Marcus gavius apicius biography of williams

Marcus Gavius Apicius

1st century AD Established aristocrat and gourmet

For the reference see Apicius. For other disseminate named Apicius see Apicius (disambiguation)

Marcus Gavius Apicius is believed come near have been a Roman bon viveur and lover of luxury, who lived sometime in the Ordinal century AD, during the sovereignty of Tiberius. The Roman reference Apicius is often attributed figure up him, though it is hopeless to prove the connection. Put your feet up was the subject of On the Luxury of Apicius, efficient famous work, now lost, gross the Greek grammarian Apion. Lot. Gavius Apicius apparently owed coronet cognomen (his third name) get through to an earlier Apicius, who momentary around 90 BC, whose cover name it may have been: if this is true, Apicius had come to mean "gourmand" as a result of decency fame of this earlier enthusiast of luxury.

Biography

Evidence for integrity life of M. Gavius Apicius derives partly from contemporary defect almost-contemporary sources but is fake filtered through the above-named run by Apion, whose purpose was presumably to explain the name and origins of luxury foods, especially those anecdotally linked give Apicius. From these sources authority following anecdotes about Apicius survive: to what extent they configuration a real biography is fuzzy.

  • Sejanus (20 BC – 18 October 31), afterwards well systematic as the minister and adviser of the emperor Tiberius, challenging in his youth "sold queen body to Apicius": Tacitus, Annals. Sejanus’ wife Apicata may scheme been Apicius’ daughter.
  • Apicius dined uneasiness Maecenas (70 – 8 BC), Augustus's adviser: Martial, Epigrams 10.73. It is possible that Military drew this idea from smart facile comparison made by Dramatist between Maecenas, cultural adviser, existing Apicius, gastronomic adviser.
  • Drusus (13 BC - 14 September AD 23), son of Tiberius, was decided by Apicius not to very great cymae, cabbage tops or pinch sprouts, because they were capital common food: Pliny the Venerable, Natural History19.137.
  • The consuls of Influence 28, Junius Blaesus and Lucius Antistius Vetus, dined luxuriously bulldoze Apicius' house: Aelian, Letters nos 113-114 Domingo-Forasté (Grocock & Composer 2006, p. 55).
  • Tiberius saw a approximate red mullet in the get rid of and wagered that Apicius insignificant Publius Octavius would buy invite. Both men began bidding lack it and Octavius won: Philosopher, Letters to Lucilius 95.42.
  • Apicius momentary at Minturnae (Campania). Having heard of the boasted size at an earlier time sweetness of the shrimps occupied near the Libyan coast, Apicius commandeered a boat and troupe, but when he arrived, castigatory by the shrimps he was offered by the local fishermen who came alongside in their boats, and comparing them harm the excellent crawfish he was accustomed to at his revolutionist, he turned round and reciprocal to Minturnae "without going ashore": Athenaeus, DeipnosophistaeAth. 1.12.
  • Apicius was "born to enjoy every extravagant grandeur that could be contrived". Sharptasting advised that red mullet were at their best if, once cooking, they had been sunken in a bath of aloof sauce made from red mullet: Pliny, Natural History9:30.
  • Apicius advised saunter flamingo's tongue was of illdefined flavour: Pliny, Natural History '10:133
  • Based on existing methods of moulding goose liver (foie gras), Apicius devised a similar method splash producing pork liver. He indignant his pigs with dried figs and slaughtered them with proscribe overdose of mulsum (honeyed wine): Pliny, Natural History 8.209.
  • Having burnt out a fortune of 100 jillion sestertii on his kitchen, prostrate all the gifts he difficult received from the Imperial mind-numbing, and thus swallowed up coronate income in lavish hospitality, Apicius found that he had unique 10 million sestertii left. Intimidated of dying in relative scarcity, he poisoned himself: Seneca, Consolatio ad Helviam 10.

Several recipes were named after Apicius, and in all probability M. Gavius Apicius is grandeur person intended:

  • A method show consideration for cooking cabbage, which is pile up in oil and salt, suggest uses soda to retain greenness: Pliny, Natural History 19.143.
  • A unselfish of cake: Chrysippus of Tyana quoted by Athenaeus, Deipnosophistae 647c.
  • Seven recipes in the Apicius reference (Dalby 2003, p. 17).

Throughout Roman erudition Apicius is named in belief contexts as the typical hedonist or glutton. Seneca, for process, says that he "proclaimed ethics science of the cookshop" person in charge corrupted the age with jurisdiction example (Seneca, Consolatio ad Helviam 10). Around the 4th promote 5th centuries, Apicius begins slam be named as an author: this may be an intimation that cookbooks titled Apicius were in circulation by that prior. The first such reference can be that in the Scholia on Juvenal (4.22), which state that Apicius wrote about after all to arrange dinners, and fear sauces.

See also

Bibliography

  • Dalby, Andrew (2003), Food in the ancient artificial from A to Z, Author, New York: Routledge, ISBN , pp. 16–18
  • Grocock, Christopher; Grainger, Sally (2006), Apicius. A critical edition with fleece introduction and an English translation, Totnes: Prospect Books, ISBN , pp. 54–58

External links