24 



and teach the use of wine. Some authorities have been of opinion that 

 Bacchus, Osiris, and Noah were simply different names for the one 

 individual. 



From Greece the Grape was taken to Italy, and soon afterwards it 

 was distributed through the other countries of Southern Europe. Soon 

 after its introduction to their country the Vine became very popular 

 with the Romans, who cultivated it extensively. According to Pliny, 

 no less than 195 varieties of Grapes were known and cultivated in his 

 time. Wine appears to have been used freely *by both Greeks and 

 Romans, not only for ordinary purposes, but also in oblations to the 

 gods when practising their religious ceremonies. But though the use 

 of wine was general with the Roman nation, yet for a long time its abuse 

 was strictly guarded against by special legislation. Young men were 

 not allowed to drink wine till they were thirty years of age, and women 

 were strictly prohibited from touching it at any time. Any breach of 

 the laws dealing with this matter led to very severe punishments. 

 According to history, a prominent Roman, Egnatius Macennis, in a fit of 

 anger killed his wife for drinking wine, and when tried for the offence 

 before Romulus he was acquitted on the ground that under the 

 circumstances his action was justifiable. It is also recorded that a 

 Roman lady of rank was stoned to death by her own relations for 

 breaking open a cellar and indulging in wine. Cato informs us that the 

 custom of kissing women originated in the desire to find from their 

 breath whether they had been taking wine. Gradually, however, the 

 severe restrictions as to the abuse of wine were relaxed, and drinking to 

 excess become a common practice with both sexes. So great did the 

 demand for wine become eventually, that vine-growing increased to such 

 an extent as to cause the neglect of other branches of Roman agriculture. 

 To change this state of affairs, Domitian issued an edict ordering that 

 half the vineyards should be destroyed, and prohibiting the planting of 

 new ones. 



Great attention appears to have been given to their vineyards by the 

 ancients, who seem to have been well acquainted with the arts of 

 propagating and pruning. Pliny informs us, that, in order to encourage 

 pruning, wine from unpruned vines was prohibited in sacrificing to the 

 gods. The art of preserving Grapes, both in a fresh and dried state, 

 appears to have been generally practised by several of the nations of 

 antiquity. Dried fruits, or raisins, was prepared by both Greeks and 

 Romans, whose practise was to dip the bunches into a hot lye made with 

 wood ashes, and then dry them in the sun. Fruit is prepared in Spain 

 at the present time in precisely the same manner. Columella informs us 

 that fresh Grapes were in his time preserved for long periods by packing 

 them in small jars, one bunch in each. The fruit was gathered when 

 perfectly dry and the sun shining fully upon the bunches, which were 

 then hung in a shady place to cool. The bunches were suspended in 

 the jars so that they hung by their stalks, and the space left between was 

 filled with chaff. Afterwards the mouths of the jars were closed tightly, 

 and covered with a layer of pitch or wax, to exclude the air. The jars 

 were then kept in cool cellars till the fruit was wanted. 



