New-York tribune., 1871-06-28
TIE DIET or THE ANCIENTS


starved set" not having potatoes corn, butter and
many enumerated aromatics and spices. Now, while
aware that at the feast Of Menelaus she occasion
of the visit of Tclemachus the food, according 10
Homer was Of the substantial order and
"The table Toan'd beneath q chine of beef
with which the hungry heroes quciled their gr'f'
and that Priam, reproacng his sons for their fancy
for lighter delicacics calls them =" the wholesale mur-
derers Of lambs and kids" am sure that wide de-
parture from the tastes Of the athletic old heroes
took place before old Rome outliyed It's spondor.
True it is, as represented, they did not posses,
"Indian corn or the Irish potato in its varieties
any more than did Our own ancestors le"
generations ago; but it is mdouDted tA"t
some Of the ancients possessed very sood
esculent from which comes the wofd po-
tatoD mean the conrolratg od'''d' or
sweet potato. They said TO have been without
butter, but am inclined to believe tins msf,se,
for although this article is not so much esteemed in
warm climates, or where good oil is produced as
with u.s. yet it is mentioned by both Herodotus aud
Pliny, who, doubtless, like all who have used tho
European and Asatc oils in their excellence
whether made of the beech-nut, walnut. or olive.
wOuld care but little for butter. ApcOple who made
so great use of preparations from milk. and used 30
many varieties Of cheese and chcesecakes did the
Greeks and Romans, must have been familiar with
butter although they may have used but little of It.
Father Abraham may, however be termed an " an
cient equally with Gaen;' and if any one is dis
posed to doubt the early use Of butter let him turn
to the 18th chapter of Genesis where the father Of
the faithful" Hospitality entertained the three an
gels who regaled themselves on his butter, veal.
and milk. while he stood by in the shade. If this
be not satisfactory, let him study the Song Of
Mosesr which has verse beginning with the but
ter of kline" and ending with the pure blood of the
| L. &c bo Tanl urpspnfpd N
.lordly dish" and of Job-no modem-who
threatened the wicked that they should not the
brooks of honey and butter" both which delics-
cies are mentioned by Isaiah food for the promised
one upon whom the faith of Christianity rests The
word in Greek is bOutur0n, in Latin ba'yram, hence
butter. Will any then doubt that the ancients
understood as well as we the buteTed side of their
bread' 1t is said the ancients were destitute ofspices
and knew not of cloves, mace, nutmeg, pepper, &c
Pliny in his Natural History writes OF cloves. and
on single page 18th Book will be found mention Of
| nardum casia, cinnamomum cardamsmo, calamo
represented as portion of the ingredients of single
perfume. while Pliny mentions sage, End both he
and Plautus mention mace, from whiTl it may be
inferred they were not without the nJtmeg, CELSIUS
| is cited to prove the poor diet OF the
| ancients" In lib. chap. % of that author
| find in a single prescription the articles acacia
mustard ginger, rue, pepper, &c IN truth, CELSIUS
| mentions white, black, or long pepper, more than
fifty times; and there will be foundin Horace "a lne
sat- lib. q, "piper album cum sale nigro white
pepper and black salt; and pepper is also mentioned
in his Epistes, lib and Petronius, In celebrated
dinner conversation alluding to one who had just
died very rich but lived so meanly that he would
pick a farthing from dunghil with his teeth" says
he was piper hOmO"-a renner corn, not
man. Atheneus, in his DeipnosOphists mentions
pepper eight times lpp 100, ll0, and in one recps
| for "sayOry fOrcemeatr al D. 1l2, may DO
| found thyme, sesame, inter, cummin, mar0Um.
mustard, capers, parsley, eggs, honey, and flour
Sugar in some Of its present forms, may not have
been known TO the Greeks and Romans, but TheO-
phrastus B C. 800 describes, and does Pliny what
answered its uses-yiz, concentration of the Juice
of canes and reeds; and Strabo speaks of reeds in
India which yield molasses" In China, sugar has
been made for thousands Of years in every form
| The marsh-grOwn bean," which is represented ~
| that alone used by the ancients, was an Egyptian
plant priced for its roots and flowers more than for
| its beans. Theophrastus says the bean in Egypt
! grows wild in marshes and swamps." There were
no beans cultivated in Egypt at the time of Herodo
| tus, for he says expressly CHAP 81, book y
| that "beans sown in no part Of
Egypt neither will the inhabitants eat them
negative proof that they were cultivated elsewhere
The Egyptian or "marsh-grown bean," was called
cib0ria and "bOre large rose-colored flower twice
the size of poppy;" and the poet Nicander is quoted
as saying, You may SOW the Egyptian bean L
make its flowers into garlands" That, in addition
to its seed it bore tuber used for food is evident
| from another line in connection the.ewith " But
the roots boil and place table at the feasts so
| that this swamp-bean, to which the ancients Ves
not limited, was probably delicacy. There grows
| in our new, rich, moist lands bean-pant, with
beautiful purple blossoms and edible tuber-the
phaseolus tuberosus-which loved to cat when a boy
| and it was a favOrite food with our Indians and
! pioneer whites
| Not content however. with stating what thing
the ancients had not they represented as fond
of things for which | can find no authority. | d
not believe the enlightened people of antiquity de
voured foxes :" and. if they did ever partake Of
bear they were, that account, no worse than
ourselves, though a line in AthenGus 49, good
authority on matters of ancient diet-would imply
that this flesh was particularly detestable. He says
Philosophers used to forbid our eating swlnet
brains. saying that person who partook of theH
might as well eat bear and would not hesitate 70
eat his fathers head" But enough of details Inc
| Greeks and Romans were not only great epicure"
but they ransaeked the known wofld for delicaces
of the table. Oysters in the shell they broug"
from England and sent them TO distant parts ot the
empire. and some varieties of fish commanded thoh
weight in silver. In the variety aud cost OF thar
| entertainments, no people of modern times have
! opproached them. They had many delicate fruits
| which we do not possess, and their desserts Tar
exceeded in variety and cost those of the
present day. Some of their cooks were
bighly honored accomplished ones commanded saia-
ries eoual TO those of our Cabinet oincers ana 80
expert were they that they could roast one Sihe oi
Mo and Al the same time boil the other serving NM
IL La atm 4HaI