Postcard of Epigram 27

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Postcard of Epigram 27

"Tomorrow, friend Piso, your musical comrade drags you to his modest digs at three in the afternoon,
feeding you at tyour annual visit to the Twentieth. If you will miss udders and Bromian win mis en bouteilles in Chios,
yet you wil see faithful comrades, yet you will hear things far aweeter than the land of the Phaeacians.
And if you ever turn an eye to us too, Piso, instead of a modest feast we shall lead a richer one."

(Translated by David Sider 1997)

αὔριον εἰς λιτήν σε καλιάδα, φίλτατε Πείσων,
ἐξ ἐνάτης ἕλκει μουσοφιλὴς ἕταρος,
εἰκάδα δειπνίζων ἐνιαύσιον: εἰ δ᾽ ἀπολείψεις
οὔθατα καὶ Βρομίου χιογενῆ πρόποσιν,
ἀλλ᾽ ἑτάρους ὄψει παναληθέας, ἀλλ᾽ ἐπακούσῃ
Φαιήκων γαίης πουλὺ μελιχρότερα:
ἢν δέ ποτε στρέψῃς καὶ ἐς ἡμέας ὄμματα, Πείσων,
ἄξομεν ἐκ λιτῆς εἰκάδα πιοτέρην.


Aspicius documents recipes for οὔθατα (oúthata, "udders") in his book The Culinary Masters (7.2.1-2).

Quote

Sow's udder or belly with the paps on it is prepared in this manner:⁠ the belly boil, tie it together with reeds, sprinkle with salt and place it in the oven, or, start roasting on the gridiron. Crush pepper, lovage, with broth, pure wine, adding raisin wine to taste, thicken the sauce with roux and pour it over the roast. Full⁠ sow's belly is stuffed with⁠ crushed pepper, carraway, salt mussels; sew the belly tight and roast. Enjoy this with a brine sauce and mustard.

Comments 6

March 25, 2026 at 1:42 PM

Eikadistes ,

What a clever way to showcase a verse from ancient writings! It is catchy, and gives a better feel to what type of invitation was being conveyed in that epigram. More importantly, I loved how you took historical facts and put them into the realities of the ages of the Philodemus and Piso, and in a foreign city. I especially love the analogy "philosophical wingmen".^^


"As I understand, the two met each other when both were in foreign territory (Athens, I believe?) And they would have bonded as young men being young men before Philódēmos (who had yet to visit Italy) would have understood the full implications of his friend's title and social status, so I imagine in my mind that Piso was ... sort of ... unsupervised at that time, and I like to think that he and Philódēmos were wingmen of sorts. Philosophical wingmen, of course. "
March 22, 2026 at 12:59 PM

At least according to the Edict of Maximum Prices from Diocletian, sow's udder and uterus were two of the most expensive meats in the later Empire:

New English translation of the Price Edict of Diocletianus
A translation in English of the full text of the Price Edict, based on Graser (1940), Lauffer (1971), Naumann and Naumann (1973), Giacchero (1974), Crawford…
www.academia.edu

20 and 24 denarius comm. respectively, as opposed to 8 for beef or goat.

(See p. 12 at the link for additional details)

So if you really wanted to show off to guests, that'd be the way to go unless you wanted to go full Trimalchio.

PS. I do like the postcard idea :thumbup:
March 22, 2026 at 1:47 PM
Author

Great find! In that context, those food items would have been much more synonymous with luxury to the average ear. I wonder if there might be an analogy to something like lobster, once-despised, now-prized?
March 21, 2026 at 2:18 PM

When I was working in Florida I had a colleague from Texas who was getting married, and his extended family was traveling from there for the occasion. He was quite excited, because they were bringing him a delicacy that he remembered from his youth; cow's udder. He said they were delicious!
March 21, 2026 at 12:10 PM
Author

I went down a rabbit hole on the udders.

I'm not convinced that Philódēmos wasn't telling his old friend, "Bro, if you can manage to drag yourself away from the big tits and booze at your bourgeoisie parties...". I think it might have a double-meaning. Fine wine is a universal symbol for luxury, but I'm not sure that a delicacy that sometimes includes meat stuffing is the best food-based symbol of luxury (I'm thinking, like, Oscar Meyers weenies versus expensive cavier). As a poet, Philódēmos could have used another food item that doesn't have connotations of being stuffed with (potentially) unwanted meat. But he does. He sticks with udders. Based on my years with Shakespeare (and being in locker rooms) I have to assume that at least part of Philódēmos was making a joke that it's tough to distract Piso from his love on voluptuous ladies.

As I understand, the two met each other when both were in foreign territory (Athens, I believe?) And they would have bonded as young men being young men before Philódēmos (who had yet to visit Italy) would have understood the full implications of his friend's title and social status, so I imagine in my mind that Piso was ... sort of ... unsupervised at that time, and I like to think that he and Philódēmos were wingmen of sorts. Philosophical wingmen, of course. Anyway, if even part of that is true, it would justify Philódēmos being aware of his old friend's sexual proclivities and preferences (and dating history, and boasts, and insecurities, etc.). If Piso liked breasts, now was his time to bring it up.

I'm also considering that the reference to being "beloved-by-the-muses", or "musically-inclined" may also have the added, double-meaning of the author being "well-endowed", as a boastful joke from one male to another. There's genuine, ironic humor that Philódēmos (a foreigner, with little resources besides those afforded to him by friends, like Piso) is inviting Piso (a rich, renown, respected figure, who literally owns a palace, just across the bay) to his hole-in-the-wall. On top of that, the hole-in-the-wall doesn't have much food, and will primarily feature Philódēmos. Reciting poetry. How. Fun. (Sarcasm implied). Adding that Philódēmos is "well-endowed" makes it funnier, especially if in another part of the letter they establish that Piso is leaving his preferred bosoms for Philódēmos' ... "gifts".

None of this may be true. Sometimes an udder is just an udder.

But if there is a double-meaning, here's an example of refined translators missing jokes out of formality.
March 21, 2026 at 4:37 AM

For present-day variations of this dish, see here and here. It was served to several heads of state during their visits to Germany, including Margaret Thatcher, Mikhail Gorbachev, Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton. :)

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