Plinies Naturall Hiftorie. 



A will be furc to chaungc ahd to fcrvc them with worfc foone after. In old cimc^the beft winfcs ufed 

 at fcafts were aromatized and Ipiced with fweet Myrrhe : as appeareth in the Comoedie of Plau-- 

 tm entituled Perfa. And yet it fhould feeme therc^that fweet Calamus was to be added bcfides. 

 And hereupon it commeth, that fome have thought, how our forefathers in times paihooke 

 moft delight in fuch fpiccd cups and Ippocras wines. But Fabim Dorfinm the Poet, fufficiently 

 declareth and decideth this point in thefe verfesa when he faith : 



I fentneatwine. 

 Which hightMyrrhine. 



^ And againe in his Comedie AchariHio : 



T{inem^?oknUm{uimmMuYrhm{irn, 



"Both bread and grewell I did prefent^ 

 AndMyrrhinewineof pleafantfent, 



I lee moreover, that SuvoU^ Lalm^zvA Atteim Capto were of the fame mind. For in the 

 C omedie of Plmtm entituled Pfeudolf^, thus it is written : 



.^od p o^m efl ut ddce prmat 

 C Jndtdem^€C(imdhabet}Qhzx,Rogas^ 



Of dulcet wine if there be need. 

 What hope is there from thence to fpeed ? 

 C^jr . Why aske you that ? he furni(h'd is 

 With Murrhin^Cuits^and Meade ywis. 



By which a man may fee evidently jthat Murrhina was not only counted a wine^but reckoned 

 alfo among the fweet and delicate wines. 



Chap. Xiiii. 

 }^OfmmJlore-hDufes:andofOfmianwine, 



THat there were wine- fellars at Rome^ and that they ufed there to tun up wine in the ^33 

 yeare after the foundation thereof^ appeareth plaine by a good proofeof theOpimian 

 wine : and even in thofe daies Italie knew her owne good^and what it was to maintain vine- 

 yards . Howbeitjas yet were not thofe wines in credite^which now arc fo rife and in fo great ac- 

 count. And therefore it isjthat all the wines of that time beare the onely name of that one Con- 

 full, and be called Opimian. And thus afterwards alfo in procelTe of time, the wines that came 

 £ from beyond the feas for a long (pacejWerein much requeft^even until! our grand-fathers daies: 

 yea, and after that, the Falerne wines were in name and called for, as may'appeare by that vcrfe 

 of theComicallPoet: 



£lmnque Thasij vim wdc depromam^ Falerni hina. 



To meafures five of Thafian wine, 

 I will draw twainc of Falerne fine. 



In the ^75 yeareafter the building oiKomeyPubMcimu^CrajfusgindL Julius C£faffi^ 

 forthe time being, publifhed an edi(3: and proclaimed. That no man should sell any 

 P Greeke wine or AmineaNjEUT after eight Asses the Amphor or Qua- 

 dra n t u m. For thefe be the very expreffe words of the faid Edi&, Now was Greeke wine of fo 

 great price and eftimation,that a man was but allowed one draught thereof at a meale,were the 

 cheare never fo greatjand the feaft right fumptuous.But what wines were inrequeft ordinarily at 

 the boidyM,Fam fheweth in thefe words : ULucullusif^oHa, he)while he was aboy, never law at 



