BOOK XXIII. XX. 33-35 



XX. In the past there was a strong preference for The vanou 

 the wine of Surrentum, followed by one for Alban ''^^^f "^ 

 or Falernian ; after that various choices have been 

 popular, each man — so unreasonable are we in our 

 judgments — dictating to everybody else a preference 

 for what he himself finds most pleasant ; and yet 

 even with uniformity of opinion how small a part of 

 mankind could make use of these kinds of wine. 

 Today indeed not even our nobihty ever enjoys 

 wines that are genuine. So low has our commercial 

 honesty sunk that only the names of the vintages are 

 sold, the wines being adulterated as soon they ax-e 

 poured into the vats. Accordingly, strange indeed 

 as the remark may seem, the more common a wine is 

 today, the freer it is from impurities. Neverthe- 

 less, the opinions of the wines we have mentioned 

 seem on the whole the best maintained. If anyone 

 lays stress also on the test of age, that Falernian is 

 wholesome which is neither new nor too old ; its 

 middle age begins when it is fifteen years old. 

 Taken as a cold draught it is good for the stomach, 

 but in hot water it is not. For chronic cough and 

 hkewise for quartan ague it is swallowed with benefit 

 neat and on an empty stomach. No other wine 

 quickens so much the action of the veins. Astringent 

 to the bowels it puts flesh on the body. It is a firm 

 belief that this wine injures the vision and is not 

 beneficial to nerves " or to the bladder. Alban 

 wines are better for the nerves, the sweet ones less 

 so to the stomach, while the dry are even more 

 beneficial than the Falernian. They aid digestion 

 less and tend to overload the stomach, but the wines 

 of Surrentum have no such bad effects, nor do 

 they go to the head, while they check catarrhs of the 



437 



