplied game such as boar, deer, and hare, which the chapter shows were prized foods. The author notes that game appeared at feasts and was prepared in various ways, with Apicius giving recipes for dressing venison and other hunted meats. Hunting thus connected directly to cuisine, not only to sport.
Chapter 40
How does the chapter describe hunting among the ancient Jews and other Eastern peoples?
The chapter cites biblical passages, including Genesis and Kings, to show that hunting was practised and that game formed part of royal and ordinary tables. It also refers to Eastern and Egyptian customs. The author uses these citations to place hunting within a broad ancient tradition of procuring and eating wild animals.
Chapter 40
What evidence does the chapter give for hunting in medieval and later Europe?
The chapter cites Asser's Life of Alfred, William of Malmesbury, and John of Salisbury, along with Strutt's Sports and Pastimes, to show that hunting continued in medieval England and Normandy. These references indicate that kings and nobles hunted, and that the practice carried over from antiquity into later European custom.
Chapter 40
XX. FEATHERED GAME.4 cards
What birds did Moses permit the Israelites to eat, and which were excluded?
Moses permitted his people to eat game, with the exception of birds of prey and some other species whose flesh appeared to him hard and unwholesome. The chapter presents this as the Mosaic dietary rule governing feathered game among the Israelites, without listing the other excluded species by name.
Chapter 41
How did the ancients preserve game they wished to keep?
Because the internal parts were the first to corrupt, the ancients carefully drew the game they wished to preserve. They then filled the inside with wheat or oats and placed it in the midst of a heap of flour or grain, with the feathers or hair left on. Thus protected from contact with air or insects, the game kept remarkably well.
Chapter 41
According to tradition, how did the pheasant reach Greece, and who contradicted this?
The Argonauts discovered the pheasant on the shores of Phasis, a celebrated river of Colchis, and introduced it into Greece, where it was unknown. The poets sang this tradition, and it met only one contradictor, Isidorus, who pretends the pheasant is native to a Greek island called Phasis.
Chapter 41
Why were quails banished from Roman tables, and who defended them?
Quails were banished from all Roman tables, no longer fattened, and accused of causing epilepsy in those who ate their flesh; the authority of Galen confirmed this prejudice. Two skilled men, Hippolochus and Antiphanus, undertook to defend the birds, and their pleadings moved the epicureans, so some quails were recalled, fattened, and roasted.
Chapter 41
XX. FEATHERED GAME.4 cards
What does the chapter say about the Mosaic law and eating feathered game?
The chapter opens by citing Leviticus xi. 13–19, the dietary prohibition listing unclean birds that the Israelites were forbidden to eat. The author treats this Mosaic restriction as the starting point for his survey of feathered game, contrasting it with the later Greek and Roman enthusiasm for wild and domesticated birds at the table.
Chapter 42
How does the chapter describe Roman enthusiasm for game birds at banquets?
The author argues that wealthy Romans prized feathered game highly, citing Suetonius, Lampridius, and others on emperors and gourmands who served exotic birds such as pheasants, peacocks, and flamingoes. He presents this luxury as characteristic of imperial excess, drawing on classical authors to show how such dishes displayed status at the table.
Chapter 42
What ancient authorities does the chapter rely on for its account of birds?
The chapter draws heavily on classical and later sources: Pliny, Athenaeus, Aristotle's History of Animals, Varro on farming, Galen on the properties of foods, Martial and Juvenal for satire, plus Aldrovandi's ornithology and Belon's Histoire des Oiseaux. These citations support claims about which birds were eaten, how they were valued, and their dietetic qualities.
Chapter 42
What does the chapter say about the dietetic qualities of game birds?
Following Galen and other medical writers, the chapter discusses the humoral and nutritional properties attributed to different birds, noting that some were considered easier to digest or more nourishing than others. The author reports these ancient dietetic judgments as part of the history of food rather than endorsing them as modern medical fact.
Chapter 42
XXI. FISH. (part 1)4 cards
According to the chapter, what dietary rule did Moses impose regarding fish?
The chapter states that Moses did not entirely forbid fish, since he was satisfied with prohibiting fishes without scales or fins. The author notes the Jews were an agricultural people living far from the sea and attached little importance to fishing, so few traces of fish as food appear among them, though the Phoenicians brought them the produce of maritime excursions.
Chapter 43
How did the Romans prepare and serve red mullet as a luxury?
The chapter says the red mullet was considered one of the most delicate dishes. Roman fops noticed its pink colour passed through beautiful shades at death, so the fish was served alive in a glass vessel while guests watched the colours fade. The greatest sensualists killed it in brine, and Apicius first invented this luxury; the brine often used mackerel blood, a variety of garum.
Chapter 43
What happened to Vedius Pollio's slave who broke a crystal vase?
The chapter relates that Vedius Pollio, a Roman knight and friend of Augustus, fed his muræna Helena with the flesh of slaves thrown to them alive. One slave who broke a crystal vase while serving supper escaped and begged Caesar for a less frightful torture. Augustus granted him liberty, had Vedius's vases broken, and ordered the pieces used to fill the reservoir holding the fish.
Chapter 43
What did the Athenian law require of fishmongers in the market?
The chapter says an Athenian police law forbade fishmongers to sit down until they had sold their whole stock, so standing made them more submissive and inclined to sell at reasonable prices. Fish also had to be kept out of the water, preventing preservation or price increases, and a market-bell called customers together as soon as any fish arrived.
Chapter 43
XXI. FISH. (part 2)4 cards
Why did some Roman gourmets pay extravagantly for mullet?
According to the chapter, certain culinary authorities paid little attention to the mullet's flesh, seeking only the liver and head. They paid dearly solely to obtain a few extra mouthfuls from these two parts, a price driven by caprice, enthusiasm, and gastronomic rage—a valuation the author says now excites only incredulous smiles.
Chapter 44
How did Vedius Pollio supposedly treat sea-eels, and what did the author say of it?
The chapter describes the atrocious Vedius Pollio feeding slaves to his sea-eels and then eating the fish afterward, so he might enjoy some part of his victim's body. The author calls this odious and barbarous, noting that other amateurs fattened eels humanely on veal steeped in blood for ten days instead.
Chapter 44
What did Heliogabalus do with mullet gills, and why was it extravagant?
The chapter says Heliogabalus found the mullet's liver too paltry and ordered large dishes completely filled with gills. Since a mullet possesses only two gills, such a dish would have enriched a hundred families in cost. The author calls this worthy of the Sardanapalus of Rome.
Chapter 44
What strange beliefs about the lamprey does the chapter report?
The chapter reports that speculators claimed lampreys rising to the sea's surface are dried by the sun and cannot descend again. It was also said, and repeated by Gesner, that a lamprey fastening its mouth to a vessel stops it despite wind and rowers. The chapter notes its suction can hold a twelve-pound stone.
Chapter 44
XXI. FISH. (part 3)4 cards
How did the Romans prepare carp, according to the chapter?
The Romans boiled carp and mixed it with sows' paps, fowls' flesh, fig-peckers, or thrushes, making a kind of pulp; they then added raw eggs and oil, sprinkled pepper and alisander, poured on wine, garum, and cooked wine, and thickened the stewpan mixture with flour over a slow fire. The chapter notes the carp ranked second among fish for Greeks and Latins.
Chapter 45
Who brought the carp to England and when?
Peter Marshall brought the carp to England in 1514, and Peter Oxe brought it to Denmark in 1560; a few years later it reached Holland and Sweden. The chapter also reports the carp's surprising fecundity, with 621,600 eggs found in a nine-pound fish, and its longevity, citing carp in the moats of the castle of Ponchartrain proved to be 150 years old.
Chapter 45
What did the chapter say about cod fishing's history and scale?
The chapter credits Basque fishermen, whaling a century before Columbus, or possibly Jacques Cartier, with discovering the cod banks. It states English and Amsterdam fishermen worked cod as early as the 14th century, and that in 1792 French ports alone sent 210 vessels totaling 191,158 tons; over 10,000 vessels of all nations yearly brought more than 40,000,000 salted and dried cod to market.
Chapter 45
How did the Romans rate and cook the trout?
The chapter says the Romans assigned the trout the foremost rank next to the sturgeon, red mullets, and sea-eel, especially when fattened in the thick waters of the Tiber where the labridans also grew plump. It was dressed like the preceding fish. By contrast, the Greeks did not appreciate the trout's real value and merit, according to the author.
Chapter 45
XXI. FISH. (part 4)4 cards
How were red herrings prepared according to the chapter?
The fish were left at least twenty-four hours in brine, then little twigs were run through the gills and they were hung in a purpose-built chimney over a small wood fire producing much smoke. They stayed there about twenty-four hours until sufficiently dry. In Sweden and Norway the preparation differed somewhat, while Icelanders and Greenlanders simply dried herrings in the air.
Chapter 46
How did northern and Provençal fishermen differ in preparing anchovies?
Provençal fishermen insisted the salt be red, colouring it with ochreous earths, and never changed the brine formed in the barrels, only topping it up after evaporation or leakage. Northern fishermen used only bay salt and changed the brine three times, so their anchovies kept much longer. Most consumers prized the greater acridness of those left in the same brine, so those were more sought after.
Chapter 46
What did Caligula do on the British shore, and how did the senate respond?
Caligula formed his troops in close array along the shore, had trumpets sound the charge, and ordered them to pick up the shells abounding on the strand, which he presented as spoils of the ocean. He expected the honours of a triumph, but the senate, having some sense of modesty left, refused to award them, and from that moment he swore the ruin of the senators.
Chapter 46
How did the Romans fatten oysters, and who is credited with the idea?
Sergius Orata, or perhaps Fulvius Hirpinus, was first inspired to build a fishpond near Pouzzole shortly before Pompey's civil war, where oysters were fattened with paste and cooked wine worked to the consistency of honey, called sapa et farre. He enriched himself selling them and bequeathed a name to posterity. Apicius esteemed oysters from the lake of Lucrinus, Brindes, and Abydos.
Chapter 46
XXI. FISH. (part 5)3 cards
What did the Romans use to keep fish fresh, according to the chapter?
The chapter states that the Romans kept fish fresh by means of an ice-house, cited at note XXI-285. This is presented as part of the ancient Roman practice of preserving fish, showing that the ice-house was among the methods used in antiquity for maintaining the freshness of fish before preparation or consumption.
Chapter 47
How does the chapter connect fish preservation to Roman luxury?
The chapter presents the Roman ice-house as part of the wider ancient concern with keeping fish fresh, a practice tied to the value placed on fish as food. The author treats such preservation methods as evidence of the care and expense Romans devoted to fish, rather than as a minor domestic detail.
Chapter 47
What note does the chapter cite for the Roman ice-house?
The chapter attributes the detail about the Roman ice-house to note XXI-285. The note number appears directly after the mention of the ice-house, marking it as the chapter's supporting reference for the claim that Romans preserved fish with an ice-house.
Chapter 47
XXI. FISH.4 cards
How does Soyer describe ancient Roman attitudes toward fish as food?
The author argues that fish was highly prized in ancient Rome, citing Juvenal, Martial, and Pliny on luxury species and enormous prices. He notes Romans kept fish in ponds and praised certain fish above others. The chapter presents Roman fish cookery, drawing on Apicius, as elaborate and status-driven rather than merely nourishing.
Chapter 48
What role does the chapter assign to fish in the diet of ancient Egyptians and Hebrews?
The chapter cites Herodotus and biblical passages (Leviticus, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel) to show fish was a familiar food in Egypt and among the Hebrews, with fishing imagery common in scripture. It notes restrictions and customs surrounding certain fish, presenting these as evidence of fish's long-standing dietary importance in those cultures.
Chapter 48
Which classical authors does Soyer rely on for fish recipes and food lore?
The chapter repeatedly cites Athenaeus, Pliny, Apicius, Galen, and Macrobius, along with poets like Horace, Juvenal, and Martial. Apicius supplies recipes, Galen discusses the digestive qualities of fish, and Athenaeus provides anecdotes about banquets and luxury. The author argues these sources together document ancient fish preparation and consumption.
Chapter 48
How does the chapter treat the medicinal and dietary qualities of fish?
Drawing on Galen and Hippocrates, the author argues that different fish were thought to have distinct effects on health, some easily digested and others not. Fish was discussed in terms of humors and suitability for the sick. The chapter presents these as the medical opinions of ancient authorities rather than confirmed facts.
Chapter 48
XXII. THE COOK.4 cards
Whom does the author blame for the faults commonly attributed to cooks?
The author argues that mankind has unjustly thrown on cooks all the faults that should be charged to its own intemperance. He insists it was easier to blame cooks than to avoid the fatal abuse of pleasure and its evils, and calls this a crying injustice that must be overcome to reconcile the disciples of Galen with the followers of Apicius.
Chapter 49
What three degrees of appetite did the Athenian epicureans classify?
They distinguished the bold appetite, felt when fasting, which reflects little and is not squeamish; the indolent appetite, which must be enticed and roused, source of the proverb 'L'appétit vient en mangeant'; and the eclectic appetite, child of art rather than nature, which a skilful cook creates and revives with bold new dishes when guests grow weary.
Chapter 49
How were inventors of new dishes rewarded in Greece?
The inventor alone had the right to prepare his new dishes for a whole year, drawing all the honour and profit from them. Only when a colleague succeeded in surpassing him did the preparation fall into the public domain. Cooks also received a crown of flowers, and sometimes more substantial proofs of gratitude.
Chapter 49
What did Antony give his cook after Cleopatra praised the feast?
When Cleopatra praised the delicacy of a supper Antony gave her, her lover immediately called for the cook and presented him with a city as recompense. The author contrasts this with a senator who offered his chef over £800 a year, and with modern times, which he says judge the ancients by narrow ideas of economy.
Chapter 49
XXII. THE COOK.4 cards
What does the chapter's epigraph 'Medicus ad Palatum' suggest about cooks?
The chapter opens with the tag 'Medicus ad Palatum' (a physician for the palate), framing the cook as one who ministers to taste as a doctor does to health. The surrounding citations to Seneca, Dio, and others support the chapter's theme of the cook's influence over Roman luxury and appetite.
Chapter 50
How does the chapter describe the social status of cooks in ancient Rome?
Drawing on sources such as Seneca's Epistles, Juvenal, and Petronius, the chapter presents cooks in Rome as variously servile and influential, sometimes commanding high prices and sway over their masters' tables. The author argues through these citations that culinary skill could confer real power and prestige within households.
Chapter 50
Which ancient authors and works does the chapter cite on the cook's art?
The chapter's notes cite Athenaeus repeatedly, along with Plato's Gorgias, Seneca, Plutarch, Suetonius, Martial, Juvenal, Petronius, Varro, Pliny, Cato, Columella, and Apicius, among others. These references support its account of cooks, feasting, and culinary excess across Greek and Roman society.
Chapter 50
What later European sources does the chapter invoke regarding cooks?
Beyond classical authorities, the chapter cites medieval and early modern works, including Taillevant, Froissart, the École de Salerne, Monteil's Histoire des Français, and the Mémoires de Lamarche. The author uses these to extend the discussion of cooks and cuisine into French and later European contexts.
Chapter 50
XXIII. SEASONINGS.4 cards
According to the chapter, who first taught mankind to season food with salt?
The chapter credits two Phoenicians, Selech and Misor, whose names it says posterity forgets, with teaching mankind to heighten the flavour of food by mixing salt into it. The author states that the science of seasoning has no other origin than this. He presents it as the traditional account rather than a verified fact.
Chapter 51
How did the Roman State use public salt works as punishment?
The chapter says salt works were of two kinds, public and private; the public ones belonged to the republic and formed part of the emperor's domain. Malefactors were condemned to labour in the salt works, and it was generally women on whom this punishment was inflicted. Ancus Martius was the first Roman to establish salt works near Ostia.
Chapter 51
What was garum's basic composition and how was it used at table?
The chapter says garum's principal elements were almost invariably fish, salt, and greater or lesser fermentation; fish intestines were macerated in salt water until putrefaction began, then parsley and vinegar added. It was never drunk alone but used as a seasoning, and cooks modified it with pepper, vinegar, Falernian wine, water, and oil.
Chapter 51
What did the chapter claim about salt taxes, citing Lysimachus and France?
King Lysimachus taxed salt from Tragase, after which the springs nearly dried up until he abolished the tax and salt reappeared. At Rome, Ancus Martius first placed a duty on salt; it was abolished after the kings were expelled but later restored. In France, Charles imposed the salt tax to pay King John's ransom after Poictiers, and it was never given up.
Chapter 51
XXIII. SEASONINGS.4 cards
What role did salt play in ancient religious rites and offerings?
The chapter notes salt's use in Hebrew sacrificial law, citing Leviticus, and its presence in offerings; it also mentions that salt was employed in religious ceremonies among various ancient peoples. The author treats salt as both a practical seasoning and a sacred substance, drawing on Eusebius, Diodorus Siculus, and other sources to show its ceremonial importance.
Chapter 52
How did the ancients obtain and use garum as a seasoning?
The chapter describes garum as a fish-based condiment prepared from salted fish, valued as a seasoning in Roman cooking and cited in Apicius. The author discusses its manufacture and its role alongside other seasonings, drawing on Pliny and other classical sources. It was a staple flavoring rather than a dish in itself.
Chapter 52
Which spices does the chapter identify as prized in antiquity, and why?
The chapter discusses pepper, cinnamon, and similar aromatics as highly valued seasonings, citing Pliny and Theophrastus on their origins and trade. The author argues these spices were esteemed for flavor and medicinal properties, and notes their high cost and long-distance import. He links their prestige to both culinary and therapeutic use.
Chapter 52
What medicinal uses did the ancients attribute to seasonings like honey and vinegar?
The chapter cites Galen and Dioscorides on honey and vinegar as having medicinal properties, used in remedies as well as cooking. The author presents these as accepted ancient beliefs, noting their application in antidotes and simple medicines. He treats the boundary between seasoning and medicine as fluid in antiquity.
Chapter 52
XXIV. PASTRY.4 cards
What three kinds of cakes did the Jews know, according to the chapter?
The chapter states the Jews knew of at least three kinds of cakes: one sort kneaded with oil, another fried in oil, and the last merely rubbed over with oil. It also notes that the Jews, unlike Cicero who disdained fritters, offered some of this paste in sacrifice, with the recipe given in Leviticus: finest flour moistened with oil and cooked in a frying-pan.
Chapter 53
What was the Mustaceum and what role did it play at Roman weddings?
The Mustaceum was a rustic cake composed of sweet wine and flour, a symbol of abundance and happiness. It was always presented to guests at a wedding repast, and the newly-married couple sent a piece to each absent parent or friend, who replied with congratulations and wishes for their happiness. The chapter calls it the wedding-cake of the Romans.
Chapter 53
What ingredients and method did the Emperor Verus use for his famous pie?
The chapter says the Emperor Verus invented a pie combining sow's flank (sumen), pheasant, peacock, iced ham, and wild boar's flesh, enclosed within a laboriously worked crust and cooked gently and slowly until it emitted burning yet sweet emanations. The author claims Verus barely escaped an apotheosis for this pie, and that senators praised his dishes enthusiastically.
Chapter 53
What does the author argue about judging ancient gastronomy?
The author argues that we should not hastily condemn ancient tastes, since the ancients might equally have found modern dishes like sour-crout, olla-podrida, or plum-pudding detestable. He states he sometimes admires but never despises a different civilisation, and concludes that although ancient people doubtless ate very differently from us, they certainly knew how to eat.
Chapter 53
XXIV. PASTRY.4 cards
What ancient evidence does the chapter cite for early pastry or baked dough offerings?
The chapter cites Genesis xl. 17 and Leviticus ii, with Calmet's Bible commentary, as evidence of early baked goods, and notes Athenian sources (Athenaeus) for ancient pastry. It treats these references as showing that pastry-like preparations existed from the earliest ages, connecting biblical offerings and Greek practice rather than describing a single origin.
Chapter 54
What Roman pastry called placenta does the chapter describe, and what sources discuss it?
The chapter discusses the Roman placenta, a pastry or cake, drawing on Cato's De Re Rustica, Fabri's Thesaurus, Horace, Pliny, and Athenaeus. Cato gives recipes (R. R. c. 84 and c. 80), and the chapter treats placenta as a Roman baked preparation distinct from the modern word's meaning, relying on these classical citations for its form and ingredients.
Chapter 54
Which medieval and later authors does the chapter cite on pastry?
The chapter cites Taillevant (Taillevent) repeatedly, along with Platina's De Honesta Voluptate, Stuckius, Fontanon's Ordonnances, and Delamarre. These references carry the discussion from classical baking into medieval and later French and Italian pastry practice, showing the chapter's method of tracing pastry through a chain of named culinary authorities rather than a single narrative.
Chapter 54
What religious and moral objections to pastry does the chapter mention?
The chapter cites Tertullian, St. Cyprian, and the Council in Trullo (canon lxii) in connection with objections or regulations, and references Brand's Popular Antiquities. These citations suggest pastry was at times tied to idolatry concerns or church regulation. The chapter presents these as historical attestations rather than the author's own judgment on pastry.
Chapter 54
XXV. WATER.4 cards
What did Thales teach about water's role in nature?
Thales, who borrowed Egyptian philosophy and spread it in Greece, taught that water is the vivifying principle of all things; that nature is made fruitful by it; and that without it the earth would be an arid desert where man's efforts to exist must fail. These ideas were long adopted by Pagan theology, which peopled fountains, rivers, and seas with divinities.
Chapter 55
How did the Persians and Cappadocians show reverence for water?
The Persians carried their veneration so far that they dared not wash their hands and would have preferred being consumed to the very bone rather than dip themselves in a river. The Cappadocians were proud of treading in the same path. The Egyptians also offered prayers and homage to water, and sacrificed barley, wheat, sugar, and fruit to the Nile under the name Ypeus or Siris.
Chapter 55
Who first built aqueducts at Rome, and how did water reach the city?
King Ancus Martius was the first to build aqueducts, conveying water from the fountain of Piconia at Tibur to Rome, about thirty-three thousand paces. Some credit Appius Claudius, to whom the Appian Way is certainly due. Under Nero, Rome had nine principal aqueducts with pipes of brick, baked tiles, stone, lead, or wood. Vigenerus calculated 500,000 hogsheads arrived daily through 10,850 channels.
Chapter 55
What did Hippocrates consider the best water, and what did he forbid?
Hippocrates carefully distinguished good from bad water. The best, according to him, should be clear, light, inodorous, without any flavour, and drawn from springs exposed to the east. He interdicted all water proceeding from melted snow. Asclepiades made patients drink plentifully of water and often ordered cold baths; the physician Musa prescribed the same regimen to Augustus, who benefited from it.
Chapter 55
XXV. WATER.4 cards
How did ancient peoples venerate water, according to the chapter?
The chapter reports that many ancient nations worshipped water as a deity, citing Herodotus, Strabo, and others, and notes that some regarded it as the origin of all things. It also mentions that the Egyptians and other peoples honored rivers and fountains with religious rites, treating water as sacred and life-giving.
Chapter 56
What does the chapter say about Roman aqueducts and water supply?
The chapter describes the Romans' extensive aqueduct system, citing Frontinus and Pliny, and notes the great quantity of water brought into Rome. It mentions that water was supplied to public baths, fountains, and private houses, and that the abundance of water was a mark of Roman engineering and civic pride.
Chapter 56
What medicinal uses of water does the chapter describe?
The chapter cites Hippocrates and Celsus on the therapeutic use of water, including cold baths and drinking water for various ailments. It notes that physicians prescribed water in diet and treatment, and that the author argues water held an important place in ancient medical practice alongside its role as a beverage.
Chapter 56
What does the chapter say about water as a beverage in antiquity?
The chapter reports that water was widely drunk in ancient times, sometimes flavored or mixed, and cites Martial and others on its use at meals. It notes that the author argues water was valued as a drink in its own right, though wine was also common, and that certain waters were prized for their taste.
Chapter 56
XXVI. BEVERAGES, OF WHICH WATER IS THE FOUNDATION.4 cards
Why did the ancient Egyptians drink zythum instead of wine?
The followers of Osiris believed that when Jupiter crushed the Titans with thunderbolts, their blood mixed with the earth and produced the vine. Because of an absolute injunction not to drink wine, the Egyptians had recourse to a fermented barley beverage called zythum or curmi, invented as a substitute for wine. Its precise origin is unknown, though the invention is often attributed to Osiris.
Chapter 57
How was Egyptian zythum preserved and flavored without hops?
Zythum was made from barley and could be kept a long time without decomposing. Since hops were utterly unknown in Egypt, a bitter infusion of lupins was added instead. The Egyptians also used Assyrian corn and probably other aromatic plants, each brewer following his own taste. The brewing method varied, and in Lower Egypt zythum was converted into vinegar, which Greek merchants of Alexandria exported to European ports.
Chapter 57
What did Caesar report about the ancient Britons' preference in drink?
The ancient Britons had many vines but esteemed them only as ornaments to their gardens. According to Caesar, they preferred the wine of grain to that of grapes. Beer is mentioned in the laws of Ina, King of Wessex, and held a distinguished rank at royal feasts in the reign of Edward the Confessor. Under the Normans ale's reputation grew, and the English did not have to buy the right to brew until 1643.
Chapter 57
What was braket and how was it prepared?
Braket was formerly the cherished drink of the lower classes in England. Arnold's 'Chronicles of London' describes it: good ale was left standing in a pot two days, then a quart or pottle was drawn out, honey and pepper added, and the mixture boiled, skimmed, boiled and skimmed again, then cooled with pepper added and boiled once more. The recipe calls for four gallons of good ale, a pint of fine tried honey, and about a saucerful of powdered pepper.
Chapter 57
XXVI. BEVERAGES,3 cards
What does Soyer call the foundation of all beverages?
The chapter's title declares water the foundation of beverages, and the text is organized around that claim, treating other drinks as developments built upon it. The citations gathered in the chapter range across Diodorus Siculus, Herodotus, Pliny, Strabo, and others, drawing on ancient authorities for the history of drink.
Chapter 58
Which ancient authors does the chapter cite on beverages?
The notes cite a wide range of classical and later authorities, including Diodorus Siculus, Herodotus, Pliny, Columella, Dioscorides, Strabo, Aristotle, Aeschylus, Sophocles, Tacitus, Caesar, and Isidore, along with later writers such as Meibom, Beckmann, Stow, Holinshed, and Monteil. These citations support the chapter's survey of drinks across cultures and periods.
Chapter 58
What later sources does the chapter use alongside the classics?
Beyond the Greek and Roman authors, the chapter draws on later and northern European works: Meibom's treatise on beer, Mallet's Northern Antiquities, the British Cyclopedia, Beckmann's Inventions, Stow's Chronicles, Holinshed's Description of Britain, and Monteil's Histoire des Français. This mix lets the chapter trace beverages from antiquity into later European practice.
Chapter 58
XXVII. DRINKING CUPS.4 cards
According to Soyer, what did the ancients think about intemperance compared to his contemporaries?
The author argues the ancients did not share modern principles on intemperance. He cites Hippocrates advising men to seek mirth in wine, Seneca recommending drowning cares and fatigue in it, and Musaeus crowning sages who found continual drunkenness the sweetest reward. Soyer calls this a singular bliss only reason in delirium could have imagined, while noting the abuse was great enough to require temperance remedies.
Chapter 59
What special property did the early Roman beech-wood and elder cups possess?
The simple beech-wood or elder cups of early Rome had a marvellous property: the wine alone escaped from them, while they retained the water that had been mixed with it. Soyer says they ought always to have preserved this property. These humble cups belonged to Rome before it tired of austere simplicity and began demanding finer glass, crystal, and precious-metal vessels.
Chapter 59
Why did Tiberius order the crystal worker beheaded in Petronius's anecdote?
A workman made a crystal chalice that, when thrown on marble, only dented and could be hammered back to shape. Tiberius praised it, then asked if anyone else knew the secret. When the man said no one did, Tiberius ordered his head struck off, reasoning that if the invention were known, gold and silver would soon lose all value. Soyer remarks ironically that Tiberius thus encouraged artists and the arts.
Chapter 59
What were Murrhine vases believed to be made of, and what evidence does Soyer give?
Some held Murrhines were porcelain, citing Propertius's line about cups baked in Parthian furnaces; Scaliger, Cardan, and Madame Dacier supported this. Soyer argues instead they were onyx-type stone. In 1791 a commission inventorying the Garde-Meuble found two antique sardonyx vases, an ewer and a bowl, recognized as real Murrhines and valued at £6,000 each for material and polish alone.
Chapter 59
XXVII. DRINKING CUPS.4 cards
What does Pliny say about the value of drinking cups compared to human life?
The author cites Pliny's preface to book xxxiii to note that Pliny lamented the extravagance of drinking vessels, remarking that cups of precious material were valued more highly than human beings. The chapter uses this as evidence of the excessive luxury Romans displayed in their tableware, treating Pliny's complaint as a moral comment on the age.
Chapter 60
What material did the Romans call murrhine, and what was believed about its origin?
The chapter discusses murrhine vessels, a highly prized Roman drinking cup material. The author cites Pliny and later scholars such as Christius on the murrhine question, noting that its exact nature was debated. Pliny describes murrhine as a substance valued for its translucency and scent, and the chapter treats its true identity as an unresolved antiquarian puzzle.
Chapter 60
How does the chapter describe Tiberius's conduct regarding drinking cups?
Citing Suetonius, the chapter notes that the emperor Tiberius was associated with excessive drinking and luxurious cups. The author uses Tiberius as an example of how Roman rulers indulged in costly vessels, reinforcing the chapter's broader argument that drinking cups became markers of wealth and vice among the powerful.
Chapter 60
What role did Greek writers such as Athenaeus play in the chapter's account of drinking cups?
The chapter repeatedly cites Athenaeus, along with Musonius and Plato, for details on Greek drinking customs and the luxury of cups. The author draws on these sources to show that Greek writers both described and criticized elaborate drinking vessels, treating them as evidence of moral decline in Greek and Roman society.
Chapter 60
XXVIII. WINE. (part 1)4 cards
According to the chapter, who first taught the cultivation of the vine and making of wine?
The chapter states that Bacchus, son of Ammon, born in Egypt and identified with Osiris, was the first to teach his countrymen the art of cultivating the vine and making wine. It adds that Greece, Italy, and Sicily owed this liquor to the Egyptians, while the Gauls received it from a Tuscan banished from Clusium.
Chapter 61
How did the Hebrews generally consume wine, and what reputation did their vineyards have?
The chapter describes the Hebrews as a sober people, like all eastern nations, who rarely drank pure wine, generally mixing it with water and drinking only a little at ceremonial feasts and at the end of repasts; they sometimes added perfumes and odoriferous drugs. The growths of Lebanon, Helbon, and Sorec were highly reputed, and Palestine's vineyards were carefully preserved.
Chapter 61
What did Cranaüs, King of Athens, invent, and how does the chapter treat this invention?
The chapter says Cranaüs, King of Athens, in 1532 B.C., invented the custom of mixing water with wine, dooming himself to a sorry immortality. The author wryly claims the gods punished him by flooding much of Greece and he was soon dethroned. Pliny instead blames the obscure Staphil, son of Sithen, for this 'depravation of taste.'
Chapter 61
How did the ancients make wine, and how was the first wort distinguished from press wine?
Grape gatherers rejected green grapes and piled the rest in baskets emptied into vats, where lightly clad men trampled them to songs and flutes. The wort escaping immediately, from grapes pressing on each other, was preferred and made exquisite wine; grapes were then pressed with wedges struck by hammers. Press wine was inferior, serving the family and servants, and a second pressing of the lees produced a weak drink like piquette.
Chapter 61
XXVIII. WINE. (part 2)4 cards
How was Passum wine made, and where was the most esteemed version from?
Passum, one of the most esteemed made wines in Rome, especially when from Crete, was made from grapes spread in the sun until reduced to half their weight. The dried pips were put into a butt of excellent wort, soaked, crushed with the feet, and lightly pressed. Sometimes fresh grapes were plunged into boiling oil instead of sun-dried, with the same result.
Chapter 62
What was Mulsum, and what medical use did Coelius Aurelianus recommend for it?
Mulsum was honeyed wine, an exquisite mixture of old Falernian wine and new honey from Mount Hymettus. The physician Coelius Aurelianus recommended holding warm mulsum in the mouth as a palliative for violent headache. It is listed among the made wines most in vogue in olden times, alongside Passum, Dulce, and others.
Chapter 62
How did Apicius instruct that Rosatum be prepared?
Apicius says to put rose leaves in a clean linen cloth, sew it up, and leave it in wine for seven days. Then remove the roses and add fresh ones, repeating three times, and strain the wine. Honey is added at the time of drinking, and the roses must be fresh and free from dew. Violatum is made the same way with violets.
Chapter 62
What law governed Roman women and wine early in the Republic, and how does the author describe its enforcement?
In the early Roman republic women were forbidden to drink wine. The author argues the law was tyrannical, citing Micennius, who killed his wife at the butt where he caught her drinking, and Romulus, who did not reprimand him; a woman starved for taking cellar keys; and C. Domitius, who stripped a woman's marriage portion for drinking wine secretly. The law later fell into disuse.
Chapter 62
XXVIII. WINE. (part 3)2 cards
What retail prices per gallon did the regulations set for Rochelle and white wine?
By retail, a gallon of Rochelle wine was to be sold for fourpence, and a gallon of white wine for sixpence, and no dearer. The chapter presents these as fixed retail limits, with white wine priced higher than Rochelle wine.
Chapter 63
What was the maximum price mentioned for wine, and with what condition?
The price was raised to twenty-six shillings and fourpence, but not for more, in any case. The chapter states this as a ceiling, so the figure functions as a maximum rather than a standard or typical price.
Chapter 63
XXVIII. WINE.4 cards
What does the chapter claim about wine's antiquity and early use?
The chapter traces wine to the earliest ages, citing Herodotus, Plutarch, and Diodorus, and notes Noah's planting of a vineyard in Genesis ix. 20. It presents wine as among the oldest prepared drinks, with ancient authorities attesting its early cultivation and use across Egypt and the Near East.
Chapter 64
How does the chapter describe ancient methods of preserving and preparing wine?
The chapter discusses ancient practices of treating wine, including mixing with seawater and other preparations recorded by Pliny and in the Geoponics. It cites Apicius for recipes and Columella for cellar management, showing that the ancients adjusted, flavored, and stored wine by established methods rather than drinking it only fresh.
Chapter 64
What does the chapter say about wine's role in Greek and Roman customs?
The chapter links wine to Greek and Roman social and religious life, citing Athenaeus, Horace, and Martial on drinking customs and symposium practice. It notes regulations and habits surrounding consumption, presenting wine as central to banquets and ritual, with the author drawing on classical sources to illustrate these customs.
Chapter 64
What does the chapter report about wine regulations and quality among the ancients?
The chapter cites legal and medical authorities, including the Twelve Tables, Ulpian, and Hippocrates, on rules and health views concerning wine. It reports that the ancients classified wines by quality and origin, and that physicians like Galen discussed wine's effects, showing regulation and medical interest rather than casual drinking alone.
Chapter 64
XXIX. REPASTS.4 cards
What did Homeric heroes typically eat at festivals and wedding dinners?
The chapter states that the most illustrious warriors of the Homeric ages were generally contented with a piece of roast beef, which was also the frugal fare at festivals and wedding dinners. Even Agamemnon, the king of kings, offered no greater rarity to the assembled Greek chiefs, though the most honoured guest received an entire fillet of beef for himself.
Chapter 65
How does the author characterize the historical accounts of ancient gluttons?
The author lists athletes and kings said to have devoured a whole bull, an ox, or a feast for nine, but then cautions that he does not exactly guarantee these facts. He argues history resembles a microscope, frequently magnifying objects by presenting them through its deceitful prism. So the anecdotes are reported with an explicit disclaimer rather than as verified truth.
Chapter 65
According to the chapter, how did Greek and Roman meal customs change over time?
The author argues gastronomic civilization owes its table laws to the epicureans, who created breakfast, dinner, collation, and supper. The Greeks submitted for years, then fashionable people took only one repast, served at mid-day or before sunset, while the lower orders and army ate twice daily. Greek manners spread to Rome, where persons not professing gluttony ate only once a day.
Chapter 65
What hours did people dine across the 14th to 18th centuries?
The chapter states that in the 14th century people dined at ten o'clock in the morning; one or two centuries later, at eleven o'clock. In the 16th century and the beginning of the 17th, they dined at mid-day in the best houses, and Louis XIV himself always sat down to table at that hour. This order was not modified until the 18th century.
Chapter 65
XXIX. REPASTS.4 cards
What does the chapter's citation of Suetonius in Claud. 33 and Galba 22 suggest about Roman banquets?
The chapter cites Suetonius (In Claud. 33, In Galba. 22, In Vitell. 13) among its sources on Roman repasts, using these passages as evidence for how emperors and their courts dined. The citations are listed as references supporting the chapter's survey of ancient banquet customs rather than quoted at length, so the specific anecdotes must be sought in Suetonius himself.
Chapter 66
Which biblical and classical sources does the chapter cite for customs of mourning and fasting at meals?
The chapter cites Jud. xx. 26 and II. Reg. i. 12 and iii. 25 for mourning practices, and lists Biblia Sacra passim alongside Homer (Iliad ix. 206, 218; Odyss. xv. 322) for fasting and abstention. It also references II. Reg. xix. 35 and the Bible generally, treating scriptural and Homeric evidence side by side as parallel testimony on ancient repasts.
Chapter 66
What does the chapter say about Plato's and Xenophon's accounts of banquets?
The chapter cites Plat. De Conviviis and Xenoph. Respubl. Laced. and Xenoph. De Repub. Lac. among its sources on Greek dining, alongside Plutarch's Sympos. i. and Aristot. Polit. ii. 8 and vii. 10. These references support its discussion of Greek banquet customs and the Spartan public mess, but the chapter gives citations rather than extended quotation.
Chapter 66
What kinds of sources does the chapter draw on for medieval and later European feasting?
The chapter cites Strutt's Manners and Customs, Stow's Chronicle and Survey of London, Holinshed, Mathieu Paris (anno 1243), Monteil's Histoire des Français, and literary works such as Massinger's The City Madam and Killigrew's The Parson's Wedding. It thus combines chronicles, antiquarian surveys, and drama as evidence for later European banquet practice.
Chapter 66
XXX. VARIETY OF REPASTS.4 cards
What foods does the chapter list as most consumed by the Jewish people?
The chapter names bread, flour, barley, beans, lentils, wine, raisins, figs, honey, butter, oil, sheep, oxen, and fatted calves as the provisions the Jewish people consumed most and that are generally mentioned in the Scriptures. The fat of animals offered in sacrifice was reserved for the Lord, but otherwise the Hebrews could freely use fat and esteemed it highly.
Chapter 67
How did Athens and Rome regulate the food markets?
At Athens, special officers visited the markets and allowed each citizen to buy and keep only the quantity of provisions needed for one year. At Rome, the aediles performed nearly similar functions; the prefect of the town had power to make market regulations, and the prefect of provisions inspected the sale of bread, meat, wine, fish, and other aliments for rich and poor alike.
Chapter 67
What was the cœna Capitolina and who ate the gods' supper?
Each year at the ides of November a repast was offered to Jupiter in the Capitol. The god's statue reclined on a magnificent couch with Juno and Minerva seated on either side, and the divinities were splendidly served. Since they touched nothing, in the middle of the night the seven epulary priests joyously ate the supper of the three immortals.
Chapter 67
What custom marked Greek family feasts, according to the chapter?
Family feasts, more or less sumptuous according to fortune and rank, were generally marked by a custom the author calls authorized only by ridiculous and egotistical vanity: on the banquet day the feathers of the poultry were thrown before the door of the house to excite the fruitless greed of the poor wretches passing by, who prayed that infernal divinities might take the host, his guests, and even his meanest servants.
Chapter 67
XXX. VARIETY OF REPASTS.3 cards
What does Soyer's chapter on variety of repasts consist of?
The chapter is essentially a block of numbered citations to classical, biblical, and medieval sources, including Leviticus, Isaiah, Proverbs, Plato, Aristotle, Athenaeus, Livy, Plautus, Horace, Suetonius, and Taillevant's Le Viandier. Rather than continuous narrative, it documents authorities on food and feasting, leaving the substantive claims to the cited works themselves.
Chapter 68
Which medieval culinary source does the chapter cite repeatedly?
Taillevant's Le Viandier is cited six times in succession, in notes XLVII through LII. The other medieval and later references include Monteil's Histoire des Français and Strutt's Manners, plus a manuscript from the Harleian Library quoted by Strutt. These citations point readers to practical and historical accounts of food preparation and feasting.
Chapter 68
What kinds of authorities does Soyer draw on for ancient feasting?
The notes cite biblical passages, Greek writers such as Plato, Aristotle, Athenaeus, Aristophanes, and Lucian, Roman authors including Livy, Plautus, Tibullus, Macrobius, Horace, Varro, Columella, Seneca, Suetonius, and Apuleius, and later compilers like Rosinus and Stuckius. The range shows Soyer grounding his food history in both sacred and classical testimony.
Chapter 68
XXXI. THE DINING-ROOM.4 cards
Where was the Roman cœnaculum located and how was it reached?
The cœnaculum, or dining-room properly so called, was the place in the upper part of the house where they ate. It was reached by a staircase, and persons repaired thither during the summer, particularly in the country. Roman villas often ended in a platform where the Romans collected at meal-time, since the air was less hot and the neighbouring country-seats could be seen without obstruction.
Chapter 69
What did Nero devise for his dining-rooms, and what was his palace called?
Nero devised a vault in the most elegant style, entirely composed of movable leaves of ivory that exhaled sweet perfumes, and whence flowers fell on the guests. In another dining-room a magnificent dome rotated to imitate, day and night, the course of the celestial bodies. These adorned the palace the prodigal Cæsar called 'the gilded house,' where his colossal statue rose 120 feet high.
Chapter 69
What was the buffet's purpose in Greek and Roman dining-rooms?
Opposite the entrance-door stood a buffet, sometimes of iron but more generally among the Greeks of sculptured wood, bronze, or silver, bearing heads of oxen or satyrs. It was placed under the protection of Mercury, and a curtain commonly veiled its front. It served for the display of precious plate—silver, silver-gilt, and gold vases enriched with precious stones. The Roman sideboard served the same use.
Chapter 69
How did rank determine a lady's dresser after childbirth?
After the birth of a child, ladies receiving visits had a dresser placed in their room. Those of countesses and great ladies had three shelves; those of the wives of the younger sons of baronets had two; women well-connected but not titled could have no shelf. Court ladies also placed beside the buffet a small white-clothed table for hippocrass and spiced wine, drunk in hanaps.
Chapter 69
XXXI. THE DINING-ROOM.4 cards
What does Soyer say about the Roman dining-room's origin and name?
The author argues the dining-room was unknown to the earliest ages and only appeared as civilization advanced; the Romans called it the coenaculum, and Soyer links its development to increasing luxury and display at meals, drawing on classical authorities cited in his footnotes.
Chapter 70
How does the chapter describe the decoration of Roman dining-rooms?
Soyer describes Roman dining-rooms as richly adorned, with references to paintings, marble, and costly furnishings drawn from Pompeian remains and classical writers such as Seneca and Petronius. The author argues this luxury reflected the growing refinement and extravagance of Roman banquets.
Chapter 70
What does the chapter say about dining-rooms in later European history?
Soyer traces the dining-room through medieval and later European sources, citing chronicles such as Monstrelet and the Chroniques de St. Denis, and notes changing customs of the hall and table. The author argues these rooms grew more specialized and elaborate as courtly dining customs developed.
Chapter 70
What role do footnotes and sources play in this chapter?
The chapter is built almost entirely of numbered citations to classical and medieval authorities — Valla, Petronius, Seneca, Suetonius, Juvenal, Athenæus, Pliny, and French chronicles. Soyer uses these references to support his account of the dining-room's history, so the argument rests on compiled testimony rather than original research.
Chapter 70
XXXII. THE TABLE.3 cards
According to the chapter, what form did Roman tables take, and what was a sigma?
Tables were at first square, then round, then half-circle or half-moon shaped. This horseshoe-shaped table the Romans called a sigma, from the Greek letter resembling a C. The guests most honoured were placed at the extremities of this hemicycle, which was covered with magnificent covers and spread with fine linen and rich stuffs.
Chapter 71
What rules governed placement and number of guests on Roman dining couches?
Three couches at most were arranged round the table (triclinium), sometimes two (biclinium). Guests lay three or four per couch, a number good society did not allow to be exceeded. With three on a couch, the middle was the place of honour; with four, the second. The head of the couch was offered to the most worthy only when no more than two occupied it.
Chapter 71
What did Cneus Manlius introduce to Rome regarding tables, and what woods were prized?
Cneus Manlius introduced luxurious tables into Rome after the conquest of Asia, and originated tables veneered with gold plates. Precious woods from distant countries were prized above these: the maple, the whitten, and a species of African lemon-tree ranked first, their value raised by skilled workmen. Cicero had a lemon-wood table costing 200,000 sesterces, about £1,480.
Chapter 71
XXXII. THE TABLE.4 cards
What seating arrangement did the Romans use at their tables, according to the chapter?
The chapter describes Roman dining couches arranged around the table, with guests reclining rather than sitting upright. Places were graded by honour, and the position of each diner reflected rank. The author draws on classical sources such as Athenæus, Varro, and Rosinus to reconstruct this arrangement, noting that the most honourable place was reserved for the host or the most distinguished guest.
Chapter 72
How did the seating customs of the Hebrews and Egyptians differ from Roman practice?
The chapter cites Calmet and Diodorus Siculus to describe Hebrew and Egyptian customs, where guests were seated rather than reclining, and where the place assigned by the host signalled favour. The author presents these as distinct from the Roman couch system, using scriptural references such as the books of Kings alongside classical testimony to illustrate how each culture ordered its diners.
Chapter 72
What does the chapter say about the tables themselves and their materials?
Drawing on Pliny and other sources, the chapter discusses the woods and materials used for ancient tables, including costly citrus wood prized by wealthy Romans. The author notes that the value and rarity of table materials became a mark of luxury and status, and that moralists such as Seneca criticized the extravagance attached to such furnishings.
Chapter 72
What opinion does the author express about luxury at the table?
The author argues that excessive refinement in table furnishings and seating reflected moral decline, echoing classical moralists like Seneca who condemned extravagance. He presents luxury as a recurring target of ancient criticism, using examples of costly tables and graded seating to suggest that such display was as much about status as about comfort.
Chapter 72
XXXIII. THE SERVANTS.4 cards
How were Roman slaves marked and identified by their masters?
Slaves were known by their pierced ears, a stigma like that of Jewish slaves, made with an awl. Many were also branded with hot iron on the back, hands, cheeks, or forehead; the imprinted characters served the master as evidence against a fugitive servant wherever found. The author notes Plautus mockingly called them 'lettered slaves.'
Chapter 73
What duties did the atriensis perform in a Roman household?
The atriensis guarded the atrium and ranked above other slaves. He cared for the arms, trophies, precious furniture, and books adorning the apartment, and took extreme care of the paintings and wax figures kept from vanity or respect. He carried the images of venerated ancestors before the funeral procession of the head of the family.
Chapter 73
What roles did the dapiferi, nomenclators, structor, and scissor play at a Roman banquet?
The dapiferi brought dishes into the dining-room, and the nomenclators immediately told guests the names and qualities of what they were served. The structor arranged the dishes symmetrically, while the scissor (carver) cut up the meats to the sound of musical instruments, following the measure.
Chapter 73
How did the triclinarches's responsibility compare to a general's, according to the author?
The chief steward (triclinarches) directed the repast and handled countless details in kitchen, cellar, pantry, buffet, and dining-room, performing all these services himself. The author argues that the least negligence or absence of mind would ruin his master's reputation and hospitality, and that never did a general tremble under so redoubtable a responsibility.
Chapter 73
XXXIII. THE SERVANTS.3 cards
How does the chapter characterize the treatment of servants by masters?
The chapter presents masters' treatment of servants as ranging widely, citing Seneca and Pliny on cruelty and Suetonius on imperial household conduct. The author argues that some masters treated servants harshly while others were more humane. The sources cited include legal texts such as Ulpian on the hiring of servants, indicating regulation of their employment.
Chapter 74
What roles did servants perform in the households the chapter describes?
The chapter describes servants performing domestic duties including attending at meals, as suggested by citations to Petronius and Plautus. It references legal provisions from Ulpian concerning servants hired for inns and stables, showing servants also worked in commercial settings. The author argues their functions extended beyond mere attendance to include specialized household and business tasks.
Chapter 74
What sources does the chapter rely on for its account of servants?
The chapter cites classical authors including Plautus, Terence, Petronius, Seneca, Pliny, Suetonius, Juvenal, and Columella, along with legal texts from Ulpian and biblical passages from Exodus and Deuteronomy. The author argues these sources together document the condition and duties of servants. Modern compilers such as Pignorius and Gruterus are also cited.
Chapter 74
XXXIV. THE GUESTS.4 cards
What did the Lex Fannia prohibit regarding guests?
The Lex Fannia, carried by Consul C. Fannius in the year of Rome 548, prohibited assembling more than three persons of the same family on ordinary days, or more than five at the nones or on festival days. The author says this rigorous measure was pressingly solicited by the rational portion of every order of citizens, who could not witness without a shudder Italy's plunge into brutifying excesses.
Chapter 75
How did the number of guests favored by Archestrates, the Lacedæmonians, and Plato differ?
Archestrates was averse to large dinner parties, holding three or four persons, five at most, chosen with care, sufficient. The Lacedæmonians admitted as many as fifteen guests but elected a king of the banquet who decided without appeal all questions threatening the banquet's tranquillity. Greater numbers met in Athens: Plato gave a supper to twenty-eight friends, and hundreds of citizens often met at public repasts supervised by a magistrate.
Chapter 75
What were the three kinds of parasites described in the chapter?
The chapter names three kinds of parasites who got to the corner of a table in Greece and Italy for meagre portions. Buffoons amused the company with grotesque attitudes and ridiculous sayings. Others allowed their ears to be boxed and suffered a thousand torments for a piece of meat or a bone. The adulatory parasites were the most skilful, well treated and almost respected, flattering whosoever gave them a supper.
Chapter 75
What custom arose among the Anglo-Saxons from the death of Edward the Martyr?
Among the Anglo-Saxons, he who wished to drink asked the nearest person to pledge him. The latter replied affirmatively and immediately armed himself with his knife or sword to protect the other while he emptied his cup. The chapter says the death of Edward the Martyr gave rise to this custom: Elfrida, his mother-in-law, caused him to be basely assassinated from behind whilst he was drinking.
Chapter 75
XXXIV. THE GUESTS.4 cards
What ancient sources does Soyer cite for customs of welcoming and anointing guests?
Soyer cites Genesis xviii. 4 and xix. 2, Judges xix. 21, Luke vii. 44, and 1 Timothy v. 10 for the washing of guests' feet, and Tibullus (Eleg. iv. 6) and Mark xiv. 3 for anointing. These references support his account of hospitality rites offered to guests in antiquity.
Chapter 76
Which classical authors does Soyer draw on for Greek and Roman banquet customs?
Soyer draws on Athenæus (especially books i., vi., x., and xiv.), Plutarch's Symposiacs, Macrobius's Saturnalia, Aulus Gellius, Plautus, Terence, Horace, Virgil, and Apuleius. These supply details on guests, seating, and convivial practice in Greek and Roman feasts.
Chapter 76
What later European sources does Soyer use for medieval and English feasting?
Soyer cites Strutt's Anglo-Saxons (vol. i.), Froissard, Saint-Foix's Essais sur Paris, Laneham's account of the sports at Kenilworth, and John of Salisbury. These extend his treatment of guests and feasting from antiquity into medieval and early modern Europe.
Chapter 76
How does Soyer structure his evidence in this chapter on guests?
The chapter is built almost entirely of numbered citations to Scripture, Greek and Roman authors, and later European writers, with little continuous narrative. Soyer assembles authorities rather than arguing a single thesis, letting the sources document hospitality and banquet customs across cultures and periods.
Chapter 76
XXXV. A ROMAN SUPPER 3864 cards
How does the author characterize the difficulty of researching ancient banquets?
The author argues it is very difficult to procure a complete and accurate account of feasts whose guests died two or three thousand years ago. Apart from vague indications in Petronius, Athenæus, Apuleius, Macrobius, Suetonius and others, scholars can only establish analogies, make deductions, and reconstruct an antique banquet from a few valuable but incomplete data.
Chapter 77
What sources did the author consult to study ancient food?
The author consulted old memoirs connecting present to past: poets, orators, historians, philosophers, epistolographers, and writers on husbandry, including the most frivolous or obscure. He also examined the annals of the people of God and the doctors of the Primitive Church, which furnished traits of manners and customs plus chance indications of domestic usages buried amid grave moral instruction.
Chapter 77
How does the author contrast early Roman frugality with later excess?
Rome was long renowned for austere frugality, and the author remarks that for more than five centuries the art of making bread was unknown there, which he says says little for her civilization. Later, the conquest of Greece, spoils of subjugated lands, and Syracusan refinements gave conquered nations revenge, as Juvenal says, and table excesses swallowed up seemingly inexhaustible patrimonies.
Chapter 77
What single passage does the author use to represent Roman cookery?
The author offers one passage in Macrobius, called a curious monument of Roman cookery, as a substitute for multiplied researches: the description of a supper given by the Pontiff Lentulus on the day of his reception. Its first course (ante-cœna) was composed of sea-hedgehogs, raw oysters in abundance, all sorts of shell-fish, and more.
Chapter 77
XXXV. A ROMAN SUPPER. (part 1)4 cards
Who was Seba, and why did he give the banquet?
Caius Domitius Seba was an ancient freedman of Nero who possessed immense riches and formidable credit at court. He resolved to celebrate Nero's return to Rome and the tenth anniversary of his reign, and his banquet was so coveted that Roman nobles eagerly sought invitations. The author notes his insolence had struck terror into the proudest families of the empire.
Chapter 78
What bathing and grooming preparations preceded a Roman banquet?
The upper classes never dined until they had bathed: mediastini stoked the fires, capsarii folded clothes, unguentarii sold oils, and fricatores scraped the skin with a strigil before tractatores massaged the joints. Afterwards tonsores trimmed hair and removed grey hairs with tweezers and pumice, and guests cleaned and fortified their teeth with powders before donning the banqueting dress.
Chapter 78
What was the symposiarch, and who was chosen at Seba's banquet?
The symposiarch, or master of the banquet, was chosen by lot or unanimous call and regulated how often each person drank, trying to prevent guests from yielding to bacchic provocations. At Seba's feast every voice named the senator Drusillus, one of Rome's most determined drinkers. He then called for wreaths of flowers for brows and craters.
Chapter 78
What dishes made up the antecœna, or first course?
The antecœna consisted of light viands meant to stimulate appetite: lettuces, olives, pomegranates, Damascus plums on silver dishes, dormice prepared with honey and poppy juice, forcemeat balls of crab, lobster or cray-fish with pepper, cummin and benzoin root, champignon and egg sausages with garum, pheasant sausages, and peacocks' eggs of perfumed paste containing roasted ortolans.
Chapter 78
XXXV. A ROMAN SUPPER. (part 2)4 cards
What entertainments followed the acrobats at Seba's supper?
Prestigiators performed sleight of hand with shells, peas, or balls, making them vanish and reappear. Others read or wrote while spinning, vomited flames, or walked on their hands. A woman juggled twelve bronze hoops with rings, and a juggler rushed unharmed through a forest of naked swords. Marionettes then played comic scenes, which the Greeks knew and Rome did not disdain.
Chapter 79
How did the guests react to the gladiator combat?
Ten pairs of gladiators fought with swords and bucklers while blood spotted the couches and the guests' white robes. The spectators, stupefied with wine, watched with cold impassibility and only roused when a fighter tripped and was killed, which they applauded. Servants then washed the tables and floor with perfumed water, and the scenes were soon forgotten.
Chapter 79
How does the chapter describe Nero during the fire?
The author depicts Nero on a tower with laurel on his brow and a golden lyre, surrounded by histrions and buffoons, watching the conflagration he had kindled while singing verses on Troy's fate. His courtiers cried, "May the Gods preserve Nero." The chapter states the fire was set on the tenth anniversary of his reign, and the biographical notes say he blamed the Christians.
Chapter 79
What does the chapter say about Heliogabalus's excesses?
The notes call him the Sardanapalus of Rome, made priest of the Sun and emperor at fourteen. His luxury knew no bounds: he sent for rare birds from distant provinces, used silver utensils, and invented after-dinner lotteries where one guest won vases or ten elephants and another a toothpick or ten flies. He was massacred by his guard at eighteen, though the gastronomic art owed him some useful discoveries.
Chapter 79
XXXV. A ROMAN SUPPER. (part 3)4 cards
What was the 'Extravagance Culinaire à l'Alderman' dish valued at, and why?
The dish was valued at one hundred guineas. The author explains the cost by supposing that an epicure ordering a similar dish for a small party would need to provide many whole birds just to obtain small portions—for example, 24 capons for the two small noix from each side of the back, plus turtle heads, ortolans, and a garniture of cockscombs, truffles, mushrooms, and other items, totaling £105 5s.
Chapter 80
What did the author design for the York Banquet's decoration?
The author designed a large emblematic vase twenty feet in height, painted and modelled by Mr. Alfred Adams. Around its base are Europe, Asia, Africa, and America presenting specimens of industry to Britannia; a palm tree springs from the centre, surrounded by the arms of London and York. Medallion portraits of the Queen and Prince Albert form the body, figures of Ireland and Scotland the handles, and the royal arms the apex.
Chapter 80
What drinking cups did the author present at the banquet, and for whom?
The author presented three superb drinking cups in the name of the Patent Silvered-Glass Company: one for Prince Albert, one for the Lord Mayor of London, and one for the Lord Mayor of York. Prince Albert's was ruby glass with silver checquering and white medallions of the Queen and Prince Consort; the other two were emerald and silver, bearing each Lord Mayor's private arms.
Chapter 80
What does the author conclude about modern banqueting compared to ancient times?
The author argues that the pomp and splendour of modern banqueting prove that, from the Greeks and Romans down to the Middle Ages, moderns have not been exceeded—except perhaps in waste and extravagance. He cites examples including Napoleon's 1805 coronation banquet, Paris's 1810 banquet for Napoleon and Maria-Louisa, London's 1815 entertainment for the allied sovereigns, and George IV's 1820 coronation banquet.
Chapter 80
XXXV. A ROMAN SUPPER. (part 1)4 cards
What sources does Soyer cite for details of the Roman supper?
The chapter's notes cite a wide range of classical and later authorities, including Petronius (the Convivium Trimalchionis), Martial, Juvenal, Pliny, Plutarch, Athenaeus, Apicius, and Macrobius, alongside modern antiquarian works such as Montfaucon and Caylus. The supper description is thus assembled from scattered literary and antiquarian references rather than a single account.
Chapter 81
What dishes does the chapter's table of contents list under the Roman supper?
The index entry for the Roman supper lists fly dishes, or dormice, what they consist of; champignon and egg sausages, how made; and grasshoppers, how prepared and cooked. These items appear as the supper's representative preparations, showing that the meal included both stuffed dormice and insect-based dishes.
Chapter 81
How does Soyer organize the recipes in the appended table of ancient cookery?
The table groups recipes by category—cereals, bread, vegetables, seasoning plants, fruits, meats, poultry, fish, sauces, beverages, and wines—and gives a page number for each entry. Many recipes are attributed by name, such as Apicius's method of dressing cabbages or Lucullian ham, indicating Soyer draws heavily on Apicius and named Roman dishes.
Chapter 81
What does the chapter's index reveal about the range of foods covered in the book?
The index runs from abacus and ablution through oxen, cereals, breads, vegetables, fruits, meats, poultry, fish, sauces, and beverages to wine, tea, coffee, and chocolate. It shows the book's scope extends beyond Roman suppers to a broad history of food preparation, including medicinal properties attributed to many ingredients.
Chapter 81
XXXV. A ROMAN SUPPER. (part 2)4 cards
What does the chapter's index say about the origin of the cross-bun?
The index lists "Bun, its probable origin (Cross), 290" and separately "Cross-bun, 290," indicating the chapter treats the cross-bun's origin as a matter of probable conjecture rather than settled fact. No further explanation of that origin is given in the entry itself.
Chapter 82
How was butter regarded and used according to the chapter's entries?
The chapter describes butter as a substitute for oil, known in the East, used for pastry, and served instead of oil. It was considered the food of the barbarians and also used as a remedy. The index adds that it was burned in lamps, and that regulations governed its sale.
Chapter 82
Which figures does the chapter link to poisoning by mushrooms?
The index associates mushroom poisoning with several rulers: Charles VI. of France is noted for being poisoned by mushrooms, as are the Emperor Claudius and Pope Clement VII. The same index entry for mushrooms (boleti) simply identifies them as mushrooms, without further detail on the incidents.
Chapter 82
What does the chapter record about the price Celer paid for a red mullet?
The index entry "Celer, the price he gave for a red mullet, 213" records that a Roman named Celer paid a notable price for a red mullet, with the amount located at page 213. The entry itself gives no figure, so the sum must be sought in the text.
Chapter 82
XXXV. A ROMAN SUPPER. (part 3)4 cards
Who first served a peacock, and who fattened them?
The chapter credits Hortensius as the first person who served a peacock, and notes that Livio contrived to fatten peacocks. Peacocks were admired by Alexander the Great, kept in aviaries, exhibited in Greece, and appreciated in Rome; they were also sacrificed to Caligula, and their eggs are listed among foods.
Chapter 83
What does the chapter say about the red mullet's liver and head?
The chapter lists the liver of the red mullet and mentions its head and weight, noting the fish was killed on the table and kept in brine. It also records an anecdote of Philoxenus connected to the red mullet, and that the mullet was how cooked and its price noted.
Chapter 83
What does the chapter record about Roman oysters?
The chapter says oysters were uncommon in ancient times, served to the pagan pontiffs, and notes their price. They were preserved fat and alive, sent to Trajan, often served raw in Greece, fattened, dressed in various ways, sourced from the Atlantic and Bordeaux, pickled, and forgotten for a long period.
Chapter 83
How does the chapter describe the lemon tree's origin and uses?
The chapter states the lemon tree's origin and that it was received from Persia, used for tables and beds, and cultivated by Palladius. Lemons were considered a counter-poison, preserved in certain ways, and lemon-peel was regarded as a digestive.
Chapter 83
XXXV. A ROMAN SUPPER. (part 4)4 cards
What does the index say about the sturgeon's status and treatment in Rome?
The sturgeon is called a royal fish and an imperial dish in China, compared to ambrosia, and honoured by being announced with the sound of trumpets. Its price and great weight are noted, and it is compared to peacocks.
Chapter 84
How were snails regarded and fattened according to the chapter?
Snails are described as a delicate hors-d'œuvre and were fattened, though the index does not detail the method here. They appear among the delicacies served before the main courses of a Roman supper.
Chapter 84
What does the chapter record about slaves and sea-eels?
Slaves were thrown to the sea-eels, and eels were said to be fed on the flesh of slaves. Slaves were also sold by Cato, punished by crucifixion, and put to death to amuse a friend.
Chapter 84
What does the chapter note about the Roman supper and its setting?
A Roman supper is listed alongside the primitive suppers of the Romans held in the open air, suppers given by Roman emperors, and the supper of the Hebrews. The Roman supper entry appears at page 386.
Chapter 84
XXXV. A ROMAN SUPPER. (part 5)4 cards
What daily meal schedule does Erasmus Wilson prescribe for children out of arms?
Wilson says children out of arms should eat three meals a day, with an interval of four hours between each. He specifies he is not speaking of infants. He holds that the substance of their meals cannot be too nutritive or too varied, and he commends Soyer's "Nursery Dinner" letter as an admirable treatment of the subject.
Chapter 85
What weekly nursery dinner does Soyer prescribe for children of very moderate circumstances?
Soyer's scheme runs: bread and milk for breakfast at eight; dinner at one, comprising roast mutton and apple pudding, roast beef and currant pudding, baked apples, boiled mutton with turnips followed by rice or vermicelli pudding, and occasionally salt beef with suet dumplings or pease pudding; if unwell, veal or chicken broth or beef-tea.
Chapter 85
Why does Soyer defend variety of food for children, and how does Wilson respond?
Soyer argues there may seem too much variety, but change of food is to the stomach what change of air is to general health, though with children such changes must be made with judgment. Wilson agrees, calling the intention rational, and notes some parents boast their children are fed exclusively on mutton, generally succeeding in making the stomach unable to digest anything else.
Chapter 85
What does Wilson blame for most children's diseases, and what example does he give?
Wilson blames sameness of food, improper food, defective ventilation, and insufficient exercise for most diseases of children, especially cutaneous complaints. He cites ring-worms and scald-heads in public seminaries, describing institutions where children eat the identical meal 365 days a year, and wonders that skin affections and consumptions prevail.
Chapter 85
DILL.4 cards
What did the ancients believe dill did to the eyes, and what products came from it?
According to the ancients, dill weakened the eyes, yet was renowned for its exquisite odour and stomachic qualities. A much-admired perfume was made from it, it produced an agreeable wine or liqueur, and a small number of choice dishes owed their reputation to it.
Chapter 86
How did the ancients use pennyroyal at their banquets?
The ancients entwined their wine caps with pennyroyal and made crowns of it, which they placed on their heads during their repasts, hoping to escape the troublesome consequences of too copious libations. On leaving the table, a small quantity of the plant was taken to facilitate digestion. Pennyroyal also occupied an important place in high gastronomic combinations.
Chapter 86
Why did the inhabitants of Heraclea eat rue before leaving their dwellings?
Mithridates looked upon rue as a powerful counter-poison. The inhabitants of Heraclea, suspicious, and with reason, of the villany of their tyrant Clearchus, never stirred from their dwellings without having previously eaten plentifully of rue. The plant also cured ear-ache and was welcomed with honour on all festive occasions.
Chapter 86
How was Roman wormwood wine prepared, and why was it given to charioteers?
They bruised one ounce of wormwood and mixed it with three scruples of gum, as much spikenard, six of balm, and three scruples of saffron, adding eighteen setiers, or 180 gallons English, of old wine. The mixture stood some time but was not heated. It was supposed to prevent or counteract giddiness, as Strabo notes wormwood cures dizziness.
Chapter 86
Source and licence
Text used: Project Gutenberg eBook #51259 (Public domain in the United States). Generated from the full text; cards paraphrase the source.
Version: Public domain edition. Retrieved 2026-11-01. Cards reviewed 2026-11-01.
These cards paraphrase the text for study. They are not a substitute for reading the book, and they do not reproduce long passages.
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