[Sca-cooks] period asparagus

[Philip & Susan Troy]

Also sprach Harris Mark.S-rsve60:
>Anthimus' claim that they ought not to be overcooked is, of course,
>supported by Caesar Augustus' frequent country aphorism, "I want it
>done quicker than boiling asparagus!" Of course, a lot can happen to
>a plant in over 600 years.
>-------
>
>I'm sorry, but are you just being humorous here, or is this or
>something close actually a saying by Caesar Augustus? I hate to
>perpetuate a myth or a joke in the Florilegium but I'm afraid
>I really can't tell here.
>
>Then again, this could be one of those translation errors, where
>"asparagus" might not be the actual plant involved, just the closest
>common one the translator thought would be well known.

Well, it's like this. I know Suetonius refers to the phrase (as does
Robert Graves in his novel "I, Claudius", based in large part on
Suetonius' "The Twelve Caesars", which Graves had earlier translated)
and I believe the expression is documented elsewhere as well.
However, I have never read it in the original Latin. On the other
hand, all the translators seem to agree that it amounts to the same
thing: the cooking time for asparagus being a simile for "fast"; even
if there are minor variations (for example, Graves uses the more
lyrical, "quicker than boiled asparagus", while others translate it
as, "Let it be done in less time than it takes to boil asparagus.")
The common belief among classicists is that Augustus was proud of his
country roots (as was Vespasian, apparently), and used these phrases
as a sort of badge of honor.

Adamantius