Vinidario vir. inl._ They have been accepted as
genuine by Salmasius and other early scholars. Schuch incorporated the
_excerpta_ with his Apicius, placing the formulae in what he believed
to be the proper order. This course, for obvious reasons, is not to be
recommended. To be sure, the _excerpta_ are Apician enough in
character, though only a few correspond to, or are actual duplicates
of, the Apician precepts. They are additions to the stock of authentic
Apician recipes. As such, they may not be included but be appended to
the traditional text. The _excerpta_ encourage the belief that at the
time of Vinidarius (got. Vinithaharjis) about the fifth century there
must have been in circulation an Apicius (collection of recipes) much
more complete than the one handed down to us through Fulda. It is
furthermore interesting to note that the _excerpta_, too, are silent
about C{oe}lius.

We may safely join Vollmer in his belief that M. Gabius Apicius,
celebrated gourmet living during the reign of Tiberius was the real
author, or collector, or sponsor of this collection of recipes, or at
least of the major part thereof--the formulae bearing the names of
posterior gourmets having been added from time to time. This theory
also applies to the two instances where the name of Varro is mentioned
in connection with the preparation of beets and onions (bulbs). It is
hardly possible that the author of the book made these references to
Varro. It is more probable that some well-versed posterior reader,
perusing the said articles, added to his copy: "And Varro prepared
beets this way, and onions that way...." (cf. Book III, [70]) Still,
there is no certainty in this theory either. There were many persons
by the names of Commodus, Trajanus, Frontinianus, such as are
appearing in our text, who were contemporaries of Apicius.

With our mind at ease as regards the genuineness of our book we now
may view it at a closer range.

OBSCURE TERMINOLOGY

Apicius contains technical terms that have been the subject of much
speculation and discussion. _Liquamen_, _laser_, _muria_, _garum_,
etc., belong to these. They will be found in our little dictionary.
But we cannot refrain from discussing some at present to make
intelligible the most essential part of the ancient text.

Take _liquamen_ for instance. It may stand for broth, sauce, stock,
gravy, drippings, even for _court bouillon_--in fact for any liquid
appertaining to or derived from a ce