222 
pliny's katueal histobt. 
[Book XIV. 
placed in the centurion's hand for the preservation of the 
supreme authority and command ? that this is the high reward 
which summons the lagging ranks to the eagles raised aloft, 
and that even in chastisement for faults it tends to reflect 
honour upon the punishment It was the vineyard, too, 
that first afforded a notion,^^ the practical utility of which has 
been experienced in many a siege. Among the medicinal pre- 
parations, too, the vine holds so high a place, that its very 
wines taken by themselves are efficacious as remedies for 
disease.^' 
CHAP. 4. (2.) NINETY-ONE VARIETIES OF THE VINE. 
Democritus, who has declared that he was acquainted with 
every variety of the grape known in Greece, is the only person 
who has been of opinion that every kind could be enumerated ; 
but, on the other hand, the rest of the authors have stated that 
they are quite innumerable^^ and of infinite extent, an assertion 
the truth of which will be more evident, if we only consider 
the vast number of wines. I shall not attempt, then, to speak 
of every kind of vine, but only of those that are the most re- 
markable, seeing that the varieties are very nearly as number- 
less as the districts in which they grow. It will suffice, then, 
to point out those which are the most remarkable among the 
vines, or else are peculiar for some wonderful property. 
The very highest rank is given to the Aminean^^ gi'ape, on 
2^ The reading " elatas," has been ndopted. If "lentas" is retained, 
it may mean, promotion, slow though it be," for the word " aquila" 
was often used to denote the rank of the primipilus," who had the 
charge of the eagle of the legion. 
25 Because it was the privilege solely of those soldiers who were Roman 
citizens to be beaten with the vine sapling. 
36 He alludes to the "vinea" used in besieging towns ; the first notion 
of which was derived from the leafy roof afforded by the vines when creeping 
on the trellis over-head. It was a moveable machine, affording a roof 
under which the besiegers protected themselves against darts, stones, fire, 
and other missiles. Eaw hides or wet cloths constituted the uppermost 
layer. 
3' See B. xxiii. c. 19. 
Many years ago, there were in the gardens of the Luxembourg one 
thousand four hundred varieties of the French grape, and even then there 
were many not to be found there ; while, at the same time, it was con- 
sidered that the French kinds did not form more than one- twentieth part 
of the species known in Europe. 
^3 This vine was said to he of Grecian origin, and to have been con- 
