Born in Bilbilis (Spanish DO area Calatayud), Marcus Valerius Martialis (40-102) was a Roman poet. He depicted the social conditions of Rome in critical form in his frivolous mocking poems (epigrams), consisting of 1,500 short poems in 15 books. However, Martial was careful to use pseudonyms for the people whose vices he denounced. One example is: " Whoever thinks that Acerra smells of yesterday's wine is mistaken, for Accera always drinks until the day dawns". He particularly took aim at show-offs and braggarts and frequently mentions wine in this regard. The nouveau riche, of course, drink the famous Opimianer, a special vintage of the Falerner. Martial mocks the cult of old wine and invents one without a consular year and thus already put in the cellar before the birth of the Republic.
At the end of the 13th book, 21 wines are mentioned and one of poor quality he describes as follows: "Do not think an amphora ofEgyptian vinegar (acetum) is mean stuff - when it was wine it was worse". He liked to drink wine himself and was particularly fond of ceretanum, which was a wine from the Spanish town of Ceret (today's sherry town of Jerez). Incidentally, he recommended leaving the grapes on the vine until November, or until they were stiff from frost. This is how the passum was obtained, but it could also indicate a deliberate production of ice wine. His work often served as a model later, perhaps also for Petronius (14-66) and his famous work Satyricon. The picture on the right shows the end of the fourth book of Martial's epigrams in the Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana manuscript written in 1466.
Martial: Public Domain, Link
Scripture: From Martial, Public Domain, Link
