[181] There is another kind called escharites (or the hearth-loaf), and this is mentioned by Antidotus in the Protochorus—

And Crobylus says, in his Strangled Man—

And Lynceus the Samian, in his letter to Diagoras, comparing the eatables in vogue at Athens with those which were used at Rhodes, says—"And moreover, while they talk a great deal about their bread which is to be got in the market, the Rhodians at the beginning and middle of dinner put loaves on the table which are not at all inferior to them; but when they have given over eating and are satisfied, then they introduce a most agreeable dish, which is called the hearth-loaf, the best of all loaves; which is made of sweet things, and compounded so as to be very soft, and it is made up with such an admirable harmony of all the ingredients as to have a most excellent effect; so that often a man who is drunk becomes sober again, and in the same way a man who has just eaten to satiety is made hungry again by eating of it."

There is another kind of loaf called tabyrites, of which Sopater, in his Cnidia, says—The tabyrites loaf was one which fills the cheeks.

There was also a loaf called the achæinas. And this loaf is mentioned by Semus, in the eighth book of his Delias; and he says that is made by the women who celebrate the Thesmophoria. They are loaves of a large size. And the festival is called Megalartia, which is a name given to it by those who carry these loaves, who cry—"Eat a large achæinas, full of fat."

There is another loaf called cribanites, or the pan-loaf. This is mentioned by Aristophanes, in his Old Age. And he introduces a woman selling bread, complaining that her loaves have been taken from her by those who have got rid of the effects of their old age—

[182] There is another loaf called the encryphias, or secret loaf. And this is mentioned by Nicostratus, in his Hierophant, and Archestratus the inventor of made dishes, whose testimony I will introduce at the proper season.

There is a loaf also called dipyrus, or twice-baked. Eubulus says, in his Ganymede—

And Alcæus says, in his Ganymede—

There is another loaf, called laganum. This is very light, and not very nutritious; and the loaf called apanthracis is even less nutritious still. And Aristophanes mentions the laganum in his Ecclesiazusæ, saying—

And the apanthracis is mentioned by Diocles the Carystian, in the first book of his treatise on Wholesomes, saying—"The apanthracis is more tender than the laganum: and it appears that it is made on the coals, like that called by the Attic writers encryphias, which the Alexandrians consecrate to Saturn, and put them in the temple of Saturn for every one to eat who pleases."

75. And Epicharmus, in his Hebe's Marriage, and in his Muses (and this play is an emendation of the former one), thus enumerates the different kinds of loaves—"The pan-loaf, the homorus, the statites, the encris, the loaf made of meal, the half loaf," which Sophron also mentions in his Female Actors, saying—

And I know, my friends, that the Athenians spell this word with a ρ, writing κρίβανον and κριβανίτης; but Herodotus, in the second book of his history, writes it with a λ, saying κλιβάνῳ διαφανεῖ. And so Sophron said—

And the same writer also speaks of a loaf which he calls πλακίτης, saying in his Gynæcea—

Sophron also mentions tyron bread, or bread compounded with cheese, saying in the play called the Mother-in-law—

And Nicander of Colophon, in his Dialects, calls unleavened bread δάρατος. And Plato the comic writer, in his Long Night, calls large ill-made loaves Cilician, in these words—

And in the drama entitled Menelaus, he calls some loaves agelæi, or common loaves. There is also a loaf mentioned by Alexis, in his Cyprian, which he calls autopyrus—

And Phrynichus, in his Poastriæ, speaks of the same loaves, calling them autopyritæ, saying—

And Sophocles makes mention of a loaf called orindes, in his Triptolemus, which has its name from being made of rice ὄρυζα, or from a grain raised in Æthiopia, which resembles sesamum.

Aristophanes also, in his Tagenistæ, or the Fryers, makes mention of rolls called collabi, and says—

And in a subsequent passage he says—

And these rolls are made of new wheat as Philyllius declares in his Auge—

There is also a kind of loaf called maconidæ, mentioned by Alcman, in his fifteenth book, in these terms—"There were seven couches for the guests, and an equal number of tables of maconidæ loaves, crowned with a white tablecloth, and with sesamum, and in handsome dishes." Chrysocolla are a food made of honey and flax.[183:1]

[184] There is also a kind of loaf called collyra, mentioned by Aristophanes in his Peace—

And in his Holcades he says—

76. There is a loaf also called the obelias, or the penny loaf, so called because it is sold for a penny, as in Alexandria; or else because it is baked on small spits. Aristophanes, in his Farmers, says—

And Pherecrates, in his Forgetful Man, says—

And the men who in the festivals carried these penny rolls on their shoulders were called ὀβελιαφόροι. And Socrates, in his sixth book of his Surnames, says that it was Bacchus who invented the penny roll on his expeditions. There is a roll called etnites, the same which is also named lecithites, according to the statement of Eucrates.

The Messapians call bread πανὸς, and they call satiety πανία, and those things which give a surfeit they call πάνια; at least, those terms are used by Blæsus, in his Mesotriba, and by Archilochus, in his Telephus, and by Rhinthon, in his Amphitryon. And the Romans call bread panis.

Nastus is a name given to a large loaf of leavened bread, according to the statement of Polemarchus and Artemidorus. But the Heracleon is a kind of cheesecake. And Nicostratus says, in his Sofa—

The name of bread among the Ionians was cnestus, as Artemidorus the Ephesian states in his Memorials of Ionia. Thronus was the name of a particular kind of loaf, as it is stated by Neanthes of Cyzicus, in the second book of his Grecian History, where he writes as follows—"But Codrus [185]takes a slice of a loaf of the kind called thronus, and a piece of meat, such as they give to the old men."

There is, among the Elians, a kind of loaf baked on the ashes which they call bacchylus, as Nicander states in the second book of his treatise On Dialects. And Diphilus mentions it in his Woman who went Astray, in these words—

The thing called ἀποπυρίας is also a kind of roll; and that also is baked on the ashes; and by some it is called ζυμίτης, or leavened. Cratinus, in his Effeminate People—

77. And Archestratus, in his Gastronomy, thus speaks of flour and of rolls—

The epicure Archestratus says this; and he counsels us to have a Phœnician or Lydian slave for a baker; for he was not ignorant that the best makers of loaves come from Cappadocia. And he speaks thus—

[186] 78. Antiphanes also speaks of the Athenian loaves as preeminently good, in his Omphale, saying—

This is that Thearion the celebrated baker, whom Plato makes mention of in the Gorgias, joining him and Mithæcus in the same catalogue, writing thus. "Those who have been or are skilful providers for the body you enumerated with great anxiety; Thearion the baker, and Mithæcus who wrote the treatise called the Sicilian Cookery, and Sarambus the innkeeper, saying that they were admirable providers for the body, the one preparing most excellent loaves of bread, and the other preparing meat, and the other wine." And Aristophanes, in the Gerytades and Œolosicon, speaks in this manner—

And Eubulus makes mention of Cyprian loaves as exceedingly good, in his Orthane, using these words—

And Ephippus, in his Diana, makes mention of the κολλίκιοι loaves (and they are the same as the κόλλαβοι) in these terms—

Aristophanes also says, in his Acharnensians—

79. When the conversation had gone on this way, one of the grammarians present, whose name was Arrian, said—This food is as old as the time of Saturn, my friends; for we are not rejoicing in meal, for the city is full of bread, nor in all this catalogue of loaves. But since I have fallen in with another treatise of Chrysippus of Tyana, which is entitled a treatise on the Art of Making Bread; and since I have had experience of the different recipes given in it at the houses [187]of many of my friends, I will proceed to say something myself also on the subject of loaves. The kind of loaf which is called ἀρτοπτίκινος, differs in some respect from that made in a pan, and from that made in an oven. But if you make it with hard leaven, it will be bright and nice, so that it may be eaten dry; but if it be made with a looser leaven, then it will be light but not bright. But the loaf which is made in a pan, and that which is made in an oven, require a softer kind of leaven. And among the Greeks there is a kind of bread which is called tender, being made up with a little milk and oil, and a fair quantity of salt; and one must make the dough for this bread loose. And this kind of loaf is called the Cappadocian, since tender bread is made in the greatest quantities in Cappadocia. But the Syrians call loaves of this kind λαχμὴ; and it is the best bread made in Syria, because it can be eaten hot; and it is like a flower. But there is also a loaf called boletinus, from being made like a mushroom, and the kneading-trough is smeared with poppies plastered over the bottom of it, on which the dough is placed, and by this expedient it is prevented from sticking to the trough while the leaven is mixed in. But when it is put in the oven, then some groats are spread under on a tile, and then the bread is put on it, and it gets a most beautiful colour, like cheese which has been smoked.

There is also a kind of bread called strepticias, which is made up with a little milk, and pepper and a little oil is added, and sometimes suet is substituted. And a little wine, and pepper, and milk, and a little oil, or sometimes suet, is employed in making the cake called artolaganum. But for making the cakes called capuridia tracta, you mix the same ingredients that you do for bread, and the difference is in the baking.

80. So when the mighty sophist of Rome had enunciated these precepts of Aristarchus, Cynulcus said—O Ceres, what a wise man! It is not without reason that the admirable Blepsias has pupils as the sand of the sea in number, and has amassed wealth from this excellent wisdom of his, beyond all that was acquired by Gorgias or Protagoras. So that I am afraid, by the goddesses, to say whether he himself is blind, or whether those who have entrusted his pupils to him have all but one eye, so as scarcely to be able to see, numerous [188]as they are. Happy are they, or rather blessed ought I to call them, whose masters treat them to such divine lectures. And in reply to this Magnus, a man fond of the table, and very much inclined to praise this grammarian to excess, because of the abundance of his learning, said—But ye—

as Eubulus says—did not your father Diogenes, once when he was eagerly eating a cheesecake at a banquet, say to some one who put the question to him, that he was eating bread excellently well made? But as for you, you

as the same poet, Eubulus, says, you keep on speaking without ever giving place to others; and you are never quiet until some one throws you a crust or a bone, as he would do to a dog. How do you come to know that cubi (I do not mean those which you are continually handling) are a kind of loaf, square, seasoned with anise, and cheese, and oil, as Heraclides says in his Cookery Book? But Blepsias overlooked this kind, as also he did the thargelus, which some call the thalysius. But Crates, in the second book of his treatise on the Attic Dialect, says that the thargelus is the first loaf made after the carrying home of the harvest. The loaf made of sesame he had never seen, nor that which is called anastatus, which is made for the Arrephori.[188:1] There is also a loaf called the pyramus, made of sesame, and perhaps being the same as the sesamites. But Trypho mentions all these different kinds in the first book of his treatise on Plants, as he also does those which are called thiagones. And these last are loaves made for the gods in Ætolia. There are also loaves called dramices and araxis among the Athamanes.

81. And the writers of books on dialects give lists of the names of different loaves. Seleucus speaks of one called dramis, which bears this name among the Macedonians; and of another called daratus by the Thessalians. And he speaks of the etnites, saying that it is the same as the lecithites, [189]that is to say, made of the yolks of eggs and of pulse. And he says that the loaf called ἐρικίτης, has its name from being made of wheat crushed (ἐρηριγμένος), and not sifted, and of groats. And Amerias speaks of a loaf called xeropyrites, made of pure wheat, and nothing else; and so does Timachidas. But Nicander says that thiagones is the name given by the Ætolians to those loaves which are made for the gods. The Egyptians have a bread which is rather bitter, which they call cyllastis. And Aristophanes speaks of it in his Danaides, saying—

Hecatæus, too, and Herodotus mention it; and so does Phanodemus, in the seventh book of his Attic History. But Nicander of Thyatira says, that it is bread made of barley which is called cyllastis by the Egyptians. Alexis calls dirty loaves phæi, in his Cyprian, saying—

And Seleucus says that there is a very closely made hot bread which is called blema. And Philemon, in the first book of his Oracles, "Useful Things of Every Kind," says—that bread made of unsifted wheat, and containing the bran and everything, is called πυρνός. He says, too, that there are loaves which are called blomilii, which have divisions in them, which the Romans call quadrati. And that bread made of bran is called brattime, which Amerias and Timachidas call euconon or teuconon. But Philetas, in his Miscellanies, says that there is a kind of loaf which is called spoleus, which is only eaten by relations when assembled together.

82. Now you may find barley-cakes mentioned in his writings by Tryphon, and by many other authors. Among the Athenians it is called phystes, not being too closely kneaded. There is also the cardamale, and the berex, and the tolype, and the Achilleum; and perhaps that is a cake which is made of the Achillean barley. Then there is the [190]thridakina, so named from lettuce; the œnutta, so called from wine; the melitutta, from honey; and the crinon, the name of which is derived from the lily, which last is also the name of a choral dance, mentioned by Apollophanes, in the Dalis. But the cakes called thridaciscæ by Alcman, are the same as the Attic thridacinæ. But Alcman speaks thus—

And Sosibius, in the third book of his essay on Alcman, says, that cribana is a name given to a peculiar kind of cheesecake, in shape like a breast. But the barley cake, which is given in sacrifices to be tasted by the sacrificers, is called hygea. And there is also one kind of barley cake which is called by Hesiod amolgæa.

And he calls it the cake of the shepherds, and very strengthening. For the word ἀμολγὸς means that which is in the greatest vigour. But I may fairly beg to be excused from giving a regular list (for I have not a very unimpeachable memory) of all the kinds of biscuits and cakes which Aristomenes the Athenian speaks of in the third book of his treatise on Things pertaining to the Sacred Ceremonies. And we ourselves were acquainted with that man, though we were young, and he was older than we. And he was an actor in the Old Comedy, a freedman of that most accomplished king Adrian, and called by him the Attic partridge.

And Ulpian said—By whom is the word freedman (ἀπελεύθερος) ever used? And when some one replied that there was a play with that title—namely, the Freedman of Phrynichus, and that Menander, in his Beaten Slave, had the word freedwoman (ἀπελευθέρα), and was proceeding to mention other instances; he asked again—What is the difference between ἀπελεύθερος[190:1] and ἐξελεύθερος. However, it was agreed upon to postpone this part of the discussion for the present.

83. And Galen, when we were just about to lay hands on the loaves, said—We will not begin supper until you have heard what the sons of the Asclepiadæ have said about loaves, and cheesecakes, and meal, and flour. Diphilus the Siphnian, [191]in his treatise on What is Wholesome to be eaten by People in Health and by Invalids, says, "Loaves made of wheat are by far more nutritious and by far more digestible than those made of barley, and are in every respect superior to them; and the next best are those which are made of similago; and next to those come the loaves made of sifted flour, and next to them those called syncomisti, which are made of unsifted meal;—for these appear to be more nutritious." But Philistion the Locrian says "that the loaves made of similago are superior to those made of groats, as far as their strengthening properties go; and next to them he ranks loaves made of groats, then those made of sifted flour. But the rolls made of bran give a much less wholesome juice, and are by far less nutritious. And all bread is more digestible when eaten hot than cold, and it is also more digestible then, and affords a pleasanter and more wholesome juice; nevertheless, hot bread is apt to cause flatulence, though it is not the less digestible for that; while cold bread is filling and indigestible. But bread which is very stale and cold is less nutritious, and is apt to cause constipation of the bowels, and affords a very unpleasant juice. The bread called encryphiasis is heavy and difficult of digestion, because it is not baked in an equal manner; but that which is called ipnites and caminites is indigestible and apt to disagree with people. That called escharites, and that which is fried, is more easily secreted because of the admixture of oil in it, but is not so good for the stomach, on account of the smell which there is about it. But the bread called 'the clibanites' has every possible good quality; for it gives a pleasant and wholesome juice, and is good for the stomach, and is digestible, and agrees exceedingly well with every one, for it never clogs the bowels, and never relaxes them too much."

But Andreas the physician says that there are loaves in Sicily made of the sycamine, and that those who eat them lose their hair and become bald. Mnesitheus says "that wheat-bread is more digestible than barley-bread, and that those which are made with the straw in them are exceedingly nutritious; for they are the most easily digested of all food. But bread which is made of rye, if it be eaten in any quantity, is heavy and difficult of digestion; on which account those who eat it do not keep their health." But you should know that corn [192]which has not been exposed to the fire, and which has not been ground, causes flatulence, and heaviness, and vertigo, and headache.

84. After all this conversation it seemed good to go to supper. And when the Uræum was carried round, Leonidas said, "Euthydemus the Athenian, my friends, in his treatise on Pickles, says that Hesiod has said with respect to every kind of pickle—

Now these verses appear to me to be the work of some cook rather than of that most accomplished Hesiod; for how is it possible for him to have spoken of Parium or Byzantium, and still more of Tarentum and the Bruttii and the Campanians, when he was many years more ancient than any of these places or tribes? So it seems to me that they are the verses of Euthydemus himself."

And Dionysiocles said, "Whoever wrote the verses, my good Leonidas, is a matter which you all, as being grammarians of the highest reputation, are very capable of deciding. But since the discussion is turning upon pickles and salt fish, concerning which I recollect a proverb which was thought deserving of being quoted by Charchus the Solensian,—

[193] I too myself will say a word on the subject, which is not unconnected with my own art.

85. Diocles the Carystian, in his treatise on the Wholesomes, as it is entitled, says, "Of all salt-fish which are destitute of fat, the best is the horæum; and of all that are fat, the best is the tunny-fish." But Icesius says, "that neither the pelamydes nor the horæa are easily secreted by the stomach; and that the younger tunnies are similar in most respects to the cybii, but that they have a great superiority over those which are called horæa." And he says the same of the Byzantine horæa, in comparison with those which are caught in other places. And he says "that not only the tunnies, but that all other fish caught at Byzantium is superior to that which is caught elsewhere."

To this Daphnus the Ephesian added,—Archestratus, who sailed round the whole world for the sake of finding out what was good to eat, and what pleasures he could derive from the use of his inferior members, says—

But that epicure Archestratus has omitted to enumerate the pickle-juice called elephantine, which is spoken of by Crates the comic poet, in his Samians; who says of it—

But that the elephantine pickle of Crates was very celebrated Aristophanes bears witness, in his Thesmophoriazusæ, in these words—

86. And there was another kind, which Alexis calls raw pickle, in his Apeglaucomenos. And the same poet, in his Wicked Woman, introduces a cook talking about the preparation of salt-fish and pickled fish, in the following verses:—

And, in his Apeglaucomenos, a man being asked for his contribution to the feast, says—

87. And Icesius says, in the second book of his treatise on the Materials of Nourishment, that pelamydes are a large kind of cybium. And Posidippus speaks of the cybium, in his Transformed. But Euthydemus, in his treatise on Salt Fish, says that the fish called the Delcanus is so named from the river Delcon, where it is taken; and then, when pickled and salted, it is very good indeed for the stomach. But Dorion, in his book on Fishes, calls the leptinus the lebianus, and says, "that some people say that is the same fish as the delcanus; and that the ceracinus is called by many people the saperdes; and that the best are those which come from the Palus Mæotis. And he says that the mullet which are caught about Abdera are excellent; and next to them, those which are caught near Sinope; and that they, when pickled and salted, are very good for the stomach. But those, he says, which are called mulli are by some people called agnotidia, and by some platistaci, though they are all the same fish; as also is the chellares. For that he, being but one fish, has received a great variety of names; for that he is called a bacchus, and an oniscus, and a chellares. And those of the larger size are called platistaci, and those of middle size mulli, and those which are but small are called agnotidia. But Aristophanes also mentions the mulli, in his Holcades—

88. When Dionysiocles was silent upon this, Varus the grammarian said,—But Antiphanes the poet, also, in his Deucalion, mentions these kinds of pickled salt-fish, where he says—

And in his Parasite he says—

And Nicostratus or Philetærus, in his Antyllus, says—

And a little further on, he proceeds—

After this Ulpian, looking upon Plutarch, chimed in,—It seems to me that no one, in all that has been said, has included the Mendesian fish, which are so much fancied by you gentlemen of Alexandria; though I should have thought that a mad dog would scarcely touch them; nor has any one mentioned the hemineri or half-fresh fish, which you think so good, nor the pickled shads. And Plutarch replied,—The heminerus, as far as I know, does not differ from the half-pickled fish which have been already mentioned, and which your elegant Archestratus speaks of; but, however, Sopater the Paphian has mentioned the heminerus, in his Slave of Mystacus, saying—