Falerner

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The Falerner wine , also called Falernum , was a wine that was grown in ancient Italy. It was one of the most popular types of wine of the Roman Empire and is often mentioned by ancient writers. Its cultivation area was in the ager Falernus in the north of Campania and was divided into three layers: the actual Falerner grew at the foot of the current Monte Massico, on the slopes of which the Faustitianer , up on the hill of the Cauciner .

The Falerner's vines grew on elms and mulberry trees. By ancient standards, it was very easy to store. He reached optimal maturity at the age of 15; some famous years such as the "Opimianer", named after Lucius Opimius , the consul of 121 BC. Chr. And is considered to be the oldest documented vintage , were drinkable for much longer. Poets like Horace and Martial praised the strong, full taste of the Falerner. As Pliny the Elder reports, it was available as tart, semi-dry and sweet ( austerum, tenue, dulce ), and also as red and white wine. According to an inscription from Pompeii, Falerner was four times as expensive as normal country wine and therefore cost 4 aces . It is assumed, however, that this was not a real Falerner, as it must have cost more.

Campania is still a wine-growing region today. To what extent the local wine, which is sometimes referred to as Falerno del Massico , corresponds to the ancient Falerner, cannot be determined with certainty.

Other popular types of wine in the Roman Empire besides the Falerner were the Cäcuber , Massiker and Surrentiner varieties, which were also grown and produced in Campania .

In ancient Rome, the most precious amber variety was called "Falerner" because of its color similarity to the wine variety.

literature

  • Andrew Dalby : Empire of Pleasures. Luxury and Indulgence in the Roman World . Routledge, London 2000, ISBN 0-415-18624-2 , pp. 48-50.
  • Antonio La Penna: Immortale Falernum. Il vino di Marziale e dei poeti latini del suo tempo , in: Maia 51, 2, 1999, pp. 163-181
  • André Tchernia: Le vin de l'Italie romaine , École française, Rome 1986, ISBN 2-7283-0106-9
  • Carl F. Weber: De agro et vino Falerno , Elwert, Marburg 1855
  • Norbert Tischelmayer: Wine glossary: 2777 terms related to wine, NP-Buchverlag, St.Pölten 2001, ISBN 3-85326-177-9

Web links

Wiktionary: Falerner  - explanations of meanings, word origins, synonyms, translations

Remarks

  1. ↑ a b c Pliny the Elder , naturalis historia 14, 62–63 .
  2. ↑ Petron, Satyr. 34
  3. ^ Martial, Epigramme , 13th book, Xenien 111
  4. ↑ Holger Vornholt, Joachim Grau: Wine Encyclopedia. With the wine lexicon AZ by Hans Ambrosi (with permission from Gräfe und Unzer Verlag, Munich). Serges Medien, Cologne 2001, page 418, chapter "Southern Italy", there a mention of the ancient wines "Massiker", "Falerner", "Surrentiner"
  5. ↑ W. Geerlings: The tears of the sisters of Phaëton - amber in antiquity. In: Amber - Tears of the Gods. Bochum 1996, ISBN 3921533570