ALEX: EIGHT REMEDIES

Latine · Mayhoff 1906

nunc e scombro pisce laudatissimum in Carthaginis spartariae cetariis—sociorum id appellatur—, singulis milibus nummum permutantibus congios fere binos. nee liquor ullus paene praeter unguenta maiore in pretio esse coepit, nobilitatis etiam gentibus. scombros et Mauretania Baeticaeque etiam Carteia ex oceano intrantes capiunt, ad nihil aliud utiles. laudantur et Clazomenae garo Pompeique et Leptis, sicut muria Antipolis ac Thurii, iam vero et Delmatia.— Vitium huius est allex atque inperfecta nec colata faex. coepit tamen et privatim ex inutili pisciculo minimoque confici. apuam nostri, aphyen Graeci vocant, quoniam is pisciculus e pluvia nascatur. Foroiulienses piscem, ex quo faciunt, lupum appellant. transiit deinde in luxuriam, creveruntque genera ad infinitum, sicuti garun ad colorem mulsi veteris adeoque suavitatem dilutum, ut bibi possit. aliud vero est castimoniarum superstitioni etiam sacrisque ludaeis dicatum, quod fit e piscibus squama carentibus. sic allex pervenit ad ostreas, echinos, urticas maris, mullorum iocinera, innumerisque generibus ad sapores gulae coepit sal tabescere.

Haec obiter indicata sint desideriis vitae. et ipsa tamen non nullius usus in medendo. namque et allece scabies pecoris sanlatur infusa per cutem incisam, et contra canis morsus draconisve marini prodest, in linteolis autem concerptis inponitur, et garo ambusta recentia sanantur, si quis infundat ac non nominet garum. contra canum quoque morsus prodest maximeque crocodili et ulceribus, quae serpunt, aut sordidis. oris quoque et aurium ulceribus aut doloribus mirifice prodest. muria quoque sive illa salsugo spissat, mordet, extenuat, siccat, dysintericis utilis, etiam si nome intestina corripiat, ischiadicis, coeliacis veteribus infunditur. fotu quoque apud mediterraneos aquae marinae vicem pensat.

English · Bostock & Riley 1855–57

At the present day, however, the most esteemed kind of garum is that prepared from the scomber, in the fisheries of Carthago Spartaria: it is known as “garum of the allies,” and for a couple of congii we have to pay but little less than one thousand sesterces. Indeed, there is no liquid hardly, with the exception of the unguents, that has sold at higher prices of late; so much so, that the nations which produce it have become quite ennobled thereby. There are fisheries, too, of the scomber on the coasts of Mauretania, and at Carteia in Bætica, near the Straits which lie at the entrance to the Ocean; this being the only use that is made of the fish. For the production of garum, Clazomenæ is also famed, Pompeii, too, and Leptis; while for their muria, Antipolis, Thurii, and of late, Dalmatia, enjoy a high reputation.

Alex, which is the refuse of garum, properly consists of the dregs of it, when imperfectly strained: but of late they have begun to prepare it separately, from a small fish that is otherwise good for nothing, the apua of the Latins, or aphua of the Greeks, so called from the fact of its being engendered from rain. The people of Forum Julii make their garum from a fish to which they give the name of “lupus.” In process of time, alex has become quite an object of luxury, and the various kinds that are now made are infinite in number. The same, too, with garum, which is now prepared in imitation of the colour of old honied wine, and so pleasantly flavoured as to admit of being taken as a drink. Another kind, again, is dedicated to those superstitious observances which enjoin strict chastity, and that prepared from fish without scales, to the sacred rites of the Jews. In the same way, too, alex has come to be manufactured from oysters, sea-urchins, sea-nettles, cammari, and the liver of the surmullet; and a thousand different methods have been devised of late for ensuring the putrefaction of salt in such a way as to secure the flavours most relished by the palate.

Thus much, by the way, with reference to the tastes of the present day; though at the same time, it must be remembered, these substances are by no means without their uses in medicine. Alex, for instance, is curative of scab in sheep, incisions being made in the skin, and the liquor poured therein. It is useful, also, for the cure of wounds inflicted by dogs or by the sea-dragon, the application being made with lint. Recent burns, too, are healed by the agency of garum, due care being taken to apply it without mentioning it by name. It is useful, too, for bites inflicted by dogs, and for that of the crocodile in particular; as also for the treatment of serpiginous or sordid ulcers. For ulcerations, and painful affections of the mouth and ears, it is a marvellously useful remedy.

Muria, also, as well as the salsugo which we have mentioned, has certain astringent, mordent, and discussive properties, and is highly useful for the cure of dysentery, even when ulceration has attacked the intestines. Injections are also made of it for sciatica, and for cœliac fluxes of an inveterate nature. In spots which lie at a distance in the interior, it is used as a fomentation, by way of substitute for sea-water.