Athenaeus - Deipnosophists Book III
Book III. 73 b - d
Phylarchus says: “Never before, in any region, had Egyptian beans been sown, or, if they were, did they grow anywhere except in Egypt. But in the reign of Alexander, son of Pyrrhus, it chanced that they sprang up in a swamp near the Thyamis river in Thesprotia, a region of Epeirus. For perhaps two years, then, they bore fruit luxuriantly and spread; but when Alexander stationed a guard over them to see to it that no one should even approach the spot, to say nothing of gathering them at will, the swamp dried up, and not only did not produce the aforesaid fruit again, but whatever water it had contained never reappeared. The like also occurred to Aedepsus. For, not to mention other waters, a spring came to light which sent forth cold water not far from the sea. The sick who drank of it received the greatest benefit, so that many came even from great distances to use the water. Accordingly the generals of King Antigonus, desiring to be more efficient in collecting revenue, imposed a special tax on all who drank, and as a result the stream dried up. In the Troad, also, all who desired were at liberty in old times to collect salt at Tragasae. But when Lysimachus levied a tax on it, it disappeared. Surprised at this, he exempted the place from taxation, whereupon the salt increased once more.”
Book III. 77 d – e
And Theopompus, in the fifty-fourth book of his Histories, says that in parts of Philip’s domain, round about Bisaltia, Amphipolis, and Grastonia, in Macedonia, the fig-trees produce figs, the vines grapes, the olive-trees olives, in the middle of spring, at the time when you would expect them to be just bursting forth, and that Philip was lucky in everything.
Book III 87 b
Hicesius, the disciple of Erasistratus, says that some cockles are called rough, others are called regal. The rough are also of poor flavour and afford little nourishment, but are easily passed; purple-fishers use them also for bait; of the smooth varieties, on the other hand, their excellence increases with their size. Hegesander, in the Commentaries, says that the rough-shelled conchs are called “sacks” by the Macedonians, but “rams, by the Athenians.
Book III 93 c – d
And Chares of Mitylene says, in the seventh part of his Tales of Alexander: “A creature similar to the oyster is caught in the Indian Sea, likewise also in the waters adjacent to Armenia, Persia, Susa, and Babylon; it is of considerable size and oblong, and contains within it a flesh which is plump and white and very fragrant. From it they extract white bones which they call pearls, from which they make necklaces, bracelets, and anklets. The Persians, Medes, and in fact all Asiatics value them far more than articles made of gold.
Book III. 98 d – e
Speaking of the same Dionysius, Athanis, in the first book of his Sicilian History, says that he called the ox “earth-earer’ and the pig iacchos. Like him also was Alexarchus (brother of Cassander, once king of Macedonia) the found of the city named Uranopolis. Concerning him Heracleides Lembus, in the thirty-seventh book of his Histories, narrates the following: ‘Alexarchus, founder of Uranopolis, introduced peculiar expressions, calling the cock “dawn-crier,” the barber “mortal-shaver,” the drachma “a silver bit,” the quart-measure “daily feeder,” the herald “loud bawler.” And on one occasion he sent this strange message to the authorities of Cassandreaia*: ‘Alexarchus, to the Primipiles of Brother’s Town, joy: Our sun-fleshed yeans, I wot, and dams thereof which guard the braes whereon they were born, have been visited by the fateful dome of the gods in might, fresheting them hence from the forsaken fields.” What this letter means, I fancy, not even the god of Delphi could make out.’
* Named after his brother, Cassander.
Book III. 100 e – f
Lynceus of Samos, intimate friend of Theophrastus, also knows of the use of the paunch with silphium extract. At any rate, in his description of Ptolemy’s symposium his words are: ‘A paunch was passed round, served in vinegar and silphium juice.’ This juice is mentioned by Antiphanes in Unhappy Lovers, speaking of Cyrene: ‘I will not sail back to the place from which we were carried away, for I want to say good-bye to all – horses, silphium, chariots, silphium stalks, steeple-chasers, silphium leaves, fevers, and silphium juice.’
Book III. 101 e - f
Lynceus, however, in his description of the dinner given by the flute-girl Lamia in honour of Demetrius Poliorcetes represents the guests as eating all sorts of fish and flesh the moment they entered the dining room. Similarly, in describing the arrangements for King Antigonus’s dinner, when he celebrated the festival of Aphrodite, as well as the dinner given by King Ptolemy, he says that fish and meat were served first.
Book III. 105 e
That artificer of fancy dishes, Archestratus, gives this advice: “If ever you go to Issus, city of the Carians, you will get a good-sized shrimp. But it is rare in the market, whereas in Macedonia and Ambracia there are plenty.”
Book III. 120 d - e
Crowding all the drinks at the beginning is a practice to be avoided, for they render it hard to absorb any additional moisture. But the Macedonians, as Ephippus* of Olynthus observes in his account of the funeral of Alexander and Hephaestion, never understood how to drink in moderation, but rather drank deep at the beginning of the feast. Hence they were drunk while the first courses were still being served and could not enjoy their food.
* Ephippus of Olynthus, one of Alexander the Great’s officers, author of a work on the funeral of Alexander and Hephaestion (last half of the fourth century B.C.)
Book III. 124 c
Even the excellent Xenophon, in the Memorabilia, knows of the use of snow in drinking, and Chares of Mitylene, when he recounts the siege of the Indian capital Petra. He says that Alexander dug thirty refrigerating pits which he filled with snow and covered with oak boughs. In this way, he says, snow will last a long time.