h, Habs, Gollmer.

What matters the identity of the author? Who wrote the Iliad, the
Odyssey, the Nibelungen-Lied? Let us be thankful for possessing them!

Apicius is a genuine document of Roman imperial days. There can be no
doubt of that!

The unquestionable age of the earliest known manuscripts alone
suffices to prove this.

The philologist gives his testimony, too. A medieval scholar could
never have manufactured Apicius, imitating his strikingly original
terminology. "Faking" a technical treatise requires an intimate
knowledge of technical terms and familiarity with the ramifications of
an intricate trade. We recommend a comparison of Platina's text with
Apicius: the difference of ancient and medieval Latin is convincing.
Striking examples of this kind have been especially noted in our
dictionary of technical terms.

LATIN SLANG

H. C. Coote, in his commentary on Apicius (cit. Apiciana) in speaking
of pan gravy, remarks:

"Apicius calls this by the singular phrase of _jus de
suo sibi_! and sometimes though far less frequently,
_succus suus_. This phrase is curious enough in itself
to deserve illustration. It is true old fashioned
Plautian Latinity, and if other proof were wanting would
of itself demonstrate the genuineness of the Apician
text."

This scholar goes on quoting from Plautus, _Captivi_, Act I, sc. 2,
vv. 12, 13; _Amphitruo_, Act I, sc. q.v. 116 and _ibid._ v. 174; and
from _Asinaria_, Act IV, sc. 2, vv. 16 and 17 to prove this, and he
further says:

"The phrase is a rare remnant of the old familiar
language of Rome, such as slaves talked so long, that
their masters ultimately adopted it--a language of which
Plautus gives us glimpses and which the _graffiti_ may
perhaps help to restore. When Varius was emperor, this
phrase of the kitchen was as rife as when Plautus
wrote--a proof that occasionally slang has been long
lived."

Coote is a very able commentator. He has translated in the article
quoted a number of Apician formulae; and betrays an unusual culinary
knowledge.

MODERN RESEARCH

Modern means of communication and photography have enabled scientists
in widely different parts to study our book from all angles, to
scrutinize the earliest records, the Vatican and the New York
manuscripts and the codex Salmasianus in Paris.

Friedrich Vollmer, of Munich, in his _Studien_ (cit. Apiciana) has
treated the manuscripts ex