Ancient Rome played a pivotal role in the
history of
wine. The earliest influences of
viticulture on the
Italian peninsula can be traced to
Ancient Greeks and
Etruscans. The rise of the
Roman Empire saw an increase in technology and awareness of
winemaking which spread to all parts of the empire. The influence of the Romans has had a profound effect of the histories of today's major winemaking regions of
France,
Germany,
Italy,
Portugal and
Spain. In the hands of the Romans, wine became "
democratic" and available to all, from the lowly slave to the simple peasant to the
aristocrat. The Romans' belief that wine was a daily necessity of life promoted its widespread availability among all classes. This led to the desire to spread viticulture and wine production to every part of the Roman empire, to ensure steady supplies for Roman soldiers and colonists. Economics also came into play, as Roman merchants saw opportunities for trade with native tribes such as those from
Gaul and
Germania, bringing Roman influences to these regions before the arrival of the Roman military .
[1] The works of Roman writers—most notably
Cato,
Columella,
Horace,
Palladius,
Pliny,
Varro and
Virgil—give insights on the role of wine in
Roman culture and contemporary understanding of winemaking and viticultural practices. Many of the techniques and principles first developed in Roman times can be found in modern winemaking.
[2]Wild grapevines have grown on the Italian peninsula since prehistory and historians have not been able to pinpoint the exact moment in time when domestic viticulture and winemaking first occurred. It is possible that the Mycenaean had some influences with early Greek settlements in southern Italy but the earliest recorded evidence of Greek influence was in 800 BC. Viticulture was widely entrenched in Etruscan civilization which was centered around the modern winemaking region of Tuscany. The Ancient Greeks saw wine as a staple of domestic life as well as a viable economic trade commodity. Throughout the Greek world, settlements were encouraged to plant vineyards for local use and trade with the Greek city states. Southern Italy, with its abundance of indigenous vines, was an ideal location for wine production and was known by the Greeks as Oenotria ("land of vines").[3]
As Rome grew from a collection of settlements to a kingdom and then republic, the culture of Roman winemaking was influenced by the skills and techniques of the regions that were conquered and became part of the Roman Empire. The Greek settlements of southern Italy were completely under Roman control by 270 BC. The Etruscans, who already had established trade routes into Gaul, were completely conquered by the 1st century BC. The Punic Wars with Carthage had a particularly marked effect on Roman viticulture. In addition to broadening the cultural horizons of the Roman citizenry, they also introduced them to the advanced viticultural techniques of the Carthaginians in particular the work of Mago. When the libraries of Carthage were ransacked and burned, one of the few Carthaginian works to survive was the 26 volumes of Mago's work which was translated into Latin and Greek in 146 BC. Mago's work was extensively quoted in the influential Roman works by Pliny, Columella, Varro and Gargilius Martialis.[3]
For most of Rome's winemaking history, Greek wine was the most highly prized with domestic Roman wine fetching far lower prices. The 2nd century BC began the "golden age" of Roman winemaking and the development of Grand cru vineyards (a type of early First Growths in Rome). The vintage of 121BC was of legendary fame and became known as the Opimian vintage, named after the consul at the time—Lucius Opimius. The vintage was noted for its large harvest and the unusually high quality of wine that was produced—with some examples still being drunk over 100 years later. Pliny the Elder wrote extensively about the "first growths" of Rome—most notably Falernian, Alban and Caecuban. Other first growth vineyards include Rhaeticum and Hadrianum located along the Po river in what are now the modern day regions of Lombardy and Venice respectively; Praetutium (not related to the modern Italian city Teramo, historically known as Praetutium) located along the Adriatic coast near the border of Emilia-Romagna and Marche and Lunense located in modern Tuscany. Around Rome itself were the estates of Alban, Sabinum, Tiburtinum, Setinum and Signinum. Going south towards Naples were the estates of Caecuban, Falernian, Caulinum, Trebellicanum, Massicum, Gauranium, and Surrentinum. In Sicily was the first growth estate of Mamertinum.[3] At this highpoint, it was estimated that Rome was consuming over 47 million gallons (nearly 1.8 million hl) of wine each year, enough for every man, woman and child to have a pint (half a liter) of wine each day.[1]
