Passum was a raisin wine (wine from semi-dried grapes ) apparently developed in ancient Carthage (in now modern Tunisia ) and transmitted from there to Italy , where it was popular in the Roman Empire . The earliest surviving instruction constitutes the only known Carthaginian recipe. It is a fragment from the Punic farming manual by Mago in its Latin translation by Decimus Junius Silanus (2nd century BC). It survives because it was summarised by Columella (1st century AD):
8-485: A recipe for passum was recorded in an agricultural manual by Mago , a Punic writer. The original Punic work is lost, but the recipe is quoted in a later Latin work, De Agricultura by Columella . Mago gives the following instructions for excellent passum. Harvest well-ripened very early bunches of grapes; reject any mildewed or damaged grapes. Fix in the ground forked branches or stakes not over four feet apart, linking them with poles. Lay reeds across them and spread
16-614: The Roman period, and its popularity is referred to by Pliny the Elder in his Natural History . Research indicates that it found popularity amongst women in the kitchen, due to easy accessibility, in the medicinal world and also within religious contexts β possibly in Judaism and the early Christian eucharist. "Passum de Magon", is a modern Tunisian natural sweet wine from Kelibia in the Cape Bon region,
24-470: The city rather than those of the country; the man who takes greater delight in his city residence will have no need of a country estate. After Rome's destruction of Carthage in 146 BC, the Carthaginian libraries were given to the kings of Numidia according to Roman sources, but no record of their existence or location has ever been identified. Most likely, the libraryβs contents were destroyed by Rome with
32-491: The grapes on these in the sun, covering them at night to keep dew off. When they have dried, pick the grapes, put them in a fermenting vat or jar and add the best possible must (grape juice) so that they are just covered. When the grapes have absorbed it all and have swelled in six days, put them in a basket, press them and collect the passum. Next, tread the pressed grapes, adding very fresh must made from other grapes that have been sun-dried for three days. Mix all this and put
40-432: The mixed mass through the press. Put this passum secundarium into sealed vessels immediately so that it will not become too austerum . After twenty or thirty days, when fermentation has ceased, rack into other vessels, seal the lids with gypsum and cover them with skins. Later, less detailed, instructions are found in other Latin and Greek sources. Passum was produced extensively in the eastern Mediterranean through
48-540: The rest of the once-great city. Uniquely, Mago's book was retrieved and brought to Rome. It was adapted into Greek by Cassius Dionysius and translated in full into Latin by D. Junius Silanus , the latter at the expense of the Roman Senate . The Greek translation was later abridged by Diophanes of Nicaea , whose version was divided into six books. Extracts from these translations survive in quotations by Roman writers on agriculture, including Varro , Columella , Pliny
56-482: The traditional agricultural hub of Carthage, that honors the memory of Mago and is made in this antique fashion. Mago (agricultural writer) Mago ( Punic : π€π€β¬π€β¬ , MGN ) was a Carthaginian writer, author of an agricultural manual in Punic which was a record of the farming knowledge of Carthage. The Punic text has been lost, but some fragments of Greek and Latin translations survive. Mago's long work
64-402: Was divided into 28 books. It incorporated local Berber and Punic traditional practices. Carthage being the granary of the central Mediterranean, knowledge of agricultural and veterinary practices was extensive. It began with general advice which is thus summarized by Columella : One who has bought land should sell his town house so that he will have no desire to worship the household gods of
#916083