Fishing from the earliest times - Blog

.256 THE NINE FISH MOST HIGHLY PRIZEDIn my list, which excludes the Echineis, despite its beingaccording to Cassiodorus " ^ that honey of flesh, that dainty ofthe deep," in precedence comes i the Mullus, 2 the Scarus,3 the Acipenser, 4 the Rhombus, 5 the Lupus, 6 the Asellus,7 the Eel and the Murcena, 8 the Kcnrpog, 9 the Sole.1. Mullus [M. barbatus), the " Red Mullet." The passagesalready quoted as regards the huge prices sometimes given forit estabUsh the extreme esteem with which this fish was regarded.But if need be, witness after witness to credit can easily becalled. Perhaps, as regards the Latins, Nonnius will suffice :" Inter omnes pisces praerogativa quadam omniumque consensuMullus sibi imperium occupavit, nee alius unquam majori inhonore aut gratia apud Romanos fuit." 2Among the Greeks, if, as seems acknowledged, the rpiyXr]corresponds to the Mullet, its place must be accounted highfrom the number of its devotees. Matron ^ goes into raptureseven over its mere head when steeped in brine, irrespectiveof whether it came from an autumn (as recommended byAristotle) or a spring fish (the choice of Xenocrates)The acme of epicurean hospitality was reached with servingthe Mullet, not dead swimming in sauce, but aUve swimmingin a globe of glass, to be handed round among the guests.eyes gloated as its gay hues gradually grew dimmer, till atlast with death they faded into one dull colour.Seneca lashes with his bitterest irony the custom, and thecompany. They are no longer content to satisfy their teethand their stomach—no, they must also gratify their eyes." No one now sits with a dying friend. None can bring himselfto witness the death, however much desired !The last hours of brother or kinsman find no soul with him.To the death of the Mullet have they all flocked with oneaccord." *Allof his father.2. For the Scarus (S, cretensis), the " Parrot Wrasse," seeChapter X.3. The Acipenser, a Latin name, adopted by some Greek1Var. epist., III. 48.*Op. cit., p. 93.^Matron, 'ArriKhy SeTirvov, 27 ff. ; ap. Athen. IV. 13." Cf. Seneca, Nat. Qufvst., III. 18. Also Pliny, N. H., IX. 30.