Letter 12004: Senator [Cassiodorus], Praetorian Prefect, to the Tax Collector of Venetia.

IV. Senator [Cassiodorus], Praetorian Prefect, to the Canonicarius [tax-collector] of Venetia. [1] The most lavish furnishing of the royal table is reckoned no small adornment of the commonwealth, since the lord is believed to possess as much as the novelties on which he feasts. To have what the locality affords is for a private man: at a princely banquet what ought surely to be sought out is that which, once seen, deserves to be admired. Let the Danube provide the carp, from the Rhine let the anchorago [a salmon-like fish] come, let the exormiston [a kind of sturgeon or choice fish] be brought from Sicily by labors of whatever sort; let the sea of the Bruttii send sweet acerniae [a kind of fish]; let savory fishes be fetched from diverse regions. Thus it befits a king to feed, so that by the envoys of the nations he may be believed to possess almost everything. [2] And therefore wines must be procured which Italy, singularly fruitful, nourishes, lest, when we ought to crave foreign things, we should seem not to have sought out our own. By the report of the Count of the Patrimony it has accordingly been made known that the acinaticium—which takes its name from the grape-berry [acinus]—has been depleted in the palace stores. [3] And because all dignities owe it to one another in turn to supply the necessary things which are recognized as pertaining to the lords of affairs, we order you to approach the proprietors of Verona, where the chief care of this matter lies, to the end that, a fitting price having been received, none may delay to sell what he ought to offer to the princely favor. Truly a worthy product, of which Italy may boast. For although ingenious Greece commends itself by manifold subtlety of diligence and either seasons its wines with perfumes or flavors them with admixtures of brine, yet, under so great a search, it is found to have nothing comparable. [4] For this is a wine both royal in color and exceptional in flavor, so that you would think the purple-dye was tinged from its very springs, or that its liquors were pressed out from purple itself. There a sweetness is perceived of ineffable mildness: it is strengthened by I know not what firmness of astringency: its touch grows rich with density, so that you would say it is either a fleshy liquor or a drinkable food. It is pleasant to relate how singular its gathering appears to be. In autumn the grape, gathered from the vines, is hung upside down on household trellises, kept in its own vessels, guarded in natural sheaths. It wrinkles, it does not melt away with age: then, sweating out its insipid humors, it grows sweet with great mildness. [5] It is drawn on into the month of December, until the season of winter opens its flowing, and in a wondrous manner it begins to be new at the very time when in all the cellars it is found to be old. A wintry must, the cold blood of the grapes, a vintage amid the frost, a bloody liquor, a drinkable purple, a violet nectar—it ferments first in its own origin, and when it has been able to mature, it begins to possess a perpetual newness. It is not injuriously crushed with the heels, nor darkened by any admixture of filth, but, as is fitting, so great a nobility is brought forth. It flows down while the water hardens: it is fruitful when every fruit of the fields departs. It distills a liquor like to gems: it weeps forth I know not what delightful thing, and beyond the fact that its sweetness delights, there is in its aspect a singular beauty. [6] Procure this as swiftly as may be, and, gathered at fitting prices, hand it over to be conveyed by the bargemen who have been dispatched for the purpose; nor should you think that to be neglected which gleams with a milky cup, since the more wonderful is that which you shall have been able to find with greater difficulty. There the whiteness is comely and the purity serene, so that the one may be believed to have been born of roses, this of lilies. In color indeed they are foreign to each other, but in flavor they are kindred: the appearance unlike and the sweetness alike in both. For that it tastes sharp, that it quickly refreshes, is understood to be common to them, but great is the distance that is seen. The one you behold joyful with redness, the other you observe festive with whiteness. And therefore the procurement of them ought to be most speedy, since in both is recognized that which is equally to be sought.

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.