A stream of soup did flow along
In front of all the couches,
Rolling down lumps of smoking meat;
And rivulets of white sauce
Brought to all such as chose to eat
The sweetest forced-meat balls.
In front of all the couches,
Rolling down lumps of smoking meat;
And rivulets of white sauce
Brought to all such as chose to eat
The sweetest forced-meat balls.
Athenaeus - Deipnosophists
?
?
?
?
?
?
, and ?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
, and ?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
and also ?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
and ?
?
?
?
?
?
?
.
And Amerias says, that the slaves who are employed about the fields are called ?
?
?
?
?
?
?
.
And Hermon, in his treatise on the Cretan Dialects, says that slaves of noble birth are called ?
?
?
?
?
?
.
And Seleucus says, that both men and maid servants are called ?
?
?
?
; and that a female slave is often called ?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
and ?
?
?
?
?
?
; and that a slave who is the son of a slave is called ?
?
?
?
?
?
?
; and that ?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
is a name properly belonging to a female slave who is about her mistress's person, and that a ?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
is one who walks before her mistress.
But Proxenus, in the second book of his treatise on the Lacedaemonian Constitution, says that female servants are called among the Lacedaemonians, ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? . But Ion of Chios, in his Laertes, uses the word ? ? ? ? ? ? ? as synonymous with ? ? ? ? ? ? , and says-
Alas, O servant, go on wings and close
The house lest any man should enter in.
And Achaeus, in his Omphale, speaking of the Satyr, says -
How rich in slaves [? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ] and how well housed he was [? ? ? ? ? ? ? ];
using, however, in my opinion, the words ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? and ? ? ? ? ? ? ? in a peculiar sense, as meaning rather, good to his slaves and servants, taking ? ? ? ? ? ? ? from ? ? ? ? ? ? ? . And it is generally understood that an ? ? ? ? ? ? ? is a servant whose business is confined to the house, and that it is possible he may be a freeborn man.
[94. ] G But the poets of the old comedy, speaking of the old-fashioned way of life, and asserting that in olden time there was no great use of slaves, speak in this way. Cratinus, in his Pluti, says -
As for those men, those heroes old, -
Who lived in Saturn's time,
When men did play at dice with loaves,
And Aeginetan cakes
Of barley well and brownly baked
Were rolled down before men
Who did in the palaestra toil,
Full of hard lumps of dough . . .
And Crates says, in his Beasts -
(A) Then no one shall possess or own
One male or female slave,
But shall himself, though ne'er so old,
Labour for all his needs.
(B) Not so, for I will quickly make
These matters all come right. .
(A) And what will your plans do for us?
(B) Why everything you call for
Should of its own accord come forth,
As if now you should say,
O table, lay yourself for dinner,
And spread a cloth upon you.
You kneading-trough, prepare some dough;
You cyathus, pour forth wine;
Where is the cup? come hither, cup,
And empty and wash yourself.
Come up, O cake. You sir, you dish,
Here, bring me up some beetroot.
Come hither, fish. "I can't, for I
Am raw on the other side. "
Well, turn round then and baste yourself
With oil and melted butter.
[268] And immediately after this the man who takes up the opposite side of the argument says -
But argue thus: I on the other hand
Shall first of all bring water for the hot baths
On columns raised as through the Paeonium
Down to the sea, so that the stream shall flow
Direct to every private person's bath.
Then he shall speak and check the flowing water.
Then too an alabaster box of ointment
Shall of its own accord approach the bather,
And sponges suitable, and also slippers.
[95. ] G And Telecleides puts it better than the man whom I have just quoted, in his Amphictyons, where he says-
I will tell you now the life
Which I have prepared for men.
First of all the lovely Peace
Everywhere was always by,
Like spring water which is poured
Over the hands of feasted guests.
The earth produced no cause for fear,
No pains and no diseases.
And everything a man could want
Came forth unasked for to him.
The streams all ran with rosy wine,
And barley-cakes did fight
With wheaten loaves which first could reach
A hungry man's open month.
And each entreated to be eaten,
If men loved dainty whiteness.
Fish too came straight unto men's doors,
And fried themselves all ready,
Dished themselves up, and stood before
The guests upon the tables.
A stream of soup did flow along
In front of all the couches,
Rolling down lumps of smoking meat;
And rivulets of white sauce
Brought to all such as chose to eat
The sweetest forced-meat balls.
So that there was no lack, but all
Did eat whatever they wanted.
Dishes there were of boiled meat too,
And sausages likewise and pasties;
And roasted thrushes and rissoles
Flew down men's throats spontaneously.
Then there were sounds of cheesecakes too
Crushed in men's hungry jaws:
While the boys played with dainty bits
Of tripe, and paunch, and liver.
No wonder men did on such fare
Get stout and strong as giants.
[96. ] G And in the name of Demeter, my companions, if these things went on in this way, I should like to know what need we should have of servants. But the ancients, accustoming us to provide for ourselves, instructed us by their actions while they feasted us in words. But I, in order to show you in what manner succeeding poets (since the most admirable Cratinus brandished the before-cited verses like a torch) imitated and amplified them, have quoted these plays in the order in which they were exhibited. And if I do not annoy you, (for as for the Cynics I do not care the least bit for them,) I will quote to you some sentences from the other poets, taking them also in regular order; one of which is that strictest Atticist of all, namely Pherecrates, who in his Miners says -
(A) But all those things were heaped in confusion
By overgrown wealth, abounding altogether
In every kind of luxury. There were rivers
With tender pulse and blackest soup overflowing,
Which ran down brawling through the narrow dishes,
Bearing the crusts and spoons away in the flood.
Then there were dainty closely kneaded cakes;
So that the food, both luscious and abundant,
Descended to the gullets of the dead.
There were black-puddings and large boiling slices
Of well-mixed sausages, which hissed within
The smoking streamlet just like oysters.
There too were cutlets of broiled fish well seasoned
With sauce of every kind, and cook, and country.
[269] There were huge legs of pork, most tender meat,
Loading enormous platters; and boiled trotters
Sending a savoury steam; and paunch of ox;
And well-cured ribs of pork, red with salt,
A dainty dish, on fried meat balls upraised.
There too were cakes of groats well steeped in milk,
In large flat dishes, and rich plates of beestings.
(B) Alas, you will destroy me. Why do you
Remain here longer, when you thus may dive
Just as you are beneath deep Tartarus?
(A) What will you say then when you hear the rest?
For roasted thrushes nicely browned and hot
Flew to the mouths of the guests, entreating them
To deign to swallow them, besprinkled o'er
With myrtle leaves and flowers of anemone,
And plates of loveliest apples hung around
Above our heads, hanging in air as it seemed.
And maidens in the most transparent robes,
Just come to womanhood, and crowned with roses,
Did through a strainer pour full red cups
Of fragrant wine for all who wished to drink.
And whatsoever each guest did eat or drink
Straight reappeared in twofold quantity.
[97. ] G And in his Persians he says -
But what need, I pray you now,
Have we of all you ploughmen,
Or carters, mowers, reapers too,
Or coopers, or brass-founders?
What need we seed, or furrow's line?
For of their own accord
Rivers do flow down every road
(Though half choked up with spice-cakes)
Of rich black soup, which rolls along
Within its greasy flood
Achilles' fat barley-cake,
And streams of sauce which flow
Straight down from Plutus' own springs,
For all the guests to relish.
Meantime Zeus rains down fragrant wine,
As if it were a bath,
And from the roof red strings of grapes
Hang down, with well made cakes,
Watered the while with smoking soup,
And mixed with savoury omelettes.
Even all the trees upon the hills
Will put forth leaves of paunches,
Kids' paunches, and young cuttlefish,
And smoking roasted thrushes.
[98. ] G And why need I quote in addition to this the passages from the Tagenistae of the incomparable Aristophanes? For you are all of you full of his mockery. And when I have just repeated the passage out of the Thurio-Persae of Metagenes I will say no more, and discard all notice of the Sirens of Nicophon, in which we find the following lines -
Let it now snow white cakes of pulse;
Let loaves arise like dew; let it rain soup;
Let gravy roll down lumps of meat in the roads,
And cheese-cakes beg the wayfarer to eat them.
But Metagenes says this-
The river Crathis bears down unto us
Huge barley-cakes, self-kneaded and self-baked.
The other river, called the Sybaris,
Rolls on large waves of meat and sausages,
And boiled rays all wriggling the same way.
And all these lesser streamlets flow along
With roasted cuttlefish, and crabs, and lobsters;
And, on the other side, with rich black-puddings
And forced-meat stuffings; on the other side
Are herbs and lettuces, and fried bits of pastry.
[270] Above, fish cut in slices and self-boiled
Rush to the mouth; some fall before one's feet,
And dainty cheese-cakes swim around us everywhere.
And I know too that the Thurio-Persae and the play of Nicophon were never exhibited at all; on which account I mentioned them last.
[99. ] G Democritus now having gone through this statement distinctly and intelligently, all the guests praised him; but Cynulcus said,- O messmates, I was exceedingly hungry, and Democritus has given me no unpleasant feast; carrying me across rivers of ambrosia and nectar. And I, having my mind watered by them, have now become still more exceedingly hungry, having hitherto swallowed nothing but words; so that now it is time to desist from this interminable discussion, and, as the Paeanian orator says [ Demosthenes, 3'33 ], to take some of these things, "which if they do not put strength into a man, at all events prevent his dying" -
For in an empty stomach there is no room
For love of beauteous objects, since fair Aphrodite
Is always hostile to a hungry man;
as Achaeus says in Aethon, a satyric drama. And it was borrowing from him that the wise Euripides wrote -
Aphrodite abides in fullness, and avoids
The hungry stomach.
And Ulpianus, who was always fond of contradicting him, said in reply to this, - But still,
The market is of herbs and loaves too full.
But you, you dog, are always hungry, and do not allow us to partake of, or I should rather say devour, good discussion in sufficient plenty: for good and wise conversation is the food of the mind. And then turning to the servant he said,- O Leucus, if you have any remnants of bread, give them to the dogs. And Cynulcus rejoined,- If I had been invited here only to listen to discussions, I should have taken care to come when the forum was full; for that is the time which one of the wise men mentioned to me as the hour for declamations, and the common people on that account have called it ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? :
But if we are to bathe and sup on words,
Then I my share contribute as a listener;
as Menander says; on which account I give you leave, you glutton, to eat your fill of this kind of food -
But barley dearer is to hungry men
Than gold or Libyan ivory;
as Achaeus the Eretrian says in his Cycnus.
[100. ] And when Cynulcus had said this, he was on the point of rising up to depart; but turning round and seeing a quantity of fish, and a large provision of all sorts of other eatables being brought in, beating the pillow with his hand, he shouted out,-
Gird thyself up, O poverty, and bear
A little longer with these foolish babblers,
For copious food and hunger sharp subdues thee.
But I now, by reason of my needy condition, do not speak dithyrambic poems, as Socrates says, but even epic poems too. For, reciting poems is very hungry work. For, according to Ameipsias, who said in his Sling, where he utters a prediction about you, O Larensis, -
There are none of the rich men
In the least like you, by Hephaestus,
[271] Who enjoy a dainty table,
And who every day can eat
All delicacies that you wish.
For, as Heniochus says in his Busybody:
Now I see a thing beyond belief -
A prodigy; all sorts of kinds of fish
Sporting around this cape-tenches and char,
White and red mullet, rays, and perch, and eels,
Tunnies, and blacktails, and cuttlefish and pipe-fish,
And hake, and cod, and lobsters, crabs and scorpions.
I must, therefore, as the comic poet Metagenes says -
Without a sign his knife the hungry draws,
And asks no omen but his supper's cause -
endure and listen to what more you have all got to say.
[101. ] And when he was silent, Masurius said,- But since some things have still been left unsaid in our discussion on servants, I will myself also contribute some "melody on love" to the wise and much loved Democritus. Philippus of Theangela, in his treatise on the Carians and Leleges, having made mention of the Helots of the Lacedaemonians and of the Thessalian Penestae, says, "The Carians also, both in former times, and down to the present day, use the Leleges as slaves. " But Phylarchus, in the sixth book of his History [ Fr_8 ], says that the Byzantines used the Bithynians in the same manner, just as the Lacedaemonians do the Helots. But respecting those who among the Lacedaemonians are called Epeunacti, and they also are slaves, Theopompus gives a very clear account in the thirty-second book of his History, speaking as follows:- "When many of the Lacedaemonians had been slain in the war against the Messenians, those who were left being afraid lest their enemies should become aware of their desolate condition, put some of the Helots into the beds of those who were dead; and afterwards they made those men citizens, and called them Epeunacti, because they had been put into the beds of those who were dead instead of them. " And the same writer also tells us, in the thirty-third book of his History, that among the Sicyonians there are some slaves who are called Catonacophori, being very similar to the Epeunacti. And Menaechmus gives a similar account in his History of the affairs of Sicyon, and says that there are some slaves called Catonacophori, who very much resemble the Epeunacti. And again, Theopompus, in the second book of his Philippics, says that the Arcadians had three hundred thousand slaves, whom they called Prospelatae, like the Helots.
[102. ] But the class called Mothaces among the Lacedaemonians are freemen, but still not citizens of Lacedaemon. And Phylarchus speaks of them thus, in the twenty-fifth book of his History [ Fr_43 ] - "But the Mothaces are foster-brothers of Lacedaemonian citizens. For each of the sons of the citizens has one or two, or even more foster-brothers, according as their circumstances admit. The Mothaces are freemen then, but still not Lacedaemonian citizens; but they share all the education which is given to the free citizens; and they say that Lysander, who defeated the Athenians in the naval battle, was one of that class, having been made a citizen on account of his pre-eminent valour. " And Myron of Priene, in the second book of his history of the Affairs of Messene, says, "The Lacedaemonians often emancipated their slaves, and some of them when emancipated they called Aphetae, and some they called Adespoti, and some they called Erycteres, and others they called Desposionautae, whom they put on board their fleets, and some they called Neodamodes, but all these were different people from the Helots. " [272] And Theopompus, in the seventh book of his history of the Affairs of Greece, speaking of the Helots that they were also called Heleatae, writes as follows:- "But the nation of the Helots is altogether a fierce and cruel race. For they are people who have been enslaved a long time ago by the Spartans, some of them being Messenians, and some Heleatae, who formerly dwelt in that part of Laconia called Helos ['marsh']. "
[103. ] But Timaeus of Tauromenium, forgetting himself, (and Polybius of Megalopolis attacks him for the assertion, in the twelfth book of his Histories [ 12. 6 ],) says that it is not usual for the Greeks to possess slaves. But the same man, writing under the name of Epitimaeus, (and this is what Ister the pupil of Callimachus calls him in the treatise which he wrote against him,) says that Mnason the Phocian had more than a thousand slaves. And in the third book of his History, Epitimaeus said that the city of the Corinthians was so flourishing that it possessed four hundred and sixty thousand slaves. On which account I imagine it was that the Pythian priestess called them 'The People who measured with a choenix'. # But Ctesicles, in the third book of his Chronicles, says that in the hundred and fifteenth Olympiad, there was an investigation at Athens conducted by Demetrius Phalereus into the number of the inhabitants of Attica, and the Athenians were found to amount to twenty-one thousand, and the metics to ten thousand, and the slaves to four hundred thousand. But Nicias the son of Niceratus, as that admirable writer Xenophon has said in his book on Revenues [ 4. 14 ], when he had a thousand servants, let them out to Sosias the Thracian to work in the silver mines, on condition of his paying him an obol a day for every one of them. And Aristotle, in his history of the Constitution of the Aeginetans, says that the Aeginetans had four hundred and seventy thousand slaves. But Agatharchides the Cnidian, in the thirty-eighth book of his history of the Affairs of Europe, says that the Dardanians had great numbers of slaves, some of them having a thousand, and some even more; and that in time of peace they were all employed in the cultivation of the land; but that in time of war they were all divided into regiments, each set of slaves having their own master for their commander.
[104. ] After all these statements, Larensis rose up and said,- But each of the Romans (and this is a fact with which you are well acquainted, my friend Masurius) had a great many slaves. For many of them had ten thousand or twenty thousand, or even a greater number, not for the purposes of income, as the rich Nicias had among the Greeks; but the greater part of the Romans when they go forth have a large retinue of slaves accompanying them. And out of the myriads of Attic slaves, the greater part worked in the mines, being kept in chains: # at all events Poseidonius, whom you are often quoting, the philosopher I mean, says [ Fr_35 ] that once they revolted and put to death the guards of the mines; and that they seized on the Acropolis on Sunium, and that for a very long time they ravaged Attica. And this was the time when the second revolt of the slaves took place in Sicily. 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 ? ? ?
But Proxenus, in the second book of his treatise on the Lacedaemonian Constitution, says that female servants are called among the Lacedaemonians, ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? . But Ion of Chios, in his Laertes, uses the word ? ? ? ? ? ? ? as synonymous with ? ? ? ? ? ? , and says-
Alas, O servant, go on wings and close
The house lest any man should enter in.
And Achaeus, in his Omphale, speaking of the Satyr, says -
How rich in slaves [? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ] and how well housed he was [? ? ? ? ? ? ? ];
using, however, in my opinion, the words ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? and ? ? ? ? ? ? ? in a peculiar sense, as meaning rather, good to his slaves and servants, taking ? ? ? ? ? ? ? from ? ? ? ? ? ? ? . And it is generally understood that an ? ? ? ? ? ? ? is a servant whose business is confined to the house, and that it is possible he may be a freeborn man.
[94. ] G But the poets of the old comedy, speaking of the old-fashioned way of life, and asserting that in olden time there was no great use of slaves, speak in this way. Cratinus, in his Pluti, says -
As for those men, those heroes old, -
Who lived in Saturn's time,
When men did play at dice with loaves,
And Aeginetan cakes
Of barley well and brownly baked
Were rolled down before men
Who did in the palaestra toil,
Full of hard lumps of dough . . .
And Crates says, in his Beasts -
(A) Then no one shall possess or own
One male or female slave,
But shall himself, though ne'er so old,
Labour for all his needs.
(B) Not so, for I will quickly make
These matters all come right. .
(A) And what will your plans do for us?
(B) Why everything you call for
Should of its own accord come forth,
As if now you should say,
O table, lay yourself for dinner,
And spread a cloth upon you.
You kneading-trough, prepare some dough;
You cyathus, pour forth wine;
Where is the cup? come hither, cup,
And empty and wash yourself.
Come up, O cake. You sir, you dish,
Here, bring me up some beetroot.
Come hither, fish. "I can't, for I
Am raw on the other side. "
Well, turn round then and baste yourself
With oil and melted butter.
[268] And immediately after this the man who takes up the opposite side of the argument says -
But argue thus: I on the other hand
Shall first of all bring water for the hot baths
On columns raised as through the Paeonium
Down to the sea, so that the stream shall flow
Direct to every private person's bath.
Then he shall speak and check the flowing water.
Then too an alabaster box of ointment
Shall of its own accord approach the bather,
And sponges suitable, and also slippers.
[95. ] G And Telecleides puts it better than the man whom I have just quoted, in his Amphictyons, where he says-
I will tell you now the life
Which I have prepared for men.
First of all the lovely Peace
Everywhere was always by,
Like spring water which is poured
Over the hands of feasted guests.
The earth produced no cause for fear,
No pains and no diseases.
And everything a man could want
Came forth unasked for to him.
The streams all ran with rosy wine,
And barley-cakes did fight
With wheaten loaves which first could reach
A hungry man's open month.
And each entreated to be eaten,
If men loved dainty whiteness.
Fish too came straight unto men's doors,
And fried themselves all ready,
Dished themselves up, and stood before
The guests upon the tables.
A stream of soup did flow along
In front of all the couches,
Rolling down lumps of smoking meat;
And rivulets of white sauce
Brought to all such as chose to eat
The sweetest forced-meat balls.
So that there was no lack, but all
Did eat whatever they wanted.
Dishes there were of boiled meat too,
And sausages likewise and pasties;
And roasted thrushes and rissoles
Flew down men's throats spontaneously.
Then there were sounds of cheesecakes too
Crushed in men's hungry jaws:
While the boys played with dainty bits
Of tripe, and paunch, and liver.
No wonder men did on such fare
Get stout and strong as giants.
[96. ] G And in the name of Demeter, my companions, if these things went on in this way, I should like to know what need we should have of servants. But the ancients, accustoming us to provide for ourselves, instructed us by their actions while they feasted us in words. But I, in order to show you in what manner succeeding poets (since the most admirable Cratinus brandished the before-cited verses like a torch) imitated and amplified them, have quoted these plays in the order in which they were exhibited. And if I do not annoy you, (for as for the Cynics I do not care the least bit for them,) I will quote to you some sentences from the other poets, taking them also in regular order; one of which is that strictest Atticist of all, namely Pherecrates, who in his Miners says -
(A) But all those things were heaped in confusion
By overgrown wealth, abounding altogether
In every kind of luxury. There were rivers
With tender pulse and blackest soup overflowing,
Which ran down brawling through the narrow dishes,
Bearing the crusts and spoons away in the flood.
Then there were dainty closely kneaded cakes;
So that the food, both luscious and abundant,
Descended to the gullets of the dead.
There were black-puddings and large boiling slices
Of well-mixed sausages, which hissed within
The smoking streamlet just like oysters.
There too were cutlets of broiled fish well seasoned
With sauce of every kind, and cook, and country.
[269] There were huge legs of pork, most tender meat,
Loading enormous platters; and boiled trotters
Sending a savoury steam; and paunch of ox;
And well-cured ribs of pork, red with salt,
A dainty dish, on fried meat balls upraised.
There too were cakes of groats well steeped in milk,
In large flat dishes, and rich plates of beestings.
(B) Alas, you will destroy me. Why do you
Remain here longer, when you thus may dive
Just as you are beneath deep Tartarus?
(A) What will you say then when you hear the rest?
For roasted thrushes nicely browned and hot
Flew to the mouths of the guests, entreating them
To deign to swallow them, besprinkled o'er
With myrtle leaves and flowers of anemone,
And plates of loveliest apples hung around
Above our heads, hanging in air as it seemed.
And maidens in the most transparent robes,
Just come to womanhood, and crowned with roses,
Did through a strainer pour full red cups
Of fragrant wine for all who wished to drink.
And whatsoever each guest did eat or drink
Straight reappeared in twofold quantity.
[97. ] G And in his Persians he says -
But what need, I pray you now,
Have we of all you ploughmen,
Or carters, mowers, reapers too,
Or coopers, or brass-founders?
What need we seed, or furrow's line?
For of their own accord
Rivers do flow down every road
(Though half choked up with spice-cakes)
Of rich black soup, which rolls along
Within its greasy flood
Achilles' fat barley-cake,
And streams of sauce which flow
Straight down from Plutus' own springs,
For all the guests to relish.
Meantime Zeus rains down fragrant wine,
As if it were a bath,
And from the roof red strings of grapes
Hang down, with well made cakes,
Watered the while with smoking soup,
And mixed with savoury omelettes.
Even all the trees upon the hills
Will put forth leaves of paunches,
Kids' paunches, and young cuttlefish,
And smoking roasted thrushes.
[98. ] G And why need I quote in addition to this the passages from the Tagenistae of the incomparable Aristophanes? For you are all of you full of his mockery. And when I have just repeated the passage out of the Thurio-Persae of Metagenes I will say no more, and discard all notice of the Sirens of Nicophon, in which we find the following lines -
Let it now snow white cakes of pulse;
Let loaves arise like dew; let it rain soup;
Let gravy roll down lumps of meat in the roads,
And cheese-cakes beg the wayfarer to eat them.
But Metagenes says this-
The river Crathis bears down unto us
Huge barley-cakes, self-kneaded and self-baked.
The other river, called the Sybaris,
Rolls on large waves of meat and sausages,
And boiled rays all wriggling the same way.
And all these lesser streamlets flow along
With roasted cuttlefish, and crabs, and lobsters;
And, on the other side, with rich black-puddings
And forced-meat stuffings; on the other side
Are herbs and lettuces, and fried bits of pastry.
[270] Above, fish cut in slices and self-boiled
Rush to the mouth; some fall before one's feet,
And dainty cheese-cakes swim around us everywhere.
And I know too that the Thurio-Persae and the play of Nicophon were never exhibited at all; on which account I mentioned them last.
[99. ] G Democritus now having gone through this statement distinctly and intelligently, all the guests praised him; but Cynulcus said,- O messmates, I was exceedingly hungry, and Democritus has given me no unpleasant feast; carrying me across rivers of ambrosia and nectar. And I, having my mind watered by them, have now become still more exceedingly hungry, having hitherto swallowed nothing but words; so that now it is time to desist from this interminable discussion, and, as the Paeanian orator says [ Demosthenes, 3'33 ], to take some of these things, "which if they do not put strength into a man, at all events prevent his dying" -
For in an empty stomach there is no room
For love of beauteous objects, since fair Aphrodite
Is always hostile to a hungry man;
as Achaeus says in Aethon, a satyric drama. And it was borrowing from him that the wise Euripides wrote -
Aphrodite abides in fullness, and avoids
The hungry stomach.
And Ulpianus, who was always fond of contradicting him, said in reply to this, - But still,
The market is of herbs and loaves too full.
But you, you dog, are always hungry, and do not allow us to partake of, or I should rather say devour, good discussion in sufficient plenty: for good and wise conversation is the food of the mind. And then turning to the servant he said,- O Leucus, if you have any remnants of bread, give them to the dogs. And Cynulcus rejoined,- If I had been invited here only to listen to discussions, I should have taken care to come when the forum was full; for that is the time which one of the wise men mentioned to me as the hour for declamations, and the common people on that account have called it ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? :
But if we are to bathe and sup on words,
Then I my share contribute as a listener;
as Menander says; on which account I give you leave, you glutton, to eat your fill of this kind of food -
But barley dearer is to hungry men
Than gold or Libyan ivory;
as Achaeus the Eretrian says in his Cycnus.
[100. ] And when Cynulcus had said this, he was on the point of rising up to depart; but turning round and seeing a quantity of fish, and a large provision of all sorts of other eatables being brought in, beating the pillow with his hand, he shouted out,-
Gird thyself up, O poverty, and bear
A little longer with these foolish babblers,
For copious food and hunger sharp subdues thee.
But I now, by reason of my needy condition, do not speak dithyrambic poems, as Socrates says, but even epic poems too. For, reciting poems is very hungry work. For, according to Ameipsias, who said in his Sling, where he utters a prediction about you, O Larensis, -
There are none of the rich men
In the least like you, by Hephaestus,
[271] Who enjoy a dainty table,
And who every day can eat
All delicacies that you wish.
For, as Heniochus says in his Busybody:
Now I see a thing beyond belief -
A prodigy; all sorts of kinds of fish
Sporting around this cape-tenches and char,
White and red mullet, rays, and perch, and eels,
Tunnies, and blacktails, and cuttlefish and pipe-fish,
And hake, and cod, and lobsters, crabs and scorpions.
I must, therefore, as the comic poet Metagenes says -
Without a sign his knife the hungry draws,
And asks no omen but his supper's cause -
endure and listen to what more you have all got to say.
[101. ] And when he was silent, Masurius said,- But since some things have still been left unsaid in our discussion on servants, I will myself also contribute some "melody on love" to the wise and much loved Democritus. Philippus of Theangela, in his treatise on the Carians and Leleges, having made mention of the Helots of the Lacedaemonians and of the Thessalian Penestae, says, "The Carians also, both in former times, and down to the present day, use the Leleges as slaves. " But Phylarchus, in the sixth book of his History [ Fr_8 ], says that the Byzantines used the Bithynians in the same manner, just as the Lacedaemonians do the Helots. But respecting those who among the Lacedaemonians are called Epeunacti, and they also are slaves, Theopompus gives a very clear account in the thirty-second book of his History, speaking as follows:- "When many of the Lacedaemonians had been slain in the war against the Messenians, those who were left being afraid lest their enemies should become aware of their desolate condition, put some of the Helots into the beds of those who were dead; and afterwards they made those men citizens, and called them Epeunacti, because they had been put into the beds of those who were dead instead of them. " And the same writer also tells us, in the thirty-third book of his History, that among the Sicyonians there are some slaves who are called Catonacophori, being very similar to the Epeunacti. And Menaechmus gives a similar account in his History of the affairs of Sicyon, and says that there are some slaves called Catonacophori, who very much resemble the Epeunacti. And again, Theopompus, in the second book of his Philippics, says that the Arcadians had three hundred thousand slaves, whom they called Prospelatae, like the Helots.
[102. ] But the class called Mothaces among the Lacedaemonians are freemen, but still not citizens of Lacedaemon. And Phylarchus speaks of them thus, in the twenty-fifth book of his History [ Fr_43 ] - "But the Mothaces are foster-brothers of Lacedaemonian citizens. For each of the sons of the citizens has one or two, or even more foster-brothers, according as their circumstances admit. The Mothaces are freemen then, but still not Lacedaemonian citizens; but they share all the education which is given to the free citizens; and they say that Lysander, who defeated the Athenians in the naval battle, was one of that class, having been made a citizen on account of his pre-eminent valour. " And Myron of Priene, in the second book of his history of the Affairs of Messene, says, "The Lacedaemonians often emancipated their slaves, and some of them when emancipated they called Aphetae, and some they called Adespoti, and some they called Erycteres, and others they called Desposionautae, whom they put on board their fleets, and some they called Neodamodes, but all these were different people from the Helots. " [272] And Theopompus, in the seventh book of his history of the Affairs of Greece, speaking of the Helots that they were also called Heleatae, writes as follows:- "But the nation of the Helots is altogether a fierce and cruel race. For they are people who have been enslaved a long time ago by the Spartans, some of them being Messenians, and some Heleatae, who formerly dwelt in that part of Laconia called Helos ['marsh']. "
[103. ] But Timaeus of Tauromenium, forgetting himself, (and Polybius of Megalopolis attacks him for the assertion, in the twelfth book of his Histories [ 12. 6 ],) says that it is not usual for the Greeks to possess slaves. But the same man, writing under the name of Epitimaeus, (and this is what Ister the pupil of Callimachus calls him in the treatise which he wrote against him,) says that Mnason the Phocian had more than a thousand slaves. And in the third book of his History, Epitimaeus said that the city of the Corinthians was so flourishing that it possessed four hundred and sixty thousand slaves. On which account I imagine it was that the Pythian priestess called them 'The People who measured with a choenix'. # But Ctesicles, in the third book of his Chronicles, says that in the hundred and fifteenth Olympiad, there was an investigation at Athens conducted by Demetrius Phalereus into the number of the inhabitants of Attica, and the Athenians were found to amount to twenty-one thousand, and the metics to ten thousand, and the slaves to four hundred thousand. But Nicias the son of Niceratus, as that admirable writer Xenophon has said in his book on Revenues [ 4. 14 ], when he had a thousand servants, let them out to Sosias the Thracian to work in the silver mines, on condition of his paying him an obol a day for every one of them. And Aristotle, in his history of the Constitution of the Aeginetans, says that the Aeginetans had four hundred and seventy thousand slaves. But Agatharchides the Cnidian, in the thirty-eighth book of his history of the Affairs of Europe, says that the Dardanians had great numbers of slaves, some of them having a thousand, and some even more; and that in time of peace they were all employed in the cultivation of the land; but that in time of war they were all divided into regiments, each set of slaves having their own master for their commander.
[104. ] After all these statements, Larensis rose up and said,- But each of the Romans (and this is a fact with which you are well acquainted, my friend Masurius) had a great many slaves. For many of them had ten thousand or twenty thousand, or even a greater number, not for the purposes of income, as the rich Nicias had among the Greeks; but the greater part of the Romans when they go forth have a large retinue of slaves accompanying them. And out of the myriads of Attic slaves, the greater part worked in the mines, being kept in chains: # at all events Poseidonius, whom you are often quoting, the philosopher I mean, says [ Fr_35 ] that once they revolted and put to death the guards of the mines; and that they seized on the Acropolis on Sunium, and that for a very long time they ravaged Attica. And this was the time when the second revolt of the slaves took place in Sicily. 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.
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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 ? ? ?
