Marcus Gavius Apicius
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Marcus Gavius Apicius is believed to have been a Roman
gourmet Gourmet (, ) is a cultural idea associated with the culinary arts of fine food and drink, or haute cuisine, which is characterized by their high level of refined and elaborate food preparation techniques and displays of balanced meals that have ...
and lover of luxury, who lived sometime in the 1st century AD, during the reign of
Tiberius Tiberius Julius Caesar Augustus ( ; 16 November 42 BC – 16 March AD 37) was Roman emperor from AD 14 until 37. He succeeded his stepfather Augustus, the first Roman emperor. Tiberius was born in Rome in 42 BC to Roman politician Tiberius Cl ...
. The Roman cookbook ''
Apicius ''Apicius'', also known as ''De re culinaria'' or ''De re coquinaria'' (''On the Subject of Cooking''), is a collection of Food and dining in the Roman Empire, Roman cookery recipes, which may have been compiled in the fifth century CE, or ea ...
'' is often attributed to him, though it is impossible to prove the connection. He was the subject of ''On the Luxury of Apicius'', a famous work, now lost, by the Greek grammarian Apion. M. Gavius Apicius apparently owed his
cognomen A ''cognomen'' (; : ''cognomina''; from ''co-'' "together with" and ''(g)nomen'' "name") was the third name of a citizen of ancient Rome, under Roman naming conventions. Initially, it was a nickname, but lost that purpose when it became hereditar ...
(his third name) to an earlier
Apicius ''Apicius'', also known as ''De re culinaria'' or ''De re coquinaria'' (''On the Subject of Cooking''), is a collection of Food and dining in the Roman Empire, Roman cookery recipes, which may have been compiled in the fifth century CE, or ea ...
, who lived around 90 BC, whose family name it may have been: if this is true, ''Apicius'' had come to mean "gourmand" as a result of the fame of this earlier lover of luxury.


Biography

Evidence for the life of M. Gavius Apicius derives partly from contemporary or almost-contemporary sources but is partly filtered through the above-named work by Apion, whose purpose was presumably to explain the names and origins of luxury foods, especially those anecdotally linked to Apicius. From these sources the following anecdotes about Apicius survive: to what extent they form a real biography is doubtful. *
Sejanus Lucius Aelius Sejanus ( – 18 October AD 31), commonly known as Sejanus (), was a Roman soldier and confidant of the Roman Emperor Tiberius. Of the Equites class by birth, Sejanus rose to power as prefect of the Praetorian Guard, the imperia ...
(20 BC – 18 October 31), afterwards well known as the minister and confidant of the emperor
Tiberius Tiberius Julius Caesar Augustus ( ; 16 November 42 BC – 16 March AD 37) was Roman emperor from AD 14 until 37. He succeeded his stepfather Augustus, the first Roman emperor. Tiberius was born in Rome in 42 BC to Roman politician Tiberius Cl ...
, had in his youth "sold his body to Apicius":
Tacitus Publius Cornelius Tacitus, known simply as Tacitus ( , ; – ), was a Roman historian and politician. Tacitus is widely regarded as one of the greatest Roman historians by modern scholars. Tacitus’ two major historical works, ''Annals'' ( ...
, ''
Annals Annals (, from , "year") are a concise history, historical record in which events are arranged chronology, chronologically, year by year, although the term is also used loosely for any historical record. Scope The nature of the distinction betw ...
''. Sejanus’ wife Apicata may have been Apicius’ daughter. *Apicius dined with
Maecenas Gaius Cilnius Maecenas ( 13 April 68 BC – 8 BC) was a friend and political advisor to Octavian (who later reigned as emperor Augustus). He was also an important patron for the new generation of Augustan poets, including both Horace and Virgil. ...
(70 – 8 BC),
Augustus Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus (born Gaius Octavius; 23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14), also known as Octavian (), was the founder of the Roman Empire, who reigned as the first Roman emperor from 27 BC until his death in A ...
's adviser:
Martial Marcus Valerius Martialis (known in English as Martial ; March, between 38 and 41 AD – between 102 and 104 AD) was a Roman and Celtiberian poet born in Bilbilis, Hispania (modern Spain) best known for his twelve books of '' Epigrams'', pu ...
, ''Epigrams'' 10.73. It is possible that Martial drew this idea from a facile comparison made by Seneca between Maecenas, cultural adviser, and Apicius, gastronomic adviser. * Drusus (13 BC - 14 September AD 23), son of Tiberius, was persuaded by Apicius not to eat ''cymae'', cabbage tops or cabbage sprouts, because they were a common food:
Pliny the Elder Gaius Plinius Secundus (AD 23/24 79), known in English as Pliny the Elder ( ), was a Roman Empire, Roman author, Natural history, naturalist, and naval and army commander of the early Roman Empire, and a friend of the Roman emperor, emperor Vesp ...
, ''
Natural History Natural history is a domain of inquiry involving organisms, including animals, fungi, and plants, in their natural environment, leaning more towards observational than experimental methods of study. A person who studies natural history is cal ...
'
19.137
*The consuls of AD 28,
Junius Blaesus Quintus Junius Blaesus (died AD 31) was a Roman politician who lived during the reigns of Augustus and Tiberius. He was the maternal uncle of Lucius Aelius Sejanus, the Praetorian Prefect of Emperor Tiberius. Career Almost nothing is known of ...
and Lucius Antistius Vetus, dined luxuriously at Apicius' house: Aelian, ''Letters'' nos 113-114 Domingo-Forasté . *Tiberius saw a big red mullet in the market and wagered that Apicius or Publius Octavius would buy it. Both men began bidding for it and Octavius won: Seneca, '' Letters to Lucilius'' 95.42. *Apicius lived at
Minturnae Minturno is a city and ''comune'' in southern Lazio, Italy, situated on the north west bank of the Garigliano (known in antiquity as the Liris). It has a station on the Rome-Naples main railway line. History The nearby sanctuary of Marica (my ...
(Campania). Having heard of the boasted size and sweetness of the
shrimp A shrimp (: shrimp (American English, US) or shrimps (British English, UK)) is a crustacean with an elongated body and a primarily Aquatic locomotion, swimming mode of locomotion – typically Decapods belonging to the Caridea or Dendrobranchi ...
s taken near the
Libya Libya, officially the State of Libya, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to Egypt–Libya border, the east, Sudan to Libya–Sudan border, the southeast, Chad to Chad–L ...
n coast, Apicius commandeered a boat and crew, but when he arrived, disappointed by the shrimps he was offered by the local fishermen who came alongside in their boats, and comparing them to the excellent crawfish he was accustomed to at his villa, he turned round and returned to Minturnae "without going ashore":
Athenaeus Athenaeus of Naucratis (, or Nαυκράτιος, ''Athēnaios Naukratitēs'' or ''Naukratios''; ) was an ancient Greek rhetorician and Grammarian (Greco-Roman), grammarian, flourishing about the end of the 2nd and beginning of the 3rd century ...
, ''
Deipnosophistae The ''Deipnosophistae'' (, ''Deipnosophistaí'', lit. , where ''sophists'' may be translated more loosely as ) is a work written in Ancient Greek by Athenaeus of Naucratis. It is a long work of Greek literature, literary, Ancient history, h ...
'
Ath. 1.12
*Apicius was "born to enjoy every extravagant luxury that could be contrived". He advised that red mullet were at their best if, before cooking, they had been drowned in a bath of fish sauce made from red mullet: Pliny, ''Natural History''
9:30
*Apicius advised that flamingo's tongue was of superb flavour: Pliny, ''Natural History''

*Based on existing methods of producing goose liver (
foie gras ; (, ) is a specialty food product made of the liver of a Domestic duck, duck or Domestic goose, goose. According to French law, ''foie gras'' is defined as the liver of a duck or goose fattened by ''gavage'' (force feeding). ''Foie gras'' i ...
), Apicius devised a similar method of producing pork liver. He fed his pigs with dried figs and slaughtered them with an overdose of mulsum (honeyed wine): Pliny, ''Natural History'' 8.209. *Having spent a fortune of 100 million sestertii on his kitchen, spent all the gifts he had received from the Imperial court, and thus swallowed up his income in lavish hospitality, Apicius found that he had only 10 million sestertii left. Afraid of dying in relative poverty, he poisoned himself: Seneca, ''Consolatio ad Helviam'' 10. Several recipes were named after Apicius, and probably M. Gavius Apicius is the person intended: *A method of cooking cabbage, which is marinated in oil and salt, and uses soda to retain greenness: Pliny, ''Natural History'' 19.143. *A kind of cake:
Chrysippus of Tyana Chrysippus of Soli (; , ; ) was a Ancient Greece, Greek Stoicism, Stoic Philosophy, philosopher. He was a native of Soli, Cilicia, but moved to Athens as a young man, where he became a pupil of the Stoic philosopher Cleanthes. When Cleanthes ...
quoted by Athenaeus, ''Deipnosophistae'' 647c. *Seven recipes in the ''
Apicius ''Apicius'', also known as ''De re culinaria'' or ''De re coquinaria'' (''On the Subject of Cooking''), is a collection of Food and dining in the Roman Empire, Roman cookery recipes, which may have been compiled in the fifth century CE, or ea ...
'' cookbook . Throughout Roman literature Apicius is named in moralizing contexts as the typical gourmet or glutton. Seneca, for example, says that he "proclaimed the science of the cookshop" and corrupted the age with his example (Seneca, ''Consolatio ad Helviam'' 10). Around the 4th and 5th centuries, Apicius begins to be named as an author: this may be an indication that cookbooks titled ''Apicius'' were in circulation by that time. The first such reference may be that in the ''Scholia on Juvenal'' (4.22), which assert that Apicius wrote about how to arrange dinners, and about sauces.


See also

*
Ancient Roman cuisine The cuisine of ancient Rome changed greatly over the duration of the civilization's existence. Dietary habits were affected by the political changes from republic to empire, and Roman economy#Trade and commodities">Roman trading with foreigners ...
*
Gavia gens The gens Gavia, or occasionally Gabia, was a Roman family of plebeian descent. It first appears in history during the first century BC, but none of its members obtained any of the curule magistracies until imperial times. The Gavi Arch at Ver ...


Bibliography

*, pp. 16–18 *, pp. 54–58


External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gavius Apicius, Marcus Ancient Roman chefs 1st-century Romans Apicius, Marcus