DOI: 10.53084/22209050_2024_29_138

A.I. Solopov, I.R. Gimadeev
Pliny on the color of wine (Plin. n. h. XIV 80): problems of interpretation

Abstract: The article examines the color designation of wine by Pliny the Elder (colores uinis quattuor: albus, fuluus, sanguineus, niger Plin. n. h. XIV 80). Instead of the usual white and red wines, four colors are listed here: albus, meaning “matte white”, fuluus, reflecting a wide spectrum between light brown and dark yellow, sanguineus – the color of blood, niger – “shiny black”. This classification partly contradicts other places in Pliny, where he divides wine into conventionally “red” and “white” (niger and candicāns) or reports that wine has many different shades (n. h. XIV 15). A comparison is made with the most detailed ancient classification of wine color, developed for the Greek language by Athenaeus (μέλας, λευκός, κιῤῥός “orange tawny” (ap. Athen. 32 d)) and by Galen (Galen. ad Hippocr. de acut. morb. uictu III 1), which adds here the colors ξανθός and ἐρυθρός, i.e. “red”, which we expect. The authors also provide for comparison all possible options for the color designation of wine by Roman authors, dividing it into conventional “white” and “red”. To explain some of the confusion in the color designation of wine, some technological processes are described that affect the color of the finished product. The authors come to the conclusion that Pliny in n. h. XIV 80 gives a rather everyday classification of the color designation of wine. He approaches the issue not as a winemaker, but as a simple layman, not dividing wine by color into the usual red or black and white, but trying to convey its various shades as an amateur.

Keywords: Pliny the Elder, color designation, lexicology, the history of winemaking, the color of wine in antiquity

To cite this article: Solopov A.I., Gimadeev I.R. Pliny on the color of wine (Plin. n. h. XIV 80): problems of interpretation. Aristeas XXIX (2024): 138–145.

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Authors:

Aleksey I. Solopov
Elias R. Gimadeev