As civilization moves notherward, the production of beer did also. The next culture to incorporate beer into it’s tradition was Greece . Many of the terms that are used in connection with beer come Latin. Cerevasia is Latin for beer.
Aristotle, in his symposium on Intoxication, debates with his teacher Plato about the effects of alcohol vs. pinon (beer). There is no Greek or roman word for alcohol.
“A peculiar thing happens tin the case of the [ drink made] of barley, the so-called pinon. Under the influence of all other intoxicants, those who become intoxicated fall in all direction, sometime to the left, sometime to the right, and sometime on their faces. But these who become intoxicated from pinon only fall onto their backs and lie flat.”
Greece had many mythological gods for beer. Among them were Osiris, God of Agriculture. This god is used interchangeably with wine. Dionysus, God of intoxication drink. This god is also used interchangeably with wine. Silenus, god of drinking. He is usually associated with Dionysus.
Closer to the turn of the century, it was not uncommon to use ceramic vases called amphorae. Although these vases are commonly associated with wine, these were the typical storage containers used to transport all sorts of goods. Some amphorae stood as tall as 5 feet. The excavation of these ceramic vases were of great archaeological reference. The vases declined as popular storage containers about 700 BC. Amphorae is Latin for amphi (on both sides) and phoreus ( carrier).
Gaius Plinus Secundus (Pliny the Elder) 23 CE was born in Como Italy. Among his other achievements he wrote an encyclopedia of natural history. This included a description of what we know today as hops. He termed the plant, Lupus Salictarius, “a wolf among scrubs”. He was making reference to the plants “wicked and pernicious” attributes.
As the Romans moved north, it was discovered that Europeans has developed its own beer. This would be indicative of other continents and their indigenous beers. The Northern Europeans included Germany, France, Belgium and the Netherlands.
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