A mead recipe from the Roman empireby Eduardo Miranda | on 5
Nov, 2012 Lucius Junius Moderatus Columella (AD 4 ca. AD 70) , was
one of the most important writer on agriculture of the Roman
empire. Little is known of his life but he was probably born in
Gades (modern Cadiz, Spain).From his writing reached us De re
rustica (field work) and Liber de arboribus (Book of trees). The
first of these works, written in AD 42, is divided into twelve
volumes, and inspired by earlier works of other Latin, Greek and
Carthaginian authors, it all works on the filed in the broadest
sense of the word: from the practice of agriculture, livestock and
beekeeping until the cure of animals and the preparation of
different products and preserves. In the book De Arboribus
discusses plant cultivation, as the vine, until the trees like
olive or fruit trees, and even flowers like violet or roses,
Columellas work is considered the most extensive repertoire and
documented on Roman agriculture.De re rustica first page and page
157 (vol. XII)Hand scribe in Npoles, in 1488 by Giovanni Rinaldo
Mennio with Illuminations from Francesco di Antonio del ChiericoIn
De re rustica, volume XII, page 157, we can find a reference to a
mead recipe entitled De aqua mulsa facienda:[Latim transcription]DE
AQUA MULSA FACIENDA. Itaque seposita elle et ad condituras
destinata, per se facienda erit optimo melle aqua mulsa. Haec autem
non uno modo conponitur; nam quidam multos ante annos caelestem
aquam vasis includunt et sub dio in sole habent, deinde, cum
saepius eam in alia vasa transfuderunt et eliquaverunt; nam
quotiensque etiam per longum tempus diffunditur, aliquod
crassamentum in imo simile faeci reperitur , veteris aquae
sextarium cum libra mellis miscent. Nonnulli tamen, qui austeriorem
volunt efficere gustum, sextarium aquae cum dodrante pondo mellis
diluunt et ea portione repletam lagonam gypsatamque patiuntur per
Caniculae ortum in sole quadraginta diebus esse; tum demum in
tabulatum, quod fumum accipit, reponunt.ALITER. Nonnulli, quibus
non fuit curae caelestem inveterare aquam, recentem sumunt eamque
usque in quartam partem decoquunt; deinde, cum refrixerit, sive
dulciorem mulseam facere volunt, duobus aquae sextariis sextarium
mellis permiscent, sive austeriorem, sextario aquae dodrantem
mellis adiciunt; et his portionibus factam in lagonam diffundunt
eamque, sicut supra dixi, quadraginta diebus insolatam postea in
tabulatum, quod suffumigatur, reponunt.In 1745, a anonymous
translation of De re rustica and Liber de arboribus into English
was published by A. Millar (London, UK) with the title L. Junius
Moderatus Columella of Husbandry in Twelve Books and his Book
concerning Trees.De re rustica published by A. Millar, in 1745,
first page and page 517 (Chapter XII)In this English translation of
Columellas work we can find the mead recipe on chapter XII, page
517, entitled Of the Way to make mead:[English
transcription]Therefore having set apart this bees-wax-water, and
destinated it for preserving of fruits, mead must be made by itself
of the very best honey ; but it is not made after one manner : for
some, many years before, put up rain-water in vessels, and set it
in the Sun in the open air ; then, having emptied it from one
vessel to another, and made it very clear, (for, as often as it is
poured from one vessel to another, even for a long time, there is
found, in the bottom of the vessel, some thick settling like dregs)
they mix a sextarius of old water with a pound of
honey.Nevertheless some, when they have a mind to make the mead of
a rougher taste, mingle a sextarius of water with three quarters of
a pound of honey ; and after they have, according to this
proportion, filled a stone bottle, and plaistered it, they suffer
it to be forty days in the Sun, during the rising of the Dog-star ;
then they put it up in a lost, which receives smoak. Some, who have
not been at the pains to preserve rain-water till it becomes old,
take that which is fresh, and boil it in to a fourth part : then,
after it is grown cold, if either they have a mind to make mead
sweeter than ordinary, they mix a sextarius of honey with two
sextarii of water ; or, if they would have it rougher, they put
three quarters of a pound of honey to a sextarius of water ; and,
having made it according to these proportions, they pour it into a
stone bottle ; and, after they have kept it forty days in the Sun,
as I faid above, they put it up in a lost, which receives smoak
from below.Note about units:Sextarius A sextarius is an 1/48th of
an amphora quadrantal. The amphora quadrantal was a unit for
measuring liquids or bulk goods in the Roman Empire. The volume of
a standard amphora is equal to one cubic foot (one foot is about
296 mm) there is about 25.93 liters. The theoretical value for the
sextarius is about 540.3 ml.Libra / Roman pound The libra is an
ancient Roman unit of mass that was equivalent to approximately
328.9 grams. The libra is the origin of the abbreviation for pound,
lb. The commonly used abbreviation lbs to indicate the plural unit
of measurement does not reflect Latin usage, in which lb is both
the singular and plural abbreviation.The Latin text makes reference
to libra so in the english text must be understood as a reference
to the Roman pound.Disclaimer: The formulas (recipes) for mead in
this article was commonly consumed in historic times. The recipes
and instructions for these meads are for historical and educational
purposes only. The author do not recommend the making or use of
these meads by the reader. The author shall be held blameless for
any injury to the reader that may occur from the ingestion of any
of these recipes.
