Sabaiarius: Beer, wine and Ammianus Marcelinus more

FGAQT, PAST OR FAMING POOD AND DRINK IN BVZANTIUM Australian Association for Byzantine Studies Byzantina Australiensia 15 FGAQT*, FAST OR FAMING FOOD AND DRINK IN BVZANTIUM Edited by Wendy Mayer and Silke Trzcionka Brisbane 2005 CONTENTS Acknowledgements............................................................ vii Abbreviations................................................................... ix Introduction Silke Trzcionka.................................................................... 1 Visualising Hierarchy at Imperial Banquets Simon Malmberg................................................................ 11 (University of Uppsala) The Scholar and the Partridge: Attitudes relating to nutritional goods in the twelfth century from the letters of the scholar John Tzetzes Anthoullis A. Demosthenous...................................................... 25 (University of the Aegean) Eustathios and the Wedding Banquet for Alexios Porphyrogennetos Andrew Stone..................................................................... 33 (University of Western Australia) The Rhetoric of Gluttony and Hunger in twelfth-century Byzantium Lynda Garland ...................................................................... 43 (University of New England) Sabaiarius: Beer, wine and Ammianus Marcellinus Danijel Dzino ..................................................................... 57 (University of Adelaide)' Steak a la Hun: Food, drink, and dietary habits in Ammianus Marcellinus Paul Tuffin and Meaghan McEvoy............................................. 69 (University of Adelaide) Feeding the Army: Food and transport in Byzantium, ca 600-1100 John Haldon........................................................................ 85 (University of Birmingham) (Not Sailing) to Byzantium: Metropolis, hinterland and frontier in the transformation of the Roman Empire John Fitzpatrick.................................................................... 101 (Flinders University) Communal Meals in the late antique Synagogue Matthew Martin........................ ........................................ 135 (Melbourne College of Divinity) Children's Foods in the Talmudic Literature Susan Weingarten................................................................ 147 (Lady Magaret Hall, Oxford) Calypso's Cauldron: The ritual ingredients of early-Byzantine love spells SilkeTrzcionka................................................................... 161 (University of Adelaide) Vegetarianism in Late Antiquity and Byzantium: The transmission of a regimen Ken Parry........................................................................ 171 (Macquarie University) Addendum Fast and Abstinence in Byzantium Athanasius NJ. Louvaris......................................................... 189 Modern Author Index.............................................................. 199 General Index..................................................................... 203 Danijel Dzino Sabaiarius: Beer, wine and Ammianus Marcellinus In 365 CE the rebellion of the usurper Procopius was raging in Asia Minor, endangering the position of the newly proclaimed emperors Valentinian I and his brother and co-ruler of the East, Valens.1 Valentinian let his younger brother deal with this rebellion on his own, being already militarily engaged on the northern frontiers. Valens was distracted by simultaneous problems arising on the lower Danube and the eastern border and thus faced initial troubles in dealing with the rebellion. In late 365 Valens was besieging Chalcedon, an important stronghold of the usurper.3 It was a military stand-off; despite many attempts, imperial troops could not take the city by assault, and there was no time for a long siege as the attackers lacked provisions, and rebels could not get out and break the siege.4 Nothing really important for history and the historian seems to be there in that particular moment. However, one of the insults shouted by Procopius' supporters from the walls of Chalcedon was so strikingly significant that the source of historian Ammianus Marcellinus, most certainly one of the eyewitnesses, remembered it well.5 Ammianus, never being really fond of Valens and Valentinian,6 singled this insult out and preserved it for posterity. The choir of Cf. R. Till, "Die Kaiserproklamation des Usurpators Procopius", Jahrbuch fur frankische Landesforschung 34/35 (1974/75), 75-83; R.C. Blockley, Ammianus Marcellinus: A study of his historiography and political thought (Collection Latomus 141) (Brussels 1975), 55-62; N.J.E. Austin, Ammianus on Warfare (Collection Latomus 165) (Brussels 1979), 88-92; J. Matthews, The Roman Empire of Ammianus (London 1988), 191-197, for a different aspect of the rebellion. 2 The sources: Aim. Marc. 26.6-10; Zos. 4.5-8; Socr., Hist. eccl. 4.3-8. 3 Cf. Amm. 26.6.4-5; 8.2; 31.1.4; Socr., Hist. eccl. 4.8. 4 Valens adopted a vigorous but unsuccessful strategy in 365, trying to take Constantinople and extinguish the rebellion as soon as possible (Austin, Ammianus on Warfare, 89). He was almost captured by the rebels after retreating from the siege of Chalcedon (Amm. 26.8.2-3). 5 Cf. E.A. Thompson, The Historical Work of Ammianus Marcellinus (Gronningen 1969), 20- 42, esp. 39, on the oral sources of Ammianus Marcellinus. NJ.E. Austin, "A Usurper's Claim to Legitimacy: Procopius in AD 365/6" Rivista storica dell'antichita 2 (1972), 182, argues that the source was favourable towards Procopius. These were largely unsupported allegations by Ammianus, as the brothers did not show more (or less) capability for ruling the empire, nor were they more or less cruel than other rulers (A. Alfoldy, A Conflict of Ideas in the Late Roman Empire: The clash between the senate and Valentinian I, trans. H. Mattingly [Oxford 1952], 3-4, 118 n. 1; Blockley, Ammianus, 46 ff). Ammianus merely reflected a variety of contemporary opinions, cf. M. Humphries, "Nec metu nec adulandi foeditate constricta: the image of Valentinian I from Symmachus to Ammianus", Feast, Fast or Famine. Food and Drink in Byzantium, ed. W. Mayer and S. Trzcionka, Byzantina Australiensia 15 (Brisbane 2005), 57-68. 58 Danijel Dzino defenders repeatedly ridiculed the emperor, calling him 'sabaiarius'l.7 Sabaia was, as Amrnianus described it, a liquor made from barley or some other grain, usually o drunk by the poor in Illyricum; therefore it was a kind of barley beer. Thus sabaiarius meant nothing more than a 'beer-man', or rather a 'beer drinker'.9 The emperor was of Illyrian origin; his father was bom in Cibalae (modern day Vinkovci) in Pannonia.10 From Amrnianus' account we also know that Valens was a pot-bellied fellow,11 perhaps because of his love for sabaia. This insult from the rebels most certainly made him angry for a while, as he could not do anything about it; it was some time at least before he got his revenge, demolishing the walls of Chalcedon in order to construct baths in Constantinople.12 This paper will try to see why sabaiarius was such a derogatory expression and analyse what Amrnianus perhaps wanted to say with that label, besides the obvious insult of Valens as a drunkard and barbarian.13 In order to understand the immense complexity hidden behind that word, it is necessary to look into the beer geography of ancient continental Europe, the different drinking cultures of Mediterranean and continental Europe, and Graeco-Roman -contempt for beer drinkers, returning finally to the Pannonian emperors of late antiquity and the episode described. What are the other references to sabaia and beer drinking in Illyricum? St Jerome, born and raised in Stridon, in the hinterland of Tarsatica,14 mentioned that a drink named sabaium was made by the native population in Pannonia and Dalmatia, and he described it as a kind of zythos (beer brewed in Egypt).15 Cassius in J.W. Drijvers and D. Hunt (eds), The Late Roman World and Us Historian (London and New York 1999), 117-126. Cf. n. 60 below. 7 Amm. 26.8.2: "...cuius e muris probra in eum iaciebantur, et irrisive compellebatur ut Sabaiarius." 8 Ancient beer was a malt liquor close to ale. Cf. R.C. Engs, "Do Traditional Western European Practices Have Origins in Antiquity?", Addiction Research 2(3) (1995), 236 n. 5. 9 As it seems, sabaia I sabaium was a native word from Illyricum, (indoeuropean *sab- = liquid) (H. Krahe, Die Sprache der Illyrier [Wiesbaden 1955], 38, §29), and sabaiarius could also be a word for a beer-brewer (as in cervesia-cervesarius CIL 13.10012.7), A. Meier, Die Sprache der alien Illyrier 1 (Vienna 1957), 287-288. 10 Amm. 30.7.2; Alfdldy, A Conflict of Ideas, 9. 11 Amm. 31.14.7: "...exstantequemediocriterventre". 12 Socr., Hist. eccl. 4.8; Amm. 31.1.4. Cf. Amm. 26.10.6-14; Zos. 4.8.4-5; Eunapius, FHG 4.35 (= R.C. Blockley, The Fragmentary Classicising Historians of the Later Roman Empire 2 [Liverpool 1983], 50 [6.34.9]) on the ferocity of Valens' revenge against the supporters of Procopius. 13 "L'injure etait done double elle faisait apparaitre Valens comme un buveur et comme un barbare", in M.A. Marie (ed.), Ammien Marcelin: Histoire, vol. 5 (Paris 1984), 244 n. 107. 14 The hinterland of the modern city of Rijeka. See M. Suid, "Hieronimus Stridonian - Citizen of Tarsatica", RadJAZU (The Works of Yugoslav Academy of Sciences and Arts) 426/24 (1986), 213-278, who provides the best modern location for the otherwise unknown Stridon, located laconically by Jerome, De vir. III. 135, on "Dalmatiae quondam Pannoniaeque confinium". 15 Jerome, Comm. in Isai. 7.19: "...gentili barbaroque sermone appellator sabaium". Jerome was not of native origin, nor did he speak the language(s) of the native population in Illyricum (Suic, "Hieronimus", 268-270). A. Valino, "La cervesa en las fuentes romanas: base textual y Sabaiarius 59 Dio, a governor of Pannonia in the third century CE, bitterly complained that Pannonians did not drink wine but enjoyed a beverage made from barley and millet.16 Priscus, envoy to Attila in 448 CE, described the wide use of the barley beverage camum amongst the Pannonians.17 In addition, the oldest existing reference to beer-drinking in the Illyrian neighborhood derives from Theopompus (fourth century BCE), who knew of beer brewed from barley - bryton - and an admixture of millet and KOU^a (endive or fleabane) - parabias - amongst the Paeonians on the borders of Macedonia.18 Some authorities consider that sabaium had some interesting etymological links with the worship of Sabazios, an orgiastic Thracian deity whose cult spread all over the ancient world. Jane Harrison, using Aristophanes' ridicule of worshippers of Sabazios as a reference, regarded him as a god of beer, a beer counterpart of Dionysos.19 Malt liquor was used for millennia in Mesopotamia and Egypt but it never had any success in the classical world.20 According to the classical sources, beer in continental Europe was brewed by the Celts in Spain, Britain and Gaul, as well as by the Illyrians, Germans and Thracians, but it is not clear whether this brewing tradition had any direct or indirect influence from the Middle East 'or Egypt.21 There are several names for beer in classical times, denoting different geographical origin and perhaps different kinds of brew. However, it is too difficult to determine differences between individual brews by relying only on the testimony of literary fidacion de su importancia", Ancient History Bulletin 13 (1999), 68-69, argues that sabaia was the Illyrian name for zythos. It is less likely that Illyrians used Egyptian beer, being geographically much more exposed to Celtic and Thracian influences. 16 Dio Cass. 49.36.2 ff. 17 Jul. Afr., Cest. 25; Dioscurides 2.70 camum; Priscus, FHG 4.83 (= Blockley, 260 [11.2.279] Kajxov. Valifio, "La cervesa", "66-67, believes that it is a Celtic word from the same root as curmi. 18 Theopomp. in Athen. 10.447d identifies it as a Thracian {3puTOV and irapa|3tag, certainly a native brew. The Paeonians bordered the Thracians, Macedonians and Illyrians. 19 She argued that the worship of Sabazios preceded the worship of Dionysos as a god of alcoholic intoxication in Thrace and that wine as a medium of intoxication was used only as a replacement for the original cereal beverage. J. Harrison, Prolegomena to the Study of Greek Religion, 3rd edn (Cambridge 1922), 413-424; Ar., Wasps, 5-12. Cf. Diod. Sic. 1.20.4; 3.73.6; 4.2.5 on the link between Dionysos and beer. 20 Olckmann, s.v. "Bier", RE 3 (1899); C.A. Forbes, "Beer: A Sober Account", Classical Journal 46(6) (1951), 281-285 and 300; M. Dayagi-Mendels, Drink and Be Merry: Wine and beer in ancient times (Jerusalem 1999); Valifio, "La cervesa", 60-71; M. Nelson, The Barbarian's Beverage: A history of beer in ancient Europe (London and New York, forthcoming). R.J. Forbes, "Food and Drink", in C. Singer et al. (eds), A History of Technology 2 (Oxford 1956), 140; contra H.A. Monckton, A History of English Ale and Beer (London 1966), 25. The only visible difference was that European beer was more durable than the middle-Eastern variety; cf. Plin., HN 14.149; Aeschylus in Athen. 10.447c (matured bryton); Marc. Emp., De Medic. 28.13: cervesiae novae. 60 Danijel Dzino sources. The most famous ancient beer was certainly Egyptian zythos (zythum), which was a specific brew made of barley and emmer-wheat.23 Zythos is sometimes used in sources as a common word for beer.24 There were more varieties of malt liquors brewed and consumed in Europe: cerbesa (cervesia, cervisia) and corma 25 (courmi, curmi), made from wheat, or barley and honey, were brewed in Gaul, caelia and cerea from wheat in Spain,26 bryton from rye or barley in Thrace, and parabias brewed by Paeonians from millet27 Insular Celts in Britain also knew of beer,28 as well as the Germans north of the Rhine,29 the Lusitanians, the inhabitants of Thule and the Ligurians at the foot of the Alps.30 Ancient European beer was perhaps as strong as diluted wine enjoyed by Greeks and Romans and the ancient sources sometimes referred to it as a wine made of cereals.31 It is well known that the classical attitude towards beer and beer-drinking was very negative. Recently, it has been plausibly argued that this attitude was primarily ideological, as beer was considered to be the drink of the others and therefore unacceptable for Greek and Roman consumption, as an essentially Strabo 17.2.5 (824). The Edict of Diocletian distinguishes between zythos, camum and cervesia (2.11-12); Pliny distinguishes zythos, caelia, cerea and cervesia, HN 22.164. 23 Zv&oq: Diod. Sic. 1.20.4, 1.34.10, Columella, Rust. 10.116 (Pelusian zythos); Plin., HN 22.164, Dayagi-Mendel, Drink, 119. It was different from ancient Egyptian hekt or haqi, and from other beers brewed in Europe (Olckmann, "Bier", 458). 24 E.g. Diod. Sic. 5.26.2; Posid. in Athen. 4.152c; Jerome, Comm. in Is. 7.19; cf. Forbes "Beer", 281. Cervesia was also often used as a common term in the West and bryton in classical Greece. However, Nelson rightly noted that there was no appropriate term for malt liquor in Greek and Latin. M. Nelson, "The cultural construction of beer among the Greeks and Romans", Syllecta Classica 14 (2003), n. 9 (this article was not available to the author in the original publication, Dr. Nelson kindly supplied his manuscript) 25^ Plin., HN 22.164; Dion. Hal., Ant. Rom. 13.11 [16]; Isid., Orig. 20.3.17-8; Diod. Sic. 5.26.2; Kopixa: Athen. 4.152 c-d. Koi3p|xi: Dioscurides 2.110; cervisia and curmi: Marc. Emp. 16.33. Cf. Amm. 15.12.4: "... affectans ad vini similutudinemmultiplices potus..." 26 Plin., HN 22.164; Flor. 1.34.12-13; Oros. 5.7; Polyb. ap. Athen. 1.16c (= Polyb. 34.9.15); Dioscurides 2.88. 27 BpUTOv: Aeschylus, Archilochus and Sophocles in Athen. 10.447b-c; Hecat. in Athen. 10.447d. ITxvov is also mentioned but without a specified place of origin. Athen. 10.447a. See n. 16 for parabias. 28 Dioscurides 2.88; K.H. Jackson, The Goddodin: The oldest Scottish poem (Edinburgh 1969), 140 {Goddodin, A 60), 154 (The Gorcham ofTudfwlch); S. Frere, Britannia: A history of Roman Britain (London 1967), 43, 293-294; H. Helbaek, "The Isca grain: A Roman plant production in Britain", New Phytologist 63 (1964), 158-164, esp. 163-164. 29 Tac, Germ. 23. Forbes, "Beer", 283, argues that the Germans learned about beer from the Gauls, but the theory is difficult to prove. 30 Strabo 3.3.7 (155); 4.5.5 (201); 4.6.2 (202). 31 There are many references to a barley wine (otvov evubLaq or otvov Kpidtvov);* cf. Nelson, "Cultural Construction", n. 56. Diodorus 1.20.4 describes zythos as being as strong as wine. Isid., Orig. 20.3.18; Oros. 5.7, explained that the name caelia derives from the heat it caused. It would be difficult to imagine that Numantines used light beer for encouragement before battle as Flor. 1.34.12-3 and Oros. 5.7 report. Sabaiarius 61 barbarian beverage. Wine-drinking Mediterraneans ridiculed beer for a long time. No wonder, as Harrison said, that the follower of the beer god was regarded as a low fellow. "Sabazios, god of the cheap cereal drink, brings rather sleep than inspiration."33 Dionysius of Halicarnassus is even more direct in his negative attitude towards beer drinkers: the Gauls used to drink smelly liquor, made of barley rotted in water.34 Vergil, in Georgics, presents a romantic picture of wild Scythians inhabiting the furthest ends of Earth, drinking ale (fermentum) in their deep-dug dungeons, joyously imitating the pleasures of wine.35 Drunkenness caused by beer was regarded as pure passion without fulfillment, Eros without Venus.36 Classical doctors regarded beer as a limited health hazard.37 However, beer was occasionally used in classical medicine; Marcellus Empiricus recommended salty hot cervesia as a medicine for a cough.38 Beer was also used by craftsmen for softening ivory, and in cosmetics for skin care.39 Only rarely did Greeks and Romans not despise beer.40 Modern anthropologists have noted a striking difference between the Mediterranean and northern Europe in the matter of drinking habits. Apparently, this difference originated in antiquity, when the Mediterranean (except Egypt) shared a strong Graeco-Roman wine-drinking culture and northern Europeans consumed mainly malt liquor, cider and mead. These drinking patterns remained so strong that they survived into the modern age. The southern drinking pattern consumed wine often but in smaller quantities, being socially less tolerant of intoxication, while the northerners enjoyed alcohol less often but drank to intoxication, and tolerated public intoxication. There is also a mixed pattern characterised by frequent drinking and high consumption of wine and beer, but without toleration for public intoxication. This division follows the frontiers of the Roman empire: former Romanised provinces remained wine-drinking, border areas had a mixed pattern, and 'barbarian' parts of Europe including Britain preserved the northern pattern. Some areas such as Spain or Gaul transferred from an Nelson, "Cultural Construction",/?^™. 33 Harrison, Prolegomena, 419-20; cf. Aristotle in Allien. 10.447a-b. 34 Dion. Hal., Ant. Rom. 13.11 [16]. 35 Verg., Georg. 3.380. Fermentum is mentioned several times in the Latin sources but only as a general term denoting malt liquor: Servius Honoratus ap. Verg., Georg. 3.380. 36 Plut, Mor. 752 B. 37 Dioscurides 2.70 ff thought that beer caused headaches and had a damaging influence on kidneys, nerves and muscles. Cf. Nelson, "Cultural Construction", nn. 23-34 for the negative treatment of beer in classical medical literature. 38 Marc. Emp. 16.33, cf. also 28.13: a medicine against intestinal worms. ■an Plut., Mor. 499 E (ivory); Plin., NH22.164 (cosmetics) Diodorus finds Egyptian zythos to be close to wine in aroma and strength and to have a pleasant smell, and Xenophontes became quite fond of Armenian beer, after he became used to it. Diod. Sic. 1.20.4; 1.34.10-11; 3.73.6; 4.25; Xenoph., Anab. 4.5.21. 62 Danijel Dzino originally beer-drinking to a wine-drinking culture through the Mediterranean influence and the process of Romanisation.41 It is not necessary to explain here the reasons how and why wine dominated the Mediterranean. A moderate climate and the cult of Dionysos made its way throughout the Graeco-Roman world. Wine consumption became available to almost all strata of Roman society after ca 100 BCE,42 but the drinking culture generally remained that of moderate consumption.43 The northerners used beer, cider and mead as alcoholic beverages; beer as well as mead was used for ceremonial drinking amongst the Celts and Germans.44 It has even been suggested that drinking had a significant socio-political function in Celtic society, as it was essentially a royal prerogative and the emblem of sovereignty in the afterlife.45 Caelia was used as a means of encouragement for soldiers in battle, the Numantines fasted on half-raw meat and caelia, preparing themselves for death before battle.46 However, a pattern of heavy drinking amongst northern barbarians, about which we are informed by classical writers,47 modern scholarship explained as the result of infrequent consumption of alcohol. Wine and mead were too expensive for commoners on the Continent and beer was more readily available 48 Engs' hypothesis, mentioned above, on the historical reasons for different beverage drinking consumption in antiquity does not include Illyricum. Rare classical sources reveal the same pattern of alcohol consumption amongst the peoples in Illyricum, as amongst the Celts and Germans, namely heavy drinking and an almost total absence of wine consumption before the Greek colonisation of the Adriatic islands and Roman occupation of the interior.49 Whether cereal 41 Engs, "Western practices", 227-228 passim; "What Should We Be Researching?: Past Influences, Future Ventures", in E. Houghton and A.M. Roche (eds), Learning about Drinking (Washington 2001), 148-149 with references. 42 A.P. McKinlay, "Roman Sobriety in the Early Empire", Classical Bulletin, 26 (1949/50), 34- 36; N. Purcell, "Wine and Wealth in Ancient Italy", JRS 75 (1985), 9 ff., esp. 13 ff. 43 A notable exception is the period of the first century BCE and CE, when alcoholism was on the rise. For the drinking history of the Romans see: E.M. Jellinek, "Drinkers and Alcoholics in Ancient Rome", Journal of Studies on Alcohol 37(11) (1976), 1728-1741; A.P. McKinlay, "Roman sobriety in the later Republic", Classical Bulletin 25 (1948), 27-28; "Roman sobriety in the Early Empire", passim; Purcell, "Wine and Wealth", 1-19. 44 H.R. Ellis-Davidson, Myths and Symbols in Pagan Europe (Manchester 1988), 41-45; B. Arnold, "Drinking the Feast: Alcohol and the Legitimation of Power in Celtic Europe", Cambridge Archaeological Journal 9(1) (1999), 73 ff, esp. 84-88 (the Celts). 45 Arnold, "Drinking the Feast", passim summarised in 87-8. 46 Oros. 5.7; Flor. 1.34.12-13. 47 See classical sources on barbarian intoxication in A.P. McKinlay, "Ancient Experience with Intoxicating Drinks: Non-Classical Peoples", Quarterly Journal of studies on Alcohol 9 (1948), 388-92,407-413. 48 Arnold, "Drinking the Feast", 75. Cf. Amm. 26.8.2: "... paupertinus in Illyricopotus." 49 Theopomp. in Athen. 10.440a; 10.443a-c; Polyb. 2.4.6, 29.13; Liv. 44.30-5-6. Too much wine, rather than beer or mead, caused the death of the Hlyrian king Agron and the alcoholism of another king Genthius, but in all probability wine was consumed only amongst the elite. A Sabaiarius 63 beverages were introduced during the Celtic migrations in the fourth century BCE or from Thrace was not known; it appears that Thrace was a much more likely influence.50 In late antiquity, Illyricum was one of the more Romanised parts of the empire and local language and culture was under strong Roman influence.51 Still, there is nothing to suggest that drinking patterns there changed substantially; production and consumption of wine never really gained ground amongst native populations further from the Dalmatian coast and wine produced there was of poor quality.52 The Mediterraneans, who apparently became generally less and less tolerant of intoxication in later antiquity,53 regarded these drinking habits as barbarian. In Ammianus' time, the main drunkards were barbarians and soldiers, many of whom, like Valens, came from Illyricum.54 They only complemented the classical picture of Illyricum and its inhabitants, who were regarded as semi-barbarians despite the thorough Romanisation they achieved. Illyricum served to classical intellectual thought as an example of barbarian otherness for a long time. It provided a contrast to the qualities of Graeco-Roman civilisation as its barbarian negative.55 Cultural prejudices about the inhabitants of Illyricum and their assumed furor, ferocia, feritas and superbia, were deeply rooted for centuries in Roman minds.56 This prejudice was certainly frustrating for some of its inhabitants living amongst the Mediterraneans. The most striking known example is one Murranus, a migrant different opinion is expressed by M. Zaninovic, "The Illyrians and the Grapevine", Annuaire. Centre d'Etudes Balkaniques 13/11 (1976), 264 ff, who argues that coastal Illyrians had a wine- drinking tradition a long time before the Greek arrival in the Adriatic. On the absence of wine in Illyricum, see Strabo 5.1.8 (214), 7.5.10 (316-7). 50 Olckmann, "Bier", 462 assumes that the Celts or Roman soldiers introduced beer to the Balkans. Thracian beer-brewing tradition is older than Celtic settlement. 51 A. Mocsy, Pannonia (London and Boston 1974), 247-249, 259-263; A. Stipcevic, Iliri, 2nd edn (Zagreb 1989), 51-57, giving an essential bibliography on the subject. 52 Dio Cass. 49.36.3 (poor quality of Pannonian wine); Zaninovic, "Illyrians and the Grapevine", 270-272; Stipcevic, Iliri, 108. There were some attempts to grow vines around Mons Almus (Fruska gora) near Sirmium by the emperor Probus in the third century CE, but without lasting results (Aur. Victor, Caes. 37.3; Epit. De Caes. 37.3-4). 53 Jellinek, "Drinkers", 1739-40. 54 Amm. 22.4.6. Barbarians: 15.12.4 (Gauls), 18.21.13; 27.2.2 (Alamanni). There are the references to wine riots in Rome (14.6.1; 15.7.3) and tabernae subculture (14.6.25; 28.9.4), but this does not suggest wide-spread alcoholism in the Mediterranean (as Rome was the exception [Purcell, "Wine and Wealth", 15]), but also Ammianus' own contempt for the citizens of Rome. 55 J. Wallace, "A (Hi)story of Illyria", Greece & Rome 45(2) (1988), 213-216 and ff. 56 P. Salmon, "L'image des Illyriens a Rome. Etude de mentalite", Iliria 16(1) (1987), 203- 211. On the stereotypes in Ammianus, T.D. Barnes, Ammianus Marcellinus and the Representations of Historical Reality (Cornell Studies in Classical Philology 56) (Ithaca 1998), 111-119. 64 Danijel Dzino from Pannonia to Italy, who humbly acknowledged his Pannonian origin as something to be ashamed of on his tombstone.57 It is common knowledge that the Roman empire in its later phase underwent huge cultural change, reinventing itself in the third century on- different foundations.58 After the Severan dynasty, the majority of Roman emperors in the third and fourth century were of Pannonian/Illyrian origins. Certainly they were not always of the same ethnic stock, but rather they shared the same cultural background.59 The fall of Constantine's dynasty, which through time became culturally assimilated and as removed from its Balkan origins as possible, and the fast change of Julian and Jovian on the throne again brought Illyrian emperors onto the Roman throne. Valentinian, and especially Valens, surrounded themselves with fellow Pannonians and placed them in high administrative positions in Rome and the provinces. Their bad reputation in Ammianus was a reflection of contemporary resentment towards the rise of the new aristocracy, their low birth and lack of classical education. These 'New Romans' were ambitious, capable and brutal, like the regime they served.60 However, Pannonian unpopularity was even more visible in the East than in Rome at the very beginning of the rule of Valentinian and Valens. The revolt of Procopius was a direct reaction to this sudden change. Procopius was not a favorite of ancient historians.61 Although culturally and emotionally closer to the cousin of Julian than to the Pannonian emperor, Ammianus was strongly morally opposed to any kind of usurpation,62 so that he followed hostile "Murranus, nam ipsa miseria docet etiam barbaros scrivere;..me...hominem barbarum, nat(um) Pannonium." G. Mancini, "Iscrizione sepolcrale di Anversa", in N. de Arcangelis (ed.), Atti del Convegno Storico Abruzzese-Molisano, 25-29 marzo 1931 (Casabordino 1933), 449- 452. 58 It was "the military revolution"; cf. P. Brown, The World of Late Antiquity (London 1971), 24 ff. 59 R. Syme, "Danubian and Balkan Emperors", Historia 22(2) (1973), 310-316, rightly objects to the automatic assumption of the Illyrian origin of these emperors. We are here more concerned with their cultural background than with their ethnicity. 60 Cf. Alfoldy, Conflict, 13-18; J. Matthews, Western Aristocracies and Imperial Court AD 364-425 (Oxford 1975), 1-31 (Roman senatorial aristocracy), 32-55 (new elite); Brown, World of Late Antiquity, 25-34. This senatorial animosity was ignited by Valentinian's prosecutions of some leading senators for magic arts and adultery, rather than by general cultural prejudice (Matthews, Western Aristocracies, 40-41, 56 ff). There were also other influential provincial cliques in high administrative positions in that time besides the Pannonians, like the Cappadocians, Africans or Spaniards (Matthews, Roman Empire, 212-21 A), 61 Socrates, Hist. eccl. 4.3 ff.; Oros. 7.32.4 (a less negative view of Procopius is given by Zos. 4.4.2 ff; Eunapius, FHG 4.31-35 (= Blockley, 50 [6.34.3-9]). Cf. Neri, "L'Usurpatore come tiranno nel lessico politico della tarda antichita", in F. Paschoud and J. Szidat (eds), Usurpationen in der Spatantike (Historia Einzelschriften 111, Stuttgart 1997), for the treatment of usurpers in the literature of late antiquity. 62 Blockley, Ammianus, 57-59; Matthews, Roman Empire of Ammianus, 201-203; Neri, "L'Usurpatore", 79-80, 84. Sabaiarius 65 imperial propaganda and gave a negative picture of Procopius and his supporters. The historian represented supporters of Procopius as being drawn from the lower classes, dregs of the city, slaves and servants.63 Procopius himself was described as a buffoon; he was a bizarre and supernatural character from some popular mime of the day, "... [an] evil spirit, which has come from hell to stir up civil .strife".64 However, although this rebellion attracted a substantial following amongst the lower classes, it still enjoyed some support from the higher classes, especially from ambitious civil servants looking for the opportunity of a lifetime.65 Essentially it was a combination of pagan reaction to Christian successors of Julian and a still present affection for the house of Constantine that brought him followers from the higher classes and amongst the soldiers.66 Sympathies towards the house of Constantine were particularly strong in Chalcedon, where Julian had conducted trials against sympathisers of Constantius just two years before Procopius' rebellion.67 Why did this, on a first sight trivial detail {sabaiarius), attract the attention of Ammianus' sensitive and inquisitive mind, and what does it say about the historian himself? Perhaps it was the linguistic directness of the word sabaiarius, never avoided by Ammianus himself. Its auditory complement to the visual aspect produced dramatic exaggeration, so beloved by Ammianus, in a scene where the choir of defenders chanted 'sabaiarius, sabaiarius' to a helpless, humiliated and certainly very, very angry emperor.68 It was a small cameo of Ammianus' composition.69 Firstly, Valens is shown besieging Chalcedon with great vigor - magnis viribus insistebat - but without success because of persistent and stubborn w Amm. 26.6.14-7.14. 64 Amm. 26.6.15 ff, cf. theatrical metaphor in Zos. 4.5.5, discussing the same event. F.W. Jenkins, "Theatrical metaphors in Ammianus Marcellinus", Eranos 85 (1987), 60. 65 R. Delmaire, "Les usurpateurs du Bas-Empire et le recrutement des fonctionnaries (Essai de reflexion sur les asises du pouvoir et leurs limites)", in Paschoud and Szidat, Usurpationen, 118- 120. 66 Blockley, Ammianus, 56-61; A. Solari, "La rivolta Procopiana", Byzantion 7 (1932), 143- 148. The army was generally neutral towards religious matters (cf. A. Momigliano, "The Social Background of the Struggle between Paganism and Christianity", in Momigliano [ed.], The Conflict between Paganism and Christianity in the Fourth Century [Oxford 1963], 23-26), but they were won over through still present affection for the house of Constantine, cf. Amm. 26.7.10; 26.7.16-7. Still, many public servants from Constantius' time also served Valens faithfully; cf. L.A. Tritle, "Whose Tool? Ammianus Marcelinus on the Emperor Valens", Ancient History Bulletin 8(4) (1994), 146 ff. . 67 Amm. 22.3. 68 On the directness of Ammianus' linguistic expression and his love for the visual aspect of the. event, see Barnes, Ammianus Marcellinus, 187-192. For dramatic exaggeration and visual aspect in Ammianus, see R. MacMullen, "Some Pictures in Ammianus Marcellinus", Art- Bulletin 46(4) (1964), esp. 452-455; and the use of theatrical elements and metaphors, Jenkins, "Theatrical metaphors", 55-61. 69 The entire description of the rebellion of Procopius in Ammianus is a "minor masterpiece of description" (Matthews, Roman Empire of Ammianus, 192). 66 Danijel Dzino defence. In response to the attacks, the defenders, instead of ballistae, arrows or spears, hurled (iaciebantur) from the high walls of Chalcedon something much more damaging than weapons. They hurled words, insulting and ridiculing the emperor, calling him sabaiarius. Then follows Ammianus' explanation of sabaia as a drink of the poor in Illyricum, thus underlining the audio-visual effect already achieved with cultural and social aspects of the word. The image is striking with its surreal simplicity and colourful authenticity. Ammianus' demanding audience was certainly pleased every time he confronted them with a dash of real-life images like this, in his public readings.70 We may say that this episode complements Ammianus' picture of Valens as he wanted him to be presented: a timid, cruel, uneducated, drunken semi-barbarian rustic from Pannonia, ugly and crude both in appearance and character.71 Certainly, we should be aware that this picture was influenced by a variety of opinions, mostly originating in the social strata of Ammianus.72 However, it does not seem that it was influenced by Ammianus' general eastern prejudice towards the Pannonians, as suggested by some authorities.73 Actually, wide criticism of Valens' brother Valentinian in Ammianus' account never followed these lines. Perhaps it stems from antipathy towards Valens on a personal level developed during the Antioch trials for magic in the early 370s, where Ammianus in person witnessed the cruelty of Valens and his administration.74 This episode certainly reflects the genuine dissatisfaction of the local population with the new ruler and his Pannonian staff, especially his father-in-law Petronius. This anti-Pannonian sentiment was an important propaganda card played by ■ N. Ivic, TEXTVS. Istrazivanja o Amijanu Marcelinu (Zagreb 2001), 199 ff, esp. 290-292, shows the ultimate attraction of real-life experiences in the Res Gestae (primarily Ammianus' own experiences like the Megida episode, but even in second-hand experiences, like the siege of Chalcedon, Ammianus preserved freshness of original experience) for Ammianus' audience. Cf. Barnes, Ammianus Marcellinus, 11-16, discussing representations, stylisations and the distortion of reality in Ammianus. 71 Cf. Amm. 27.5.8; 29.1.11; 31.14.5; 31.14.8 (uneducated rustic) 31.14.7 (physical description); Blockley, Ammianus, 36-48, esp. 46-48. Cf. E.C. Evans, "Roman descriptions of personal appearance in history and biography", Harvard Studies in Classical Philology 46 (1935), 43-84, on the relation between physical description and character in Roman historiography. See also R. Seager, Ammianus Marcellinus: Seven studies in his language and thought (Columbia, Miss. 1986), 80-83, discussing the meaning of the term sobrius in Ammianus. 72 Humphries, "Nec metu", giving the example of Valentinian I. There is no reason to see things as being any different in the case of Valens, although he certainly was much weaker and more ineffectual in imposing his will than his brother (Tritle, "Whose Tools?", 148-149). We should be cautious of the assumption that Ammianus exclusively represents the Roman senatorial aristocracy (A. Cameron, "The Roman friends of Ammianus", JRS 54 [1964], 15-28). 73 Notably Alfoldy, Conflict, 117-118. 74 Amm. 29.5 ff; Zos. 4.13-15. On Ammianus being in Antioch at that time: Thompson, Historical Work, 12-14; Matthews, Roman Empire of Ammianus, 15. Sabaiarius 67 Procopius, showing how easy it was to plant his propaganda and mobilise public opinion against the Pannonians amongst prejudiced and narrow-sighted easterners. It was cultural prejudice on two levels: firstly, geographic and ethnic prejudice on the part of Mediterranean wine-drinkers towards beer-drinking continentals. Secondly, it was the class prejudice of Mediterranean city-dwellers towards soldiers from recently and sparsely urbanised continental provinces and the poor in general, as sabaia was the poor person's drink, a fact underlined by Ammianus. As Matthews points out, and it may well be thought of Ammianus himself, this sabaiarius episode shows the narrowness of Procopius' power base, limited to urban easterners.76 Modern scholarship has not emphasised enough that the Pannonians were unpopular not only amongst the easterners but also amongst certain Latin-speaking soldiers, whom Procopius approached on one occasion and easily converted to his side to fight against Pannonius degenerJ1 And who were those provoking the emperor with this strange word? He was insulted by no other word for a beer- drinker but sabaiarius. Ammianus keeps in the Res Gestae the original word shouted from the walls, rather than changing it to another more common form for a good reason, as the sabaiarius not only offends Valens personally but also offends his Pannonian origins at the same time.78 Therefore, people who knew the exact meaning of this obscure word from provincial language called him sabaiarius. Perhaps, they were Latin-speaking soldiers who were already on Procopius' side, who had served in Illyricum, or learned this word from fellow soldiers originating from Illyricum. Regardless of whether this hypothesis is true or not, the fact is that Valens was unpopular amongst soldiers from the West as well; thus that East-West animosity was just one side of the message hidden in sabaiarius. For a long time, rule of the ancient world was in the hands of northerners, rough soldiers of Illyro-Celtic stock, and it is no wonder that their military spirit and overwhelmingly Latin education was in conflict with the contemporary ideals of Amm. 26.6.6-9. See Austin, "Usurper's claim to legitimacy"; Matthews, Roman Empire of Ammianus, 199-201, for individual aspects of Procopius' propaganda. 76 Matthews, Roman Empire of Ammianus, 199-200. Procopius' power base was indeed very limited (Amm. 26.7.12; Austin, Ammianus on Warfare, 91), and he was surrounded with "...un rassemblement heteroclite et peu liable d'intrigants, d'ambitieux et de fonctionnaires nommes malgre eux..." (Delmaire, "Les usurpateurs duBas-Empire", 120). 77 Amm. 26.7.16. It is interesting to note the opposite situation when the emperor Julian was called with contempt Asianus and Graeculus by Roman soldiers from western provinces (Amm. 17.9.3). 78 As we saw above, sabaia was an obscure native word from Illyricum, not widely known to Ammianus' audience, and for that reason the historian takes care to explain it: "est autem sabaia ex ordeo vel frumento in liquorem converses paupertinus in Illyrico potus". If Ammianus were simply to vary the word, he would use another widely known word for beer such as zythos, like St Jerome, cervesa, or camum - the official term for Pannonian beer in Diocletian's Edict. 68 Danijel Dzino culture based on knowledge of oratory and classical, especially Greek literature. The sabaiarius episode shows once more how this strange third-century grafting of the Pannonian military mind onto the mellow body of the late antique world functioned and malfunctioned one hundred years later. In a way, modern scholarship can see the fourth century as a century of overwhelming and omnipresent anti-intellectualism in the ancient world.80 Certainly, the modern view is heavily influenced by the negative attitude of the old aristocracy of the time whose opinion dominates our sources, but even they sometimes understood, like Aurelius Victor, that Illyrian soldier emperors were optimi rei publicae regardless of their lack of manners, education and low birth.81 The sabaiarius episode reveals some of the essential social divisions that expressed the bipolar nature of the late antique world, as well as political divisions of the moment. In the single word sabaiarius are juxtaposed and opposed: Greek East and Latin West; Mediterranean coast belt and continental Europe; beer and wine; moderation and intoxication; poor and rich (or rather, less poor); soldier and citizen; soldier and fellow soldier; Constantine's dynasty and Valentinian's dynasty; Classical ideals of culture and Illyrian military spirit; urban and rural. History needed someone like Ammianus Marcellinus, that multiformis historiae formator*1 to condense all of that into one single word of an unknown and obscure language - sabaiarius. Alfoldy, Conflict, 96 ff with references. Certainly, we can doubt the extent of this conflict. R. MacMullen, Changes in the Roman Empire (Princeton 1990), 117-129. Aur. Victor, Caes. 39.26, cf. 40.12-13, reflecting his own times rather than the past. Ivia, TEXTVS, 199-292.