Caecuban wine (

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

: ''Caecubum'',

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

: ''Kaikoubos'') came from a small territory, ''ager Caecubus'', at

Amyclae Amyclae or Amyklai () was a city of ancient Laconia, situated on the right or western bank of the Eurotas, 20 stadia south of Sparta, in a district remarkable for the abundance of its trees and its fertility. Amyclae was one of the most celebr ...

in coastal

Latium Latium ( , ; ) is the region of central western Italy in which the city of Rome was founded and grew to be the capital city of the Roman Empire. Definition Latium was originally a small triangle of fertile, volcanic soil (Old Latium) on whic ...

(in the region known today as the Plain of Fondi). Around 70 BC,

Varro Marcus Terentius Varro (116–27 BCE) was a Roman polymath and a prolific author. He is regarded as ancient Rome's greatest scholar, and was described by Petrarch as "the third great light of Rome" (after Virgil and Cicero). He is sometimes call ...

already regarded this district as a place of legendary wealth.

Strabo Strabo''Strabo'' (meaning "squinty", as in strabismus) was a term employed by the Romans for anyone whose eyes were distorted or deformed. The father of Pompey was called "Gnaeus Pompeius Strabo, Pompeius Strabo". A native of Sicily so clear-si ...

described the area's reputation for wine in his ''Geography'': "The Caecuban Plain borders on the Gulf of Caieta; and next to the plain comes Fundi, situated on the

Appian Way The Appian Way (Latin and Italian language, Italian: Via Appia) is one of the earliest and strategically most important Roman roads of the ancient Roman Republic, republic. It connected Rome to Brindisi, in southeast Italy. Its importance is in ...

. All these places produce exceedingly good wine; indeed, the Caecuban and the Fundanian and the Setinian belong to the class of wines that are widely famed, as is the case with the

Falernian Falernian () was a strong white wine popular in the classical Roman period, produced from Aglianico grapes (and quite possibly Greco as well)J. Robinson ''Vines, Grapes & Wines'' pgs 213 & 242 Mitchell Beazley 1986 on the slopes of Mount Fale ...

, the Alban and the Statanian." (''Geography'' V.3.6)

Characteristics

To many in the 1st century BC, Caecuban was the best of all wines, smoother than Falernian wine, fuller than Alban wine, strong and intoxicating. It was a white wine which turned fire-coloured as it aged.

Dioscorides Pedanius Dioscorides (, ; 40–90 AD), "the father of pharmacognosy", was a Greek physician, pharmacologist, botanist, and author of (in the original , , both meaning "On Materia medica, Medical Material") , a 5-volume Greek encyclopedic phar ...

describes it as ''glykys'' "sweet".

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 ...

describes it as overpowering and strong, maturing only after many years time (

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 ...

, I.27a).

Occurrences in Horace Odes

As a testament to its popularity, Caecuban wine makes several appearances in the odes of

Horace Quintus Horatius Flaccus (; 8 December 65 BC – 27 November 8 BC), Suetonius, Life of Horace commonly known in the English-speaking world as Horace (), was the leading Roman lyric poet during the time of Augustus (also known as Octavian). Th ...

. In ''Ode 1.20'', Horace gives Caecuban a greater stature than Falernian as he invites his prominent friend,

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. ...

to drink with him. :''Then thou shalt drink Caecuban and the juice'' :''of grapes crushed by Cales' presses; my cups'' :''are flavoured neither with the product of'' :''Falernum's vines nor of the Formian hills.'' Horace mentions Caecuban often in connection with celebrating particularly momentous occasions, such as

Octavian 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 ...

’s defeat of Antony and

Cleopatra Cleopatra VII Thea Philopator (; The name Cleopatra is pronounced , or sometimes in both British and American English, see and respectively. Her name was pronounced in the Greek dialect of Egypt (see Koine Greek phonology). She was ...

.(''Odes 1.37.5'') and in ''Ode IX'' where he speaks again to Maecenas, :''When, O happy Maecenas, shall I,'' :''overjoyed at Caesar’s being victorious,'' :''drink with you under the stately dome (for so it pleases

Jove Jupiter ( or , from Proto-Italic "day, sky" + "father", thus "sky father" Greek: Δίας or Ζεύς), also known as Jove ( nom. and gen. ), is the god of the sky and thunder, and king of the gods in ancient Roman religion and mytholog ...

)'' :''the Caecuban reserved for festal entertainments, '' :''while the lyre plays a tune, accompanied with flutes,'' :''that in the Doric, these in the Phrygian measure?''

Decline and disappearance

The popularity of Caecuban seemed to have hit its apex in Horace’s time. Following the ascension of Augustus to power, Setinum was declared the Imperial wine-namely (according to Pliny) because it did not cause him indigestion and it rose in popularity accordingly (Natural History XIV.61). Pliny noted that the vineyard was starting to fall into neglect when

Nero Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus ( ; born Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus; 15 December AD 37 – 9 June AD 68) was a Roman emperor and the final emperor of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, reigning from AD 54 until his ...

tore up the area, under the pretence of a planned ship canal across the land, in order to undertake excavations to find the legendary treasure of

Dido Dido ( ; , ), also known as Elissa ( , ), was the legendary founder and first queen of the Phoenician city-state of Carthage (located in Tunisia), in 814 BC. In most accounts, she was the queen of the Phoenician city-state of Tyre (located ...

which was supposed to have been buried there.Hugh Johnson, ''Vintage: The Story of Wine'' p. 62. Simon and Schuster 1989. The destruction of Caecuban’s single vineyard extinguished the wine completely; but in

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 ...

’s time, if his words can be relied on, Caecuban wine was still maturing in cellars at Amyclae.

Galen Aelius Galenus or Claudius Galenus (; September 129 – AD), often Anglicization, anglicized as Galen () or Galen of Pergamon, was a Ancient Rome, Roman and Greeks, Greek physician, surgeon, and Philosophy, philosopher. Considered to be one o ...

is the last person on record to have tasted Caecuban wine, nearly a century after it ceased to be made.

Grape varieties

Among the grape varieties that have been speculated to be behind the ancient wine is the Abbuoto grape that is still grown in the Lazio region of central Italy today. However, wine experts and historians such as

Jancis Robinson Jancis Mary Robinson OBE, ComMA, MW (born 22 April 1950) is a British wine critic, journalist and wine writer. She currently writes a weekly column for the ''Financial Times'', and writes for her website JancisRobinson.com, updated daily. She ...

and Julia Harding cast doubt that the red Abbuoto grape was likely responsible for the ancient white wine.J. Robinson, J. Harding and J. Vouillamoz ''Wine Grapes - A complete guide to 1,368 vine varieties, including their origins and flavours'' pg 3, Allen Lane 2012

Characteristics

Occurrences in Horace Odes

Decline and disappearance

Grape varieties

See also

References

Further reading