BOOK XIV. III. i8-iv. 22 



the vine '^ has been introduced into the canip, and in 

 the hand of the centurions is the mainstay of supreme 

 authority and command and with its rich reward it 

 lures on the laggard ranks to the tardy eagles,* and 

 even in offences it confers honour on punishment 

 itself.^ Moreover it was vineyards ^ that suggested 

 a method for siege-trains. As for medicines, grapes 

 hold such an important place among them that they 

 act as remedies in themselves, merely by supplying 

 wine. 



IV. Democritus, who professed to know all the Varietiesoj 

 different kinds of vines in Greece, was alone in think- *""^* 

 ing it possible for them to be counted, but all other 

 writers have stated that there is a countless and 

 infinite number of varieties ; and the truth of this will 

 appear more clearly if we consider the various kinds 

 of wines. We shall not mention all of them, but 

 the most famous, inasmuch as there are almost as 

 many wines as there are districts, so that it will be 

 enough to have pointed out the most celebrated kinds 

 of wine or the ones remarkable for some special 

 property. 



The highest rank is given to the vines of Aminaea, Tiie Ami- 

 on account of the body of that wine and its hfe, which £Xlrt*'"^ 

 undoubtedly improves with age. There are five 

 varieties * of these vines ; of these the * younger 

 sister ' with a smaller berry sheds its blossom better/ 

 and can stand rain and stormy weather, which is not 

 the case with the ' elder sister,' though this is less 

 hable to damage when trained on a tree than when 

 on a frame. The ' twin sisters,' which have got this 

 name because the bunches always grow in pairs, 

 give a wine with a very rough flavour but of ex- 



I.e. with less damage to the young grape, c/. § 34. 



199 



