Senator [Cassiodorus], Praetorian Prefect, to the Tax Collector of Venetia.
The lavish provisions of the royal table are no small ornament to the state, for a ruler is believed to possess as much as the novelties on which he feasts. A private man has what his locality provides. But at a royal banquet, one ought to seek out whatever is worth marveling at. Let the Danube send its carp, let anchovy come from the Rhine, let Sicilian swordfish be brought at whatever cost, let the sea of Bruttium [Calabria] send its sweet perch -- let fish renowned for their flavor be gathered from every region. This is how a king should dine: so that the ambassadors of foreign nations believe he possesses nearly everything.
Accordingly, the wines that Italy alone -- uniquely rich in this regard -- produces must be secured, lest we who must seek exotic foods abroad should seem to have neglected what is our own. The Count of the Patrimony has reported that the supply of acinaticum [a prized raisin wine, named from acinus, "grape berry"] has run low in the royal cellars.
Since all offices owe one another mutual service in matters pertaining to our rulers, we order you to approach the property owners of Verona -- where the production of this wine is a particular specialty -- so that, upon receiving a fair price, no one delays in selling what he ought to be honored to offer to the royal court. This is a product Italy may rightly boast of. For although ingenious Greece commends itself with many subtle refinements, flavoring its wines with spices or adding the tang of seawater, for all its elaborate methods it has nothing comparable.
This wine is pure, royal in color, and extraordinary in flavor. You might think that the finest purple dye was steeped in its springs, or that its liquid was pressed from the very cloth of emperors. Its sweetness is felt with an inexpressible delicacy. It has a certain firmness of body, almost astringent. Its texture is rich and dense to the touch, so that you would call it either a liquid flesh or a drinkable food. Let me describe how uniquely it is made. In autumn, grapes picked from the vines are hung upside down in trellises within the house, preserved in their natural cases, kept in their own skins. They wrinkle but do not dissolve with age. Then, sweating out their thin, tasteless moisture, they sweeten with a wonderful richness.
The process extends into December, until the cold of winter opens their flow. By a marvelous reversal, the wine becomes new when everything else in the cellars is old. A winter vintage, the cold blood of grapes, a harvest in frost, a crimson liquid, a drinkable purple, a violet nectar -- it first ferments at its source, and when it reaches maturity, it begins to possess an eternal freshness. It is not rudely crushed underfoot, nor clouded by any admixture of impurities, but -- as befits such nobility -- it is summoned forth with care. It flows while water freezes. It is fertile when every other crop of the fields has departed. It distills a liquid comparable to gems, weeping something inexplicably delightful -- and beyond the pleasure of its sweetness, there is a singular beauty in its appearance.
Search for this wine as quickly as possible, purchase it at fair prices, and hand it over for transport to the agents dispatched for this purpose. And do not neglect the variety that gleams with a milky hue, since whatever is harder to find is all the more wonderful. Its whiteness is lovely and its purity serene, so that you would think the red was born from roses and the white from lilies. They differ in color but are kin in flavor -- different in appearance yet equal in delight. What is sharp in taste and quick to refresh is understood to be common to both, yet the visible difference between them is remarkable. You behold one joyful in its redness, the other festive in its whiteness. The procurement of both must therefore be carried out with the greatest speed, since both possess what is equally desired.
IIII.
CANONICARIO VENETIARUM SENATOR PPO.
[1] Mensae regalis apparatus ditissimus non parvus rei publicae probatur ornatus, quia tanta dominus possidere creditur, quantis novitatibus epulatur. privati est habere quod locus continet: in principali convivio hoc profecto decet exquiri, quod visum debeat ammirari. destinet carpam Danuvius, a Rheno veniat anchorago, exormiston Sicula quibuslibet laboribus offeratur: Bruttiorum mare dulces mittat acernias: sapori pisces de diversis finibus afferantur. sic decet regem pascere, ut a legatis gentium credatur paene omnia possidere. [2] Et ideo procuranda sunt vina, quae singulariter fecunda nutrit Italia, ne qui externa debemus appetere, videamur propria non quaesisse. comitis itaque patrimonii relatione declaratum est acinaticium, cui nomen ex acino est, enthecis aulicis fuisse tenuatum. [3] Et quia cunctae dignitates invicem sibi debent necessaria ministrare, quae probantur ad rerum dominos pertinere, ad possessores Veronenses, ubi eius rei cura praecipua est, vos iubemus accedere, quatenus accepto pretio competenti nullus tardet vendere quod principali gratiae deberet offerre. digna plane species, de qua se iactet Italia. nam licet ingeniosa Graecia multifaria se diligentiae subtilitate commendet et vina sua aut odoribus condiat aut marinis permixtionibus insaporet, sub tanta tamen exquisitione reperitur simile nil habere. [4] Hoc est enim merum et colore regium et sapore praecipuum, ut blattam aut ipsius putes fontibus tingi aut liquores eius a purpura credantur expressi. dulcedo illic ineffabili suavitate sentitur: stipsis nescio qua firmitate roboratur: tactus eius densitate pinguescit, ut dicas esse aut carneum liquorem aut edibilem potionem. libet referre quam singularis eius videatur esse collectio. autumno lecta de vineis in pergulis domesticis uva resupina suspenditur, servatur in vasis suis, thecis naturalibus custoditur. rugescit, non liquescit ex senio: tunc fatuos humores exsudans magna suavitate dulcescit. [5] Trahitur ad mensem Decembrem, donec fluxum eius hiemis tempus aperiat, miroque modo incipit esse novum, quando cellis omnibus reperitur antiquum. hiemale mustum, uvarum frigidus sanguis, in rigore vindemia, cruentus liquor, purpura potabilis, violeum nectar defervet primum in origine sua et cum potuerit adulescere, perpetuam incipit habere novitatem. non calcibus iniuriose tunditur nec aliqua sordium ammixtione fuscatur, sed, quemadmodum decet, nobilitas tanta provocatur. defluit, dum aqua durescit: fecunda est, cum omnis agrorum fructus abscedit. distillat gemmis comparem liquorem: iucundum nescio quid illacrimat et praeter quod eius delectat dulcedo, in aspectu singularis eius est pulchritudo. [6] Hoc quantocius perquisitum et competentibus pretiis adgregatum chartariis qui in rem directi sunt tradite deferendum nec illud neglegendum putetis, quod lacteo poculo relucescit, quando plus est mirabile quod potueritis difficilius invenire. albedo ibi decora est et serena puritas, ut illud de rosis, hoc credatur natum esse de liliis. colore quidem extraneum, sed sapore germanum est: aspectus dispar et similis in utroque suavitas. nam quod acute sapit, quod cito reficit, commune illis intellegitur, sed magna est distantia quae videtur. istud intueris rubore laetum, illud conspicis candore festivum. et ideo procuratio eorum debet esse celerrima, quando ambobus inesse cognoscitur quod pariter expetatur.
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Senator [Cassiodorus], Praetorian Prefect, to the Tax Collector of Venetia.
The lavish provisions of the royal table are no small ornament to the state, for a ruler is believed to possess as much as the novelties on which he feasts. A private man has what his locality provides. But at a royal banquet, one ought to seek out whatever is worth marveling at. Let the Danube send its carp, let anchovy come from the Rhine, let Sicilian swordfish be brought at whatever cost, let the sea of Bruttium [Calabria] send its sweet perch -- let fish renowned for their flavor be gathered from every region. This is how a king should dine: so that the ambassadors of foreign nations believe he possesses nearly everything.
Accordingly, the wines that Italy alone -- uniquely rich in this regard -- produces must be secured, lest we who must seek exotic foods abroad should seem to have neglected what is our own. The Count of the Patrimony has reported that the supply of acinaticum [a prized raisin wine, named from acinus, "grape berry"] has run low in the royal cellars.
Since all offices owe one another mutual service in matters pertaining to our rulers, we order you to approach the property owners of Verona -- where the production of this wine is a particular specialty -- so that, upon receiving a fair price, no one delays in selling what he ought to be honored to offer to the royal court. This is a product Italy may rightly boast of. For although ingenious Greece commends itself with many subtle refinements, flavoring its wines with spices or adding the tang of seawater, for all its elaborate methods it has nothing comparable.
This wine is pure, royal in color, and extraordinary in flavor. You might think that the finest purple dye was steeped in its springs, or that its liquid was pressed from the very cloth of emperors. Its sweetness is felt with an inexpressible delicacy. It has a certain firmness of body, almost astringent. Its texture is rich and dense to the touch, so that you would call it either a liquid flesh or a drinkable food. Let me describe how uniquely it is made. In autumn, grapes picked from the vines are hung upside down in trellises within the house, preserved in their natural cases, kept in their own skins. They wrinkle but do not dissolve with age. Then, sweating out their thin, tasteless moisture, they sweeten with a wonderful richness.
The process extends into December, until the cold of winter opens their flow. By a marvelous reversal, the wine becomes new when everything else in the cellars is old. A winter vintage, the cold blood of grapes, a harvest in frost, a crimson liquid, a drinkable purple, a violet nectar -- it first ferments at its source, and when it reaches maturity, it begins to possess an eternal freshness. It is not rudely crushed underfoot, nor clouded by any admixture of impurities, but -- as befits such nobility -- it is summoned forth with care. It flows while water freezes. It is fertile when every other crop of the fields has departed. It distills a liquid comparable to gems, weeping something inexplicably delightful -- and beyond the pleasure of its sweetness, there is a singular beauty in its appearance.
Search for this wine as quickly as possible, purchase it at fair prices, and hand it over for transport to the agents dispatched for this purpose. And do not neglect the variety that gleams with a milky hue, since whatever is harder to find is all the more wonderful. Its whiteness is lovely and its purity serene, so that you would think the red was born from roses and the white from lilies. They differ in color but are kin in flavor -- different in appearance yet equal in delight. What is sharp in taste and quick to refresh is understood to be common to both, yet the visible difference between them is remarkable. You behold one joyful in its redness, the other festive in its whiteness. The procurement of both must therefore be carried out with the greatest speed, since both possess what is equally desired.
Modern English rendering for readability. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek for scholarly use.