Falernian ( la, Falernum) was a strong white wine popular in the classical Roman period, produced from Aglianico

grape A grape is a fruit, botanically a berry, of the deciduous woody vines of the flowering plant genus '' Vitis''. Grapes are a non- climacteric type of fruit, generally occurring in clusters. The cultivation of grapes began perhaps 8,000 years a ...

s (and quite possibly

Greco Greco may refer to: People * Greco (surname), a list of people with this surname * a masculine variant of Greca (given name), an Italian feminine given name * Greco Mafia clan, one of the most influential Mafia clans in Sicily and Calabria Wine ...

as well)J. Robinson ''Vines, Grapes & Wines'' pgs 213 & 242 Mitchell Beazley 1986 on the slopes of Mount Falernus (now

Monte Massico Monte Massico (Latin: ''Mons Massicus'') is a mountain situated in the Italian Province of Caserta (Campania) between the rivers Volturno and Garigliano. Description Monte Massico is an Italian mountain ridge. In antiquity, it was described a ...

) near the border of

Latium Latium ( , ; ) is the region of central western Italy in which the city of Rome was founded and grew to be the capital city of the Roman Empire. Definition Latium was originally a small triangle of fertile, volcanic soil ( Old Latium) on w ...

and

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. From here, Falernian wine grew in popularity, becoming the one of the most highly regarded wines accessible to and consumed by the ancient Romans. In an

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written in c.92 AD, Silius Italicus, a prominent Roman senator, attributed its origin to a chance meeting between a mythic pauper named Falernus, who was said to have lived on Mount Falernus in the late 3rd century BC, and

Liber In ancient Roman religion and mythology, Liber ( , ; "the free one"), also known as Liber Pater ("the free Father"), was a god of viticulture and wine, male fertility and freedom. He was a patron deity of Rome's plebeians and was part of the ...

, the Roman god of viticulture. Considered a " first growth" or "

cult wine Cult wines are wines for which dedicated groups of committed enthusiasts will pay large sums of money. Cult wines are often seen as trophy wines to be collected or as investment wine to be held rather than consumed. Because price is often seen ...

" for its time, it was often mentioned in Roman literature, but disappeared after the classical period. There were three vineyards (or

appellations An appellation is a legally defined and protected geographical indication primarily used to identify where the grapes for a wine were grown, although other types of food often have appellations as well. Restrictions other than geographical boun ...

) recognized by Romans: Caucinian Falernian from the vineyards on the highest slopes of Mount Falernus; Faustian Falernian, the most famous, from land on the central slopes corresponding to the current hilly areas of the town of Falciano del Massico and Carinola di Casanova, owned by Faustus, son of the

Roman dictator A Roman dictator was an extraordinary magistrate in the Roman Republic endowed with full authority to resolve some specific problem to which he had been assigned. He received the full powers of the state, subordinating the other magistrates, con ...

Sulla; and wine from the lower slopes and plain that was simply called Falernian. The area is now occupied by the modern day vineyards of Rocca di Mondragone and

Characteristics

Falernian was a

white wine White wine is a wine that is fermented without skin contact. The colour can be straw-yellow, yellow-green, or yellow-gold. It is produced by the alcoholic fermentation of the non-coloured pulp of grapes, which may have a skin of any colour. ...

with a relatively high alcohol content, possibly 30 proof, or 15%

ABV Alcohol by volume (abbreviated as ABV, abv, or alc/vol) is a standard measure of how much alcohol (ethanol) is contained in a given volume of an alcoholic beverage (expressed as a volume percent). It is defined as the number of millilitres (mL) o ...

. In describing Faustian Falernian,

Pliny the Elder Gaius Plinius Secundus (AD 23/2479), called Pliny the Elder (), was a Roman author, naturalist and natural philosopher, and naval and army commander of the early Roman Empire, and a friend of the emperor Vespasian. He wrote the encyclopedic ' ...

alluded to this as he noted "It is the only wine that takes light when a flame is applied to it". A

flaming drink A flaming drink is a cocktail or other mixed drink that contains flammable, Alcohol proof, high-proof alcohol, which is ignited before consumption. The alcohol may be an integral part of the drink, or it may be floated as a thin layer across the ...

requires around 40% ABV. It was produced from late-harvested grapes exclusively as a brief freeze or a series of frosts were said to improve the resulting wine's flavor. The wine was typically allowed to maderise, aging for 15–20 years in clay amphorae before drinking. The oxidation gave the wine a color of amber to dark brown. In 37 BC,

Varro Marcus Terentius Varro (; 116–27 BC) was a Roman polymath and a prolific author. He is regarded as ancient Rome's greatest scholar, and was described by Petrarch as "the third great light of Rome" (after Vergil and Cicero). He is sometimes calle ...

wrote in ''Res Rusticae'' that Falernian increased in value as it matured, and Pliny recorded that Falernian from the famed

Opimian vintage Ancient Rome played a pivotal role in the history of wine. The earliest influences on the viticulture of the Italian peninsula can be traced to ancient Greeks and the Etruscans. The rise of the Roman Empire saw both technological advances in and ...

of 121 BC was served at a banquet in 60 BC honoring

Julius Caesar Gaius Julius Caesar (; ; 12 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC), was a Roman general and statesman. A member of the First Triumvirate, Caesar led the Roman armies in the Gallic Wars before defeating his political rival Pompey in a civil war, ...

for his conquests in Spain. There were three notable varieties: Dry (Latin ''austerum''), Sweet (''dulce''), and Light (''tenue'').

Popularity in Roman times

The physician and gourmet

Galen Aelius Galenus or Claudius Galenus ( el, Κλαύδιος Γαληνός; September 129 – c. AD 216), often Anglicized as Galen () or Galen of Pergamon, was a Greek physician, surgeon and philosopher in the Roman Empire. Considered to be one ...

, writing c. AD 180, doubted that all the Falernian wine on sale in the Roman Empire could possibly be genuine. Pliny the Elder was an expert on Falernian wine, and wrote about friends claiming to be drinking it, when he could tell it was not. It was one of the first wines to be exported to Britain while it was a Roman settlement, but for whatever reason, Falernian must have gradually lost favour under the later Roman Empire, though it was still one of the seven named (and more expensive) wines whose maximum price for army purchase was laid down by the emperor Diocletian around AD 300. As part of the ruins of ancient Pompeii, a price list on the wall of a bar establishment notes :For one " as" you can drink wine :For two you can drink the best :For four you can drink Falernian. The Roman poet

Catullus Gaius Valerius Catullus (; 84 - 54 BCE), often referred to simply as Catullus (, ), was a Latin poet of the late Roman Republic who wrote chiefly in the neoteric style of poetry, focusing on personal life rather than classical heroes. His ...

extolled the virtues of Falernian in one of his poems :Come, boy, you who serve out the old Falernian, :fill up stronger cups for me, :as the law of Postumia, mistress of the revels, ordains, :Postumia more tipsy than the tipsy grape. :But water, begone, away with you, water, :destruction of wine, and take up abode :with scrupulous folk. This is the pure Thyonian god. The Roman poet Horace mentions Falernian in ''

Odes Odes may refer to: *The plural of ode, a type of poem * ''Odes'' (Horace), a collection of poems by the Roman author Horace, circa 23 BCE *Odes of Solomon, a pseudepigraphic book of the Bible *Book of Odes (Bible), a Deuterocanonical book of the ...

2.3'': :Remember when things are troublesome :to keep an even mind, and likewise in prosperity :Be careful of too much :happiness, mortal Dellius, :Whether you will have lived your time in sadness, :Or whether you might while away merry days :Sprawled out on country meadows :With a mellowed vintage of Falernian. It was also the wine that Petronius, in the ''

Satyricon The ''Satyricon'', ''Satyricon'' ''liber'' (''The Book of Satyrlike Adventures''), or ''Satyrica'', is a Latin work of fiction believed to have been written by Gaius Petronius, though the manuscript tradition identifies the author as Titus Petr ...

'', has Trimalchio serve at his dinner banquet.

Quintus Dellius Quintus Dellius was a Roman commander and politician in the second half of the 1st century BC. His family was of equestrian rank in the Roman social system of status. Life Dellius was a political opportunist and was called ''desultor bellorum ci ...

complained to Cleopatra that while he and other dignitaries were served sour wine by

Mark Antony Marcus Antonius (14 January 1 August 30 BC), commonly known in English as Mark Antony, was a Roman politician and general who played a critical role in the transformation of the Roman Republic from a constitutional republic into the au ...

in Greece, Augustus's

catamite In ancient Greece and Rome, a catamite (Latin: ''catamitus'') was a pubescent boy who was the intimate companion of an older male, usually in a pederastic relationship. It was generally a term of affection and literally means " Ganymede" in ...

was drinking Falernian in Rome. This refers to Sarmentus, the former slave of

Marcus Favonius Marcus Favonius (c. 90 BC – 42 BC) was a Roman politician during the period of the fall of the Roman Republic. He is noted for his imitation of Cato the Younger, his espousal of the Cynic philosophy, and for his appearance as the Poet in William ...

, who was bought by Octavian and whom enemies of Octavian claimed to be a catamite, although historian Josiah Osgood dismisses this as nothing more than a slander "planted by supporters of Marc Anthony".Osgood, J
''Caesar's Legacy: Civil War and the Emergence of the Roman Empire''
CUP, 2006, p. 264, at books.google.com, accessed 25 May 2009 Dionysius of Halicarnassus in Book XIV. 6, 6-9, 2, describing Gauls ravaging Alban district during their expedition on Rome writes: "...There, as all gorged themselves with much food, drank much unmixed wine (the wine produced there is the sweetest of all wines after the Falernian and is the most like honey-wine), took more sleep than it was their custom..."

Bibliography

*Andrew Dalby,
Food in the Ancient World from A to Z
'. London, New York: Routledge, 2003. .

References

{{reflist, 2 Ancient wine

Characteristics

Popularity in Roman times

See also

Bibliography

References