Letter 5

Ausonius to Paulus. Oysters, made famous by the dinners and extravagance of high-born spendthrifts, and taken from the deep of various seas, whether laid bare by retreating shallows or hidden away beneath rugged caverns and in the rocky hollows of crags rich with shellfish, those which the green moss, those which the discolored seaweed conceals; those which cling fast like rocks, fused together with their own shells; those which, removed from their place and presently set in rich mud, are nourished by the hidden moisture of the enclosed slime—all of these you bid me enumerate, Paulus, my old comrade, accustomed to my trifling in playful verse [iocis]. I will set about it; though such matters do not stir an old man's care, nor are they thought worthy of the notice of a thrifty man. For I have no Salian banquet [the feasts of the Salii, priests of Mars, proverbial for luxury], no air heavy with feasting, such as the table of Penelope's good-for-nothing suitors had, or the youth of Alcinous [the Phaeacian king of the Odyssey], sleek with anointed skin. Yet I will enumerate them all the same, following report and the witnesses, in keeping with the tastes of men who always approve of different things. But for me, before all others, the choicest are those which the Ocean of the Meduli [a Gallic people near the Gironde estuary] rears, those to which admiration, under the name of Bordeaux, has carried renown all the way to Caesar's tables—praised no less than the glory of our wine. These among them all have earned the foremost prize, while all the rest yield place by a long measure: these mingle both a plump flesh and one snowy white and most tender with its sweet juice, blending the savor of the sea, touched with a delicate salt. Though others may come next, they come next only at a long interval, by a wide gap: the oysters of Marseilles, those which Narbo rears at the harbor of Venus [Portus Veneris, modern Port-Vendres]; those which, untended, the sea of Hellespontine Abydos shelters; or those which hang floating from the stakes at Baiae; those roofed over by the Santonic brine [off the coast of the Santones, around Saintes]; those known to the Genoni; or those which the river protects where it mingles with the sea at Ebora, so that they lie covered in a deep recess of seaweed: rough of shell are these, and sweet, full of rich meat. There are also those who praise the oysters of the Armorican sea [Brittany], and those which the dweller on the Pictonic shore [the coast of the Pictones, around Poitiers] gathers, and those wondrous ones which the kindly tide sometimes lays bare for the Caledonians [the peoples of northern Britain]. To these are added those which recent fame praises, bred below the shores of Byzantium [originally written of Constantinople] and on the raging strands of the Propontis, celebrated under the name of the general Promotus [a commander under Theodosius I]. These things I tell you not as a bard, not as a historian, nor as a diner who has wandered the whole world over, but as matters handed down by many—as is the custom—whenever the invitation of a welcome table prompts gentle Lyaeus [Bacchus, the god of wine] with genial conversation. These things are known to me not through the common crowd and through the cookshops, nor from the guilds of Plautine parasites [the sponging hangers-on of Plautus's comedies], but because I myself have often kept the festal days, partly among my own friends, and in turn have gone, summoned as a guest. If perhaps there was a solemn birthday for a friend, or a wedding feast, or the sacred drinking-bouts of our fathers, I have heard, and I remember, many worthy men praising them often.

OF oysters famed through the lavish feasts of high-born prodigals, whether dredged from the depths of various seas or left bare by ebbing shallows, or sheltered beneath rugged caves and in jagged clefts amid the rocks, those which green moss, which stained seaweed hides, whose welded shells are firm-shut as the stones, which when removed 4 from their home and planted in rich ooze are fattened by the inward moisture of the packed slime;—of these you bid me tell all the kinds, Paulus, my old comrade, made used to my trifling by sportive verse. I will approach the task, albeit the theme stir not an old man's zest nor be thought fit for the notice of a frugal man. For I have no Salian fare,1 no repasts of savour such as had the banquets of Penelope's wastrel suitors or of the sleek and scented youth about Alcinoüs.2 Yet will I tell o'er the tale, following report and testimony according to the tastes of men ever diverse in judgment. Howbeit, for me the choicest above all are those bred by the Ocean of the Meduli, 3 which, named after Bordeaux, high esteem hath raised even to Caesar's board, no less renowned than are our famous wines. These amongst all have won the pride of place, the rest lagging far behind: these be of substance both full fat and snowy white, and with their sweet juice most delicately mingle some flavour of the sea touched with a fine taste of salt. Next, though next at distance of long interval, are the oysters of Marseilles, which Narbo feeds near Venus' haven;4 and those which, untended, the Hellespontine wave shelters at Abydos; or those which cling afloat to the piles of Baiae; those washed by the San tonic surge; those known to the Genoni; or those harboured by Ebora's 5 stream where it joins the sea, so that they lie covered with a deep bed of weed: rough of shell are these, and sweet, and rich of meat. There are, too, such as praise the oysters of the Armoric deep, and those which shoremen gather on Pictonic coasts, and which the tide sometimes leaves bare for the wondering Caledonian.6 Add those which. reared below Constantinople's shores and the vexed beaches of Propontis, late-born renown now honours with distinction after the name of Promotus the general.1 These I tell thee, no bard, no historian, nor yet a world-wandering gourmand, but things I have heard from many, as wont is, whenever a challenge from a table on the right provokes gentle Lyacus with friendly converse. These are known to me not from common company nor from taverns, nor from the guilds of Plautine parasites, but because I myself have often celebrated festal days, sometimes with gatherings of my friends,2 or going in turn to banquets as a bidden guest, when perchanee a friend observed a birthday or a marriage feast, or a carouse 3 sanctioned by our fathers' custom: there I have heard many a worthy man praise these, and I remember them.

Ausonius Paulo OSTHEA nobilium cenis sumptuque nepotum cognita diversoque maris deprensa profundo, aut refugis nudata vadis aut scrupea subter antra et muriceis scopulorum mersa lacunis, quae viridis muscus, quae decolor alga recondit. quae testis concreta suis ceu saxa cohaerent, quae mutata loco, pingui mox consita limo, nutrit secretus conclusae uliginis umor, enumcrare iubes, vetus o mihi Paule sodalis, adsuefacte meis ioculari carmine nngis. adgrediar; quamvis curam non ista senilem sollicitent frugique viro dignanda putentur. nam mihi non Saliare epulum, non aura dapalis, qualem Penelopae nebulonum mensa procorum Alcinoique habuit nitidae eutis uncta iuventus.1 enumerabo tamen famam testesque secutus pro studiis hominum semper diversa probantum. Set mihi prae cunetis lectissima, quae Medulorum educat Oceanus, quae Burdiga lensia nomen usque ad Caesareas tulit admiratio mensas, non laudata minus, nostri quam gloria vini. haec inter cunctas palmam meruere priorem, omnibus ex longo cedentibus: ista et opimi visceris et nivei dulcique tenerrima suco miscent aequoreum tenui sale tincta saporem. proxima sint quamvis, sunt longe proxima multo ex intervallo, quae Massiliensia, portum quae Narbo ad Veneris nutrit; cultuque carentia Hellespontiaci quae protegit aequor Abydi: vel quae Baianis pendent fluitantia palis; . Santonico quae tecta salo; quae nota Genonis: aut Eborac mixtus pelago quae protegit amnis, ut multo iaceant algarum obducta recessu: aspera quae testis et dulcia, farris opimi. Sunt et Aremorici qui laudent ostrea ponti, et quae Pictonici legit accola litoris, et piae mira Caledoniis nonnunquam detegit aestus. accedunt, quae fama recens Byzantia subter litora et insana generata Propontidis acta promoti celebrata ducis de nomine laudat. Haec tibi non vates, non historicus neque toto orbe vagus conviva loquor, set tradita multis, ut solitum, quotiens dextrae invitatio mensae sollicitat lencm comi sermone Lyaeum. haec non per vulgum mihi cognita perque popinas aut parasitorum collegia Plautinorum, set festos quia saepe dies partim ipse meorum excolui inque vicem conviva vocatus adivi. natalis si forte fuit sollemnis amico coniugiove dapes aut sacra repotia patrum. audivi meminique bonos laudare frequentes.