The common oat in Greek medical treatises of antiquity and Byzantium (Vth c. BC - XIth c. AD)
Maciej Kokoszko
Uniwersytet Łódzki , PolandKrzysztof Jagusiak
Uniwersytet Łódzki , PolandZofia Rzeźnicka
Uniwersytet Łódzki , PolandAbstract
The common oat (Avena sativa) is a kind of cereal which is fairly well attested in the ancient and Byzantine Greek sources. It is to be noted that medical literature of the abovementioned periods is especially informative as far as the subject in question is concerned. The body of evidence shows that both in Antiquity as well as over the Byzantine period (i.e. between the Vth and the XIth centuries) oats belonged to the crops which did not enjoy much appreciation nor special attention on the part of both mass consumers as well as medical specialists. Generally the cereal was thought to be worse than other crops and therefore lending itself to being animal fodder. It was made use of almost exclusively as an emergency food in case of shortages of other cereals. Though there are very few recipes that refer directly to the ways of preparing oats as food, some guidelines can be formulated on the basis of information pertaining to other cereals. The analyzed sources appear to suggest that it was used to prepare thin soups (on the basis of oats cooking liquor). Moreover, the cereal was also cooked into gruel-like soups. Having been finely ground, it could also be utilized to prepare bread, which, however, was not highly appreciated for its taste nor dietetic value. Medical sources characterize oats in reasonable detail. The cereal is said to be not very appealing in its flavour (which reveals unbalanced humours), characteristic of limited wholesomeness, slightly astringent (and therefore slowing down the work of the alimentary tract), hard to digest, delicately desiccating, heating and cooling at the same time. The same material suggests that oats were used for therapeutic purposes. Mainly they were profited from to treat diarrhea, stomach problems, liver ailments, prepare cataplasms to stimulate diaphoresis, help remove mucus from the bronchi and feed the feverish.
Keywords:
ancient and Byzantine medicine, ancient and Byzantine dietetics, ancient and Byzantine gastronomy, history of oats cultivationReferences
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Alexander Trallianus, De febribus, ed. T. Puschmann: Alexander von Tralles, Original-Text und Übersetzung nebst einer einleitenden Abhandlung: Ein Beitrag zur Geschichte der Medicin, I, Vienna 1878
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André J., L’alimentation et la cuisine à Rome, Paris 1961
Anthimus, De observatione ciborum
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Apicius, De re coquinaria
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Athenaeus Naucratita, Deipnosophistae
Bertier J., Mnésithée et Dieuches, Leiden 1972
Bignasca A., Kernos, w: Thesaurus Cultus and Rituum Antiquorum, V, ed. J.Ch. Balty, Basel – Los Angeles 2005
Britton K. – Huntley J., New Evidence for the Consumption of Barley at Romano-British Military and Civilian Sites, from the Analysis of Cereal Bran Fragments in Faecal Material, „Vegetation History and Archaeobotany” 20 (2011)
Brothwell D. – Brothwell P., Food in Antiquity. A Survey of the Diet of Early Peoples, London 1969
Cassianus Bassus, Geoponica
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Condolle A. de, Origin of Cultivated Plants, New York 1959
Cool H.E.M., Eating and Drinking in Roman Britain, Cambridge 2006
Corvisier J.N., Athenaeus, Medicine and Demography, w: Athenaeus and His World. Reading Greek Culture in the Roman Empire, ed. D. Braund – J. Wilkins, Exeter 2000, 492-502
Dalby A., Flavours of Byzantium, Totnes 2003
Dalby A., Food in the Ancient World from A to Z, London – New York 2003
Dalby A., Siren Feasts. A History of Food and Gastronomy in Greece, London – New York 1996
Dalby A., Tastes of Byzantium. The Cuisine of a Legendary Empire, London – New York 2010
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Grabowski R., Changes in Cereal Cultivation During the Iron Age in Southern Sweden: A Compilation and Interpretation of the Archaeobotanical Material, „Vegetation History and Archaeobotany” 20 (2011) 479-494
Grynia M., Owies, w: Trawy uprawne i dziko rosnące, red. M. Falkowski, Warszawa 1974
Hancock J.F., Plant evolution and the origin of crop species, Wallingford – Cambridge 2004
Hippocrates, De diaeta
Homer, The Iliad, with an English Translation by A.T. Murray, London – Cambridge Mass. 1960-1963
Homeri Odyssea, cum potiore lectionis varietate, ed. A. Nauck, Homerica carmina 2, Berolini 1874
Hyland A., Equus: the horse in the Roman world, New Haven – London 1990
Kawka A., Współczesne trendy w produkcji piekarskiej – wykorzy¬stanie owsa i jęczmienia jako zbóż niechlebowych, „Żywność. Nauka. Technologia. Jakość” (2010) nr 3 (70), 25-43
Kerényi K., Eleusis. Archetypowy obraz matki i córki, tłum. I. Kania, Kraków 2004
Kokoszko M., Aromaty kuchni antyku oraz wczesnego Bizancjum w teorii medycznej i praktyce kulinarnej, PHis 102 (2012) z. 4
Kokoszko M., Smaki Konstantynopola, w: Konstan-tynopol – Nowy Rzym. Miasto i ludzie w okresie wczesnobizantyńskim, red. M.J. Leszka – T. Woliń-ska, Warszawa 2011
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Laiou A.E., The Byzantine Economy. An Overview, w: The Economic History of Byzantium. From the Seventh Through the Fifteenth Century, ed. A.E. Laiou, Washington 2002
Lefort J., The Rural Economy, Seventh-Twelfth Centuries, w: The Economic History of Byzantium. From the Seventh Through the Fifteenth Century, ed. A.E. Laiou, Washington 2002
Lewicki S. – Mazurek J., Owies, Warszawa 1967
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Lityńska-Zając M., Roślinność i gospodarka rolna w okresie rzymskim. Studium archeobotaniczne, Kraków 1997
Lityńska-Zając M. – Wasylikowa K., Przewodnik do badań archeobotanicznych, Poznań 2005
Loskutov I.G., On Evolutionary Pathways of „Avena” spe¬cies, „Genetic Resources and Crop Evolution” 55 (2008) 211-220.
Lucius Junius Moderatus Columella, Res rustica
Majors K.R., Cereal Grains as Food and Feed, w: Crops in Peace and War. The Yearbook of Agriculture 1950-1951, ed. A. Stefferud, Washington D.C. 1952
Montanari M., Structures de production et systèmes alimentaires, w: Histoire de l’ali¬mentation, ed. J.L. Flandrin – M. Montanari, Paris 1996
Mowszowicz J., Z dziejów roślin uprawnych, cz. 1: Zboża, Warszawa 1948
Mylonas G.E., Eleusis and the Eleusinian Mysteres, Princeton 1962
Nowiński M., Dzieje upraw i roślin uprawnych, Poznań 1957
Nutton V., Ancient medicine, London – New York 2007
Oder E., Beiträge zur Geschichte der Landwirtschaft bei den Griechen, I, „Rheinisches Museum” 45 (1890)
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Oribasius, Libri ad Eunapium
Paczos-Grzęda E., Systematyka, ewolucja i cytogenetyka gatunków z rodzaju Avena L., „Wiadomości Botaniczne” 47 (2003) nr 1-2
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Peterson D.M. – Murphy J.P., Oat, w: The Cambridge World History of Food, ed. K.F. Kiple – K. Coneè Ornelas, Cambridge 2000
Physici et medici Graeci minores, II, Amsterdam 1963
Pliny, Natural History, with an English Translation in Ten Volumes, transl. H. Rackham, London – Cambridge 1938-1963
Porci Catonis M., De agri cultura liber, rec. H. Keil, Lipsiae 1895
Rautman M.L., The Daily Life in the Byzantine Empire, Westport – Oxford 2006
Rösch M. – Jacomet S. – Karg S., The History of Cereals in the Region of the Former Dutchy of Swabia (Herzogtum Schwaben) from the Roman to the Post-Medieval Period: Results of Archaeobotanical Research, „Vegetation History and Archaeobotany” 1 (1992) 193-209
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Sonderkamp J.A.M., Theophanes Nonnus: Medicine in the Circle of Constantine Porphyrogenitus, DOP 38 (1984) 29-41
Symeon Seth, Syntagma de alimentorum facultatibus b, ed. B. Langkavel: Simeonis Sethi Syntagma de alimentorum facultatibus, Lipsiae 1868
Szczegółowa uprawa roślin, cz. 1, red. A. Listowski, Warszawa 1966
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Wilkins J.M. – Hill S., Food in the Ancient World, Oxford 2006
Witczak K.T., Indoeuropejskie nazwy zbóż, Łódź 2004
Aetius Amidinus, Iatricorum lib.
Alcock J.P., Food in Roman Britain, Brimscombe Port 2001
Alcock J.P., Food in the Ancient World, London 2006
Alexander Trallianus, De febribus, ed. T. Puschmann: Alexander von Tralles, Original-Text und Übersetzung nebst einer einleitenden Abhandlung: Ein Beitrag zur Geschichte der Medicin, I, Vienna 1878
Alexander Trallianus, Therapeutica, ed. T. Puschmann: Alexander von Tralles: Original-Text und Übersetzung nebst einer einleitenden Abhandlung: Ein Beitrag zur Geschichte der Medicin, II, Vienna 1879
André J., L’alimentation et la cuisine à Rome, Paris 1961
Anthimus, De observatione ciborum
Anthimus, On the Observance of Foods, Totnes – Blackawton – Devon 2007
Apicius, A Critical Edition with an Introduction and an English Translation of the Latin Recipe Text Apicius, Text and Commentary Ch. Grocock – S. Grainger, Totnes 2006; tłum. I. Mikołajczyk – S. Wyszomirski: Apicjusz, O sztuce kulinarnej ksiąg dziesięć, Toruń 1998
Apicius, De re coquinaria
Athenaei Naucratitae Dipnosophistarum libri XV, recensuit G. Kaibel, I-III, Lipsiae 1887-1890
Athenaeus Naucratita, Deipnosophistae
Bertier J., Mnésithée et Dieuches, Leiden 1972
Bignasca A., Kernos, w: Thesaurus Cultus and Rituum Antiquorum, V, ed. J.Ch. Balty, Basel – Los Angeles 2005
Britton K. – Huntley J., New Evidence for the Consumption of Barley at Romano-British Military and Civilian Sites, from the Analysis of Cereal Bran Fragments in Faecal Material, „Vegetation History and Archaeobotany” 20 (2011)
Brothwell D. – Brothwell P., Food in Antiquity. A Survey of the Diet of Early Peoples, London 1969
Cassianus Bassus, Geoponica
Celka Z., Relikty dawnych upraw – jak rośliny pomagają w badaniach archeologicznych, w: Człowiek i środowisko przyrodnicze we wczesnym średniowieczu w świetle badań interdyscyplinarnych, red. W. Chudziak, Toruń 2008
Collins-Clinton J., A late Antique Shrine of Liber Pater at Cosa, Leiden 1976
Condolle A. de, Origin of Cultivated Plants, New York 1959
Cool H.E.M., Eating and Drinking in Roman Britain, Cambridge 2006
Corvisier J.N., Athenaeus, Medicine and Demography, w: Athenaeus and His World. Reading Greek Culture in the Roman Empire, ed. D. Braund – J. Wilkins, Exeter 2000, 492-502
Dalby A., Flavours of Byzantium, Totnes 2003
Dalby A., Food in the Ancient World from A to Z, London – New York 2003
Dalby A., Siren Feasts. A History of Food and Gastronomy in Greece, London – New York 1996
Dalby A., Tastes of Byzantium. The Cuisine of a Legendary Empire, London – New York 2010
Darmstaedter E., Ptisana: ein beitrag zur Kenntnis der antiken Diaetetik, „Archeion” 15 (1933) 181-201
Dioscurides Pedanius, De materia medica
Flemming R., The Physicians at the Feats. The Place of the Medical Knowledge at Athenaeus’ Dinner-table, w: Athenaeus and His World. Reading Greek Culture in the Roman Empire, ed. D. Braund – J. Wilkins, Exeter 2000,
Galeni De sanitate tuenda libri VI, De alimentorum facul¬tatibus libri III, De bonis malisque sucis liber, De victu attenuante liber, De ptisana liber, Lipsiae – Berolini 1923
Galenus, De alimentorum facultatibus lib.
Galenus, De victu attenuante
Galenus, De simplicium medicamentorum temperamentis ac facultatibus libri XI 855, 1-2, ed. D.C.G. Kühn, Claudii Galeni Opera omnia, XI, Lipsiae 1826
Galenus, In Hippocratis de victu acutorum commentaria IV 454, 10-11, ed. G. Helmreich: Galeni In Hippocratis de victu acutorum commentaria, Lipsiae 1914
Geoponica sive Cassiani Bassi Scholastici de re rustica eclogae, recensuit H. Beckh, Lipsiae 1895
Górny A.G., Zarys genetyki owsa (rodzaj „Avena” L.), w: Zarys genetyki zbóż, II, red. A.G. Górny, Poznań 2005
Grabowski R., Changes in Cereal Cultivation During the Iron Age in Southern Sweden: A Compilation and Interpretation of the Archaeobotanical Material, „Vegetation History and Archaeobotany” 20 (2011) 479-494
Grynia M., Owies, w: Trawy uprawne i dziko rosnące, red. M. Falkowski, Warszawa 1974
Hancock J.F., Plant evolution and the origin of crop species, Wallingford – Cambridge 2004
Hippocrates, De diaeta
Homer, The Iliad, with an English Translation by A.T. Murray, London – Cambridge Mass. 1960-1963
Homeri Odyssea, cum potiore lectionis varietate, ed. A. Nauck, Homerica carmina 2, Berolini 1874
Hyland A., Equus: the horse in the Roman world, New Haven – London 1990
Kawka A., Współczesne trendy w produkcji piekarskiej – wykorzy¬stanie owsa i jęczmienia jako zbóż niechlebowych, „Żywność. Nauka. Technologia. Jakość” (2010) nr 3 (70), 25-43
Kerényi K., Eleusis. Archetypowy obraz matki i córki, tłum. I. Kania, Kraków 2004
Kokoszko M., Aromaty kuchni antyku oraz wczesnego Bizancjum w teorii medycznej i praktyce kulinarnej, PHis 102 (2012) z. 4
Kokoszko M., Smaki Konstantynopola, w: Konstan-tynopol – Nowy Rzym. Miasto i ludzie w okresie wczesnobizantyńskim, red. M.J. Leszka – T. Woliń-ska, Warszawa 2011
Kokoszko M. – Jagusiak K., Zboża Bizancjum. Kilka uwag na temat roli produktów zbożowych na podstawie źródeł greckich, „Zeszyty Wiejskie” 17 (2012)
Küster H., Rye, w: The Cambridge World History of Food, ed. K.F. Kiple – K. Coneè Ornelas, Cambridge 2000
Laiou A.E., The Byzantine Economy. An Overview, w: The Economic History of Byzantium. From the Seventh Through the Fifteenth Century, ed. A.E. Laiou, Washington 2002
Lefort J., The Rural Economy, Seventh-Twelfth Centuries, w: The Economic History of Byzantium. From the Seventh Through the Fifteenth Century, ed. A.E. Laiou, Washington 2002
Lewicki S. – Mazurek J., Owies, Warszawa 1967
Lityńska-Zając M., Chwasty w uprawach roślinnych w pradziejach i wczesnym średnio¬wieczu, Kraków 2005
Lityńska-Zając M., Roślinność i gospodarka rolna w okresie rzymskim. Studium archeobotaniczne, Kraków 1997
Lityńska-Zając M. – Wasylikowa K., Przewodnik do badań archeobotanicznych, Poznań 2005
Loskutov I.G., On Evolutionary Pathways of „Avena” spe¬cies, „Genetic Resources and Crop Evolution” 55 (2008) 211-220.
Lucius Junius Moderatus Columella, Res rustica
Majors K.R., Cereal Grains as Food and Feed, w: Crops in Peace and War. The Yearbook of Agriculture 1950-1951, ed. A. Stefferud, Washington D.C. 1952
Montanari M., Structures de production et systèmes alimentaires, w: Histoire de l’ali¬mentation, ed. J.L. Flandrin – M. Montanari, Paris 1996
Mowszowicz J., Z dziejów roślin uprawnych, cz. 1: Zboża, Warszawa 1948
Mylonas G.E., Eleusis and the Eleusinian Mysteres, Princeton 1962
Nowiński M., Dzieje upraw i roślin uprawnych, Poznań 1957
Nutton V., Ancient medicine, London – New York 2007
Oder E., Beiträge zur Geschichte der Landwirtschaft bei den Griechen, I, „Rheinisches Museum” 45 (1890)
Oribasii Synopsis ad Eustathium. Libri ad Eunapium, ed. I. Raeder, Lipsiae – Berolini 1926
Oribasius, Collectiones medicae, ed. I. Raeder: Oribasii Collectionum medicarum re¬liquiae, I, Lipsiae – Berolini 1928
Oribasius, Libri ad Eunapium
Paczos-Grzęda E., Systematyka, ewolucja i cytogenetyka gatunków z rodzaju Avena L., „Wiadomości Botaniczne” 47 (2003) nr 1-2
Paulus Aegineta, Epitomae medicae lib., ed. I.L. Heiberg, I-II, Lipsiae – Berolini 1921-1924
Pedanii Dioscuridis Anazarbei De materia medica libri quinque, ed. M. Wellmann, I-III, Berolini 1906-1914
Peterson D.M. – Murphy J.P., Oat, w: The Cambridge World History of Food, ed. K.F. Kiple – K. Coneè Ornelas, Cambridge 2000
Physici et medici Graeci minores, II, Amsterdam 1963
Pliny, Natural History, with an English Translation in Ten Volumes, transl. H. Rackham, London – Cambridge 1938-1963
Porci Catonis M., De agri cultura liber, rec. H. Keil, Lipsiae 1895
Rautman M.L., The Daily Life in the Byzantine Empire, Westport – Oxford 2006
Rösch M. – Jacomet S. – Karg S., The History of Cereals in the Region of the Former Dutchy of Swabia (Herzogtum Schwaben) from the Roman to the Post-Medieval Period: Results of Archaeobotanical Research, „Vegetation History and Archaeobotany” 1 (1992) 193-209
Schmidt M., Hesychii Alexandrini Lexicon, I-V, Ienae 1858-1868
Sonderkamp J.A.M., Theophanes Nonnus: Medicine in the Circle of Constantine Porphyrogenitus, DOP 38 (1984) 29-41
Symeon Seth, Syntagma de alimentorum facultatibus b, ed. B. Langkavel: Simeonis Sethi Syntagma de alimentorum facultatibus, Lipsiae 1868
Szczegółowa uprawa roślin, cz. 1, red. A. Listowski, Warszawa 1966
Teall J.L., The Grain Supply of the Byzantine Empire, 330-1025, DOP 13 (1959)
The Homeric Hymns, ed. T.W. Allen – W.R. Halliday – E.E. Sikes. Oxford 1936, tłum. W. Appel (Hymn do Demeter) w: Homeriká, czyli żywoty Homera i poematy przypisywane poecie, Warszawa 2007
Wilkins J.M. – Hill S., Food in the Ancient World, Oxford 2006
Witczak K.T., Indoeuropejskie nazwy zbóż, Łódź 2004
Kokoszko, M., Jagusiak, K., & Rzeźnicka, Z. (2013). Owies w greckich traktatach medycznych starożytności i Bizancjum (V w. prz. Chr. - XI w. po Chr.). Vox Patrum, 59, 421–447. https://doi.org/10.31743/vp.4052
Maciej Kokoszko
Uniwersytet Łódzki
Uniwersytet Łódzki
Krzysztof Jagusiak
Uniwersytet Łódzki
Uniwersytet Łódzki
Zofia Rzeźnicka
Uniwersytet Łódzki
Uniwersytet Łódzki
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