22 CULTIVATED VEGETABLES. 



vegetable amongst the choice plants of the 

 garden, being in fact no other than the this- 

 tle. He states, that the thistles about Car- 

 thage the Great, and Corduba especially, 

 cost the Romans, annually, six thousand 

 thousand sesterces ; and concludes by cen- 

 suring the vanity and prodigality of his coun- 

 trymen, in serving up such things at table as 

 the very asses and other beasts refuse, for 

 fear of pricking their lips. We find in the 

 fourth chapter of the same book, that the 

 commoners of Rome were prohibited, by an 

 arbitrary law, from eating artichokes. The 

 same author says, artichokes are preserved 

 in vinegar, and in honey, and seasoned also 

 with the costly root of the lazerwort plant, 

 and cumin ; by which means they were to 

 be had every day in the year. 



The juice of the artichoke, pressed out 

 before it blossoms, was used by the ancients 

 to restore the hair of the head, even when it 

 was quite bald. They also ate the root of 

 this plant (as well as that of the thistle) sod- 

 dened in water, to enable them to drink to 

 excess, as it excited a desire for liquor. It 

 was supposed to strengthen the stomach, 

 and was reported by Chaereas the Athenian, 

 and Glaucias, to cause mothers to be blessed 



