SC - Garum and Piscinae

[Gaylin]

So this book I've picked up because of my addiction. To books,
that is. Found it on remainder and just *had* to buy it. You
know how you get that feeling sometimes? The one that says
"I know this is absolutely necessary, but I don't know why"?
That's why I bought it. Here's the book:

    Higginbotham, James. (1997). Piscinae: Artificial Fishponds
    in Roman Italy. Chapel Hill, NC: The University of North
    Carolina Press. ISBN: 0-8078-2329-5 [Ed. Note: I got this
    on remainder from Edward R. Hamilton Booksellers for about
    14$US. You might be able to find it cheaper elsewhere.]

As I was reading along this morning, I discovered something that
people here might find interesting about garum production,
including some references that I don't believe anyone has
mentioned before. This is going to be a long one, so stay with
me and accept my forgiveness for the cross-posting.

In the introduction, while discussing the modern scholarship
done on ancient piscinae (fishponds) Higginbottom writes:

    "Since Jacono [Ed.: Luigi Jacono's study on Naples seaside ruins
    of piscinae], the study of Roman pisciculture has progressed
    along several paths. The ancient fishing industry, involving the
    manufacture and trade of processed fish products such as garum,
    has received the lion's share of attention (5). These studies
    have focused on tanks and complexes in Spain, southern France,
    and North Africa. Though garum production certainly took place
    in Italy, the bulk of this trade emanated from the western
    provinces (6)". [page 2]

Here are the footnotes associated with the text, in which I've
separated out each reference to make it easier to read. I think
many of you will find these interesting:

    (5) M. Ponsich and M. Tarradell, _Garum et industries antiques
    de salaison dans la Méditerranée occidentale_ (Pariis 1965);

    O. Da Veiga Ferreira, "Algunas consideracoes sobre as fabricas
    de conservas de peixed antiquidade encontradas em Portugal, "
    _Archivo de Beja_ 23-24 (1966-67) 123-34;

    R. Sanquer and P. Galliou, "Garum, sel et salaisons en Armorique
    gallo-romaine," _Gallia_ 30 (1972) 199-223;

    R.I. Curtis, _Garum and Salsamenta: Production and Commerce in
    Materia Medica_ (Leiden 1991);

    J. C. Edmondson, _Two Industries in Roman Lusitania: Mining and
    Garum Production, BAR International Series, 362 (Oxford 1987);

    M. Ponsich, _Asceite de oliva y salazones de pescado: Factores
    geo-económicos de Bética y Tingitania_ (Madrid 1988).

    (6) For evidence of Italian production, see R. I. Curtis, "A.
    Umbricius Scaurus of Pompeii, " in _Studia Pompeiana et
    Classica in Honor of Wilhelmina F. Jashemski 1_ (New Rochelle,
    N.Y. 1988) 19-49, and _Garum and Salsameta_ (ibid.) 85-96.
    Fish sauce production is hypothesized at Cosa on the basis of rather
    tenuous evidence; see A. M. McCann, J. Bourgeois, E. K. Gazda, J. P.
    Oleson, and E. L. Will, _The Roman Port and Fishery of Cosa_
    (Princeton 1987) 340-41.

In his chapter on "Fishponds as Emblems of Social Status", the author
also writes:

    There was, however, great profit in the production of preserved
    fish and processed fish products. According to the literary record,
    several sites in Italy were known for the production of garum,
    liquamen, allec, muria, and other processed fish products. (6)

And again the footnote:

    (6) _RE_ 8 (1912) 841-49, s.v. Garum (R. Zahn):

    P. Grimal and T. Monod, "Sur le véritable nature du 'garum,'"
    _REA_ 54 (1952) 27-38;

    C. Jardin "Garum et sauces de poisson de l'antiguité,"  _RStlig 27
    (1961) 70-96;

    T. H. Corcoran, "Roman Fish Sauces," _CJ_ 58 (1963) 204-10;

    R.I. Curtis, "In Defense of Garum," CJ 78 (1983) 232-40;

    R.I. Curtis, "Salted Fish Products in Ancient Medicine," _Journal
    of the History of Medicine and Allied Sciences_ 39 (1984) 430-35;

    R.I. Curtis, _Garum and Salsamenta: Production and Commerce in
    Materia Medica_ (Leiden 1991).

The abbreviations of note: RStLig is "Rivista di studi liguri"; CJ is
"Classical Journal"; and RE is A. Pauly and G. Wissowa's "Real-
Encyclopädie de klassishen Altertumswissenschaft".

My apologies for the bandwidth, again, but I'm certain at least someone
will find some use in these references considering the debate that
regularly occurs about acceptable substitutes for garum and liquamen
in the recipes we research. If you need copies of this information from
the book itself, let me know and we'll work something out.

Jasmine
Iasmin "Yes, I'm Addicted" de Cordoba, iasmin at home.com
AOL AIM: IasminDeCordoba

PS: Typos are most likely my own, especially on the non-English
articles. Also, apologies to those of you who get a little garbage in the
message from the accents and umlauts.