(6) ]Vild beasts.— The purchase of beasts for gladiatorial shows has some interest owing to the (metaphorical) expression of St. Paul (dS-npio- liaxnaa-, 1 Co 15'") and the experience of Ignatius, who was condemned to face the beasts in the arena at Rome (Ignatius, Ep. ad Bom.. ; Irenaeus, adv. Hcer. V. xxviii. 4). Beasts wild and tame were exhibited, or hunted by trained men. The wild beasts fought with one another or with men. The animals appearing in such exhibitions were elephants, lions, panthers, leopards, and bears from foreign parts, especially from Africa, besides stags, boars, and bears from Europe. Later in becoming known to the Romans were the hippo- potamus, crocodile, rhinoceros, anthropoid ape, Gallic lynx, giraffe, tiger, zebra, elk, and bison.
TKADE AND COMMERCE
TRADE AND COMMERCE
605
Governors levied tliese contribudons on the sub- jects of Koine, as is shown by tlie reiterated ai)peals of Civlius in llonie (t'lV. ad Fam. viii.) to Cicero in Cilicia, to send him panthers for a show ■which he wished to K've. Tlie variety of the bcasi s shown is siirpiissed by the vast and incredible numbers in wliich they are said to have appeared. Aufiustus records tluit 3,500 African beasts were killed at his shows; at the dedication of the Colosseum in A. I). SO, 9,000 tame and wihl beasts were killed, while in A.I). 107, after Trajan's second Dacian triumph, the number totalled 11,00(1. Details of all the means of accjuiring these animals would be of the greatest interest, but they have not come down to us.
16. Food supply. — [n) Bread. — Something must be said of the Roman food supply. The corn was separated from the chatf either by animals, com- monly horses, or by threshinj; machines worke<l by animals (cf. 1 Co '.)"■ '", 1 Ti 5"*), or by Hails. On the threshing Hour, carefully prepared for the purpose, the corn was shaken out from the husk. The chair of far (spelt) adhered so closely to the grain that it could be separated only by pounding. If the w ind was not strong enough to blow away the chali', a wicker basket (irri/o>', vanmis, Mt 3'-) was used for winnowing. The staple food of the early Roman was porridge {puis) made of poundeil far. The poumling process gave rise to the name piHor, which thus came to have the meaning 'baker.' Tritktim [Iritticum), 'winter wheal,' was grown in dry soils ; of this, a variety silirio was the source of the hncstllour. Barley (hordeum) was little used as human food except by slaves and gladiators. Millet {piinicum or milium) was grown chietly in Campania, and oats (auena) were sown only for green todder (for which the general word wa.» farrago). Other crops grown for fodder were lucerne, vetches, and tares. IVas and beans of various types were largely cultivated, especially lupines. The production of bread was long, as in Britain and elsewhere, a purely household matter. For boiUanqcrie one depended on the work of the slaves at liome ; ior pAtisserie one had to resort to the shops, probably most of them Greek. The handmill or quorn (mola), worked by women, \v,as .a feature of every house ; the larger houses had mills worked by asses or mules. Water-mills were also known. The loaves were for the most part much smaller than those to which we are accustomed in IJritain, being more like large rolls. Leaven (fiJ/ii;, L,aX\n fermentum) was usually employed in baking, unleavened bread being regarded as less health-giving. The result- ing paste {<t>vpaiJ.a, masna, 1 Co u", etc.) was formed on the baking-boaid, either by hand or in a mould.
(b) Olive-oil. — The use of butter seems to have been very rare, except for medicinal purposes. Its place as a food was taken V)y olive-oil. It woidd be diHicuIt to exaggerate the importance of the olive in the ancient world. The extent to which it was grown in Mediterranean lands is vividly shown by a map published in Ueissniann's St. Paul : a. Study in Social and lieligious Ilistori/, London, 1912. In Italy the olive area commonly begins where the upiiermost part of the vineyard stops, on the mountain slopes. St. Paul refers in a well-known simile to the dillerence between the wild olive (d-zfueXaioj, oleii.<:tcr) and the cultivated olive {iXaia, olca) and to the grafting (Ro 11"''-'^) of the former on the latter, a process probably less frequent than the reverse. The cultivated olive was introduced by Greek colonists to Italy. The Sabine country provided the largest yield, and the best oil came from Venafrum (mo(iern Venafro) in Samnium. Young trees were not removed from the seed-plots till they were live years old. They attain considerable age, and do not bear to their
full capacity for a number of years. Olive-grow- ing was therefore a trade for the capitalist, who could wait for his returns. Before the fruit was fully ripe it was picked, and the lirst process in the obtaining of the oil was to separate the pulp from the kirnel. This was done by imtting the olives into the oil-mill [trapetum], by which they were crushed. The pulp when separated was put into the oil-press (Xtji/^s, torciilar), and crushed there to obtain the oil. It was caught in a cistern (lacus) and afterwards strained of its impurities. Then it was ready for the large earthenware jars (dolia) in the oil-cellar.