page_title: Ancient Rome and wine
section_title: Pliny the Elder
hierarchical_section_title: Ancient Rome and wine / Roman writings on wine / Pliny the Elder
context_page_description: Ancient Rome played a pivotal role in the history of wine. The earliest influences on the viticulture of the Italian peninsula can be traced to ancient Greeks and the Etruscans. The rise of the Roman Empire saw both technological advances in and burgeoning awareness of winemaking, which spread to all parts of the empire. Rome's influence has had a profound effect on the histories of today's major winemaking regions in France, Germany, Italy, Portugal and Spain.
  The Roman belief that wine was a daily necessity made the drink "democratic" and ubiquitous; in various forms, it was available to slaves, peasants, women and aristocrats alike. To ensure the steady supply of wine to Roman soldiers and colonists, viticulture and wine production spread to every part of the empire. The economic opportunities presented by trading in wine drew merchants to do business with tribes native to Gaul and Germania, bringing Roman influences to these regions even before the arrival of the Roman military.
context_section_description: Pliny the Elder was a 1st-century AD naturalist and author of the 37-volume Roman encyclopedia Naturalis Historia (Natural History), dedicated to the Emperor Titus. Published after Pliny's death near Pompeii following the eruption of Mount Vesuvius, the work covers a vast array of topics, including serious discourse on viticulture and wine.
  Book 14 deals exclusively with the subject of wine itself, including a ranking of the "first growths" of Rome. Book 17 includes a discussion of various viticultural techniques and an early formalization of the concept of terroir, in that unique places produce unique wine. In his rankings of the best Roman wines, Pliny concludes that the vineyard has more influence on the resulting quality of wine than the particular vine. The early sections of Book 23 deal with some of the purported medicinal properties of wine.
  Pliny was a strong advocate for training vines up trees in a pergola, noting that the finest wines in Campania all derived from this practice. Due to the dangers in working on and pruning vines trained this way, however, he advised not using valuable slaves but rather vineyard workers hired with a stipulation in their contract to cover grave and funeral expenses. He described some contemporary varieties, recommending Aminean and Nomentan as the best. Ampelographers believe that two white wine varieties mentioned, Arcelaca and Argitis, may be early ancestors to the modern grape Riesling.
  Pliny is also the source for one of the most famous Latin quotations about wine: "In vino veritas," or "There's truth in wine," referring to the often confessional loquacity of the intoxicated.
caption: Pliny the Elder.
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