Pertinax

Now then , I am moved to start a discourse on truffles in the Roman world (indeed also in the Hellenic world), because from that time until quite recently I fear this most splendid of fungii has suffered foolish neglect. I note that the only real trouble the truffle has caused was the loss of licinius'( governor of Carthage) two front teeth when biting vigorously into a rather tough find. First a suggested reading pleasure: Evergreen ie: Benedikt Taschen , publish a work called "The Joy of Truffles" (text Buchner, photos R and RM Scnell). A guilty pleasure , made up of a few notes and many wonderful photographs. http://www.amazon.co.uk/-Joy-Truffles-Ever...8559626?ie=UTF8 As you will see from this work , the essence of truffle hunting is the resolution of a subterranean symbiotic sexual act, by the questing nose of a sow or female truffle hound-because of the close relationship between the ascomycetous fungiis musky testoserase odour and the male sex hormone testosterene.

Some honey glazed dormice.

A small , but vital point here: the importation of lucerne (possibly by accident as a seed) as a feed crop for cavalry mounts was a key technological step in the improved provisioning of horses.

I paraphrase a recent post " The Greeks were violent, but free" . Excellent.

The dig at Deva continues, I would like to bring it to the general attention of the Forum. I have blogged a small item , but you can pick up the useful "site newsletter" direct from the site link in the blog.(Note the foodstuffs dear reader!) http://www.unrv.com/forum/index.php?act=mo...si&img=1057

A rapid scouting trip to check out this pivotal city in the conquest of Britain , both as a Legionary base and a port for the Classis. The sudden onset of bad weather drove me off site , but I was able to get a few useful shots for our information. http://www.unrv.com/forum/index.php?act=mo...si&img=1055 The amphitheatre project continues, the dig is well underway and here is the official site: http://www.chester.gov.uk/amphitheatre/index.html as can be seen this is the largest uncovered such in the UK.Please look at the downloadable newsletter, I was particularly interested to see the wide range of foods that were eaten! I also examined the "Roman Garden" , essentially a pleasant area where many small scale roman finds have been recycled in an area below the city wall.A hypocaust has been "rebuilt" , to give a good approximation of the shape of the real thing. http://www.unrv.com/forum/index.php?act=mo...si&img=1056 The City is notable for its preservation of Tudor buildings also. http://www.unrv.com/forum/index.php?act=mo...si&img=1057 A truncated visit , but I will try again! This is rather a useful British History source, here I cite the chronology of occupation for Deva..Which neatly ties in my friends at LEG II AVG as representatives of the founding Legion. http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.asp?compid=19183#s2

The Vertragii (from the link in Skarr's post) look very similar to a modern greyhound/whippet type animal. "Lurcher" would be the best modern term. http://www.users.daelnet.co.uk/lurchers/

The Sunday Times confirms ,once again, the remote and dank climate Beyond Ocean. Even our ancestors left in disgust. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2087-2330370,00.html

If you hunt about in my blog and the "Roman World Herbal" gallery there are lots of side notes about "modern" usage of remedies. For example, Henbane, which we saw being given to Titus Pullo, is still the essence of modern pre-med anasthesia: foxglove is digoxin the cardio medicine : the best short statement is that the extraction of the active medical principles has improved, but, thats why chemical medicines have side effects, divorce from the plant matrix. Asprin is a small and handy drug but can give you acetelyne poisoning, meadowsweet and white willow (from which it comes) dont have that problem.

LW link back to this: http://www.unrv.com/forum/index.php?act=mo...=si&img=296 you will see we have chatted about the subject previously.

Heaven forfend, I forgot to say, the UK. This area was notable for proximity to the important iron smelting areas of the Weald. Do you have any more clues regarding the " southwater" site you have in mind? Here we have South Shields (Arbeia) a very important supply port at the Eastern extremity of Hadrian's Wall (especially during the Severan campaigns). http://images.google.co.uk/imgres?imgurl=h...cial_s%26sa%3DG

Hmm, I have a Southwick reference for you (West Sussex): http://www.romansinsussex.co.uk/level3/sea...p?sitenumber=14

Am I the only weird person who thinks that horehound actually tastes GOOD?? or is it just that I've gotten used to taking the tincture either on a spoon of sugar or straight so I have "aquired a taste for it". Most people will, after initially making bad faces, get used to nearly any tincture-not least because of the effectivness. Sub-lingual ingestion in the pytallin (in saliva) makes very efficient use of any medicine, rather than dropping it straight into a vat of stomach acid.Black Walnut and Wormwood are the two most bitter tastes, though wormwood as "vermouth" adds a piquancy to any fortified wine.

I have to agree with the Antonine plague suggestion, like the Black Death it had a fundamental effect on the social/political and moral balance of the society it struck, and reverberated for centuries thereafter.

Here is an interesting snippet, this is regarding Silphium (the "lost " herb of great value) as a contraceptive. If it was (as the coin representations seem to show) an umbilliferous member of the carrot family, then perhaps we have a "missing link" between the deadliness of hemlock and the benigin yarrow, (with a tantalising flavour). http://www.healthsystem.virginia.edu/inter.../gynecology.cfm scroll down my blog to "umbelliferae" for a brief exposition on the plant variants.

As many of you will be aware , I am trying to recreate the appropraite "medium" for appropriate herbal medicines as used in the Roman world. Andrew Dalby was kind enough to suggest that a species of cheap Malaga would be a good approximation, in terms of palate and (probably) appropriate quality for usage by the rough soldiery. As we have discussed in the forum various common medicines were stored in amphorae , with the herb macerated in a wine base. This form of storage is still , in essence, the format of modern herbal tinctures , certainly the maceration process would be understood by a Roman commercial producer. I got hold of Sally Grainger's "Cooking Apicius" which is a practical Roman cookery guide . http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/1903018...ay&v=glance certainly the recipes we have tried so far have been a success. In this little volume there are notes on Passum as a dessert wine ie: a raisin wine made with grapes allowed to shrivel on the vine (or dried on rush matting). Grainger suggests "Malaga Dulce" , though I assume this would be too "sophisticated" for the hoi polloi."Muscat of Samos" also gets a mention from Greece.It just so happens that these people... http://www.stickytoffeepudding.co.uk/ have a "pudding wine" which seems to fit the bill quite nicely.It happens to be an Aussie sweet raisin wine, and I have a bottle right here. I suspect two of the main "cough" syrup herbs will be masked by the sweetness of the wine, elecampagne and horehound (both attested as found in amphorae in Britain).I hope to now produce a "real" medicine that wont kill any re-enactors. If you require a recipe for this excellent pudding , here is another local one (ignore the margarine! use butter): http://www.sugarvine.com/recipes/recipes_details.asp?dish=47 or http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/database...pud_67654.shtml If by any chance you are unfamiliar with Mr Dalby's excellent site may I link you thus: http://perso.orange.fr/dalby/ephemeris/arc...2/entry_88.html by way of a splendid quotation...