PLINY S NATXJEAL HISTOBY. 
[Book XIY. 
the question? He has myrrh wine, raisin wine, defrutum,'^ 
and honey from which it would appear that myrrh wine 
was not only reckoned among the wines, but among the sweet 
wines too. 
CHAP. 16. (14.) SOME EEMAEKABLE PACTS CONNECTED WITH 
WINE-LOFTS. THE OPIMIAN WINE. 
The fact of the existence of the Opimian wine gives un- 
doubted proof that there were wine-lofts,^ and that wine was 
racked off in the year of Rome 633, Italy being already alive 
to the blessings she enjoyed. Still, however, the several 
varieties that are now so celebrated were not so in those days ; 
and hence it is that all the wines that were grown at that 
period have only the one general name of Opimian" wines, 
from the then consul Opimius. So, too, for a long time after- 
wards, and, indeed, so late as the times of our grandfathers, the 
Yvanes from beyond sea were held in the highest esteem, even 
though Ealernian was already known, a fact which we learn 
from the line of the Comic writer,^ I shall draw five cups of 
Thasian and two of Falernian.'' 
P. Licinius Crassus, and L. Julius Csesar, who were Cen- 
sors in the year from the Building of the City 665, issued an 
edict forbidding the sale of either Greek or Aminean wine at 
a higher price than eight asses the quadrantaP — for such, in 
fact, are the exact words of the edict. Indeed, the Greek 
wines were so highly valued, that not more than a single cup 
was served to a guest during the repast. 
CHAP. 17. AT WHAT PERIOD POUR KINDS OP WINS WERE PIRST 
SERVED AT TABLE. 
M. Yarro gives us the following statement as to the wines 
that were held in the highest esteem at table in his dsij : 
L. Lucullus, when a boy, never saw an entertainment at his 
father's house, however sumptuous it might be, at which Greek 
2 Must boiled down to half its original quantity. 
3 Apothecas. The " apothecae" were rooms at the top of the house, in 
which the wines were placed for the purpose of seasoning. Sometimes a 
current of smoke was directed through them. They were quite distinct 
from the " cella \'inaria/' or " wiHe- cellar." The Opimian wine is men- 
tioned in c. 4. 
* This writer is unknown. ^ Or ampliora. 
