Ancient Beer

[Pantagathus]

And lets not forget Beer, Beer originated from Babylon and the first Brewers were egyptians. It than swept to greek islands and than to Magna Grecia, were the Romans took it over after they conquered it. Roman Legions brought beer "Cervisia" to the barbarians.

 

To be more accurate, it was the Sumarians who first brewed beer. It was very, very important to them & all the brewers were women.

 

& I think a solid argument can be made that the 'barbarians' were brewing beer well before the Romans stepped on the scene.

 

The word Cervisia came from Iberia and is more than likely of 'Basque' origin.

[LEG X EQ]

The word Cervisia came from Iberia and is more than likely of 'Basque' origin.

 

Wrong, the name Cervisia comes from the Roman goddess Ceres . and has nothing to do with the basques or iberians. Ceres was the Goddess of Wild Berries and Crops.

So your info about Cervisia coming from iberia is wrong.

Cerveza is the term spaniards use now for beer, but Cerveza comes from the Roman Latin word Cervisia. The Romans brewed beer long before something like a brewery existed in iberia!

 

And as for barbarians, i dont know about celts, but Germanics didnt brew beer before the romans, because of missing ingredients. The Beer that Tacitus is reffering to, is MET , same colour and similar smell to Cervisia. But it wasnt beer.

[Pantagathus]

Wrong, the name Cervisia comes from the Roman goddess Ceres . and has nothing to do with the basques or iberians. Ceres was the Goddess of Wild Berries and Crops.

So your info about Cervisia coming from iberia is wrong.

 

I know who Ceres was and I know that etymologically speaking the connection to the Gallo-Roman word 'cervisia' and Ceres is sound...

 

However, the point is the Iberians and Gauls were already producing beer when the Romans arrived on the scene. The word comes from the ancient Iberian word Ceria or Celia which means: "Fermented Wheat"

 

So given that, the Romans found the indigenous word extremely convenient because of the similarity to Ceres. It all works out and so Cervisia is forever linked with the Roman Ceres because that's what were told by them.

 

Never forget how much the Romans liked to absorb foriegn gods, cults, words, etc...

 

Furthermore if there is one subject that you can trust I know what I'm talking about, it is beer!

[LEG X EQ]

Furthermore if there is one subject that you can trust I know what I'm talking about, it is beer!

 

Same here, i am a patron to a local beer brewing factory in my home region in germany. HerbstH

Edited December 22, 2005 by LEG X EQ

[Pantagathus]

[The Romans didnt get beer from iberia. It could be that iberians were also brewing beer before the Romans came, propably due to the carthagians, but the Romans had beer before they entered iberia.

 

I never suggested that the Romans got beer from the Iberians. I'm only saying that the word was modified from there. If it had come from the Greeks as you suggest why would it not be closer to zuthos or krith

[LEG X EQ]

I can repeat myself 50 more times, Ceres is an Italic goddess, so the Romans didnt need to worship a greek deity for beer. The saw beer in its ingredients, and praised Ceres for it. And the word is Latin!! And Romans brewed Beer and called it Cervisia long before they went anywhere near iberia!! wow, great the iberians brew beer, ask me if i care.

 

The Iberians took the roman latin words and descriptions for that beverage, later on.

 

You can continue with your assumption jokes of where i apperently got my info from, the fact is, dont bother to test me about beer.

[Primus Pilus]

Same here, i am a patron to a local beer brewing factory in my home region in germany. Herbst H

[Favonius Cornelius]

To be more accurate, it was the Sumarians who first brewed beer. It was very, very important to them & all the brewers were women.

 

Hey I am curious about this, could you please give more details? Why only women?

[LEG X EQ]

I don't want to take away from the discussion, but is there a distributor in the states? I've been drinking my current German favorite, Warsteiner, for awhile and I'm due to try some new brews.

 

Doubt it, to small. Its more of a regional thing. Warsteiner is a huge Company. We are very regional, our biggest rival is Distelh

Edited December 22, 2005 by LEG X EQ

[Lacertus]

Hey I am curious about this, could you please give more details? Why only women?

 

It was so because women are more self-restrained and orderly. Men had time to drink all beer while it was not prepared completely yet.

[Pantagathus]

I can repeat myself 50 more times,

 

Obviously you could and apparently would still not understand what I am saying. I'm not testing you, I'm attempting to inform you. So to try one more time to prove my point:

 

"Cervesia (zuthos). Ale or beer; a beverage scarcely ever drunk by the ancient Greeks and Romans, although it was very generally used by the surrounding nations, whose soil and climate were less favourable to the growth of vines....

...Zuthos was the drink of Lusitania (Strab.iii. 3 Strab., 7); in Spain it was known as caelia or cerea, while cervesia was the name used in Gaul, where other drinks of the sort were common." - Harry Thurston Peck, Harper's Dictionary of Classical Antiquities

 

From Lewis & Short Latin Dictionary:

 

cervisia, cervesia, or cerevi-sia , ae, f. [Gallic]

I. beer, Plin. 22, 25, 82,

Edited December 22, 2005 by Pantagathus

[LEG X EQ]

@pantagathus

 

inform me about what? i guess thats the problem, i dont know what you want from me.

 

we can end the discussion right here, because beer was not a big part of roman culture. Wine was their main alcoholic beverage. Vino. But it was roman soldiers who brought beer (named after their goddess Ceres) to Germany. Germanics only had MET. thats all i said. you came talking about iberians and zuthos and other info i couldnt care less about.

[LEG X EQ]

Now considering all this: Does it make sense that these neighboring people would adopt a Latin word for a beverage that they had been making since the neolithic and that the Romans themselves rarely drank???

 

CONSIDERING THE LINGUISTIC INFLUENCE!!!!!! YES!!

 

In case you havent noticed, spanish is a romance language, meaning it came from LATIN!!

Your source has one problem, and thats, that it doesnt state any dates and time periods!

 

The Romans conquered that terretory and Romanised it, and this beverage was also known in Italica.

Edited December 22, 2005 by LEG X EQ

[Pantagathus]

@pantagathus

 

inform me about what? i guess thats the problem, i dont know what you want from me.

 

we can end the discussion right here, because beer was not a big part of roman culture. Wine was their main alcoholic beverage. Vino. But it was roman soldiers who brought beer (named after their goddess Ceres) to Germany. Germanics only had MET. thats all i said. you came talking about iberians and zuthos and other info i couldnt care less about.

 

If you don't care about something then I caution you in regards to making seemingly diffinitive claims about it.

 

You originally said that the Romans bestowed beer on all the barbarians via the legions and that the word Cervisia was without a doubt Latin... That is patently false. So what I was trying to inform you about should be obvious.

 

And by the way, the Germans were drinking beverages of fermented wheat & barley before the Romans as well. At least as early as the 9th Century BC as evident in Hallstatt burials.

[LEG X EQ]

Ok, forget it.

 

I made my points and they are correct, and if you personaly disagree, than state some facts! I really dont want to tell you about MET and that the germans didnt grow certain ingrediens that early.

 

I dont care about the iberian culture. Its that simple. And i never wrote from the iberian view. so all i wrote about, are things i researched.(but repeat your jokes, because you know!)