Latin Texts & Translations

Fulvius Lupinus ^[Note] first formed preserves for sea-snails, ^[Note] in the territory of Tarquinii, shortly before the civil war between Cæsar and Pompeius Magnus. He also carefully distinguished them by their several species, separating them from one another. The white ones were those that are produced in the district of Reate; ^[Note] those of Illyria were remarkable for the largeness of their size; while those from Africa were the most prolific; those, however, from the Promontory of the Sun ^[Note] were the most esteemed of all. For the purpose, also, of fattening them, lie invented a mixture of boiled wine, ^[Note] spelt-meal, and other substances; so that fattened periwinkles even became quite an object of gastronomy; and the art of breeding them was brought to such a pitch of perfection, that the shell of a single animal would hold as much as eighty quadrantes. ^[Note] This we learn from M. Varro.