Background
Welcome to the outcome of my research into ancient Roman fruit varieties. I’m a strictly amateur researcher, and this project is a purely personal and entirely non-academic wander through the archives in an effort to find out as much as I can about the subject.
The whole thing arose out of nothing more than my own curiosity as to whether or not any of the currently available apple varieties that are sometimes credited with ancient Roman ancestry – particularly ‘Decio’ and ‘Court Pendu Plat’ – might actually be survivors from the Roman era that have continued to be grown and eaten through the centuries to the present day.
At this stage, I’ve only looked into ancient Roman apple varieties, but at some point I hope to return to the subject and examine a wider range of pome fruits, particularly pears and plums.
Oh, one more thing before I begin…
Caveat Lector: Please bear in mind that I’m absolutely not a scholar of Latin and I have no real understanding of the complexities of Latin grammar. Everything I’m presenting here either comes from published English translations of the original text, or is the result of a bit of hopeful querying of Google Translate, Chat GPT, and/or other online Latin dictionaries. Whilst I’ve done my best to interpret the sources as accurately and sensibly as I can, it’s likely that I’ve made errors, or incorrect assumptions, along the way.
If you can read and interpret Latin, particularly if you’re familiar with the translated sources, and therefore have a more accurate take on any of the information I’ve presented, please do feel free to leave a comment on the relevant page, or send me an email with any thoughts, suggestions or corrections. I’d be very grateful indeed to receive them.
If you have any general questions or queries, once again please do feel free to leave a comment on the relevant page, or send me an email if you prefer.
Contents
I’ve written a blog post – A Few Notes on Ancient Roman “Apple” Varieties – outlining the background to the project in more detail, along with the three main pages of content that present my findings on the subject:
- Ancient Roman Apple Varieties – Authors and Sources
- Ancient Roman Apple Varieties – Modern Day Survivors?
- Ancient Roman Apple Varieties – Summary and Conclusions
Bibliography
During the course of writing this article I referred to a number of key sources, including:
Bauhin, Johann – Historia Plantarum Universalis, vol 1 (1650)
— Google Books
Binet, Etienne – Essay des Merveilles de Nature (1621)
— Google Books
Bock, Heironymus (a.k.a. Tragus) – Kreuter-Buch (1560)
— Google Books
Cato – De Agri Cultura (c. 160 BCE)
— R. F. Harrison translation: Project Gutenberg
— W. D. Hooper and H. B. Ash translation: Bill Thayer’s website
Columella – De Re Rustica (c. 50 CE)
— E. S. Forster and Edward H. Heffner translation: Archive.org
de Court, Benoît (a.k.a. Benedicto Curtio, Curtius) – Hortorum Libri Triginta (1560)
— Google Books
Daléchamps, Jacques – Historia Generalis Plantarum, liber tertius
— Google Books
Duhamel de Monceau, Henri-Louis – Traité des Arbres Fruitiers vol 1 (1768)
— Google Books
Estienne, Charles – Seminarium Sive Plantarium Earum Arborum, Quae Post Hortos Conseri Solent (1540)
— Google Books
Googe, Barnabe – Foure Bookes of Husbandry … Newly Englished, and Encreased (1586)
— Google Books
Heresbach, Konrad – Rei Rusticae Libri Quatuor (1570)
— Archive.org
Hogg, Dr. Robert – British Pomology (1851)
— Google Books
Janson, H. Frederic – Pomona’s Harvest: An Illustrated Chronicle of Antiquarian Fruit Literature (1996)
Junius, Adrian – The Nomenclator, or Remembrancer of Adrianus Junius (1583)
— Archive.org
Leroy, André – Dictionnaire de Pomologie volume III, Pommes A – L (1873)
— Google Books
Lodge, Rev. Barton – Palladius on Husbondrie (1873-79)
— Archive.org
Macrobius – Saturnaliorum Libri Septem (Seven Books of the Saturnalia) (c. 400 CE)
— Gottfried Bass Latin edition: Bill Thayer’s Website
di Messisbugo, Christiforo – Banchetti, Composizioni di Vivande e Apparecchio Generale (1549)
— Google Books
Morgan, Joan & Richards, Alison – The Book of Apples (1993)
Palladius – Opus Agriculturae a.k.a. De re rustica (c. 400 CE)
— J. C. Schmitt Latin edition: Archive.org
Parkinson, John – Paradisi in Sole Paradisus Terrestris (1629)
— Google Books
Petrarca, Francesco – Opera Latina (1501)
— Google Books
Pliny – Naturalis Historia (c. 77 CE)
— H. Rackham translation: Archive.org
— J. Bostock translation: Perseus Digital Library
de la Quintinye, Jean-Baptiste – Instructions Pour les Jardins Fruitiers et Potagers (1690)
— Google Books
Ruel, Jean (a.k.a. Ruellius, Ruellio) – De Natura Stirpium Libri Tres (1536)
— Archive.org
Smith, Muriel – National Apple Register of the United Kingdom (1971)
Taylor, H. V. – The Apples of England 3rd edtn (1946)
Varro – Rerum Rusticarum Libri Tres a.k.a. De Re Rustica (c. 36 BCE)
— R. F. Harrison translation: Project Gutenberg
— W. D. Hooper and H. B. Ash translation: Bill Thayer’s website