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10
CUPS
AND
THEIR
CUSTOMS,
wine-vessels^
to
inscribe
upon
them
the
name
of
the
consul
under
whose
office
they
were
filled,
thus
supplying
them
w^ith
a
good
means
of
distinguishing
their
vintages
and
pointing
out the
excellence
of
particular
ones,
much
in
the
same
way
as
we
now
speak
of
the
vintages
of
^20,
^34,
or
^41,
Thus,
Pliny
mentions
a
celebrated
wine
which
took
its
name
from
Opimius,
in
whose
consulate
it
was
made,
and
was
preserved
good
to
his
time
(a
period
of
nearly
200
years).
The
vessel
used
for
carrying
the
wine
to
the
table
was
called
Ampulla,
being
a
small
bulging
bottle,
covered
with
leather,
and
having
two
handles,
which
it
would
be
fair
to
consider
as
the
original
type
of
the
famous
"
leathern
bottel,^^
the
inventor
of
which
is
so
highly
eulogized
in
the
old
song
'^
I
wish
that
his
soul
in
heaven
may
dwell,
Who
first
invented
the
leathern
bottel."
Although
the
ancients
were
well
acquainted
with
the
excellence
of
wine,
they
were
not
ignorant
of
the
dangers
attending
the
abuse
of
it.
Salencus
passed
a
law
for-
bidding
the
use
of
wine,
upon
pain
of
death,
except
in
case
of
sickness
;
and
the
inhabitants
of
Marseilles
and
Miletus
prohibited
the
use
of
it
to
women.
At
Rome,
in
the
early
ages,
young
persons
of
high
birth
were
not
permitted
to
drink
wine
till
they
attained
the
age
of
thirty,
and
to
women
the
use
of
it
was
absolutely
for-
bidden
j
but
Seneca
complains
of
the
violation
of
this
law,
and
says
that
in
his
day
the
women
valued
themselves
upon
carrying
excess
of
wine
to as
great a
height
as
the
most
robust
men.
^^
Like
them,^^
says
he,
^^
they
pass