" [401] And Poseidonius the philosopher also mentions them in his History [ Fr_61 ]: "And we
ourselves
have seen a great many in our voyage from Dicaearcheia to Neapolis.
Athenaeus - Deipnosophists
And there were many revolts of the slaves, and more than a million of slaves were destroyed in them.
And Caecilius, the orator from Cale Acte, wrote a treatise on the Servile Wars.
And Spartacus the gladiator, having escaped from Capua, a city of Italy, about the time of the Mithridatic war, prevailed on a great body of slaves to join him in the revolt, (and he himself was a slave, being a Thracian by birth,) and overran the whole of Italy for a considerable time, [273] great numbers of slaves thronging daily to his standard.
# And if he had not died in a battle fought against Licinius Crassus, he would have caused no ordinary trouble to our countrymen, as Eunus did in Sicily.
[105. ] But the ancient Romans were prudent citizens, and eminent for all kinds of good qualities. # Accordingly Scipio, surnamed Africanus, being sent out by the Senate to arrange all the kingdoms of the world, in order that they might be put into the hands of those to whom they properly belonged, took with him only five slaves, as we are informed by Polybius and Poseidonius. And when one of them died on the journey, he sent to his agents at home to bring him another instead of him, and to send him to him. # And Julius Caesar, the first man who ever crossed over to the British isles with a thousand vessels, had with him only three servants altogether, as Cotta, who at that time acted as his lieutenant-general, relates in his treatise on the History and Constitution of the Romans, which is written in our national language. But Smindyrides of Sybaris was a very different sort of man, my Greek friends, who, when he went forth to marry Agariste, the daughter of Cleisthenes, carried his luxury and ostentation to such a height, that he took with him a thousand slaves, fishermen, bird-catchers, and cooks. But this man, wishing to display how magnificently he was used to live, according to the account given to us by Chamaeleon of Pontus, in his book on Pleasure, (but the same book is also attributed to Theophrastus,) said that for twenty years he had never seen the sun rise or set; and this he considered a great and marvellous proof of his wealth and happiness. For he, as it seems, used to go to bed early in the morning, and to get up in the evening, being in my opinion a miserable man in both particulars. But Hestiaeus of Pontus boasted, and it was an honourable boast, that he had never once seen the sun rise or set, because he had been at all times intent upon study, as we are told by Nicias of Nicaea in his Successions.
[106. ] What then are we to think? Had not Scipio and Caesar any slaves? To be sure they had, but they abided by the laws of their country, and lived with moderation, preserving the habits sanctioned by the constitution. For it is the conduct of prudent men to abide by those ancient institutions under which they and their ancestors have lived, and made war upon and subdued the rest of the world; and yet, at the same time, if there were any useful or honourable institutions among the people whom they have subdued, those they take for their imitation at the same time that they take the prisoners. And this was the conduct of the Romans in olden time; for they, maintaining their national customs, at the same time introduced from the nations whom they had subdued every relic of desirable practices which they found, leaving what was useless to them, so that they should never be able to regain what they had lost. Accordingly they learnt from the Greeks the use of all machines and engines for conducting sieges; and with these engines they subdued the very people of whom they had learnt them. And when the Phoenicians had made many discoveries in nautical science, the Romans availed themselves of these very discoveries to subdue them. And from the Etruscans they derived the practice of the entire army advancing to battle in close phalanx; and from the Samnites they learnt the use of the shield, and from the Iberians the use of the javelin. And learning different things from different people, they improved upon them: and imitating in everything the constitution of the Lacedaemonians, they preserved it better than the Lacedaemonians themselves; but now, having selected whatever was useful from the practices of their enemies, they have at the same time turned aside to imitate them in what is vicious and mischievous.
[107. ] [274] For, as Poseidonius tells us, their national mode of life was originally temperate and simple, and they used everything which they possessed in an unpretending and unostentatious manner. Moreover they displayed wonderful piety towards the Deity, and great justice, and great care to behave equitably towards all men, and great diligence in cultivating the earth. And we may see this from the national sacrifices which we celebrate. For we proceed by ways regularly settled and defined. So that we bear regularly appointed offerings, and we utter regular petitions in our prayers, and we perform stated acts in all our sacred ceremonies. They are also simple and plain. And we do all this without being either clothed or attired as to our persons in any extraordinary manner, and without indulging in any extraordinary pomp when offering the first-fruits. But we wear simple garments and shoes, and on our heads we have rough hats made of the skins of sheep, and we carry vessels to minister in of earthenware and brass. And in these vessels we carry those meats and liquors which are procured with the least trouble, thinking it absurd to send offerings to the gods in accordance with our national customs, but to provide for ourselves according to foreign customs. And, therefore, all the things which are expended upon ourselves are measured by their use; but what we offer to the gods are a sort of first-fruits of them.
[108. ] Now Mucius Scaevola was one of the three men in Rome who were particular in their observance of the Lex Fannia; Quintus Aelius Tubero and Rutilius Rufus being the other two, the latter of whom is the man who wrote the History of his country. # Which law enjoined men not to entertain more than three people besides those in the house; but on market-days a man might entertain five. And these market-days happened three times in the month. The law also forbade any one to spend in provisions more than two drachmae and a half. And they were allowed to spend fifteen talents a year on cured meat and whatever vegetables the earth produces, and on boiled pulse. But as this allowance was insufficient, men gradually (because those who transgressed the law and spent money lavishly raised the price of whatever was to be bought) advanced to a more liberal style of living without violating the law. # For Tubero used to buy birds at a drachma apiece from the men who lived on his own farms. And Rutilius used to buy fish from his own slaves who worked as fishermen for three obols for a pound of fish; especially when he could get what is called the Thurian; and that is a part of the sea-dog which goes by that name. # But Mucius agreed with those who were benefited by him to pay for all he bought at a similar valuation. Out of so many myriads of men then these were the only ones who kept the law with a due regard to their oaths; and who never received even the least present; but they gave large presents to others, and especially to those who had been brought up at the same school with them. For they all clung to the doctrines of the Stoic school.
[109. ] # But of the extravagance which prevails at the present time Lucullus was the first originator, he who subdued Mithridates, as Nicolaus the Peripatetic relates. For he, coming to Rome after the defeat of Mithridates, and also after that of Tigranes, the king of Armenia, and having triumphed, and having given in an account of his exploits in war, proceeded to an extravagant way of living from his former simplicity, and was the first teacher of luxury to the Romans, having amassed the wealth of the two before-mentioned kings. # But the famous Cato, as Polybius tells us in the thirty-first book of his History [ 31. 25 ], was very indignant, and cried out, [275] that some men had introduced foreign luxury into Rome, having bought an earthen jar of pickled fish from Pontus for three hundred drachmae, and some beautiful boys at a higher price than a man might buy a field.
"But in former times the inhabitants of Italy were so easily contented, that even now," says Poseidonius, "those who are in very easy circumstances are used to accustom their sons to drink as much water as possible, and to eat whatever they can get. And very often," says he, "the father or mother asks their son whether he chooses to have pears or nuts for his supper; and then he, eating some of these things, is contented and goes to bed. " But now, as Theopompus tells us in the first book of his history of the Actions of Philip, there is no one of those who are even tolerably well off who does not provide a most sumptuous table, and who has not cooks and a great many more attendants, and who does not spend more on his daily living than formerly men used to spend on their festivals and sacrifices.
And since now this present discussion has gone far enough, let us end this book at this point.
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Athenaeus: The Deipnosophists
BOOK 9 (excerpts)
Translated by C. D. Yonge (1854). A few words and spellings have been changed.
See key to translations for an explanation of the format. The page numbers in the Greek text are shown in red. The chapter numbers in the translation are shown in green.
* * * * *
[8. ] G [369] First of all, there were turnips; and Apellas, in his treatise on the Cities in Peloponnese, says that turnips are called ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? by the Lacedaemonians: and Nicander of Colophon, in his Dialects, says that among the Boeotians it is cabbages which are called ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? and that turnips are called in Boeotia ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? . But Amerias and Timachidas affirm that it is gourds which are called ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? . And Speusippus, in the second book of his treatise on Things resembling one another, says- "The radish, the turnip, the rape, and the nasturtium all resemble each other. " But Glaucus, in his Cookery Book, spells the word ? ? ? ? ? (rape) with ? without the aspirate,- ? ? ? ? ? . But these vegetables have nothing else like them, unless, indeed, it be the plant which we call bounias: but Theophrastus does not use the name of bounias, but calls it a sort of male turnip; and perhaps the plant which he means is the bounias. And Nicander, in his Georgics, mentions the bounias -
Sow turnips on a well-rolled field, that they
May grow as large as the flat dish that holds them.
* * * *
For there are two kinds
Which from the radish spring: one long, one firm,
Both seen in well-tilled beds in kitchen gardens.
And the turnips which grow on the banks of the Cephisus are mentioned by Cratis, in his Orators, thus-
And wholly like the turnips of Cephisus.
But Theophrastus says that there are two kinds of turnips, the male and the female, and that they both come from the same seed; but Poseidonius the Stoic philosopher, in the twenty-seventh book of his Histories [ Fr_19 ], concerning Dalmatia, says that there are some turnips which grow without any cultivation, and also some carrots that grow wild. But Diphilus the physician, of Siphnos, says- "The turnip has attenuating properties, and is harsh and indigestible, and moreover is apt to cause flatulence: but the vegetable called bounias is superior to that; for it is sweeter in taste and more digestible, in addition to being wholesome for the stomach and nutritious. But the turnip," he says, "when roasted, is more easily digested, but in this state it attenuates the blood still more. " This vegetable is mentioned by Eubulus, in his Ancylion, where he says-
I bring this turnip to be roasted now.
And Alexis, in his Enthusiast, says--
I speak to Ptolemaeus, roasting slices of turnip.
But the turnip, when pickled, is more attenuating in its effects than when boiled, especially when it is pickled with mustard, as Diphilus says.
* * * * *
[38. ] G [387] But Agatharchides of Cnidus, in the thirty-fourth book of his History of the Affairs of Europe, speaking of the river Phasis, writes as follows:- "But the great multitude of the birds called pheasants (? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ) come for the sake of food to the places where the mouths of the rivers fall into the sea. " # And Callixeinus the Rhodian, in the fourth book of his Account of Alexandria, describing a procession which took place in Alexandria, when Ptolemy who was surnamed Philadelphus was king, mentions, as a very extraordinary circumstance connected with these birds- "Then there were brought on in cases parrots, and peacocks, and guinea-fowl, and pheasants, and an immense number of Ethiopian birds. " And Artemidorus, the pupil of Aristophanes, in his book entitled The Glossary of Cookery, and Pamphilus the Alexandrian, in his treatise on Names and Words, represents Epaenetus as saying in his Cookery Book that the pheasant is also called ? ? ? ? ? ? ? . But Ptolemy Euergetes, in the second book of his Commentaries, says that the pheasant is called ? ? ? ? ? ? ? . Now this is what I am able to tell you about the pheasant, which I have seen brought up on your account, as if we all had fevers. But as for you, if you do not, according to your agreement, give me tomorrow what you have covenanted to, I do not say that I will prosecute you in the public courts for deceit, but I will send you away to live near the Phasis, as Polemon, the Describer of the World, wished to drown Ister the pupil of Callimachus, the historian, in the river of the same name.
* * * * *
[49. ] G [393] And even swans in great plenty were not lacking at our banquets. And Aristotle speaks in the following manner of this bird- "The swan is a prolific bird, and a quarrelsome one. And, indeed, they are so fond of fighting that they often kill one another. And the swan will fight even the eagle; though he does not begin the battle himself. And they are tuneful birds, especially towards the time of their death. And they also cross the seas singing. And they are web-footed, and feed on herbage. " But Alexander the Myndian says, that though he followed a great many swans when they were dying, he never heard one sing. And Hegesianax of Alexandria, who arranged the book of Cephalion, called the History of Troy, says that the Cycnus who fought with Achilles in single combat, was fed in Leucophrys by the bird of the same name, that is, by the swan. But Boius, or Boio, which Philochorus [ Fr_214 ] says was his proper name, in his book on the Origin of Birds, says that Cycnus was turned into a bird by Ares, and that when he came to the river Sybaris he was cooped with a crane. And he says, also, that the swan lines his nest with that particular grass which is called lygaea.
And concerning the crane (? ? ? ? ? ? ? ), Boius says that there was among the Pygmies a very well known woman whose name was Gerana. And she, being honoured as a god by her fellow-countrymen, thought lightly of those who were really gods, and especially of Hera and Artemis. And accordingly Hera, being indignant, changed her into an unsightly bird, and made her hostile to and hated by the Pygmies who had been used to honour her. And he says, also, that of her and Nicodamas was born the land tortoise. And as a general rule, the man who composed all these fables asserts that all the birds were formerly men.
* * * * *
[63. ] G [400] But Hegesander of Delphi, in his Commentaries, says that in the reign of Antigonus Gonatas, there were such a number of hares in the island of Astypalaea, that the natives consulted the oracle on the subject. And the Pythia answered them that they ought to breed dogs, and hunt them; and so in one year there were caught more than six thousand. And all this immense number arose from a man of the island of Anaphe having put one pair of hares in the island. As also, on a previous occasion, when a certain Astypalean had let loose a pair of partridges in the island of Anaphe, there came to be such a number of partridges in Anaphe, that the inhabitants ran a risk of being driven out of the island by them. But originally Astypalaea had no hares at all, but only partridges. And the hare is a very prolific animal, as, Xenophon has told us, in his treatise on Hunting [ 5'13 ]; and Herodotus speaks of it in the following terms [ 3. 108 ] - "Since the hare is hunted by everything - man, beast, and bird - it is on this account a very prolific animal; and it is the only animal known which is capable of superfetation. And it has in its womb at one time one litter with the fur on, and another bare, and another just formed, and a fourth only just conceived. " And Polybius, in the twelfth book of his History [ 12. 3'10 ], says that, there is another animal like the hare which is called the rabbit (? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ); and he writes as follows-" The animal called the rabbit, when seen at a distance, looks like a small hare; but when any one takes it in his hands, there is a great difference between them, both in appearance and taste: and it lives chiefly underground.
" [401] And Poseidonius the philosopher also mentions them in his History [ Fr_61 ]: "And we ourselves have seen a great many in our voyage from Dicaearcheia to Neapolis. For there is an island not far from the mainland, opposite the lower side of Dicaearcheia, inhabited by only a very scanty population, but having a great number of rabbits. " And there is also a kind of hare called the Chelidonian hare, which is mentioned by Diphilus, or Calliades, in his play called Ignorance, in the following terms-
What is this? whence this hare who bears the name
Of Chelidonian? Is it grey hare soup,
Mimarcys called, so thick -with blood?
And Theopompus, in the twentieth book of his History, says that there are hares about Bisaltia which have two livers.
[64. ] G And when a wild boar was put upon the table, which was in no respect less than that noble Calydonian boar which has been so much celebrated,- I suggest to you now, said he, O my most philosophical and precise Ulpianus, to inquire who ever said that the Calydonian boar was a female, and that her meat was white. But he, without giving the matter any long consideration, but rather turning the question off, said- But it does seem to me, my friends, that if you are not yet satisfied, after having had such plenty of all these things, that you surpass every one who has ever been celebrated for his powers of eating,- and who those people are you can find out by inquiry. But it is more correct and more consistent with etymology to make the name ? ? ? , with a sigma; for the animal has its name from rushing (? ? ? ? ? ? ? ) and going on impetuously; but men have got a trick of pronouncing the word without the sigma, ? ? ; and some people believe that it is called ? ? ? , by being softened from ? ? ? , as if it had its name from being a fit animal to sacrifice (? ? ? ? ? ). But now, if it seems good to you, answer me who ever uses the compound word like we do, calling the wild boar not ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? , but ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? At all events, Sophocles, in his Lovers of Achilles, has applied the word ? ? ? ? ? ? ? to a dog, as hunting the boar (? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ), where he says-
And you, Syagre, child of Pelion.
And in Herodotus we find Syagrus used as a proper name of a man who was a Lacedaemonian by birth, and who went on the embassy to Gelon the Syracusan, about forming an alliance against the Medes; which Herodotus mentions in the seventh book of his History [ 7. 153 ]. And I am aware, too, that there was a general of the Aetolians named Syagrus, who is mentioned by Phylarchus, in the fourth book of his History [ Fr_5 ]. And Democritus said- You always, O Ulpianus, have got a habit of never taking anything that is set before you until you know whether the existing name of it was in use among the ancients. Accordingly you are running the risk, on account of all these inquiries of yours, (just like Philetas of Cos, who was always investigating all false arguments and erroneous uses of words,) of being starved to death, as he was. For he became very thin by reason of his devotion to these inquiries, and so died, as the inscription in front of his tomb shows-
Stranger, Philetas is my name, I lie
Slain by fallacious arguments, and cares
Protracted from the evening through the night.
* * * * *
[70. ] G [405] And to all this Aemilianus makes answer-
My friend, you've made a speech quite long enough
In praising your favourite art of cookery;-
as Hegesippus says in his Brothers. Do you then-
Give us now something new to see beyond
Your predecessor's art, or plague us not;
But show me what you've got, and tell its name.
And he rejoins-
You look down on me, since I am a cook.
But perhaps-
What I have made by practising my art-
according to the comic poet Demetrius, who, in his play entitled The Areopagite, has spoken as follows-
What I have made by practising my art
Is more than any actor ever has gained,-
This smoky art of mine is quite a kingdom.
I was a caper-pickler with Seleucus,
And at the court of the Sicilian king,
Agathocles, I was the very first
To introduce the royal dish of lentils.
My chief exploit I have not mentioned yet:
There was a famine, and a man named Lachares
Was giving an entertainment to his friends;
Whom I recovered with some caper-sauce.
# Lachares stripped Athene naked, who caused him no inconvenience; but I will now strip you who are inconveniencing me, said Aemilianus, unless you show me what you have got with you. And he said at last, rather unwillingly, [406] I call this dish the Dish of Roses. And it is prepared in such a way, that you may not only have the ornament of a garland on your head, but also in yourself, and so feast your whole body with a luxurious banquet. Having pounded a quantity of the most fragrant roses in a mortar, I put in the brains of birds and pigs boiled and thoroughly cleansed of all the sinews, and also the yolks of eggs, and with them oil, and pickle-juice, and pepper, and wine. And having pounded all these things carefully together, I put them into a new dish, applying a gentle and steady fire to them. And while saying this, he uncovered the dish, and diffused such a sweet perfume over the whole party, that one of the guests present said with great truth [ Homer:Il_14'173 ] -
The winds perfumed the balmy gale convey
Through heaven, through earth, and all the aerial way;
- so excessive was the fragrance which was diffused from the roses.
* * * * *
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Athenaeus: The Deipnosophists
BOOK 10 (excerpts)
Translated by C. D. Yonge (1854). A few words and spellings have been changed.
See key to translations for an explanation of the format. The page numbers in the Greek text are shown in red. The chapter numbers in the translation are shown in green.
* * * * *
[4. ] G [412] But Theagenes of Thasos, the athlete, ate a bull single-handed, as Poseidippus tells us in his Epigrams:
And as I'd undertaken, I did eat
A Maeonian bull. My own poor native land
Of Thasos could not have purveyed a meal
Sufficient for the hunger of Theagenes.
I ate all I could get, then asked for more.
And, therefore, here you see, I stand in brass,
Holding my right hand forth; put something in it.
And Milon of Croton, as Theodorus of Hierapolis tells us in his book upon Games, ate twenty minae minae of meat, and an equal quantity of bread, and drank three choes of wine. And once at Olympia he took a four year old bull on his shoulders, and carried it all round the course, and after that he killed it and cut it up, and ate it all up by himself in one day. And Titormus the Aetolian had a contest with him as to which could eat an ox with the greatest speed, as Alexander the Aetolian relates. But Phylarchus, in the third book of his Histories [ Fr_3 ], says that Milon, while lying down before the altar of Zeus, ate a bull, on which account Dorieus the poet made the following epigram on him:
Milon could lift enormous weights from earth,
A heifer four years old, at Zeus' high feast,
[413] And on his shoulders the huge beast he bore,
As if it had been a young and little lamb,
All round the wondering crowd of standers by.
But he did still a greater feat than this,
Before the altar of Olympian Zeus;
For there he bore aloft an untamed bull
In the procession, then he cut it up,
And by himself ate every bit of it.
# But Astyanax of Miletus, having gained the victory at Olympia three times in the pancratium, being once invited to supper by Ariobarzanes the Persian, when he had come, offered to eat everything that had been prepared for the whole party, and did eat it. And when, Theodorus relates, the Persian entreated him to do something suitable to his enormous strength, he broke off a large brazen ornament in the shape of a lentil from the couch and crushed it in his hand. And when he died, and when his body was burnt, one urn would not contain, his bones, and scarcely two could do so. And they say that the dinner which he ate by himself at Ariobarzanes' table bad been prepared for nine persons.
[5. ] G And there is nothing unnatural in such men as those being very voracious; for all the men who practise athletic exercises, learn with these gymnastic exercises also to eat a great deal. On which account Euripides says, in the first edition of his Autolycus-
For when there are ten thousand ills in Greece,
There's none that's worse than the whole race of athletes.
For, first of all, they learn not to live well,
Nor could they do so; for could any man
Being a slave to his own jaws and appetite
Acquire wealth beyond his father's riches!
How could a man like that increase his substance?
Nor yet can they put up with poverty,
Or ever accommodate themselves to fortune;
And so being unaccustomed to good habits,
They quickly fall into severe distress.
In youth they walk about in fine attire,
And think themselves a credit to the city;
But when old age in all its bitterness
Overtakes their steps, they roam about the streets,
Like ragged cloaks whose nap is all worn off.
And much I blame the present fashions, too,
Which now in Greece prevail; where many a feast
Is made to pay great honour to such men,
And to show false respect to vain amusements.
For though a man may wrestle well, or run,
Or throw a discus, or strike a heavy blow,
Still where's the good his country can expect
From all his victories and crowns and prizes?
Will they fight with their country's enemies
With discus in hand? Or will their speed assist
To make the hostile bands retreat before them ?
When men stand face to face with the hostile sword
They think no more of all these fooleries.
It were better to adorn good men and wise
With these victorious wreaths; they are the due
Of those who govern states with wisdom sound,
And practise justice, faith, and temperance;
Who by their prudent language ward off evils,
Banishing wars and factions. These are the men,
Who're not alone a grace and ornament
To their own land, but to the whole of Greece.
[6. ] G Now Euripides took all this from the Elegies of Xenophanes of Colophon, who has spoken in this way-
But if a man, in speed of foot victorious,
Or in the contests of the pentathlon,
Where is the sacred grove of Zeus,
Near to the sacred streams of Olympia;
[414] Or as a wrestler, or exchanging blows
And painful struggles as a hardy boxer,
Or in the terrible pancratium,
He surely is a noble citizen,
And well he does deserve the honours due
Of a front seat at games and festivals,
And at the public cost to be maintained;
And to receive a public gift of honour,
Which shall become an heirloom to his children.
And such shall be his honours, even if
He wins by horses, not by his own strength.
And still I think he does not equal me;
For wisdom far exceeds in real value
The bodily strength of man, or horses' speed;
But the mob judges of such things at random;
Though 'tis not right to prefer strength to sense:
For though a man may a good boxer be,
Or pentathlete, or unconquered wrestler,
Or if he vanquish all in speed of foot-
Which is the most important of all contests-
Still for all this his city will enjoy
No better laws through his great strength or speed;
And 'tis small cause for any lasting joy,
That one of all her citizens should gain
A prize on Pisa's banks: for such achievements
Fill not the country's granaries with corn.
And Xenophanes contends at great length, and with great earnestness and variety of argument, in favour of the superior advantage of his own wisdom, running down athletic exercises as useless and unprofitable. And Achaeus the Eretrian, speaking of the good constitution of the athletes, says-
For naked they did wave their glistening arms,
And move along exulting in their youth,
Their valiant shoulders swelling in their prime
Of health and strength; while they anoint with oil
Their chests and feet and limbs abundantly,
As being used to luxury at home.
[7. ] G But Heracleitus, in his Entertainer of Strangers, says that there was a woman named Helene, who ate more than any other woman ever did. And Poseidippus, in his Epigrams, says that Phyromachus was a great eater, on whom he wrote this epigram:
This lowly ditch now holds Phyromachus,
Who used to swallow everything he saw,
Like a fierce carrion crow who roams all night.
Now here he lies wrapped in a ragged cloak.
But, O Athenian, whoever you are,
Anoint this tomb and crown it with a wreath,
If ever in old times he feasted with you.
At last he came sans teeth, with eyes worn out,
And livid swollen eyelids; clothed in skins,
With but one single cruse, and that scarce full;
For from the Lenaean games he came,
Descending humbly to Calliope.
But Amarantus of Alexandria, in his treatise on the Stage, says that Herodorus, the Megarian trumpeter, was a man three cubits and a half in height; and that he had great strength in his chest, and that he could eat six choenixes of bread, and twenty pounds of meat, of whatever sort was provided for him, and that he could drink two choes of wine; and that he could play on two trumpets at once; and that it was his habit to sleep on only a lion's skin, and when playing on the trumpet he made a vast noise. [415] # Accordingly, when Demetrius, the son of Antigonus, was besieging Argos, and when his troops could not bring the helepolis against the walls on account of its weight, he, giving the signal with his two trumpets at once, by the great volume of sound which he poured forth, instigated the soldiers to move forward the engine with great zeal and earnestness; and he gained the prize in all the games ten times; and he used to eat sitting down, as Nestor tells us in his Theatrical Reminiscences. # And there was a woman too, who played on the trumpet, whose name was Aglais, the daughter of Megacles, who, in the first great procession which took place in Alexandria, played a processional piece of music ; having a head-dress of false hair on, and a crest upon her head, as Poseidippus proves by his epigrams on her. And she, too, could eat twelve pounds of meat and four choenixes of bread, and drink a chous of wine, at one sitting.
[8. ] G There was, besides, a man of the name of Lityerses, a bastard son of Midas, the king of Celaenae in Phrygia, a man of a savage and fierce aspect, and an enormous glutton; and he is mentioned by Sositheus the tragic poet, in his play called Daphnis or Lityersas; where he says-
He'll eat three asses' panniers, freight and all,
Three times in one brief day; and what he calls
A measure of wine is a ten-amphora cask;
And this he drinks all at a single draught.
And the man mentioned by Pherecrates, or Strattis, whichever was the author of the play called The Good Men, was much such another; the author says-
(A) I scarcely in one day, unless I'm forced,
Can eat two medimni and a half of food.
(B) A most unhappy man ! how have you lost
Your appetite, so as now to be content
With the scant rations of one ship of war?
And Xanthus, in his Account of Lydia, says that Cambles, who was the king of the Lydians, was a great eater and drinker, and also an exceeding epicure; and accordingly, that he one night cut up his own wife into joints and ate her; and then, in the morning, finding the hand of his wife still sticking in his mouth, he slew himself, as his act began to get notorious. And we have already mentioned Thys, the king of the Paphlagonians, saying that he too was a man of vast appetite, quoting Theopompus, who speaks of him in the thirty-fifth book of his History; and Archilochus, in his Tetrameters, has accused Charilas of the same fault, as the comic poets have attacked Cleonymus and Peisander. And Phoenicides mentions Chaerippus in his Phylarchus in the following terms-
And next to them I place Chaerippus third;
He, as you know, will without ceasing eat
As long as any one will give him food,
Or till he bursts,- such stowage vast has he,
Like any house.
[9. ] G # And Nicolaus the Peripatetic, in the hundred and third book of his History, says that Mithridates, the king of Pontus, once proposed a contest in great eating and great drinking (and the prize was a talent of silver), and that he himself gained the victory in both; but he yielded the prize to the man who was judged to be second to him, namely, Calamodrys, the athlete of Cyzicus. And Timocreon the Rhodian, a poet, and an athlete who had gained the victory in the pentathlon, ate and drank a great deal, as the epigram on his tomb shows-
Much did I eat, much did I drink, and much
Did I abuse all men; now here I lie;-
My name Timocreon, my country Rhodes.
[416] And Thrasymachus of Chalcedon, in one his Prefaces, says that Timocreon came to the great king of Persia, and being entertained by him, did eat an immense quantity of food; and when the king asked him, What he would do on the strength of it? he said that he would beat a great many Persians; and the next day, having vanquished a great many, one after another, taking them one by one, after this, he beat the air with his hands; and when they asked him what he wanted, he said that he had all those blows left in him if any one was inclined to come on. And Clearchus, in the fifth book of his Lives, says, that Cantibaris the Persian, whenever his jaws were weary with eating, had his slaves to pour food into his mouth, which he kept open as if they were pouring it into an empty vessel. But Hellanicus, in the first book of his Tale of Deucalion, says that Erysichthon, the son of Myrmidon, being a man perfectly insatiable in respect of food, was called Aethon. And Polemon, in the first book of his Treatise addressed to Timaeus, says that among the Sicilians there was a temple consecrated to gluttony, and an image of Demeter Sito; near which, also, there was a statue of Himalis, as there is at Delphi one of Hermuchus, and as at Scolus, in Boeotia, there are statues of Megalartus and Megalomazus.
* * * * *
[13. ] G [418] And Hecataeus says that the Egyptians were great bread-eaters, eating loaves of rye, called ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? , and bruising barley to extract a drink from it; and on this account Alexinus, in his treatise on Contentment, says that Bocchoris and his father Neochabis were contented with a moderate quantity of food. Pythagoras of Samos, also, used food in moderation, as Lycon of Iasus relates in his treatise on Pythagoras. But he did not abstain from animal food, as Aristoxenus tells us; and Apollodorus the mathematician says, that he even sacrificed a hecatomb when he found out that in a right-angled triangle, the square of the side subtending the right angle is equal to the squares of the two sides containing it-
When the illustrious Pythagoras
Discovered that renowned problem which
He celebrated with a hecatomb.
[419] But Pythagoras was a very sparing drinker, and lived in a most frugal manner, so that he often contented himself with honey by itself. And nearly the same thing is told us of Aristeides, and of Epaminondas, and of Phocion, and of Phormion, the generals. # But Manius Curius, the Roman general, lived on turnips all his life; and once, when the Sabines sent him a large sum of gold, he said he had no need of gold while he ate such food as that. And this story is recorded by Megacles in his treatise on Illustrious Men.
[14. ] G And there are many people who approve of moderate meals, as Alexis tells us in his Woman in Love-
But I am content with what is necessary,
And hate superfluous things; for in excess
There is not pleasure, but extravagance.
And in his Liar he says-
I hate excess; for those who practise it
Have only more expense, but not more pleasure.
And in his Foster Brothers he says-
How sweet all kinds of moderation are!
I now am going away, not empty, but
In a most comfortable state,- for wise
Mnesitheus tells us that 'tis always right
To avoid extravagance in everything.
And Ariston the philosopher, in the second book of his Amatory Similitudes, says that Polemon, the Academic philosopher, used to exhort those who were going to a supper, to consider how they might make their party pleasant, not only for the present evening, but also for the morrow. And Timotheus, the son of Conon, being once taken by Plato from a very sumptuous and princely entertainment to one held at the Academy, and being there feasted in a simple and scholar-like manner, said that those who supped with Plato would be well the next day also. But Hegesander, in his Commentaries, says that on the next day Timotheus, meeting with Plato, said, "You, O Plato, sup well, more with reference to the next day than to the present one! " But Pyrrhon of Elis, when on one occasion one of his acquaintances received him with a very sumptuous entertainment, as he himself relates, said, "I will for the future not come to you if you receive me in this manner; that I may avoid being grieved by seeing you go to a great expense for which there is no necessity, and that you, too, may not come to distress by being overwhelmed by such expenses; for it is much better for us to delight one another by our mutual companionship and conversation, than by the great variety of dishes which we set before one another, of which our servants consume the greater part. "
[15. ] G # But Antigonus of Carystus, in his Life of Menedemus, relating the way in which the banquets of that philosopher were managed, says, that he used to dine with one or two companions at most; and that all the rest of his guests used to come after they had supped. For in fact, Menedemus' supper and dinner were only one meal, and after that was over they called in all who chose to come; and if any of them, as would be the case, came before the time, they would walk up and down before the doors, and inquire of the servants who came out what was being now served up, and how far on the dinner had proceeded. And if they heard that it was only the vegetables or the cured fish that was being served up, they went away; but if they were told that the meat was put on the table, then they went into the room which had been prepared for that purpose. [420] And in the summer a rush mat was spread over each couch, and in the winter a fleece. But every one was expected to bring his own pillow; and the cup, which was brought round to each person, did not hold more than one cotyla. And the dessert was lupins or beans as a general rule; but sometimes some fruits, such as were in season, were brought in; in summer, pears or pomegranates; and in spring, pulse; and in winter, figs. And we have a witness as to these things, Lycophron of Chalcis, who wrote a satyric drama entitled Menedemus, in which Silenus says to the satyrs-
O cursed sons of most excellent Pan,
I, as you see, have quite a fancy for you:
For, by the gods I swear, that not in Caria,
Nor in fair Rhodes, nor royal Lydia,
Have I ever eaten so superb a supper;
Phoebus Apollo! what a feast it was.
And a little further on, he says-
And the boy brought us round a scanty cup
Of wine that might be worth five obols a bottle-
Awfully flat; and then that cursed thing,
That hang-dog lupin, danced upon the board,
A fitting meal for parasites and beggars.
[105. ] But the ancient Romans were prudent citizens, and eminent for all kinds of good qualities. # Accordingly Scipio, surnamed Africanus, being sent out by the Senate to arrange all the kingdoms of the world, in order that they might be put into the hands of those to whom they properly belonged, took with him only five slaves, as we are informed by Polybius and Poseidonius. And when one of them died on the journey, he sent to his agents at home to bring him another instead of him, and to send him to him. # And Julius Caesar, the first man who ever crossed over to the British isles with a thousand vessels, had with him only three servants altogether, as Cotta, who at that time acted as his lieutenant-general, relates in his treatise on the History and Constitution of the Romans, which is written in our national language. But Smindyrides of Sybaris was a very different sort of man, my Greek friends, who, when he went forth to marry Agariste, the daughter of Cleisthenes, carried his luxury and ostentation to such a height, that he took with him a thousand slaves, fishermen, bird-catchers, and cooks. But this man, wishing to display how magnificently he was used to live, according to the account given to us by Chamaeleon of Pontus, in his book on Pleasure, (but the same book is also attributed to Theophrastus,) said that for twenty years he had never seen the sun rise or set; and this he considered a great and marvellous proof of his wealth and happiness. For he, as it seems, used to go to bed early in the morning, and to get up in the evening, being in my opinion a miserable man in both particulars. But Hestiaeus of Pontus boasted, and it was an honourable boast, that he had never once seen the sun rise or set, because he had been at all times intent upon study, as we are told by Nicias of Nicaea in his Successions.
[106. ] What then are we to think? Had not Scipio and Caesar any slaves? To be sure they had, but they abided by the laws of their country, and lived with moderation, preserving the habits sanctioned by the constitution. For it is the conduct of prudent men to abide by those ancient institutions under which they and their ancestors have lived, and made war upon and subdued the rest of the world; and yet, at the same time, if there were any useful or honourable institutions among the people whom they have subdued, those they take for their imitation at the same time that they take the prisoners. And this was the conduct of the Romans in olden time; for they, maintaining their national customs, at the same time introduced from the nations whom they had subdued every relic of desirable practices which they found, leaving what was useless to them, so that they should never be able to regain what they had lost. Accordingly they learnt from the Greeks the use of all machines and engines for conducting sieges; and with these engines they subdued the very people of whom they had learnt them. And when the Phoenicians had made many discoveries in nautical science, the Romans availed themselves of these very discoveries to subdue them. And from the Etruscans they derived the practice of the entire army advancing to battle in close phalanx; and from the Samnites they learnt the use of the shield, and from the Iberians the use of the javelin. And learning different things from different people, they improved upon them: and imitating in everything the constitution of the Lacedaemonians, they preserved it better than the Lacedaemonians themselves; but now, having selected whatever was useful from the practices of their enemies, they have at the same time turned aside to imitate them in what is vicious and mischievous.
[107. ] [274] For, as Poseidonius tells us, their national mode of life was originally temperate and simple, and they used everything which they possessed in an unpretending and unostentatious manner. Moreover they displayed wonderful piety towards the Deity, and great justice, and great care to behave equitably towards all men, and great diligence in cultivating the earth. And we may see this from the national sacrifices which we celebrate. For we proceed by ways regularly settled and defined. So that we bear regularly appointed offerings, and we utter regular petitions in our prayers, and we perform stated acts in all our sacred ceremonies. They are also simple and plain. And we do all this without being either clothed or attired as to our persons in any extraordinary manner, and without indulging in any extraordinary pomp when offering the first-fruits. But we wear simple garments and shoes, and on our heads we have rough hats made of the skins of sheep, and we carry vessels to minister in of earthenware and brass. And in these vessels we carry those meats and liquors which are procured with the least trouble, thinking it absurd to send offerings to the gods in accordance with our national customs, but to provide for ourselves according to foreign customs. And, therefore, all the things which are expended upon ourselves are measured by their use; but what we offer to the gods are a sort of first-fruits of them.
[108. ] Now Mucius Scaevola was one of the three men in Rome who were particular in their observance of the Lex Fannia; Quintus Aelius Tubero and Rutilius Rufus being the other two, the latter of whom is the man who wrote the History of his country. # Which law enjoined men not to entertain more than three people besides those in the house; but on market-days a man might entertain five. And these market-days happened three times in the month. The law also forbade any one to spend in provisions more than two drachmae and a half. And they were allowed to spend fifteen talents a year on cured meat and whatever vegetables the earth produces, and on boiled pulse. But as this allowance was insufficient, men gradually (because those who transgressed the law and spent money lavishly raised the price of whatever was to be bought) advanced to a more liberal style of living without violating the law. # For Tubero used to buy birds at a drachma apiece from the men who lived on his own farms. And Rutilius used to buy fish from his own slaves who worked as fishermen for three obols for a pound of fish; especially when he could get what is called the Thurian; and that is a part of the sea-dog which goes by that name. # But Mucius agreed with those who were benefited by him to pay for all he bought at a similar valuation. Out of so many myriads of men then these were the only ones who kept the law with a due regard to their oaths; and who never received even the least present; but they gave large presents to others, and especially to those who had been brought up at the same school with them. For they all clung to the doctrines of the Stoic school.
[109. ] # But of the extravagance which prevails at the present time Lucullus was the first originator, he who subdued Mithridates, as Nicolaus the Peripatetic relates. For he, coming to Rome after the defeat of Mithridates, and also after that of Tigranes, the king of Armenia, and having triumphed, and having given in an account of his exploits in war, proceeded to an extravagant way of living from his former simplicity, and was the first teacher of luxury to the Romans, having amassed the wealth of the two before-mentioned kings. # But the famous Cato, as Polybius tells us in the thirty-first book of his History [ 31. 25 ], was very indignant, and cried out, [275] that some men had introduced foreign luxury into Rome, having bought an earthen jar of pickled fish from Pontus for three hundred drachmae, and some beautiful boys at a higher price than a man might buy a field.
"But in former times the inhabitants of Italy were so easily contented, that even now," says Poseidonius, "those who are in very easy circumstances are used to accustom their sons to drink as much water as possible, and to eat whatever they can get. And very often," says he, "the father or mother asks their son whether he chooses to have pears or nuts for his supper; and then he, eating some of these things, is contented and goes to bed. " But now, as Theopompus tells us in the first book of his history of the Actions of Philip, there is no one of those who are even tolerably well off who does not provide a most sumptuous table, and who has not cooks and a great many more attendants, and who does not spend more on his daily living than formerly men used to spend on their festivals and sacrifices.
And since now this present discussion has gone far enough, let us end this book at this point.
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Athenaeus: The Deipnosophists
BOOK 9 (excerpts)
Translated by C. D. Yonge (1854). A few words and spellings have been changed.
See key to translations for an explanation of the format. The page numbers in the Greek text are shown in red. The chapter numbers in the translation are shown in green.
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[8. ] G [369] First of all, there were turnips; and Apellas, in his treatise on the Cities in Peloponnese, says that turnips are called ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? by the Lacedaemonians: and Nicander of Colophon, in his Dialects, says that among the Boeotians it is cabbages which are called ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? and that turnips are called in Boeotia ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? . But Amerias and Timachidas affirm that it is gourds which are called ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? . And Speusippus, in the second book of his treatise on Things resembling one another, says- "The radish, the turnip, the rape, and the nasturtium all resemble each other. " But Glaucus, in his Cookery Book, spells the word ? ? ? ? ? (rape) with ? without the aspirate,- ? ? ? ? ? . But these vegetables have nothing else like them, unless, indeed, it be the plant which we call bounias: but Theophrastus does not use the name of bounias, but calls it a sort of male turnip; and perhaps the plant which he means is the bounias. And Nicander, in his Georgics, mentions the bounias -
Sow turnips on a well-rolled field, that they
May grow as large as the flat dish that holds them.
* * * *
For there are two kinds
Which from the radish spring: one long, one firm,
Both seen in well-tilled beds in kitchen gardens.
And the turnips which grow on the banks of the Cephisus are mentioned by Cratis, in his Orators, thus-
And wholly like the turnips of Cephisus.
But Theophrastus says that there are two kinds of turnips, the male and the female, and that they both come from the same seed; but Poseidonius the Stoic philosopher, in the twenty-seventh book of his Histories [ Fr_19 ], concerning Dalmatia, says that there are some turnips which grow without any cultivation, and also some carrots that grow wild. But Diphilus the physician, of Siphnos, says- "The turnip has attenuating properties, and is harsh and indigestible, and moreover is apt to cause flatulence: but the vegetable called bounias is superior to that; for it is sweeter in taste and more digestible, in addition to being wholesome for the stomach and nutritious. But the turnip," he says, "when roasted, is more easily digested, but in this state it attenuates the blood still more. " This vegetable is mentioned by Eubulus, in his Ancylion, where he says-
I bring this turnip to be roasted now.
And Alexis, in his Enthusiast, says--
I speak to Ptolemaeus, roasting slices of turnip.
But the turnip, when pickled, is more attenuating in its effects than when boiled, especially when it is pickled with mustard, as Diphilus says.
* * * * *
[38. ] G [387] But Agatharchides of Cnidus, in the thirty-fourth book of his History of the Affairs of Europe, speaking of the river Phasis, writes as follows:- "But the great multitude of the birds called pheasants (? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ) come for the sake of food to the places where the mouths of the rivers fall into the sea. " # And Callixeinus the Rhodian, in the fourth book of his Account of Alexandria, describing a procession which took place in Alexandria, when Ptolemy who was surnamed Philadelphus was king, mentions, as a very extraordinary circumstance connected with these birds- "Then there were brought on in cases parrots, and peacocks, and guinea-fowl, and pheasants, and an immense number of Ethiopian birds. " And Artemidorus, the pupil of Aristophanes, in his book entitled The Glossary of Cookery, and Pamphilus the Alexandrian, in his treatise on Names and Words, represents Epaenetus as saying in his Cookery Book that the pheasant is also called ? ? ? ? ? ? ? . But Ptolemy Euergetes, in the second book of his Commentaries, says that the pheasant is called ? ? ? ? ? ? ? . Now this is what I am able to tell you about the pheasant, which I have seen brought up on your account, as if we all had fevers. But as for you, if you do not, according to your agreement, give me tomorrow what you have covenanted to, I do not say that I will prosecute you in the public courts for deceit, but I will send you away to live near the Phasis, as Polemon, the Describer of the World, wished to drown Ister the pupil of Callimachus, the historian, in the river of the same name.
* * * * *
[49. ] G [393] And even swans in great plenty were not lacking at our banquets. And Aristotle speaks in the following manner of this bird- "The swan is a prolific bird, and a quarrelsome one. And, indeed, they are so fond of fighting that they often kill one another. And the swan will fight even the eagle; though he does not begin the battle himself. And they are tuneful birds, especially towards the time of their death. And they also cross the seas singing. And they are web-footed, and feed on herbage. " But Alexander the Myndian says, that though he followed a great many swans when they were dying, he never heard one sing. And Hegesianax of Alexandria, who arranged the book of Cephalion, called the History of Troy, says that the Cycnus who fought with Achilles in single combat, was fed in Leucophrys by the bird of the same name, that is, by the swan. But Boius, or Boio, which Philochorus [ Fr_214 ] says was his proper name, in his book on the Origin of Birds, says that Cycnus was turned into a bird by Ares, and that when he came to the river Sybaris he was cooped with a crane. And he says, also, that the swan lines his nest with that particular grass which is called lygaea.
And concerning the crane (? ? ? ? ? ? ? ), Boius says that there was among the Pygmies a very well known woman whose name was Gerana. And she, being honoured as a god by her fellow-countrymen, thought lightly of those who were really gods, and especially of Hera and Artemis. And accordingly Hera, being indignant, changed her into an unsightly bird, and made her hostile to and hated by the Pygmies who had been used to honour her. And he says, also, that of her and Nicodamas was born the land tortoise. And as a general rule, the man who composed all these fables asserts that all the birds were formerly men.
* * * * *
[63. ] G [400] But Hegesander of Delphi, in his Commentaries, says that in the reign of Antigonus Gonatas, there were such a number of hares in the island of Astypalaea, that the natives consulted the oracle on the subject. And the Pythia answered them that they ought to breed dogs, and hunt them; and so in one year there were caught more than six thousand. And all this immense number arose from a man of the island of Anaphe having put one pair of hares in the island. As also, on a previous occasion, when a certain Astypalean had let loose a pair of partridges in the island of Anaphe, there came to be such a number of partridges in Anaphe, that the inhabitants ran a risk of being driven out of the island by them. But originally Astypalaea had no hares at all, but only partridges. And the hare is a very prolific animal, as, Xenophon has told us, in his treatise on Hunting [ 5'13 ]; and Herodotus speaks of it in the following terms [ 3. 108 ] - "Since the hare is hunted by everything - man, beast, and bird - it is on this account a very prolific animal; and it is the only animal known which is capable of superfetation. And it has in its womb at one time one litter with the fur on, and another bare, and another just formed, and a fourth only just conceived. " And Polybius, in the twelfth book of his History [ 12. 3'10 ], says that, there is another animal like the hare which is called the rabbit (? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ); and he writes as follows-" The animal called the rabbit, when seen at a distance, looks like a small hare; but when any one takes it in his hands, there is a great difference between them, both in appearance and taste: and it lives chiefly underground.
" [401] And Poseidonius the philosopher also mentions them in his History [ Fr_61 ]: "And we ourselves have seen a great many in our voyage from Dicaearcheia to Neapolis. For there is an island not far from the mainland, opposite the lower side of Dicaearcheia, inhabited by only a very scanty population, but having a great number of rabbits. " And there is also a kind of hare called the Chelidonian hare, which is mentioned by Diphilus, or Calliades, in his play called Ignorance, in the following terms-
What is this? whence this hare who bears the name
Of Chelidonian? Is it grey hare soup,
Mimarcys called, so thick -with blood?
And Theopompus, in the twentieth book of his History, says that there are hares about Bisaltia which have two livers.
[64. ] G And when a wild boar was put upon the table, which was in no respect less than that noble Calydonian boar which has been so much celebrated,- I suggest to you now, said he, O my most philosophical and precise Ulpianus, to inquire who ever said that the Calydonian boar was a female, and that her meat was white. But he, without giving the matter any long consideration, but rather turning the question off, said- But it does seem to me, my friends, that if you are not yet satisfied, after having had such plenty of all these things, that you surpass every one who has ever been celebrated for his powers of eating,- and who those people are you can find out by inquiry. But it is more correct and more consistent with etymology to make the name ? ? ? , with a sigma; for the animal has its name from rushing (? ? ? ? ? ? ? ) and going on impetuously; but men have got a trick of pronouncing the word without the sigma, ? ? ; and some people believe that it is called ? ? ? , by being softened from ? ? ? , as if it had its name from being a fit animal to sacrifice (? ? ? ? ? ). But now, if it seems good to you, answer me who ever uses the compound word like we do, calling the wild boar not ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? , but ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? At all events, Sophocles, in his Lovers of Achilles, has applied the word ? ? ? ? ? ? ? to a dog, as hunting the boar (? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ), where he says-
And you, Syagre, child of Pelion.
And in Herodotus we find Syagrus used as a proper name of a man who was a Lacedaemonian by birth, and who went on the embassy to Gelon the Syracusan, about forming an alliance against the Medes; which Herodotus mentions in the seventh book of his History [ 7. 153 ]. And I am aware, too, that there was a general of the Aetolians named Syagrus, who is mentioned by Phylarchus, in the fourth book of his History [ Fr_5 ]. And Democritus said- You always, O Ulpianus, have got a habit of never taking anything that is set before you until you know whether the existing name of it was in use among the ancients. Accordingly you are running the risk, on account of all these inquiries of yours, (just like Philetas of Cos, who was always investigating all false arguments and erroneous uses of words,) of being starved to death, as he was. For he became very thin by reason of his devotion to these inquiries, and so died, as the inscription in front of his tomb shows-
Stranger, Philetas is my name, I lie
Slain by fallacious arguments, and cares
Protracted from the evening through the night.
* * * * *
[70. ] G [405] And to all this Aemilianus makes answer-
My friend, you've made a speech quite long enough
In praising your favourite art of cookery;-
as Hegesippus says in his Brothers. Do you then-
Give us now something new to see beyond
Your predecessor's art, or plague us not;
But show me what you've got, and tell its name.
And he rejoins-
You look down on me, since I am a cook.
But perhaps-
What I have made by practising my art-
according to the comic poet Demetrius, who, in his play entitled The Areopagite, has spoken as follows-
What I have made by practising my art
Is more than any actor ever has gained,-
This smoky art of mine is quite a kingdom.
I was a caper-pickler with Seleucus,
And at the court of the Sicilian king,
Agathocles, I was the very first
To introduce the royal dish of lentils.
My chief exploit I have not mentioned yet:
There was a famine, and a man named Lachares
Was giving an entertainment to his friends;
Whom I recovered with some caper-sauce.
# Lachares stripped Athene naked, who caused him no inconvenience; but I will now strip you who are inconveniencing me, said Aemilianus, unless you show me what you have got with you. And he said at last, rather unwillingly, [406] I call this dish the Dish of Roses. And it is prepared in such a way, that you may not only have the ornament of a garland on your head, but also in yourself, and so feast your whole body with a luxurious banquet. Having pounded a quantity of the most fragrant roses in a mortar, I put in the brains of birds and pigs boiled and thoroughly cleansed of all the sinews, and also the yolks of eggs, and with them oil, and pickle-juice, and pepper, and wine. And having pounded all these things carefully together, I put them into a new dish, applying a gentle and steady fire to them. And while saying this, he uncovered the dish, and diffused such a sweet perfume over the whole party, that one of the guests present said with great truth [ Homer:Il_14'173 ] -
The winds perfumed the balmy gale convey
Through heaven, through earth, and all the aerial way;
- so excessive was the fragrance which was diffused from the roses.
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Athenaeus: The Deipnosophists
BOOK 10 (excerpts)
Translated by C. D. Yonge (1854). A few words and spellings have been changed.
See key to translations for an explanation of the format. The page numbers in the Greek text are shown in red. The chapter numbers in the translation are shown in green.
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[4. ] G [412] But Theagenes of Thasos, the athlete, ate a bull single-handed, as Poseidippus tells us in his Epigrams:
And as I'd undertaken, I did eat
A Maeonian bull. My own poor native land
Of Thasos could not have purveyed a meal
Sufficient for the hunger of Theagenes.
I ate all I could get, then asked for more.
And, therefore, here you see, I stand in brass,
Holding my right hand forth; put something in it.
And Milon of Croton, as Theodorus of Hierapolis tells us in his book upon Games, ate twenty minae minae of meat, and an equal quantity of bread, and drank three choes of wine. And once at Olympia he took a four year old bull on his shoulders, and carried it all round the course, and after that he killed it and cut it up, and ate it all up by himself in one day. And Titormus the Aetolian had a contest with him as to which could eat an ox with the greatest speed, as Alexander the Aetolian relates. But Phylarchus, in the third book of his Histories [ Fr_3 ], says that Milon, while lying down before the altar of Zeus, ate a bull, on which account Dorieus the poet made the following epigram on him:
Milon could lift enormous weights from earth,
A heifer four years old, at Zeus' high feast,
[413] And on his shoulders the huge beast he bore,
As if it had been a young and little lamb,
All round the wondering crowd of standers by.
But he did still a greater feat than this,
Before the altar of Olympian Zeus;
For there he bore aloft an untamed bull
In the procession, then he cut it up,
And by himself ate every bit of it.
# But Astyanax of Miletus, having gained the victory at Olympia three times in the pancratium, being once invited to supper by Ariobarzanes the Persian, when he had come, offered to eat everything that had been prepared for the whole party, and did eat it. And when, Theodorus relates, the Persian entreated him to do something suitable to his enormous strength, he broke off a large brazen ornament in the shape of a lentil from the couch and crushed it in his hand. And when he died, and when his body was burnt, one urn would not contain, his bones, and scarcely two could do so. And they say that the dinner which he ate by himself at Ariobarzanes' table bad been prepared for nine persons.
[5. ] G And there is nothing unnatural in such men as those being very voracious; for all the men who practise athletic exercises, learn with these gymnastic exercises also to eat a great deal. On which account Euripides says, in the first edition of his Autolycus-
For when there are ten thousand ills in Greece,
There's none that's worse than the whole race of athletes.
For, first of all, they learn not to live well,
Nor could they do so; for could any man
Being a slave to his own jaws and appetite
Acquire wealth beyond his father's riches!
How could a man like that increase his substance?
Nor yet can they put up with poverty,
Or ever accommodate themselves to fortune;
And so being unaccustomed to good habits,
They quickly fall into severe distress.
In youth they walk about in fine attire,
And think themselves a credit to the city;
But when old age in all its bitterness
Overtakes their steps, they roam about the streets,
Like ragged cloaks whose nap is all worn off.
And much I blame the present fashions, too,
Which now in Greece prevail; where many a feast
Is made to pay great honour to such men,
And to show false respect to vain amusements.
For though a man may wrestle well, or run,
Or throw a discus, or strike a heavy blow,
Still where's the good his country can expect
From all his victories and crowns and prizes?
Will they fight with their country's enemies
With discus in hand? Or will their speed assist
To make the hostile bands retreat before them ?
When men stand face to face with the hostile sword
They think no more of all these fooleries.
It were better to adorn good men and wise
With these victorious wreaths; they are the due
Of those who govern states with wisdom sound,
And practise justice, faith, and temperance;
Who by their prudent language ward off evils,
Banishing wars and factions. These are the men,
Who're not alone a grace and ornament
To their own land, but to the whole of Greece.
[6. ] G Now Euripides took all this from the Elegies of Xenophanes of Colophon, who has spoken in this way-
But if a man, in speed of foot victorious,
Or in the contests of the pentathlon,
Where is the sacred grove of Zeus,
Near to the sacred streams of Olympia;
[414] Or as a wrestler, or exchanging blows
And painful struggles as a hardy boxer,
Or in the terrible pancratium,
He surely is a noble citizen,
And well he does deserve the honours due
Of a front seat at games and festivals,
And at the public cost to be maintained;
And to receive a public gift of honour,
Which shall become an heirloom to his children.
And such shall be his honours, even if
He wins by horses, not by his own strength.
And still I think he does not equal me;
For wisdom far exceeds in real value
The bodily strength of man, or horses' speed;
But the mob judges of such things at random;
Though 'tis not right to prefer strength to sense:
For though a man may a good boxer be,
Or pentathlete, or unconquered wrestler,
Or if he vanquish all in speed of foot-
Which is the most important of all contests-
Still for all this his city will enjoy
No better laws through his great strength or speed;
And 'tis small cause for any lasting joy,
That one of all her citizens should gain
A prize on Pisa's banks: for such achievements
Fill not the country's granaries with corn.
And Xenophanes contends at great length, and with great earnestness and variety of argument, in favour of the superior advantage of his own wisdom, running down athletic exercises as useless and unprofitable. And Achaeus the Eretrian, speaking of the good constitution of the athletes, says-
For naked they did wave their glistening arms,
And move along exulting in their youth,
Their valiant shoulders swelling in their prime
Of health and strength; while they anoint with oil
Their chests and feet and limbs abundantly,
As being used to luxury at home.
[7. ] G But Heracleitus, in his Entertainer of Strangers, says that there was a woman named Helene, who ate more than any other woman ever did. And Poseidippus, in his Epigrams, says that Phyromachus was a great eater, on whom he wrote this epigram:
This lowly ditch now holds Phyromachus,
Who used to swallow everything he saw,
Like a fierce carrion crow who roams all night.
Now here he lies wrapped in a ragged cloak.
But, O Athenian, whoever you are,
Anoint this tomb and crown it with a wreath,
If ever in old times he feasted with you.
At last he came sans teeth, with eyes worn out,
And livid swollen eyelids; clothed in skins,
With but one single cruse, and that scarce full;
For from the Lenaean games he came,
Descending humbly to Calliope.
But Amarantus of Alexandria, in his treatise on the Stage, says that Herodorus, the Megarian trumpeter, was a man three cubits and a half in height; and that he had great strength in his chest, and that he could eat six choenixes of bread, and twenty pounds of meat, of whatever sort was provided for him, and that he could drink two choes of wine; and that he could play on two trumpets at once; and that it was his habit to sleep on only a lion's skin, and when playing on the trumpet he made a vast noise. [415] # Accordingly, when Demetrius, the son of Antigonus, was besieging Argos, and when his troops could not bring the helepolis against the walls on account of its weight, he, giving the signal with his two trumpets at once, by the great volume of sound which he poured forth, instigated the soldiers to move forward the engine with great zeal and earnestness; and he gained the prize in all the games ten times; and he used to eat sitting down, as Nestor tells us in his Theatrical Reminiscences. # And there was a woman too, who played on the trumpet, whose name was Aglais, the daughter of Megacles, who, in the first great procession which took place in Alexandria, played a processional piece of music ; having a head-dress of false hair on, and a crest upon her head, as Poseidippus proves by his epigrams on her. And she, too, could eat twelve pounds of meat and four choenixes of bread, and drink a chous of wine, at one sitting.
[8. ] G There was, besides, a man of the name of Lityerses, a bastard son of Midas, the king of Celaenae in Phrygia, a man of a savage and fierce aspect, and an enormous glutton; and he is mentioned by Sositheus the tragic poet, in his play called Daphnis or Lityersas; where he says-
He'll eat three asses' panniers, freight and all,
Three times in one brief day; and what he calls
A measure of wine is a ten-amphora cask;
And this he drinks all at a single draught.
And the man mentioned by Pherecrates, or Strattis, whichever was the author of the play called The Good Men, was much such another; the author says-
(A) I scarcely in one day, unless I'm forced,
Can eat two medimni and a half of food.
(B) A most unhappy man ! how have you lost
Your appetite, so as now to be content
With the scant rations of one ship of war?
And Xanthus, in his Account of Lydia, says that Cambles, who was the king of the Lydians, was a great eater and drinker, and also an exceeding epicure; and accordingly, that he one night cut up his own wife into joints and ate her; and then, in the morning, finding the hand of his wife still sticking in his mouth, he slew himself, as his act began to get notorious. And we have already mentioned Thys, the king of the Paphlagonians, saying that he too was a man of vast appetite, quoting Theopompus, who speaks of him in the thirty-fifth book of his History; and Archilochus, in his Tetrameters, has accused Charilas of the same fault, as the comic poets have attacked Cleonymus and Peisander. And Phoenicides mentions Chaerippus in his Phylarchus in the following terms-
And next to them I place Chaerippus third;
He, as you know, will without ceasing eat
As long as any one will give him food,
Or till he bursts,- such stowage vast has he,
Like any house.
[9. ] G # And Nicolaus the Peripatetic, in the hundred and third book of his History, says that Mithridates, the king of Pontus, once proposed a contest in great eating and great drinking (and the prize was a talent of silver), and that he himself gained the victory in both; but he yielded the prize to the man who was judged to be second to him, namely, Calamodrys, the athlete of Cyzicus. And Timocreon the Rhodian, a poet, and an athlete who had gained the victory in the pentathlon, ate and drank a great deal, as the epigram on his tomb shows-
Much did I eat, much did I drink, and much
Did I abuse all men; now here I lie;-
My name Timocreon, my country Rhodes.
[416] And Thrasymachus of Chalcedon, in one his Prefaces, says that Timocreon came to the great king of Persia, and being entertained by him, did eat an immense quantity of food; and when the king asked him, What he would do on the strength of it? he said that he would beat a great many Persians; and the next day, having vanquished a great many, one after another, taking them one by one, after this, he beat the air with his hands; and when they asked him what he wanted, he said that he had all those blows left in him if any one was inclined to come on. And Clearchus, in the fifth book of his Lives, says, that Cantibaris the Persian, whenever his jaws were weary with eating, had his slaves to pour food into his mouth, which he kept open as if they were pouring it into an empty vessel. But Hellanicus, in the first book of his Tale of Deucalion, says that Erysichthon, the son of Myrmidon, being a man perfectly insatiable in respect of food, was called Aethon. And Polemon, in the first book of his Treatise addressed to Timaeus, says that among the Sicilians there was a temple consecrated to gluttony, and an image of Demeter Sito; near which, also, there was a statue of Himalis, as there is at Delphi one of Hermuchus, and as at Scolus, in Boeotia, there are statues of Megalartus and Megalomazus.
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[13. ] G [418] And Hecataeus says that the Egyptians were great bread-eaters, eating loaves of rye, called ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? , and bruising barley to extract a drink from it; and on this account Alexinus, in his treatise on Contentment, says that Bocchoris and his father Neochabis were contented with a moderate quantity of food. Pythagoras of Samos, also, used food in moderation, as Lycon of Iasus relates in his treatise on Pythagoras. But he did not abstain from animal food, as Aristoxenus tells us; and Apollodorus the mathematician says, that he even sacrificed a hecatomb when he found out that in a right-angled triangle, the square of the side subtending the right angle is equal to the squares of the two sides containing it-
When the illustrious Pythagoras
Discovered that renowned problem which
He celebrated with a hecatomb.
[419] But Pythagoras was a very sparing drinker, and lived in a most frugal manner, so that he often contented himself with honey by itself. And nearly the same thing is told us of Aristeides, and of Epaminondas, and of Phocion, and of Phormion, the generals. # But Manius Curius, the Roman general, lived on turnips all his life; and once, when the Sabines sent him a large sum of gold, he said he had no need of gold while he ate such food as that. And this story is recorded by Megacles in his treatise on Illustrious Men.
[14. ] G And there are many people who approve of moderate meals, as Alexis tells us in his Woman in Love-
But I am content with what is necessary,
And hate superfluous things; for in excess
There is not pleasure, but extravagance.
And in his Liar he says-
I hate excess; for those who practise it
Have only more expense, but not more pleasure.
And in his Foster Brothers he says-
How sweet all kinds of moderation are!
I now am going away, not empty, but
In a most comfortable state,- for wise
Mnesitheus tells us that 'tis always right
To avoid extravagance in everything.
And Ariston the philosopher, in the second book of his Amatory Similitudes, says that Polemon, the Academic philosopher, used to exhort those who were going to a supper, to consider how they might make their party pleasant, not only for the present evening, but also for the morrow. And Timotheus, the son of Conon, being once taken by Plato from a very sumptuous and princely entertainment to one held at the Academy, and being there feasted in a simple and scholar-like manner, said that those who supped with Plato would be well the next day also. But Hegesander, in his Commentaries, says that on the next day Timotheus, meeting with Plato, said, "You, O Plato, sup well, more with reference to the next day than to the present one! " But Pyrrhon of Elis, when on one occasion one of his acquaintances received him with a very sumptuous entertainment, as he himself relates, said, "I will for the future not come to you if you receive me in this manner; that I may avoid being grieved by seeing you go to a great expense for which there is no necessity, and that you, too, may not come to distress by being overwhelmed by such expenses; for it is much better for us to delight one another by our mutual companionship and conversation, than by the great variety of dishes which we set before one another, of which our servants consume the greater part. "
[15. ] G # But Antigonus of Carystus, in his Life of Menedemus, relating the way in which the banquets of that philosopher were managed, says, that he used to dine with one or two companions at most; and that all the rest of his guests used to come after they had supped. For in fact, Menedemus' supper and dinner were only one meal, and after that was over they called in all who chose to come; and if any of them, as would be the case, came before the time, they would walk up and down before the doors, and inquire of the servants who came out what was being now served up, and how far on the dinner had proceeded. And if they heard that it was only the vegetables or the cured fish that was being served up, they went away; but if they were told that the meat was put on the table, then they went into the room which had been prepared for that purpose. [420] And in the summer a rush mat was spread over each couch, and in the winter a fleece. But every one was expected to bring his own pillow; and the cup, which was brought round to each person, did not hold more than one cotyla. And the dessert was lupins or beans as a general rule; but sometimes some fruits, such as were in season, were brought in; in summer, pears or pomegranates; and in spring, pulse; and in winter, figs. And we have a witness as to these things, Lycophron of Chalcis, who wrote a satyric drama entitled Menedemus, in which Silenus says to the satyrs-
O cursed sons of most excellent Pan,
I, as you see, have quite a fancy for you:
For, by the gods I swear, that not in Caria,
Nor in fair Rhodes, nor royal Lydia,
Have I ever eaten so superb a supper;
Phoebus Apollo! what a feast it was.
And a little further on, he says-
And the boy brought us round a scanty cup
Of wine that might be worth five obols a bottle-
Awfully flat; and then that cursed thing,
That hang-dog lupin, danced upon the board,
A fitting meal for parasites and beggars.
