the attic stelai - The American School of Classical Studies at Athens

THE ATTIC STELAI 185
5. i1ta (II, 85). Husks, chaff. Eratosthenes, according to Eustathius, defined
the word as the stalks or straw of pulse (oc-r'pkOv KaXacqLac) ." This definition is made
with reference to Od., V, 368, where the rousing of the waves by Poseidon is compared
to a great wind tossing a heap of parched eia. For several conjectural etymologies, see
Boisacq, Dictionnaire4, p. 316.
Prices. No figures are preserved for eia. For the price of hay and vetch fodder,
see above, under a'Xvpa.
6. Kop'avvov (II, 141). Coriander, Coriacdrum sativum. References to koriannon
are chiefly in connection with cooking. Alkaios Comicus refers to powdered
coriander-seed used as seasoning with game,38 and Anaxandrides includes koriannon in
a recipe for smoked fish.39 The word occurs twice in the Equites of Aristophanes in
connection with a garnish for fish,40 and B. B. Rogers notes that coriander leaves, not
seeds, are meant; he compares its use as a culinary herb for salads in England.4" The
coriander of Egypt was considered the best, and leases are preserved from Oxyrhynchus
which mention its planting.42
7. KpdJt5 (II, 94-95, 237; V, 17, 18, 21).4 Barley, Hordeum sativum. In classical
antiquity, when maize was unknown and millet did not survive the Mediterranean
winter, barley was the only strong competitor with wheat for consumption. Barley
could command an advantage over spring wheat because of its shorter growing season
in a climate with a summer drought.44 Jasny believes that in Greece and in most
islands of the eastern Mediterranean, wheat was definitely second to barley. For
Attica this seems proved by an inscription which gives the amounts of the first-fruits
sent to Eleusis in 329 B.C. by each of the phylai and outlying districts as well as
colonies.43 The Attic crop reached a total of 363,400 medimnoi of barley and only
39,112 of wheat.46 In addition, the island of Salamis produced 24,525 medimnoi of
barley. There was then about ten times more barley being raised than wheat, as was
to be expected in a country of poor soil, although the public taste greatly preferred
wheat.47
37 Eust., ad Od., V, 368 (1445, 42). Cf. Photius, 64.4; and above, s.v. axvpa.
38
Frag. 17 (Kock, C.A.F., I, p. 759).
39 Frag. 50 (Kock, C.A.F., II, p. 157).
40 Eq., 676, 682. Aristophanes refers to an obol's worth, but the quantity of the spice is not given.
41
Ad Eq., 676.
42
See A. C. Johnson, " Roman Egypt," Economic Survey, II, p. 3.
43 The root meaning of the word is uncertain; see Buck, Dictionary, p. 516.
44 N. Jasny, op. cit., p. 71.
45 I.G., II2, 1672. Somewhat lower figures are given by Jarde, Cereales, pp. 36 ff., 94 ff.
46 The figures are taken from the calculations of Heichelheim, R.E., Suppl. VI, 1935, s.v. Sitos,
846. 329 B.C. is regarded by most historians as a year of severe shortage; A. W. Gomme (Population
of Athens in the Fifth and Fourth Centuries B. C., Oxford, 1933, p. 30) dissents.
47 For the Athenian dislike of barley, see the references collected by Amyx in A.J.A., XLIX,