Manners and Customs of Ancient Greece. Vol III., by J.A. St. John

Among the exports of Pisidia and Cilicia was the gum styrax,^[2077] which being usually burned on the altars of the theatre during the performance of Phrygian airs it was observed by one of the Greeks to be redolent of that wild music.^[2078] The tree from which this gum was obtained resembled that of the quince. A kind of artificial styrax, in appearance like macaroni, was manufactured in the following manner, and preferred by the ignorant to the gum itself. Taking a quantity of wax and perfumed lard, and working it up into a paste with a certain proportion of styrax, they placed it in the sun during the hottest days of the year, when, having been thus rendered nearly liquid, it was passed through a coarse sieve into cold water.^[2079]

Iris unguent ^[2080] was exported from Perga, a city of Pamphylia; a sarcophaginous stone used in making coffins,^[2081] scammony,^[2082] and beans from Mysia; from Smyrna ^[2083] a superior kind of lettuces.^[2084] At present the bees make much honey in the neighbourhood of this city, from the flower of the hypecoum recumbens.^[2085] Caria exported slaves,^[2086] excellent oil and vinegar,^[2087] gum sycamore,^[2088] purple fish, figs,^[2089] and carobs,^[2090] which were grown in the neighbourhood of Caunos and Cnidos; Paphlagonia chestnuts and splendid almonds;^[2091] Cappadocia the finest horses known to the ancients;^[2092] Phrygia slaves,^[2093] cheese made of mares’ and asses’ milk,^[2094] hams of the finest qualities cured at Cibyra,^[2095] carpets, oil,^[2096] and fine black wool, which latter commodities were also among the merchandise of Miletos.^[2097]

From this city were likewise obtained the sheep that produced the celebrated fleeces, together with water-cresses,^[2098] roses,^[2099] rich tapestry, soft beds,^[2100] and cypress wood;^[2101] chestnuts, eunuchs, and fine scarlet cloths, with richly-figured carpets of double pile, were also brought from Sardis.^[2102] The wines of Asia Minor in most estimation were those of Ephesos, Miletos,^[2103] Phygela, Armata, Clazomenè,^[2104] and that denominated Catakekaumenitis.^[2105] Physicians condemned those of Mount Tmolos as generative of headache. Ephesos exported tents and jewellery;^[2106] Miletos sea wolves ^[2107] and cockles; Smyrna squills; and Patara, in Lycia, seems to have been famous for its gilded sandals.^[2108] The same country, likewise, supplied hams of a superior quality.^[2109]

1751. Observing the plenty and prosperity always found in free states, Sir Josiah Child observes, that good laws are sufficient of themselves to render any region fertile. Discourse of Trade, p. 24. Among the best productions of Attica was its barley, though I nowhere remember to have seen it said that it was exported: Ἀθήνῃσι δ᾽οὖν αἱ κριθαὶ τὰ πλεῖστα ποιοῦσι τὰ ἄλφιτα· κριθοφόρος γὰρ ἀρίστη. Theoph. Hist. Plant. viii. 8. 2.

1752. Εὐδόκιμα δὲ, θώραξ Ἀττικουργὴς. Poll. i. 149.

1753. Ἕνιοι μέντοι τοὺς ποικίλους καὶ τοὺς ἐπιχρύσους θώρακας μᾶλλον ὠνοῦνται. Xenoph. Memor. iii. 10. 14.

1754. Μύρον ἐξ Ἀθηνῶν. ap. Athen. i. 49.

1755. Τὸ δὲ Παναθηναϊκὸν λεγόμενον ἐν Ἀθήναις. Athen. xv. 38.

1756. Μέλι πρωτέυει τὸ Ἀττικὸν, καὶ τούτου τὸ Ὑμήττιον καλούμενον. Dioscor. ii. 101. Strab. ix. 1. t. ii. p. 246. Geopon. vii. 17. viii. 25. 1. Ἄριστον μέλι τὸ Ἀττικὸν, καὶ τοῦ Ἀττικοῦ τὸ Ὑμήττιον. Diophan. ap. Geopon. xv. 7. 1. Plin. Nat. Hist. xi. 13. xxi. 10. Galen. de Antidot. i. 2. Virg. Georg. iv. 177. Tzetz. Chil. vii. 93. xi. 370. Synes. Epist. 147. Eustath. ad Dion. Perieg. 530.

1757. Petit, de Legg. Att. v. 5, p. 417. Æschin. Epist. 5. Orat. Att. xii. p. 305. Geopon. ix. 1. 1. Theoph. Hist. Plant. iv. 14.

1758. Schol. Aristoph. Acharn. 767.

1759. The importation of these delicacies, however, originally profited the subjects of Persia only, the king having been forbidden by a fundamental law of the monarchy the use of all foreign commodities. The ordinance of course was speedily dispensed with, since we find the eunuchs placing before their master, at his dessert, the figs of Attica, which on one occasion, drew from the Shah a right royal remark: Ἐρωτῆσαι ποταπαὶ εἶεν. ἐπεὶ δὲ ἐπύθετο ἐξ Ἀθηνῶν, τοῖς ἀγορασταῖς ἐκέλευεν ὠνεῖσθαι, ἕως, ἂν ἐξουσία γένηται αὐτῷ λαμβάνειν ὅταν ἐφέλῃ, καὶ μὴ ἁγοράζειν. Athen. xiv. 62. The best figs came from the Demos Ægilia. Id. ibid. Ἀπ’ Αἰγίλω ἰσχάδα τρώγοις. Theocrit. Eidyll. i. 147. These fruits we find reached Persia in a state of the greatest freshness and perfection. Plut. Alexand. § 50.

1760. Ægialeus appears, for example, to have been no less celebrated for its thyme than Hymettos. Suid. V. μᾶσσον. t. ii. p. 104. a. Meurs. Rel. Attic. i. p. 2. Plin. Nat. Hist. iv. 11.

1761. Οὐ γάρ φασι δύνασθαι φύεσθαι καὶ λαμβάνειν, ὅπου μὴ ἀναπνοὴ διϊκνεῖται, ἡ ἀπὸ τῆς θαλάσσης· διὸ οὐδ᾽ ἐν Ἀρκαδίᾳ γίνεται· θύμβρα δὲ καὶ ὀρίγανον καὶ τὰ τοιαῦτα πολλὰ καὶ πολλαχοῦ. Theoph. Hist. Plant. vi. 2. 4.

1762. Sibthorp, Flora Græca. tab. 29. Dioscor. i. 10.

1763. Dioscor. iv. 79. According to Plutarch, however, it was not a common plant; for speaking of a prodigy which happened during the misfortunes of the republic, under the reign of Antigonos, he says: περὶ δὲ τοὺς βωμοὺς τοὺς ἐκείνων ἐξήνθησεν ἡ γῆ κύκλω πολὺ κώνειον, ἄλλως μηδὲ τῆς χώραι πολλαχοῦ φυόμενον. Vit. Demet. § 12.

1764. Dioscor. iii 48. Damogeron, ap. Geopon. vii. 13. 4. Pollux. vi. 106.

1765. Plin. Nat. Hist. xxiv. 4.

1766. Schol. Aristoph. Lysist. 2. Potters, notwithstanding the utility of their calling, appear to have been assailed by many a joke among the Athenians, who sometimes sarcastically denominated them Prometheuses. Καὶ αὐτοὶ δὲ Ἀθηναῖοι τοὺς χυτρέας, καὶ ἰπνοποιοὺς, καὶ πάντας, ὅσοι πυλουργοὶ, Προμηθέας ἀπεκάλουν, επισκώπτοντες ἐς τὸν πηλὸν, καὶ τὴν ἐν πυρὶ οἶμαι τῶν σκευῶν ὄπτησιν. Lucian. Prometh. 2. Cf. Chandler, ii. 166.

1768. Herod. v. 88. Athen. xi. 107. Poll. vi. 100. Steph. Byzant. v. Αἰγιναι. p. 53. a.—v. Γάζα. p. 257. a.

1769. Pausan. ix. 19. 8.

1770. Theoph. De Lapid. § 63. “On faisoit autrefois d’excellente poterie à Samos, et c’êtoit peut-être avec la terre de Bavonda.” Tournefort, Voyage du Levant, t. ii. p. 112.

1771. Athen. xi. 11. 95. 101. 108.

1772. The inferiority of the Samian pottery may be inferred from the following passage of Cicero: “Ille, homo eruditissimus, ac Stoicus, stravit pelliculis hœdinis lectulos Punicanos, et exposuit vasa Samia: quasi verò esset Diogenes Cynicus mortuus, et non divini hominis Africani mors honestaretur.” Pro Muren. 36. Cf. Plin. xxxv. 46.

1775. Lucian. Rhet. Præcept. § 15.

1776. Xenoph. Anab. vii. 5. 14.

1777. Much of the wine, however, exported by the Athenians into foreign countries was the produce of the islands. Demosth. cont. Lacrit. § 8.

1778. Schol. Aristoph. Plut. 720. Athen. ii. 76.

1779. Plat. De Rep. iii. t. vi. p. 142. Sweetmeats seem in Greece to have been exported exactly as at present, in boxes of peculiar construction in which they were afterwards kept till eaten. This I think may be inferred from the following passage of the letter from Hippolochos to Lynceus: καὶ τελευταῖαι ἐπεισῆλθον ἐπιδορπίαι τράπεζαι· τραγήματα τ᾽ ἐν πλεκτοῖς ἐλεφαντίνοις ἐπεδόθη πᾶσι, καὶ πλακοῦντες ἕκαστα γένη, Κρητικῶν, καὶ τῶν σῶν, ἑταῖρε Λυγκεῦ, Σαμιακῶν, καὶ Ἀττικῶν, αὐταῖς ταῖς ιδίαις τῶν πεμμάτων θήκαις. Athen. iv. 5.

1780. Athen. vii. 24.

1781. Aristoph. Acharn. 901, sqq. Athen. vii. 22.

1782. Athen. xii. 57.

1783. Athen. vii. 23.

1784. Strab. ix. 1. t. ii. p. 246.

1785. Lucian. Jup. Tragœd. § 10. Chandler, ii. 280.

1786. Bœckh, Pub. Econ. of Athens, ii. 434.

1787. Dioscor. v. 108. Plin. xxxiii. 56.

1788. Theophrast. De Lapid. § 59. Plin. Nat. Hist. iii. 37.

1789. Strab. ix. 1. t. ii. p. 246. Suid. v. ἀργυροῦν, t. i. p. 415. e. Thucyd. ii. 55. vi. 91. Schol. Aristoph. Eq. 361, 1091. Pausan. i. 1. 1.

1790. Ἐπεισέρχεται δὲ διὰ μέγεθος τῆς πόλεως ἐκ πάσης γῆς τὰ πάντα· καὶ ξυμβαίνει ἡμῖν μηδὲν οἰκειότερα τῇ ἀπολαύσει τὰ αὐτοῦ ἀγαθὰ γιγνόμενα καρποῦσθαι, ἢ καὶ τὰ τῶν ἄλλων ἄνθρώπων. Thucyd. ii. 38.

1791. Athen. iii. 101.

1793. Schol. Aristoph. Acharn. 760. Dioscor. v. 126.

1794. As for instance radishes, (Athen. vii. 23,) and cucumbers. (Schol. Aristoph. Pac. 966. Acharn. 494.) I know not whether the samphire (κρίθμον) now found growing among the Saronian rocks (Chandler, ii. 225) entered into the list of the exports of Megara, though it was used both as a medicine and as a vegetable. Dioscor. ii. 157.

1795. Aristoph. Acharn. 519, seq.

1796. Dioscor. iv. 79.

1798. Xenoph. Memor. ii. 7. 6.

1799. Diog. Laert. vi. 2. 41.

1800. Athen. x. 56. Pausan. i. 44. 4. Steph. De Urb. p. 54. a.

1801. See above, Book vi. chap. 9.

1804. Lucian. Dial. Meret. § 14.

1805. Athen. xiv. 76. Eurip. Cyclop. 136.

1806. Athen. vii. 31. i. 49.

1807. Ἀστράγαλος, Dioscor. iv. 62. “Peut-on rien voir de plus beau, en fait de plantes, qu’un Astragale de deux pieds de haut, chargé de fleurs depuis le bas jusques à l’extremité de ses tiges?” Tournefort, Voyage du Levant, t. iii. p. 101.

1808. Plin. Nat. Hist. xii. 56. Πανάκες Ἡράκλειον. Dioscor. iii. 55. Theoph. Hist. Plant. ix. 11. 3. Cornel. Cels. v. 19. 3. Cf. Tournefort, Voyage du Levant, t. iii. p. 25.

1809. Plut. Alexand. § 76. Senec. Quæst. Nat. iii. 5. Plin. Nat. Hist. ii. 106. xxi. 19.

1810. Κολχικὸν. Dioscor. iv. 84.

1811. Dioscor. iv. 105.

1813. Id. iii. 92. Celsus, iv. 18. 29. This plant was employed in preparations to drive away serpents. Geopon. xiii. 8. 2. Nicand. Theriac. 76. Apul. de Herb. c. xcv.

1814. Theoph. de Lapid. § 33. Cf. Anselm. Boet. Gem. et Lap. Hist. ii. 9, p. 141.

1815. Theoph. Hist. Plant. iii. 16. 3.

1817. Plin. Nat. Hist. viii. 68. Strab. viii. 8. t. ii. p. 226.

1818. Strab. viii. 8. t. ii. p. 227.

1819. Plut. Vit. Alexand. § 36.

1820. Athen. vii. 32.

1821. Athen. i. 49, seq. Poll. i. 149.

1822. Dissen, ad Pind. Nem. x. 41.

1823. Plin. Nat. Hist. xxxvii. 25. Theoph. de Lapid. § 33. Athen. v. 26.

1824. Anselm. Boet. Gem. et Lap. Hist. ii. 9, p. 142.

1825. Plin. Nat. Hist. xxv. 36. Winkelm. Hist. de l’Art, t. ii. p. 200, seq.

1826. Plin. Nat. Hist. xiv. 9.

1827. Lucian. Dial. Meret. § 14. Rhet. Præcept. § 15. Ammon. v. Σχισταὶ, p. 133.

1828. Plat. Hipp. Maj. t. v. p. 424.

1829. Schol. Aristoph. Acharn. 724.

1830. Pausan. viii. 21. 14.

1831. Dioscor. i. 66.

1834. Theoph. de Lapid. § 16.

1835. Plin. Nat. Hist. xix. 46.

1836. Pausan. vii. 21. 14.

1837. Strab. viii. 7. t. ii. p. 224.

1838. Strab. viii. 8. t. ii. p. 227.

1839. Athen. i. 49. xiii. 45.

1840. Athen. xii. 29.

1841. Athen. v. 30. Plin, Nat. Hist. xxxvi. 12. ix. 65. xxxiv. 6. Cf. Goguet, Orig. des Loix, v. 303. Iorio, Storia del Commercio, t. iv. l. ii. c. vi. p. 251.

1842. Plin. Nat. Hist. xxxvii. 25. Theoph. de Lapid. § 33.

1843. To this fruit Euphorion alludes in the following verses:

Ὥριον οἷά τε μῆλον, ὁ δ᾽ ἀργιλλώδεσιν ὄχθαις

Πορφύρεον ἐλαχείῃ ἐνι τρέφεται Σιδόεντι.

Athen. iii. 22. Geopon. x. 3. 6.

1844. Εὐαυξεστάτην δὲ τὴν Κορινθίαν (ῥαφανίδα), ἣ καὶ τὴν ῥίζαν ἔχει γυμνήν· ὠθεῖται γὰρ εἰς τὸ ἄνω, καὶ οὐχ ὡς αἱ ἄλλαι κάτω. Theoph. Hist. Plant. vii. 4. 2. Plin. Nat. Hist. xix. 25.

1845. Cf. Huet, Hist. of Commerce, p. 47. Goguet, Orig. des Loix, v. 309.

1846. Plin. Nat. Hist. xviii. 20. Cf. Xenoph. iii. 4. 3.

1848. Id. xix. 23. 38. Theoph. Hist. Plant. vii. 4. 6.

1849. Plin. Nat. Hist. xxv. 95. Schol. Aristoph. Concion. 404.

1850. Casaub. ad Theoph. Char. p. 174. Plin. Nat. Hist. xvi. 66.

1851. Pausan. ii. 3. 5. iii. 21. 4. Plin. Nat. Hist. xxxvi. 11. Tibull. Eleg. l. iii. el. 3. v. 13, seq. The marble of Tænaros was of a yellow colour. Sext. Empir. Hypot. p. 26. Cf. Winkel. Hist. de l’Art, i. 40.

1852. Plin. Nat. Hist. xxxvi. 47. xxxvii. 18. Douglas, Essay on the Modern Greeks, p. 167.

1853. Athen. i. 49. Plin. Nat. Hist. x. 83. Pollux. v. 37. Aristot. Hist. Animal. viii. 28. Spanh. Observ. in Callim. in Dian. 94, t. ii. p. 196.

1854. Suid. v. κώθων et κώθωνες, t. i. p. 1510. a. b.

1855. Suid. v. κώθωνες, t. i. p. 1510. b. Hesych. in v. Athen. xi. 66. Plut. Lycurg. § 9. Poll. vi. 96, seq. Xenoph. Cyrop. i. 2. 8.

1856. Poll. vii. 160.

1857. Polem. ap. Athen. xi. 66.

1858. Athen. v. 28. 30.

1859. Plut. Lycurg. § 9.

1860. Müller, Dorians, ii. 25. Meurs. Lacon. ii. 17.

1861. Plut. Lycurg. § 13.

1862. Theoph. Hist. Plant. iii. 16.3.

1863. Steph. de Urb. v. Λακεδαίμων, p. 505. c. seq. Eustath. ad Il. β. 222. 27. Xenoph. Hellen. iii. 3. 7. Plin. Nat. Hist. vii. 56. Cf. Æn. Tactic. ii. 16.

1864. Suid. v. Λακωνικαὶ κλεῖδες, t. ii. p. 6. b.

1865. Poll. i. 149. 137. Plin. Nat. Hist. xxxiii. 4. Xenoph. Anab. iv. 8. 25. Suid. v. ξυήλήν, t. ii. p. 258. e. f.

1867. Casaub. ad Theoph. Char. p. 174. The καλαυροψ, or shepherd’s crook, was most probably reckoned among the exports of Arcadia. Cf. Etym. Mag. 485. 36. Suid. t. i. p. 1356. c.

1868. Περὶ τὰ Κύθηρα δὲ ἔτι καὶ μείζω τὰ κήτη ὑμνοῦσι γίνεσθαι. Ἕοικε δ᾽ αὐτῶν καὶ τὰ νεῦρα λυσιτελῆ εἶναι εἰς τὰς τῶν ψαλτηρίων, καὶ τῶν ἄλλων ὀργάνων χερδοστροφίας· καὶ μέντοι καὶ ἐς τὰ πολεμικὰ ὀργάνα αἱ τούτων νευραὶ δοκοῦσι λυσιτελέσταται. Ælian. de Animal. xvii. 6.

1869. Theocrit. Eidyll. x. 35, cum Schol. Cf. Aristoph. Vesp. 1159.

1870. Steph. de Urb. v. Λακεδαίμων, p. 505. c. seq. Suid. v. Λακωνικαὶ, t. ii. p. 6. a. Lucian. Rhet. Præcept. § 15. Athen. v. 54. Ὑποδήματα ἄριστα Λακωνικὰ. Id. xi. 66.