The Roman Empire was one of the largest, most inf uential empires in history. It is undeniable, that Romans gave western civilization great achievements, including the use of the Latin language, our western calendar (a refinement of the calendar introduced by Julius Cesar), science, law and architecture (to name a few). But, as with most great things the Romans had a very dark side—one that they chose to indulge in, mainly through acts of sex and which can only be described as true debauchery. So, add debauchery to the list too.

The Sorta-Good

Anal sex was widely practiced throughout the Roman Empire. It was a convenient way to avoid pregnancy. But, Romans also used it as a punishment of sorts. If a man slept with another man’s wife, a radish couldbe used anally on the off ender as punishment and, often, there was an audience for the retribution. Emperor Tibirus was so obsessed with anal intercourse, that he recruited “specialists” in anal sex and deviant sex to his royal payroll. The Emperor would often have these specialists, called analists, perform in front of him in trios.

Add gang bangs to the list. To say that the third wife of Roman Emperor Claudius was an advocate of gang bang sex is an understatement; most historians are in agreement that Valeria Messalina was a nymphomaniac. She is most remembered for challenging a Roman prostitute to a competition, which she won; a competition with 25 sex partners in a 24-hour period. When her husband Claudius found out, he had her killed and then he remarried.

Emperor Nero found a unique way to liven up long trips he had to take by boat. Prior to any long-distance travel, Nero would have booths set up along his path of travel—stocked with men and women ready to engage and indulge in his every sexual whim. Could this be what the current-day rest stop sex evolved from?

Oh, let’s not forget porn. In ancient Roman society, pornography decorated everything from public walls to dishes.

The Bad

Romans were known for their slave society and they used slaves for everything. Slaves were looked upon as objects, with no feelings or rights. And, while adultery was outlawed in Rome at some point, sex with “property” was not. Both male and female slaves bore the brunt of the Romans’ insatiable sexual appetites.

Bestiality was also commonly practiced. During gladiator events held at Rome’s famous Coliseum, women often fornicated with snakes. The Romans also allowed animals to sexually plunder men and women against their will.

After childbirth, Roman doctors did not understand how to get a women’s body back to its pre-birth look (not possible). Since parts of the female genitalia sometimes changed shape, Roman doctors would perform unnecessary surgery on anything that was deemed too big. Female clitorises were routinely butchered to look smaller and more “acceptable.”

The Really Bad

Quite a few emperors were obsessed with being in bed with close relatives, like their nieces...and their sisters. And their mothers. The infamous emperor Caligula was sexually involved with all of his sisters. And, if he became tired of them, he was known to hire them out as prostitutes. Not to be outdone, Emperor Nero often took it to the next level with his own mother, Agrippina. But, eventually, he became tired of her as well and tried to have her murdered.

Emperor Claudius was also inappropriately involved with Agrippina. After Claudius’ brother (Agrippina’s father) died, he married her as well.

The Ugly

Emperor Nero’s past is particularly evil. After kicking to death two wives—one of which, was pregnant—Nero forced a young male to be his “wife.” Historians believe that Nero felt guilty for killing his second wife, so he found a young male named Sporus, who resembled his deceased wife. Nero took (kidnapped) Sporus and had him castrated. Then, he forced Sporus to dress and act as his wife, while calling him “Empress.”

The last, particularly heinous sexual indulgence the Romans were known for, is too disgusting to waste too many words on: toddlers and babies—enough said.

By Ericka Rachelle Mendoza in "Exotic Magazine", USA, n.291, September 2017, excerpt p. 46. Digitized, adapted and illustrated to be posted by Leopoldo Costa.

Since its origins approximately eight thousand years ago, wine has always had a constant, delicious companion: food. For most of European history, little distinction was drawn between the two. Wine was food. A solace. A source of calories. As intimate a part of life as breathing.

That we’ve come to a time when we need guidance on the marrying of these two primal forces is an intriguing conversation in itself. But here, my purpose is different. Here, I hope to remind us all about affinities. And set the course for some thrilling combinations.

Let me begin by admitting that I don’t think every wine always needs to be perfectly matched to a food, or vice versa. And I don’t say this because I lack passion for food. Flavor is flavor. It doesn’t matter to me if it’s liquid or solid in my mouth. Moreover, I started out as a food (not a wine) writer; I love to cook, and as you will perhaps deduce from the many food sections scattered throughout the chapters of this book, I have a deep appreciation for the historic connection between the foods of a place and the wines of a place. Together the two allow us, however briefly, to actually participate in the culture of a place. And that, it seems to me, is one of the true gifts wine and food offer us.

Wine and food matching is a bit different. In the United States, beginning in the 1980s, wine and food pairing became something of a national sport. Restaurants offered wine and food dinners; food magazines began to suggest wines with certain recipes; the back labels on bottles of American wines began to suggest accompanying dishes (although one of the first wineries to do this in the world was Napa Valley’s Beaulieu Vineyard, back in the 1960s). It was all very exciting.

But as time went on, what started out as an exploration meant to heighten enjoyment began to take the form of just another set of “rules” complex enough to make anyone dizzy. Acidity contrasts with salt. Salt fights with fat. Umami decreases bitterness. And on and on.

The problem with this sort of approach is that it has very little connection—today or historically—to how we actually behave when we cook, eat, and drink. A hundred years ago, did an Italian grandmother stop to consider the acidity level in her pasta sauce before choosing a wine for dinner? I doubt it. Admitedly, she had very little choice; only a limited selection of wines would have been available to her. But it’s also true that, both then and now, we sometimes choose wines as much to match the mood as the food. Sometimes maybe more so. All of this is simply to point out that wine and food don’t always have to be technically perfect together to be delicious anyway.

That said, it’s certainly true that extraordinary flavor affinities do exist, and that most of us have had at least a few of those “wow” moments when the wine-and-food combination was unbelievably good.

How do you create those moments? It isn’t easy. A meal, after all, rarely highlights the flavor of a single food, and many dishes present countless variables. Say you were trying to choose a wine to go with grilled chicken breasts with spicy coconut sauce. What exactly would you be matching? The chicken? The coconut milk? The spices and chiles in the sauce? And what if those chicken breasts were just one part of the dish? What if they were accompanied by a rice pilaf seasoned with coriander, cumin, and toasted almonds?

There’s simply no absolute way to predict what might happen when all these flavors, plus the multiple flavors in a wine, are all swirled together, like in a giant kaleidoscope. And even if you could predict the result, would we really all agree on whether it was delicious? Ultimately, taste preferences are highly individual.

So where does that leave us? To me, it leaves us squarely in the realm of instinct. People who pair wine and food together well don’t have a set of rules as much as they have good instincts. And good instincts can be acquired. It’s simply a matter of drinking lots of different kinds of wines with different kinds of dishes and paying attention to the principles that emerge. After years of doing precisely that, here’s what I’ve discovered.

RISKY RELATIONSHIPS

The following foods can be a challenge to pair with wine. Incorporate them carefully, using cooking techniques like grilling and/or combining them with other ingredients, like bacon or cream, to minimize the impact these foods can have on wines.

ARTICHOKES: Artichokes contain cynarin, an amino acid that can produce the impression of cloying sweetness and an unpleasant, metallic taste in wines.

ASPARAGUS: Asparagus contains mercaptan, a skunky-smelling compound associated with a fault in wine.

CHILES: Hot chiles contain capsaicin, which can make wines high in alcohol taste unpleasantly hot, and accentuate astringency in tannic wines.

CRUCIFEROUS VEGETABLES: Broccoli, cauliflower, kale, and cabbage are examples of cruciferous vegetables. All members of this healthy family contain sulfur and release sulfur compounds when cooked, often contributing an off-flavor impression to wines.

EGGS: Eggs also contain sulfur, and release sulfur compounds when cooked, often contributing an off-flavor impression to wines.

VINEGAR: Vinegar and foods pickled in vinegar contain high concentrations of acetic acid, which can rob wines of their fruit flavors, and often create a bitter or astringent taste impression.

THE TEN MOST IMPORTANT PRINCIPLES BEHIND GREAT MARRIAGES

THIS MIGHT SEEM LIKE THE MOST ELEMENTAL OF IDEAS, BUT FOR ME, THE FIRST IMPORTANT PRINCIPLE IS SIMPLY:

Pair great with great, humble with humble. A hot turkey sandwich doesn’t need a pricey merlot to accompany it. On the other hand, an expensive crown rib roast may just present the perfect moment for opening that powerful, opulent Napa Valley cabernet sauvignon you’ve been saving.

SECOND, MATCH DELICATE TO DELICATE, BOLD TO BOLD.

It only makes sense that a delicate wine like a red Burgundy will end up tasting like water if you serve it with a dramatically bold dish like curry. Dishes with bold, piquant, spicy, and hot flavors are perfectly cut out for bold, spicy, big-flavored wines. Which is why various shirazes are terrific with many “hot and spicy” cuisines.


DECIDE IF YOU WANT TO MIRROR A GIVEN FLAVOR, OR SET UP A CONTRAST.

Chardonnay with lobster in cream sauce would be an example of mirroring. Both the lobster and the chardonnay are opulent, rich, and creamy. But delicious matches also happen when you go in exactly the opposite direction and create contrast and juxtaposition. That lobster in cream sauce would also be fascinating with Champagne, which is sleek, crisp, and sharply tingling because of the bubbles.

THE WHITE-WINE-WITH-FISH RULE

The old chestnut “white wine with fish; red wine with meat” is based on matching body (the weight of the wine in the mouth) and color. The adage dates from the days when many white wines were light in body and whitish in color (like fish), and many red wines were weighty and, obviously, red (like meat). It is, however, the body and components of the wine—not its color—that are important in matching wine with food. Some red wines, for example, are far lighter in body than white wines (compare, say, an Oregon pinot noir with a Sonoma chardonnay). Today, many wine lovers have abandoned the old rule and have begun drinking red wine with fish. Red Burgundy and sushi?—yes.

THINK ABOUT A WINE’S FLEXIBILITY.

Although chardonnay is wildly popular in many parts of the world, it’s one of the least flexible white wines with food. Chardonnays often have so much toasty oak and high alcohol that they taste hard and dull when accompanied by food. For maximum flexibility, go with a sauvignon blanc or a dry riesling, both of which have cleansing acidity. Wines with high acidity leave you wanting to take a bite of food, and after taking a bite of food, you’ll want a sip of wine. The perfect seesaw. The most flexible red wines either have good acidity, such as Chianti, red Burgundy, and California and Oregon pinot noir, or they have loads of fruit and not a lot of tannin. For the latter reason, zinfandel, lots of simple Italian reds, and southern Rhône wines, such as Châteauneuf-du-Pape, are naturals with a wide range of dishes, from such simple comfort foods as grilled chicken to more complex dishes like pasta Bolognese.

NOT SURPRISINGLY, DISHES WITH FRUIT IN THEM OR A FRUIT COMPONENT TO THEM

Pork with sautéed apples, roasted chicken with apricot glaze, duck with figs, and so forth— often pair beautifully with very fruit-driven wines that have super-fruity aromas. Gewürztraminer, muscat, viognier, and riesling are in this camp.

SALTINESS IN FOOD IS A GREAT CONTRAST TO ACIDITY IN WINE.

Think about smoked salmon and Champagne, or Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese and Chianti. Asian dishes that have soy sauce in them often pair well with high-acid wines like riesling.

COOKING WITH WINE

Anywhere wine is made, it is used, usually liberally, in cooking. And for good reason. Wine layers in more flavor and richness than water. In addition, wine is often included as a final splash of flavor in sauces and various dishes.

The concern (if that’s the right word) has always been: What happens to the alcohol? And the conventional wisdom has been that after a few minutes of cooking, the alcohol in wine evaporates and is therefore eliminated.

That’s not exactly the case. Research conducted by the U.S. Department of Agriculture in the mid-1990s showed that 85 percent of the alcohol remained when alcohol was added to a boiling liquid that was then removed from the heat. The longer something is cooked, however, the less alcohol remains.

When a food is baked or simmered for 15 minutes, about 40 percent of the alcohol remains. After one hour, only 25 percent remains and after 2½ hours, just 5 percent will be present. (Remember that wine does not have huge amounts of alcohol to begin with—most wines are between 12 and 15 percent alcohol by volume—so for most people, the final amount of alcohol remaining in a dish is usually not a problem.)

As for cooking with wine, here are the most important guidelines:

NEVER use poor-quality wine. If you wouldn’t drink it, don’t pour it into the stew. A poor-quality wine with sour or bitter flavors will only contribute those flavors to the dish.

NEVER use “cooking sherry” or other wines billed for cooking. These wretched liquids are horrible-tasting, cheap, thin base wines to which salt and food coloring have been added.


If a recipe calls for dry white wine, many whites from all over the world will work, but one of the best and easiest choices is a good-quality sauvignon blanc or Sancerre, which will contribute a fresh, light herbal lift.

If a recipe calls for dry red wine, think about the heartiness of the dish. A rustic, long-cooked casserole or a substantial stew often needs a correspondingly hearty wine. Use a big-bodied shiraz, zinfandel, or red from the south of Spain, Italy, or France.

Don't pass up Port, Madeira, Marsala, and the nutty styles of Sherry, such as amontillado and oloroso. I could not cook without these scrumptious wines. All four are fortified, which means they have slightly more alcohol, but they all pack a bigger wallop of flavor, too. Plus, opened, they can be used for cooking for several months or more. Be sure to use the real thing. Port from Portugal, Sherry from Spain, and so on. Most ersatz New World versions are far weaker in flavor. Port has a rich, sweet, winey flavor, a real plus in meat casseroles. Sherry’s complex, roasted, nutty flavors can transform just about any soup, stew, or sautéed dish. Madeira can be mesmerizingly lush, with toffee and caramel flavors; use the medium-rich style known as bual. And Marsala’s light, caramel-like fruitiness is incomparable in Mediterranean sautés. I like to use dry Marsala rather than sweet.

SALTINESS IS ALSO A STUNNINGLY DELICIOUS CONTRAST TO SWEETNESS.

Try that Asian dish seasoned with soy sauce with an American riesling that’s slightly sweet, and watch both the food and the wine pull together in a new way. This is the principle behind that great old European custom of serving Stilton cheese (something salty) with Port (something sweet).

A HIGH-FAT FOOD, SOMETHING WITH A LOT OF ANIMAL FAT, BUTTER, OR CREAM, USUALLY CALLS OUT FOR AN EQUALLY RICH, INTENSE, STRUCTURED, AND CONCENTRATED WINE.

Here’s where a well-balanced red wine with tannin, such as a good-quality cabernet sauvignon or merlot, works wonders. The immense structure of the wine stands up to the formidableness of the meat. And at the same time, the meat’s richness and fat serves to soften the impact of the wine’s tannin. A powerful California cabernet sauvignon with a grilled steak is pretty hard to beat. This same principle is at work when a Bordeaux wine (made primarily from cabernet sauvignon and merlot) is served with roasted lamb. And pairing richness with richness is also the principle behind what is perhaps the most decadent French wine and food marriage of all: Sauternes and foie gras.

BUT NONE FROM FAT

One 5-ounce glass of typical white wine contains about 104 calories; a typical red contains about 110. Wines that have a small touch of sweetness may have an additional 5 to 10 calories. By comparison, the same amount of grape juice has about the same number of calories—102.

CONSIDER UMAMI 

The fifth taste, which is responsible for a sense of deliciousness in foods. Chefs increasingly use foods high in umami, such as Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, soy sauce, wild mushrooms, and most red meats, to build a dish, and potentially make it sensational with wine. When wine and food are paired well together, adding an umami component to the food often serves to heighten the overall experience. So, for example, we know steak and cabernet sauvignon to be a successful match. Topping the steak with grilled mushrooms gives the overall combination even more punch.

WITH DESSERTS, CONSIDER SWEETNESS CAREFULLY.

Desserts that are sweeter than the wine they accompany make the wine taste dull and blank. In effect, the sweetness of the dessert can knock out the character of the wine. Wedding cake, for example, can ruin just about anything in a glass, although happily, no one’s paying attention anyway. The best dessert and dessert wine marriages are usually based on pairing a not-too-sweet dessert, such as a fruit or nut tart, with a sweeter wine.

So there they are, a group of pretty simple principles, meant only as a guide. The real excitement is in the experimentation, and only you can do that.

THE TEN QUESTIONS ALL WINE DRINKERS ASK

What makes wine continually fascinating is that, apart from the hedonistic pleasure it provides, it appeals to the intellect in a way that, say, root beer or vodka do not. And because wine entices the mind, wine lovers are always beset by questions: Should you let a wine breathe? How much do vintages matter? How long does wine need to age? Even simple issues present challenges: What constitutes a good wineglass? What’s the right temperature at which to serve a wine?

I hope this final section will provide you with solid answers. I’ll begin with my own first question/conundrum: How to feel comfortable in a wine shop.

By Karen MacNeil in "The Wine Bible", Workman Publishing, New York, USA, 2015, excerpts pp. 213-226. Digitized, adapted and illustrated to be posted by Leopoldo Costa.

Introduction

The contrasting social and antisocial effects of alcohol consumption must have become evident shortly after the discovery of winemaking. Time has only augmented our understanding of the multifaceted nature of this Dr Jekyll–Mr Hyde phenomenon. It is clear that excessive alcohol consumption, both acute and chronic, can have devastating effects on physical and mental wellbeing. Excessive ethanol consumption can cause cirrhosis of the liver, increase the likelihood of hypertension and stroke, favor the development of breast and digestive tract cancers, and induce fetal alcohol syndrome.

Many of these effects may stem from the activation of free-radical damage induced by high alcohol intake (Meagher et al., 1999). Because the problems associated with alcoholism (Abrams et al., 1987; Schmitz and Gray, 1998), and the cerebral chemical changes associated with addiction (Nestler and Malenka, 2004; Heinz, 2006) have been well documented, they will not be discussed here. On the other hand, it is becoming equally clear that moderate wine consumption (250–300 ml/day – about one-third of a 750-ml bottle) has distinct health benefits. Multiple epidemiological studies suggest that daily, moderate, alcohol consumption (Thun et al., 1997; Doll et al., 2005), and especially wine (Grønbæk et al., 2000; Renaud et al., 2004) is associated with a reduction in all-cause mortality. This is expressed in a U-shaped curve, with increased mortality being associated with both excess alcohol intake and abstinence. This is particularly evident in the reduced incidence of cardiovascular disease in moderate alcohol consumers. In addition, it reduces the likelihood of type 2 diabetes, combats hypertension, and reduces the frequency of certain cancers and several other diseases. These epidemiological correlations are being supported by in vivo studies that provide molecular explanations for these associations. The principal element missing in confirming a causal relationship involves detailed information on the dynamics of absorption, metabolism, and elimination of the proposed active ingredients.

Faced with a chemical and beverage that can be not only salubrious but also addictive, the fluctuations in society’s attitude toward alcohol are not surprising (Musto, 1996; Pittman, 1996; Vallee, 1998). Thankfully for those in the wine industry, wine drinkers are less likely to show those alcohol-related problems that have given alcohol a bad reputation (Smart and Walsh, 1999). In addition, wine has a higher social image than other alcoholic beverages (Klein and Pittman, 1990).

The use of wine as a medicine, or as a carrier for medications, has a long history. It goes back at least to the ancient Egyptians (Lucia, 1963). Ancient Greek and Roman society used wine extensively in herbal infusions. This practice continued largely unabated until the beginning of the twentieth century. The excessive abuse of distilled alcoholic beverages, combined with religious and political conservatism, created a backlash against all beverages containing alcohol, notably in North America. Alcohol was viewed as an agent of corruption to be annihilated. Following the failure of Prohibition, humans themselves, not alcohol, came to be viewed as the source of evil. Alcoholism is now appropriately viewed as a genuine disease, possessing a complex etiology (Nurnberger and Bierut, 2007), with both genetic and environmental aspects. Thus, the social climate is changing, and the legitimate use of wine in medicine and health is being investigated seriously.

Nevertheless, it is unlikely that doctors will soon be prescribing wine for its health benefits. Too often, people have a difficulty recognizing the limits of rational use. Even dietary flavonoid supplements (one of the benefits of wine consumption) may be detrimental if taken in excess (Skibola and Smith, 2003).

Metabolism of Alcohol

Alcohol is the primary by-product of fermentative metabolism in many organisms. Ethanol is also an energy source for an even larger number of species. Thus, it is not surprising that enzymes involved in ethanol oxidation are found in most life forms, including humans.

In humans, ethanol enters the bloodstream either via the consumption of beverages containing alcohol, or from ethanol synthesized by the bacterial flora in the intestinal tract. When the concentration of alcohol is low, most of it is metabolized in the liver before it enters the systemic blood flow. Most of the blood supply from the digestive tract passes through the liver before dispersing to the rest of the body.

The liver metabolizes about 95% of alcohol in the plasma, at about 15 ml/h. The rest of the alcohol tends to be lost in the breath, or secreted in the urine and other bodily fluids. The liver possesses two enzymic pathways for ethanol metabolism. The primary (constitutive) mechanism involves the oxidation of ethanol to acetaldehyde, through the action of cytoplasmic alcohol dehydrogenases (ADHs). Of the seven known ADH genes, three function in the liver. The others act in the gastric epithelium and other tissues. Subsequent oxidation converts acetaldehyde to acetic acid. This occurs principally under the action of mitochondrial acetaldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH2). Cytoplasmic acetaldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH1) is less active. The acetic acid may be released into the blood or converted to acetyl CoA. From this point, metabolism may flow along any of the standard biochemical pathways.

As noted, alcohol metabolizing enzymes frequently occur in allelic forms (isozymes). Their relative occurrence also tends to vary among ethnic groups. Some of the isozymes possess distinct physiological attributes.For example, ADH1B*1 codes for an isozyme that oxidizes ethanol slowly, whereas ADH1B*3 encodes for a highly active version (about 30 times more efficient) (Thomasson et al., 1995). These allelic variants are common among African Americans. Fast and slow acting isozymes of ADH1C are common in Europeans. Rapid alcohol oxidation may donate a degree of protection against alcoholism, by quickly converting ethanol to acetaldehyde. Such individuals tend to drink less and show more rapid and marked negative consequences to alcohol consumption than do those metabolizing alcohol more slowly (Wall et al., 2005). However, this probably reduces some of the health benefits of ethanol consumption. The effect of mutants of mitochondrial acetaldehyde dehydrogenase gene (ALDH2) is discussed below.

A second metabolic routing of ethanol metabolism occurs only when the blood alcohol concentration is high. It entails an inducible pathway involving microsomal cytochrome P4502E1. It oxidizes ethanol to acetaldehyde, using molecular oxygen rather than NAD+. The activation of the microsomal oxidation pathway has the undesirable side-effect of generating free oxygen radicals (Meagher et al., 1999). The free-radical activity can remain long after alcohol intake has ceased. Although most free oxygen radicals are inactivated by glutathione, superoxide dismutase, and catalase, long-term exposure to trace amounts of oxygen radicals may induce the slow, progressive accumulation of irreparable cellular damage. Subsequent oxidation of acetaldehyde, generated by the microsomal pathway, to acetic acid is identical to that derived by alcohol dehydrogenase.

The metabolism of ethanol to acetate (acetic acid) has the advantage that tissue cells can regulate its transport. This is not true for ethanol, which can diffuse freely across cellular membranes. Control of transport is central to proper cellular function.

Physiological Actions

The ability of ethanol to displace water, and its unregulated passage cross cell membranes, explains much of alcohol’s cytoplasmic toxicity. In addition, its oxidation to acetaldehyde is more rapid than the subsequent oxidation to acetate. Thus, acetaldehyde may accumulate in the blood and other bodily fluids. This is often viewed as an important contributor to the toxicity associated with excessive alcohol consumption. Differentiating between the direct and indirect toxic effects of excessive ethanol intake has proven difficult.

One of the first physiologic effects of alcohol consumption is a suppression of higher brain function. This is most noticeable in enhanced sociability – by blocking social inhibitions. For others, it quickly induces drowsiness (Stone, 1980). This probably explains why taking a small amount of wine (90–180 ml) before bed often helps people, notably the elderly, suffering from insomnia (Kastenbaum, 1982). Half a glass of wine provides the benefits of sleep induction, without causing agitation and sleep apnea – often associated with greater alcohol consumption. The effect on sleep may arise from alcohol facilitating the transmission of inhibitory γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA), while suppressing the action of excitatory glutamate receptors (Haddad, 2004). GABA and glutamate are estimated to be involved in about 80% of neuronal circuitry in the brain.

Another effect on brain function results from a reduction in hormonal secretion – notably vasopressin. As a consequence, urine production increases, producing the diuretic effect frequently associated with alcohol consumption. Less well known is how alcohol acts as a crucial regulator of the hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal axis, modulating the release of hormones such as adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) and corticosterone (Haddad, 2004).

Although alcohol has a general depressive action on brain function, the levels of some brain modulators show transitory increases. Examples are serotonin and histamine. The latter may activate a cascade of reactions leading to headache production.

Another of the multiple influences of alcohol is the conversion of hepatic glycogen to sugar. This results in a short-lived increase in plasma glucose content. This, in turn, can cause glucose loss in the urine, as well as an increase in insulin release by the pancreas. Both result in a drop in blood sugar content. If sufficiently marked, hypoglycemia results. This apparently causes the temporary weakness often associated with excessive alcohol intake.

In addition to the direct effects of ethanol, the accumulation of acetaldehyde may have several undesirable consequences. It may be involved in much of the chronic damage associated with alcoholism. At low rates of alcohol intake, acetaldehyde metabolism is sufficiently rapid to limit its accumulation and liberation from the liver. At higher concentrations, acetaldehyde rapidly consumes glutathione reserves in the liver – an crucial cellular antioxidant.

This coincides with activation of the microsomal ethanol oxidation pathway that generates toxic free-oxygen radicals. In the absence of sufficient glutathione, free-oxygen radicals can accumulate, disrupting mitochondrial function. Elsewhere in the body, acetaldehyde can bind with proteins and cellular constituents, forming stable complexes (Niemela and Parkkila, 2004). These can lead to the production of immunogenic determinants, which can stimulate antibody production against acetaldehyde adducts. This may generate some of the chronic tissue damage associated with alcohol abuse (Niemela and Israel, 1992). The binding of acetaldehyde to the plasma membrane of red blood cells is known to increase their rigidity. By limiting their ability to squeeze through the narrowest capillaries, oxygen supply to tissue cells may be restricted. This could participate in suppressed brain function. Nerve cells show only respiratory (oxygen-dependent) metabolism. It is estimated that the brain consumes up to 20% of the blood’s oxygen supply.

Although ethanol and acetaldehyde can produce severe, progressive, and long-term damage to various organs, and incite alcohol dependence, these consequences are absent when alcohol consumption is moderate and taken with meals. As the sections below demonstrate, moderate, daily, wine consumption has clear health benefits for the majority of people.

Food Value

Wine’s major nutritional value comes from the rapidly metabolized, caloric value of its ethanol content. Alcohol does not need to be digested, and can be absorbed directly through the intestinal wall. In rural viticultural areas, wine historically functioned as a major source of metabolic energy for the adult population. Wine in those regions was a food.

Wine contains small quantities of several vitamins, notably the B vitamins, such as B1 (thiamine), B2 (riboflavin), and B12 (cobalamin). However, wine is virtually devoid of vitamins A, C, D, and K. In excess, ethanol can impair vitamin uptake. Wine contains various minerals in readily available forms, especially potassium and iron (in the ferrous state). Nevertheless, excessive alcohol consumption can disturb the uptake of calcium, magnesium, selenium, and zinc, and increase the excretion of zinc via the kidneys. The low sodium/high potassium content of wine makes it one of the more effective sources of potassium for individuals on diuretics. Although wine contains soluble dietary fiber, especially red wines (Díaz-Rubio and Saura-Calixto, 2006), it is insufficient to contribute significantly to the daily recommended fiber content in the human diet.

Digestion

Wine has several direct and indirect effects on food digestion. The phenolic (Hyde and Pangborn, 1978) and alcohol (Martin and Pangborn, 1971) contents of wine activate the release of saliva. In addition, wine promotes the release of gastrin as well as gastric juices. Succinic acid is the principal wine ingredient activating the release of gastric juices (Teyssen et al., 1999). It does not, however, activate gastrin release. The substance(s) involved in stimulating gastrin secretion are unknown. Wine also significantly delays gastric emptying, both on an empty stomach (Franke et al., 2004), or when consumed with food (Benini et al., 2003). The latter favors digestion by extending acid hydrolysis. It also promotes inactivation of pathogenic food contaminants. In addition, wine slows plasma glucose uptake, independent of any insulin response (Benini et al., 2003). Furthermore, at the levels found in most table wines, ethanol activates the release of bile in the intestines. Wine acids and aromatics also induce the same effects. In contrast, the high alcohol content of distilled beverages can suppress digestive juice flow, the release of bile, and induce stomach spasms.

Despite the general beneficial effects of alcohol on digestion, the phenolic content of red wine may retard digestion. For example, tannins and phenolic acids interfere with the action of certain digestive enzymes, such as α-amylase, lipase and trypsin (Rohn et al., 2002). Digestion may be further delayed by polymerization between tannins and food proteins. Although potentially delaying digestion in the small intestine, it continues in the colon. In contrast, some phenolics, such as quercetin, resveratrol, catechin, and epigallocatechin gallate, promote pepsin-activated protein breakdown (Tagliazucchi et al., 2005).

The phenolic content of wine also decreases the intestinal absorption of iron and copper. Although this may be undesirable by limiting the bioavailability of iron under deficiency conditions, it has the benefit of reducing the formation of toxic lipid hydroperoxides during digestion in the intestines. The antioxidant effect of polyphenolics also applies to hydroperoxide generated in the stomach (Kanner and Lapidot, 2001).

Wine also has a cultural/psychologic effect on digestion. The association of wine with refined eating promotes slower food consumption, permitting biofeedback mechanisms to induce satiety and regulate food intake. In addition, wine consumption can promote a more relaxed lifestyle, something increasingly valuable in our overly compulsive society. Whether this explains the improved appetite of many elderly and anorectic patients when wine is taken with the meal is unknown.

The activation of gastric juice release not only aids food digestion, but also inactivates enzymes involved in ulceration. Even more significant may be the antibiotic action of wine constituents on Helicobacterium pylori (Fugelsang and Muller, 1996). H. pylori is considered the primary cause of stomach ulceration. Moderate wine consumption appears have a prophylactic effect limiting ulcer initiation (Brenner et al., 1997). The bacterium is also implicated in gastritis, vitamin B12 malabsorption, and gastric adenocarcinoma.

Wine may further aid human sustenance by increasing nutrient uptake. Congeners combine with metallic ions, vitamins, and fatty acids, facilitating their transport across the intestinal wall.

Finally, consuming wine with food slows the rate of alcohol uptake in the blood. In the absence of food, about 80% of alcohol absorption occurs through the intestinal wall. This value increases in the presence of food. By retarding gastric emptying, food consumption slows the transfer of alcohol into the intestine. This extends the period over which the liver can metabolize ethanol. The result is a reduction in the maximal alcohol content reached in the blood. However, taking sparkling wine on an empty stomach increases shortterm alcohol uptake by about 35% (Ridout et al., 2003). Although the cause of the difference is unknown, it is suspected that carbon dioxide relaxes the pyloric sphincter, allowing earlier transfer of fluids from the stomach into the duodenum.

The rate of alcohol metabolism differs considerably among individuals, with rates commonly varying between 90 and 130 mg/kg/h. The hormonal and nutritional state of the individual can affect the rate of ethanol metabolism.

Phenolic Bioavailability

To fully understand the significance of wine phenolics to health, it will be necessary to know the dynamics of their uptake, concentration, metabolism, and elimination. Such data are just now starting to become available.

In the mouth, mid-sized flavonoid polymers often bond to salivary proteins, forming stable complexes (De Freitas and Mateus, 2003; Pizarro and Lissi, 2003). This significantly limits their uptake in the stomach and small intestine. Passage through the stomach does not modify the majority of wine phenolics. Nevertheless, f avonoids such as anthocyanins quickly traverse the stomach and pass into the blood (Passamonti et al., 2003). They are also effectively translocated across the wall of the small intestine (Talavéra et al., 2005). Phenolic acids, such as caffeic acid (Simonetti et al., 2001) and resveratrol (Soleas et al., 2001) also readily pass into the plasma via the intestinal tract. In contrast, polymers tend to remain in the intestine until degraded by bacteria in the colon (Scalbert et al., 2002). A small portion of their breakdown products, primarily phenolic acids, are subsequently absorbed into the blood via the colon (Ward et al., 2004).

Studies on the bioavailability of flavonoids in the blood are in their infancy (Williamson and Manach, 2005). Although many flavonoids are quickly absorbed into the plasma, most appear to be rapidly conjugated – being methylated, sulfated, transformed to glucuronsides, or otherwise metabolized (see Williams et al., 2004). These transformations could significantly affect their antioxidant and other properties, as well as their ability to move into tissues. Most of these metabolites still retain a reducing phenolic group, and, thus, may possess antioxidant properties.

Nevertheless, there is growing evidence that phenolic metabolites act primarily as signaling molecules, notably in oxygen-stress-related pathways (Williams et al., 2004). Smaller amounts of chemical are needed for signaling reactions, than direct antioxidant effects.

This might explain the discrepancy between the low levels of free phenolics in the plasma and their apparent effects in the body. Future studies will have to investigate the efficacy of phenolic metabolites and conjugated complexes, at concentrations found in the plasma. Their efficacy at binding to, or translocation into tissue cells, is little known. Survival of most of these constituents in the plasma is comparatively short (a few hours). Breakdown products of phenolic metabolism rapidly appear in urine shortly after uptake in the plasma.

Presence in the plasma probably permits their diffusion into most body tissues. This does not apply to the brain. Except where there are specific transport proteins, most compounds above a molecular weight of 500 Da are excluded by the blood–brain barrier. This barrier exists due to tight connections between the endothelial cells that makeup the lining of cerebral capillaries. This prevents the diffusion of molecules between vascular endothelial cells that is typical elsewhere in the body. However, with anthocyanins (Passamonti et al., 2005) and simple flavonols (Youdim et al., 2004), access to the brain occurs within minutes of consumption.

Antimicrobial Effects

The prophylactic action of wine against gastrointestinal infections has been known for millennia, long before the microbial nature of infectious diseases was suspected. This action is complex and not fully understood.

The antimicrobial effect of alcohol was discovered in the late 1800s. Nevertheless, alcohol is not particularly antimicrobial at the concentrations found in wine (optimal at about 70%). Thus, the antibiotic action of wine results primarily from other constituents, probably its phenolic content. Modification of anthocyanins during fermentation increases their toxicity to viruses, protozoans, and bacteria. Other phenolic compounds commonly found in red wines are also bacteriostatic and fungistatic. For example, p-coumaric acid is particularly active against gram-positive bacteria, such as Staphylococcus and Streptococcus, whereas other phenols inhibit gram-negative bacteria, for example Escherichia, Shigella, Proteus, and Vibrio (Masquelier, 1988). The latter cause serious forms of diarrhea and dysentery.

Despite wine being more effective than antimicrobial agents, such as bismuth salicylate (Weisse et al., 1995), full action may take several hours (Møretrø and Daeschel, 2004; Dolara et al., 2005). In most instances, the mechanism by which phenolics have their action is unknown. However, in the case of quercetin, the effect may be partially attributed to its inhibition of DNA gyrase, whereas with epigallocatechin, disruption of cell membrane function appears central to its antibiotic action. The low pH and presence of various organic acids appear to accentuate the antimicrobial action of both wine phenolics and ethanol. It is not without good reason that Roman armies added wine or vinegar to their drinking water. Diarrhetic soldiers do not win wars.

Wine is also active against several viruses, including the herpes simplex virus, poliovirus, hepatitis A virus, as well as rhinoviruses and coronaviruses. The effect on the latter two groups appears reflected in the reduced incidence of the common cold in moderate alcohol consumers (Cohen et al., 1993), particularly those drinking red wines (Takkouche et al., 2002). If you have to gargle, port is certainly one of the more pleasant options available.

Cardiovascular Disease

The most clearly established benefit of moderate alcohol consumption, notably wine, relates to a nearly 30–35% reduction in death rate due to cardiovascular disease (Klatsky et al., 1974, 2003; Renaud and de Lorgeril, 1992). Alcohol consumption also decreases the likelihood of intermittent claudication (pain or cramping in the calf of the leg). Claudication is a common indicator of peripheral arterial disease. Recent studies have confirmed that incidental factors, such as gender, race, lifestyle, educational level, etc. do not affect the results (for example, Mukamal et al., 2006). Studies have also demonstrated that daily consumption of alcohol significantly reduces the incidence of other forms of cardiovascular disease, such as hypertension (Keil et al., 1998), heart attack (Gaziano et al., 1999), stroke (Truelsen et al., 1998; Hillbom, 1999), and peripheral arterial disease (Camargo et al., 1997). Those who consume wine moderately live, on average, 2.5–3.5 years longer than teetotalers, and considerably longer than heavy drinkers. The prime area of contention is the degree to which these benefits accrue from the effects of ethanol vs. phenolic constituents (Rimm et al., 1996).

Atherosclerosis is the principal cause of most cardiovascular disease (Libby, 2001). It apparently results from chronic injury to the arteries. Although associated with several independent factors, most damage develops as a result of the oxidation of lipids in a special subgroup of cholesterol–apoproteins complexes, the low-density lipoproteins (LDLs). Because of the hydrophobic nature of cholesterol and triglycerides, their transfer via the blood requires a special transport vehicle. Lipoprotein complexes consist of an outer membrane of phospholipids, in which apoproteins and free cholesterol occur. They enclose a hydrophobic core possessing numerous triglycerides and cholesteryl esters. The specific apoproteins in the complex regulate the metabolism of the associated lipids.

Normally, LDLs function in supplying cholesterol for cellular membrane repair and the synthesis of steroids. However, in high concentrations, they may accumulate in the artery wall. If they remain there for an extended period, their lipid content tends to become oxidized. In an oxidized form, lipids are cytotoxic and indirectly irritate the artery wall. As a consequence, special adhesion proteins attach to the artery wall. Monocytes and helper T-cells of the immune system bond to these proteins. In addition, affected endothelial cells may secrete compounds, such as endothelin-1.  Endothelin-1 activates the migration of monocytes and T-cells into the artery wall. Procyanidins, principally found in red wines, are particularly effective in suppressing the production of endothelin-1 (Corder et al., 2001). In the layer just underneath the endothelial lining (intima), monocytes mature into macrophages. Both macrophages and T-cells may release cytokines that further activate the immune system, involving localized inflammation. Activated macrophages tend to engulf oxidized LDLs. However, as the LDLs are not degraded, their progressive accumulation gives the macrophage the appearance of being full of bubbles. This has given rise to the term foam cells. They are the first clear evidence of the beginning of localized arterial swelling (plaques). Occasionally plaques enlarge inward, but more frequently they bulge outward into the surrounding tissue. Action of immune cells in the plaque also induces migration of smooth muscle cells from the artery wall into the intima. Here they proliferate and produce collagen, forming a fibrous cap over the plaque. Additional LDLs slowly collect, provoking further rounds of inflammation and enlargement of the plaque. These accretions may develop their own vasculature, becoming fibrous and inelastic. As the plaques enlarge, they may produce irregular protrusions into and block the artery lumen.

Even without restricting blood flow, plaques set the stage for platelet aggregation, clot formation (thrombus) and the blockage that can precipitate a heart attack or stroke. In the later phases of plaque formation, unknown factors enhance inflammatory changes in the plaque. These disrupt the integrity of the cap. For example, collagenases secreted by macrophages inhibit collagen synthesis by smooth muscle cells. Sudden rupture of a plaque permits blood infiltration into the plaque. Because plaques contain potent blood clotting factors, thrombus development is almost instantaneous. It is currently thought that plaque rupture is the principal factor inducting thrombus formation, and precipitating a heart attack, stroke, or other cardiovascular trauma.

If the risk factors of atherosclerosis, such as smoking, high blood pressure, high dietary sources of cholesterol, and possibly infection by pathogens such as Chlamydia pneumoniae and cytomegalovirus (CMV) are eliminated, atherosclerosis appears to be at least partially reversible. Part of the reversal process involves the action of high-density lipoproteins (HDLs). Of the two principal forms, ethanol augments the presence of HDL3, whereas exercise increases the level of HDL2. Either form tends to remove cholesterol from the arteries, transferring it to the liver for metabolism. HDLs also appear to interfere with LDL oxidation. The effect of ethanol on HDL concentration appears to be independent of beverage type (van der Gaag et al., 2001). The slower the rate of LDL turnover, the greater the likelihood of oxidation (Walzem et al., 1995).

The beneficial effect of moderate alcohol consumption on the HDL/LDL ratio is now clearly established. Less well understood is its effect in lowering the concentration of C-reactive protein (CRP) (Levitan et al., 2005). CRP is an indicator of inflammation.

Moderate alcohol consumption also reduces the incidence of another risk factor for cardiovascular disease – type 2 diabetes. Chronically high values of circulatory glucose, associated with type 2 diabetes, appear to generate high plasma triglyceride and LDL levels. The beneficial effects of alcohol on glucose and insulin metabolism appear not to occur if intake is not coincident with meal consumption (Augustin et al., 2004). Phytoestrogens, such as resveratrol, have a similar effect in reducing triglyceride and LDL contents in the circulatory system (see Bisson et al., 1995).

Another of alcohol’s beneficial influences involves disruption of events leading to clot formation. Platelets are less ‘sticky’ in the presence of alcohol, thus, less likely to aggregate to form a clot. Alcohol also increases the level of prostacyclin (interferes with clotting) and raises the level of plasminogen activator (a clot-dissolving enzyme). Clots adhering or becoming stuck to the roughened surfaces of narrowed atherosclerotic vessels may block blood flow. The oxygen deficiency and cell death that result are central to the damage caused by a heart attack or stroke. Thus, it is not surprising that inhibitors of platelet aggregation reduce the frequency of these cardiovascular crises. It is the rationale for recommending the daily consumption of acetylsalicylic acid (ASA) (an inhibitor of platelet aggregation). Ethanol (Renaud and Ruf, 1996), as well as wine phenolics, such as resveratrol and anthocyanins, have similar effects.

An additional example of the importance of ethanol in cardiovascular disease is the correlation between alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH) genotype and the incidence of myocardial infarction. Those individuals homozygous for ADH1C*2 (slow metabolizers of ethanol) are significantly less likely to have a heart attack than heterozygous individuals, and even less likely than homozygous individuals for ADH1C*1 (fast metabolizers of ethanol) (Hines et al., 2001).

Individually, many phenolics, such as resveratrol, catechin, epicatechin, and quercetin, have inhibitory effects on platelet aggregation (Keli et al., 1994). Nevertheless, the combined effect of several phenolics is superior to single compounds (Wallerath et al., 2005). The action partially results from the enhanced synthesis and release of nitric oxide by endothelial cells. Nitric oxide induces vasodilation (by relaxing vascular smooth muscle), and limits platelet adhesion to blood vessel endothelia. Indicative of the complexities of such interactions is observation that flavonoids may also inactivate nitric oxide (Verhagen et al., 1997). In addition, nitric oxide, notably as peroxynitrile, oxidizes LDLs.

In addition to effects on platelet aggregation, phenolic wine constituents bind directly with LDLs (limiting their oxidation), indirectly reduce macrophage-mediated oxidation of LDLs, and preserve the action of paraoxonase (further protecting LDLs from oxidation) (Aviram and Fuhrman, 2002). Furthermore, red wine phenolics limit the migration of smooth muscle cells into the intima of artery walls. These influences probably explain some of the added benefits of wine versus other alcoholic beverages in reducing the incidence and severity of cardiovascular disease. Although flavonoids tend to suppress inflammation, conflicting observations put the clinical significance of their anti-inflammatory action to atherosclerosis in question.

Red wines usually have been credited with superior benefits to white wines, relative to cardiovascular disease. This probably results from their higher flavonoid concentration. This view is supported from studies where white wine has shown the same effects as red wine when supplemented with grape polyphenolics (Fuhrman et al., 2001). Nevertheless, prolonged skin contact, or choice of particular cultivars, can enhance the presence of phenolic acids in white wines. Common phenolics in white wine, such as caffeic and coumaric acids, as well as flavonols, such as quercetin, are well-known, potent antioxidants.

The low sodium content of wine is an incidental benefit. It may permit wine consumption by those on a low-sodium diet, for example heart attack victims. The high potassium to sodium ratio of wine (20 : 1) is a further benefit.

Antioxidant Effects

Wine phenolics are not only important antioxidants in wine preservation, but also play a role as antioxidants in the human body. By limiting LDL peroxidation (Maxwell et al., 1994; Rice-Evans et al., 1996), they restrict one of the critical early stages of atherosclerosis. This probably results from the inhibition of lipoxygenases, as well as the scavenging of free oxygen radicals, such as superoxide and hydroxyl radicals, and by chelating iron and copper (involved in radical formation) (Morel et al., 1994; Rice-Evans et al., 1996). In addition, tannin subunits (catechins and epicatechins) appear to protect other cellular components from oxidation. Other antioxidants of importance in the human diet are vitamins E and C (tocopherol and ascorbic acid), β-carotene, and selenium. The occurrence of tocopherol in the precursor of LDLs may provide a natural, but short-term, protection from oxidation.

One of the antioxidants relatively unique to wine is resveratrol. It is a phenolic (stilbene) compound produced in response to fungal attack or other stresses. Other plants producing resveratrol include mulberries, blueberries, peas, and peanuts. It has greater antioxidant action than dietary antioxidants such as vitamin E and ascorbic acid (Frankel et al., 1993). There is also direct evidence that resveratrol can enter the blood system at levels sufficient to suppress cyclooxygenase (COX) and 5-lipoxygenase pathways. These are involved in the synthesis of pro-inflammatory mediators (Bertelli, 1998). In addition, resveratrol activates proteins involved in nerve cell differentiation, synaptic plasticity (important in learning), and neuronal survival (Tredici et al., 1999).

Additional potent antioxidants in wine are flavonols, such as quercetin, and flavonoid tannin subunits (Miller and Rice-Evans, 1995). Flavonoids have been shown to possess various mechanisms of action, some directly quenching free radicals, others increasing the level of endogenous antioxidants, such as glutathione, whereas others prevent the influx of calcium ions associated with oxidative stress (Ishige et al., 2001). They may also be more effective antioxidants, as well as occurring at higher concentrations, than resveratrol. Their content depends partially on the duration of skin contact and the type of fining. For example, PVPP (polyvinylpolypyrrolidone) markedly reduces quercetin content (Fluss et al., 1990).

Alternately, de la Torre et al. (2006) have suggested that ethanol itself may modify human metabolism, increasing the synthesis of hydroxytyrosol. The latter is a well-known antioxidant phenolic found in olive oil. Consumption of red wine, with a concentration of 0.35 mg hydroxytyrosol, increased the concentration of hydroxytyrosol in the blood more than administration of olive oil, at a concentration of 1.7 mg hydroxytyrosol.

Vision

Many of the beneficial influences of alcohol and wine consumption show a U-shaped curve. This also applies to its effect on age-related macular degeneration (Obisesan et al., 1998; Fraser-Bell et al., 2006). The disease expresses itself as a progressive degeneration of the central region of the retina (macula) that leads to blurred or distorted vision. It results as a consequence of local atherosclerosis that deprives the retina of oxygen and nutrients. It is the leading cause of blindness in adults over the age of 65. A similar relationship has been found for cataract development. In both situations, wine antioxidants are suspected to be the active protective agent. At higher rates of intake, ethanol promotes a prooxidant action that could negate the benefits of wine antioxidants.

Neurodegenerative Diseases

Alzheimer’s is one of the most investigated of neurodegenerative diseases, affecting approximately 15 million people worldwide. It is not surprising that researchers have investigated whether wine consumption reduces the incidence of neurodegenerative diseases affected by oxidative stress (Barnham et al., 2004). A pattern appears to apply here, as with so many other health-related benefits of wine and alcohol consumption. Moderate intake is beneficial, whereas heavier consumption or abstinence is prejudicial.

Alzheimer’s disease is associated with the accumulation of extracellular amyloid β-peptide (plaque), and the formation of intracellular neurofibrillar tangles containing tau-protein. The latter supports microtubule cytoplasmic structures. Many in vitro studies have shown that antioxidant compounds, such as vitamin E, protect neurons from β-amyloid accumulation. Tannic acid has also been shown to inhibit the formation of, and destabilize preexisting β-amyloid fibrils (Ono et al., 2004), whereas resveratrol promotes the degradation of amyloid β-peptides (Marambaud et al., 2005). Wine consumption is also linked in epidemiological studies to a reduction in the incidence of Alzheimer’s disease (Truelsen et al., 2002; Letenneur, 2004; Luchsinger et al., 2004). Even mild cognitive impairment and the progression of idiopathic dementia may be reduced with moderate alcohol consumption (Solfrizzi et al., 2007). Like other health benefits, these finding may not, in themselves, justify wine consumption, but they are encouraging to those who choose wine as part of their preferred lifestyle.

Osteoporosis

Age-related loss in bone mass affects both sexes, but is particularly prominent in postmenopausal women. Many risk factors, dietary influences, and hormonal supplements can affect its occurrence and severity. Of these factors, moderate alcohol consumption has been found to favor bone retention (Ganry et al., 2000; Ilich et al., 2002). These studies did not separate between various alcoholic beverages, thus, whether bone retention is due to enhanced calcium uptake associated with alcohol consumption (Ilich et al., 2002), the phytoestrogen effects of phenolics, such as resveratrol, or some other inf uence is unknown.

Gout

In the 1800s, there were many reports linking gout with wine consumption, especially port. Gout is caused by the localized accumulation of uric acid crystals in the synovium of joints. Their presence stimulates the synthesis and release of humoral and cellular inflammatory mediators (Choi et al., 2005). Gout is often associated with reduced excretion of uric acid in the kidneys. Mutations in the gene that encodes urease, the enzyme that metabolizes uric acid to allantoin (a soluble byproduct), is often involved in gout.

Dietary predisposing factors include red meat, seafood, and beer – presumably due to the increased availability of purines, the principal source of uric acid. Alcohol consumption may occasionally aggravate gout by increasing lactic acid synthesis. It, in turn, favors uric acid reabsorption by the kidneys. Despite this, wine consumption has not been found to be associated with an increased risk for gout (Choi et al., 2004).

Medical historians suspect the gout–port connection in the nineteenth century was associated with lead-induced kidney damage (Yu, 1983; Emsley, 1986/1987). Samples of port from the nineteenth century show high lead contents. Lead contamination probably came from its uptake from stills, used in making the brandy added in port production. In addition, the former use of pewter and lead-glazed drinking cups, and prolonged storage of port in lead crystal decanters, could have further augmented the lead content (Falcone, 1991).

Arthritis

A number of drugs used in treating arthritis have a tendency to irritate the lining of the stomach. This side-effect may be counteracted by the mildly acidic, dilute alcohol content of table wines. Other beneficial effects connected with moderate wine consumption may accrue from its mildly diuretic and muscle-relaxant properties. The diuretic action of wine can help reduce water retention and minimize joint swelling. Wine can also directly reduce muscle spasms and the stiffness associated with arthritis. The anti-inflammatory influences of wine phenolics, notably resveratrol, may also play a role in diminishing the suffering associated with arthritis.

Diabetes

Wine consumption has been shown to attenuate insulin-resistance in type 2 diabetes (Napoli et al., 2005). This may result from wine phenolics quenching oxygen radicals, thought to be pivotal in the damage associated with type 2 diabetes. Type 2 diabetes appears to result when body cells do not respond properly to the presence of insulin. Moderate alcohol consumption is also associated with reduced incidence of this form of diabetes (Dixon et al., 2001). The incidence of metabolic syndrome X is also lower in wine drinkers (Rosell et al., 2003). These effects may be due to one or more of the following: the influences of alcohol on metabolism; the antidiabetic properties of the element vanadium (of which wine is a significant source) (Brichard and Henquin, 1995; Teissèdre et al, 1996); the hypoglycemic and hypolipidemic effects of phenolics like resveratrol (Su et al., 2006); or through some effect on endothelial nitric oxidase synthase (Leighton et al., 2006). Moderate consumption of dry wine has no adverse effect on sugar control in diabetic patients (Gin et al., 1992; Bell, 1996).

Goitre

In an epidemiological study, Knudsen et al. (2001) found a strong link between alcohol consumption and a reduced prevalence of goitre and solitary thyroid nodules. This effect may result from some unknown protective effect of ethanol.

Kidney Stones

Drinking water has long been associated with reducing the development of kidney stones. Increased urine production helps prevent the crystallization of calcium oxalate in the kidneys. What is new is the observation that wine consumption further reduces the production of these painful and dangerous inclusions (Curhan et al., 1998).

Cancer

The consumption of moderate amounts of wine has not been shown to increase the incidence of most cancers. In contrast, increased consumption tends to increase the risk of certain cancers (see Ebeler and Weber, 1996).

In certain instances, these influences may derive from indirect effects on carcinogens, such as ethyl carbamate. At the concentrations typically found in table wine, though, ethanol diminishes the carcinogenesis of ethyl carbamate. Certain wine phenolics can be protective, whereas others can be mutagenic, especially at high concentrations. For example, quercetin can induce mutations in laboratory tissue culture, but is a potent anticarcinogen in whole-animal studies (Fazal et al., 1990). This apparent anomaly may result from differences in the concentrations of quercetin used, and the low level of metal ions and free oxygen found in the body (vs. tissue culture). In addition, phenolics may detoxify the small quantities of nitrites commonly found in food. However, in the presence of high nitrite concentrations (a preservative found in smoked and pickled foods), nitrites are converted into diazophenols (Weisburger, 1991). These can induce oral and stomach cancers.

Several phenolics can limit or prevent cancer development through a diversity of effects, such as DNA repair, carcinogen detoxification, enhanced apoptosis (programmed cell death), and disrupted cell division (Hou, 2003; Aggarwal et al., 2004). For example, resveratrol induces the redistribution of the Fas receptor. It is a site for the attachment of TNF (tumor necrosis factor) in colon cancer. Its action is part of a sequence that leads to the death of the affected cancer cells (Delmas et al., 2003). Resveratrol is also well known as an inhibitor of angiogenesis – the production of new vasculature essential for tumor growth. Other effects of resveratrol include inhibition of cyclooxygenase-2 (Subbaramaiah et al., 1998) and P450 1A1 (Chun et al., 1999). Cyclooxygenase-2 is thought to be involved in carcinogenesis, whereas P450 1A1 is an important hydroxylase. It can convert several environmental toxicants and procarcinogens into active carcinogens.

Flavones and flavonols strongly restrict the action of the common dietary carcinogens, heterocyclic amines (Kanazawa et al., 1998). It is estimated that these compounds, produced during cooking, are consumed at a rate of approximately 0.4–16 μg per day (Wakabayashi et al., 1992). The antiallergic and antiinflammatory properties of flavonoid phenolics probably also contribute to the anticancer aspects of these flavonoids (see Middleton, 1998).

The major exception to the general benefit of moderate wine consumption against cancer may be breast cancer (Viel et al., 1997). This correlation is more evident in those with the ADH1C*1 (fast metabolizers of ethanol to acetaldehyde, a known carcinogen) (Terry et al., 2006). However, findings from the long-duration Framingham Study indicate no relationship between moderate alcohol consumption and the incidence of breast cancer (Zhang et al., 1999). High rates of wine consumption have been linked with an increased incidence of mouth and throat cancers (Barra et al., 1990). Ethanol itself is not carcinogenic, but can enhance the transforming effect of some carcinogens.

Allergies and Hypersensitivity

Alcoholic beverages may induce a wide diversity of allergic and allergic-like reactions. In sensitive individuals, these may express as rhinitis, itching, facial swelling, headache, cough, or asthma. Occasionally ethanol plays a role in these responses, for example the flushing reaction of many Asians.

Nevertheless, sulfur dioxide is potentially the most significant wine irritant. A small proportion of wine-sensitive asthmatics may experience bronchial constriction on exposure to sulfite (Dahl et al., 1986). In a study by Vally and Thompson (2001), wine containing 300 ppm sulfite induced a rapid drop in forced expiratory volume, reaching a maximal decline within about 5 min. Recovery took between 15 and 60 min. The same individuals did not respond to wine containing 20, 75, or 150 ppm sulfite. Why sensitive asthmatics episodically react to wines with low SO2 contents may be related to changes in the state of their asthma control. Surprisingly, red wines tend to provoke more asthma problems than white wines, even though red wines typically have lower sulfur dioxide contents than white wines.

The speed of the reaction to sulfite suggests some malfunction in the amount of glutathione in lung tissue, or the activity of glutathione S-transferase reducing sulfite to glutathione S-sulfonate. Normally, sulfite is rapidly converted to sulfate by sulfite oxidase in the blood. However, low levels of this enzyme could permit sulfite to persist, provoking a heightened response in hypersensitive individuals.

At potentially greater risk are individuals afflicted with a rare autosomal genetic disease caused by a deficiency in sulfite oxidase (Shih et al., 1977; Crawhall, 1985). Affected individuals must live on a very restricted diet, low in sulfur-containing proteins. It is estimated that the synthesis of sulfite, associated with normal food metabolism, generates approximately 2.4 g sulfite/day. The sulfites in wine contribute only marginally to this amount. Because of the gravity of sulfite oxidase deficiency, most affected people die before reaching adulthood.

An intriguing allergy-like reaction is a rapid facial and neck flushing (cutaneous erythema) shortly after alcohol consumption. Other symptoms often include peripheral vasodilation, elevated heart rate, nausea, abdominal discomfort, and broncho-constriction. This reaction is found in up to 50% of eastern Asians. The syndrome is associated with a malfunctional form of mitochondrial acetaldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH2) (Enomoto et al.,1991). This is the principal enzyme oxidizing acetaldehyde to acetic acid. A malfunctional alcohol dehydrogenase allele (ADH1B) may also play a contributing role in the flushing reaction (Takeshita et al., 2001).

Elevated levels of acetaldehyde are thought to cause flushing by activating the localized release of histamine from mast cells. Histamine induces vasodilation and the associated influx of blood that appears as a reddening of the associated tissue. The connection between acetaldehyde and histamine is supported by the action of antihistamines in reducing this flushing, if taken in advance of an alcohol challenge (Miller et al., 1988). Antihistamines can also diminish the rhinitis that may be associated with the consumption of red wine (Andersson et al., 2003). In addition, antihistamines counteract the bronchoconstriction in individuals showing histamine intolerance. Histamine intolerance presumably relates to reduced activity of diamine oxidase (Wantke et al., 1996).

It has been suggested that the ALDH2 mutant in eastern Asians noted above may reflect an evolutionary selective adaptation to the endemic occurrence of hepatitis B in that region of Asia (Lin and Cheng, 2002). The resulting avoidance of alcohol would avert any synergism with hepatitis B-induced liver damage. Onset of a similar collection of unpleasant symptoms, associated with the abnormal accumulation of plasma acetaldehyde, is often used in the treatment of alcoholism. Disulfiram (Antabuse) is a potent inhibitor of ALDH.

Facial flushing, concomitant with alcohol consumption, but devoid of other symptoms, is occasionally experienced by Caucasians. Whether this is related to an ALDH malfunction is unclear. However, this possibility is supported by its suppression by acetylsalicylic acid (aspirin), if taken before an alcohol challenge (Truitt et al.,1987). An alternative proposal is that the flushing results from a direct, cutaneous, alcohol-induced vasodilation.

Idiosyncratic allergic and other immune hypersensitive responses to wine are difficult to predict or diagnose. Reactions may include the induction of headaches, nausea, vomiting, general malaise, or a combination of these. In a few instances, IgE-related anaphylaxis reactions have been reported to grape PR proteins (endochitinase and thaumatin) (Pastorello et al., 2003). The reactions may involve urticaria/angiodema (red patches or wheals on the skin/swelling), and occasionally shock. Residual amounts of fining agents, such as egg whites, have also been implicated in some allergic reactions (Marinkovich, 1982). However, in a double-blind, placebo-controlled trial, wines fined with egg white, isinglass, or non-grape derived tannins presented “an extremely low risk of anaphylaxis” to egg-, fish-, or peanut-allergic consumers (Rolland et al., 2006). In an ELISA study, only egg white and lysozyme could be detected in wine samples (Weber et al., 2007). Nevertheless, with more than 800 compounds potentially occurring in wine, it is not surprising that some individuals may occasionally show some form of adverse reaction to specific wines or wine types.

In addition to physiological reactions to wine constituents, there is a wide range of equally important psychological responses (Rozin and Tuorila, 1993), both positive and negative. Traumatic memories associated with the first exposure to, or excessive consumption of,a particular beverage can create an association that lasts a lifetime. Other people have come to associate certainproducts with social groups, lifestyles, or behaviors. Such attitudes can make the beverage unacceptable.

Headaches

People occasionally avoid wine consumption because it induces headaches. This situation has regrettably seen little study. Central to progress is effective differentiation of the multiplicity of headache phenomena and their specific etiologies.

One of the most severe headache syndromes potentially associated with wine consumption is the migraine. Migraines may be induced by a wide range of environmental stimuli, possibly because migraines are themselves a complex of etiologically distinct events. The dilation of blood vessels in the brain, as a result of histamine release, can be the common element in many instances of headache development. When red vs. white wines were discovered to contain higher concentrations of biogenic amines, such as histamine and tyramine, there was the initial assumption that they were the culprits.

However, it was later realized that the normal levels of histamine found in red wines are below those that generally trigger a migraine. In addition, double-blind studies have seemingly exonerated histamine in red wine-induced migraine headaches (Masyczek and Ough, 1983). Nevertheless, alcohol can suppress the action of diamine oxidase, an important enzyme of the small intestine that inactivates histamine and other biogenic amines (Jarisch and Wantke, 1996). Thus, in individuals with histamine intolerance, sufficient histamine may enter the blood system to provoke a vascular headache.

However, this view does not correlate with the observation that spirits and sparkling wine were more frequently associated with migraine attacks than other alcoholic beverages (Nicolodi and Sicuteri, 1999). Both spirits and sparkling wines are low in histamine content.

Although the biogenic amine content of wine appears to be insufficient to cause migraines in most individuals, the phenolic content of wine can induce headaches. Correspondingly, red wines are more frequently associated with headache production than white wines. On average red wines contain about 1200 mg/liter vs. 200 mg/liter for whites. Some phenolics suppress the action of platelet phenolsulfotransferase (PST) (Jones et al., 1995). Individuals having low levels of platelet-bound PST are apparently more susceptible to migraine headaches (Alam et al., 1997). Suppression of PST results in reduced sulfation (detoxification) of a variety of endogenous and xenobiotic (“foreign”) compounds, including biogenic amines and phenolics. Without inactivation, biogenic amines can activate the liberation of 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT, or serotonin), an important neurotransmitter in the brain. 5-HT also promotes platelet aggregation and the dilation of small blood vessels in the brain.

The pressure so created can cause intercranial pain, and the instigation of a migraine (Pattichis et al., 1995). People prone to migraine headaches also may show abnormal and cyclical patterns in platelet sensitivity to 5-HT release (Jones et al., 1982; Peatfield et al., 1995). This may be involved in why wine consumption is not consistently linked to headache induction. Small phenolic components in wine also prolong the action of potent hormones and nerve transmitters, such as histamine, serotonin, dopamine, adrenalin and noradrenaline. These could affect headache severity and other allergic reactions.

In the treatment of the possibly closely related cluster-headache syndrome, small doses of lithium may be preventive (Steiner et al., 1997). Because some red wines have higher than average lithium contents, they may prevent, rather than induce this type of headache.

Another recognized headache syndrome is the red wine headache (Kaufman, 1986). It may develop within minutes of consuming red wine and is often dose-related. The headache reaches its first peak within approximately 2 hours, tends to fade, but returns roughly 8 hours later in a more intense form. The headache seems related to the release of type E prostaglandins, important chemicals involved in dilating blood vessels. If this associationis correct, the inhibition of prostaglandin synthesis by acetylsalicylic acid, acetaminophen and ibuprofen could explain how these medications prevent headache development, when taken prior to wine consumption (Kaufman, 1992).

A distinct wine-related headache has been dubbed the red head (Goldberg, 1981). It develops within an hour of waking, after drinking no more than two glasses of red wine the previous evening. The headache is associated with nausea. The headache is particularly severe when reclining. Although the headache is relieved somewhat by standing, this itself exacerbates the nausea.

The headache usually lasts a few hours before dissipating. A similar phenomenon has been reported with some white wines, or mixtures of white wine, taken alone or with coffee or chocolates. Its chemical cause is unknown (Kaufman, 1986).

In most instances, headaches associated with wine consumption are assumed to be induced by tannins. However, tannins (polyphenolics) are poorly absorbed in the digestive tract. In contrast, their monomers are readily absorbed. This may explain why aged red wines (in which most tannins occur as large polymers) tend to be less associated with headache induction than their younger counterparts. A classic example is the ease with which the youngest of all red wines, Beaujolais nouveau, produces headaches in those prone to their occurrence.

Large tannin polymers remain largely unmodified until entering the colon, where bacteria metabolize them to low-molecular-weight phenolics (Déprez et al.,2000). Because this can take up to two days, they cannot be involved in headache induction. However, headache induction may result from monomeric phenolics, such as caffeic acid and catechins. Depending on their metabolism in the plasma, phenolics may be detoxified (o-methylated or sulfated), or made more ‘toxic’ (oxidizedto o-quinones). o-Quinones can inhibit the action of the enzyme catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT). By so doing, the neurotransmitter dopamine is not broken down, and the availability of μ-opinoid (pain killing) receptors is restricted. Consequently, the perception of pain associated with cerebral blood vessel dilation may be enhanced.

Resveratrol, a phenolic found in higher concentration in red than white wines, inhibits the expression of cyclooxygenases. Cyclooxygenase is involved in the synthesis of prostaglandins (Jang and Pezzuto, 1998), dilators of cerebral blood vessels. This is another example of where some wine phenolics may counter, rather than induce headache development. In contrast, ethanol tends to elevate the concentration of prostaglandins (Parantainen, 1983).

The ability of some yeast strains to produce prostaglandins (Botha et al., 1992) introduces the intriguing possibility that prostaglandins may occur as constituents in wine. If produced in sufficient quantity, yeast-derived prostaglandins could be another, or supplemental agent, involved in headache development. Yeast-derived prostaglandins could also theoretically provoke inflammatory lung problems such as asthma.

Although red wines are generally more associated with headache production than white wine, some headaches are exclusively associated with white table wines. Its characteristics and etiology are even less well understood than those evoked by red wines. In some individuals, this situation may be associated with a sensitivity to sulfites, which are generally found in higher concentrations in white wines than red wines, especially when young.

One of the most recognized alcohol-related headache phenomena is that associated with binge drinking – the hangover (veisalgia) (Wiese et al., 2000). Although not consistently associated with a headache, it is frequently an accompanying phenomenon. A hangover is characterized with tremulousness, palpitations, tachycardia, sweating, loss of appetite, anxiety, nausea, and possibly vomiting and amnesia. When a headache accompanies the hangover, it possesses symptoms similar to a migraine.

The headache is global, more frequently located anteriorly, and associated with heavy, pulse-synchronous throbbing. It usually starts a few hours after the cessation of drinking, when the blood alcohol level is declining and other hangover symptoms have already developed (Sjaastad and Bakketeig, 2004). Duration isseldom more than 12 hours.

Despite its all-too-frequent occurrence, the causal mechanism(s) remain unclear. Various compounds have been implicated, notably ethanol (and its primary breakdown products, acetaldehyde and acetic acid), methanol (through its metabolic by-products, formaldehyde and formic acid), and various congeners. None of these has been adequately established as individually or collectively being the principal causal agent(s).

Despite the absence of clear causal relationships, ethanol is typically viewed as the principal perpetrator. This view is supported by the physiologic effect of ethanol on the pituitary gland. Ethanol limits production of the hormone vasopressin. The result is a reduction in water reabsorption by the kidneys (increased urination), resulting in partial tissue dehydration. Contraction of the membrane covering the brain (the dura) could pull on fibers attaching the dura to the skull, causing pain sensors to discharge. Alternately, the diuretic effect of ethanol could result in electrolytic imbalance. The resultant disruption of normal nerve and muscle function could theoretically induce symptoms such as headache, nausea and fatigue.

Ethanol can also induce the breakdown of glycogen in the liver. The resulting influx of glucose is eliminated in the urine, producing hypoglycemia and a feeling of weakness. Finally, the breakdown of ethanol via the hepatic microsomal pathway increases the release of free radicals in the blood, causing cellular damage and a diverse range of symptoms. It is said that:

"Wine hath drowned more men than the sea".

Because glutathione is very important in the inactivationof free radicals, taking an amino acid supplement, N-acetyl-cysteine (NAC), has been suggested as a partial remedy. NAC is rich in cysteine, an amino acid that forms the core of glutathione. In addition, glutathione facilitates the conversion of acetaldehyde to acetic acid and its subsequent metabolism, as well as binding irreversibly with acetaldehyde.

The accumulation of acetaldehyde has also been proposed as a major activator of hangover initiation. For example, acetaldehyde can disrupt membrane function (partially by interfering with the action of cytochrome P-450 oxidase), and consequently cerebral neurotransmitter action. Commercial products such as Hangover Helper™ and Rebound™ have been developed to counter the effects of acetaldehyde. In addition, congeners (such as fusel alcohols and methanol) may exacerbate the effects of ethanol and acetaldehyde. Although the methanol content of wine is particularly low, its metabolism by ADH to formaldehyde, and subsequently formic acid, could be a significant factor with distilled beverages. The product Chaser™ has been developed as a means of limiting the uptake of such congeners. Its formulation of activated calcium carbonate and vegetable carbon is thought to bind congeners in the stomach, preventing their uptake in the blood. Hangovers are also associated with disregulation of cytokine pathways (Kim et al., 2003), as well as increased levels of C-reactive protein in the plasma (Wiese et al., 2004).

Some purported remedies, such as artichoke extract, have not stood up to rigorous clinical trial (Pittler et al., 2003), but others, such as an extract of Opuntia fiscusindica (Prickly Pear), apparently reduces the severity of some hangover symptoms (Wiese et al., 2004). It is thought to work as an inflammatory mediator. Pyritinol (a vitamin B6 derivative) has also been reported to reduce some hangover symptoms (Khan et al., 1973). Regrettably, there is no known universally effective treatment for a hangover. Although time is the only sure cure, avoidance is preferable.

Taking wine with meals is probably the best-known and reliable preventive, combined with limited consumption. Food delays the movement of alcohol into the intestinal tract, where some 80% of the alcohol is absorbed. Because the uptake is slowed, absorptionmore evenly matches the body’s ability to metabolize alcohol. It also delays the uptake of phenolic compounds and diminishes their maximum concentration in the blood.

By Ronald S. Jackson in "Wine Science - Principles and Aplications", Academic Press (an imprint of Elsevier), USA, 2008, excerpts pp. 686-700. Digitized, adapted and illustrated to be posted by Leopoldo Costa.

Un lungo viaggio, in compagnia del grande storico greco Erodoto, alla scoperta di un affascinante mondo popolato da invincibili e indomite popolazioni di nomadi guerrieri, famose per la loro ricchezza e i sorprendenti usi funerari.

L'hanno chiamata la “dama di ghiaccio”. Era una donna giovane che fu inumata con tutti gli onori in uno splendido sarcofago in larice, decorato con cervi e leopardi delle nevi intagliati nel cuoio, e in compagnia di sei cavalli con selle e finimenti. Giaceva come se fosse ancora immersa in un lungo sonno.

Il suo corpo era stato imbalsamato con torba e corteccia, e il permafrost ne aveva garantito un’ottima conservazione insieme a tutto il suo corredo funebre. La sua pelle bianchissima metteva ancora più in risalto i tatuaggi di un blu intenso dal disegno complicatissimo e astratto: creature con lunghe corna che si tramutavano in bellissime composizioni floreali.

Indossava una lunga gonna in lana a strisce, bianche e cremisi, e calze bianche di feltro. La sua blusa gialla si pensò all’inizio fosse realizzata in “tussah”, ma un’analisi più approfondita delle fibre rivelò che la seta non era di provenienza cinese, bensì più lontana, indiana forse. Accanto al corpo c’era un contenitore in corno di yak contenente semi di coriandolo che doveva servire per profumare l’ambiente.

Natalia Polosmak, l’archeologa che lo ritrovò nel 1993, nel distretto di Ukok nei Monti Altai, in prossimità del confine cinese, non credeva ai suoi occhi. Quella donna era vissuta circa 2500 anni fa e ora riemergeva dalle tenebre del passato per raccontarci di genti misteriose e indomite: gli Sciti.

I nomadi delle steppe

Erodoto, storico greco del V secolo a.C., ci parla di loro nel IV libro delle “Storie”, raccontandoci come questo fiero popolo riuscì a resistere all’invasione dei Persiani nel 510 a.C., infliggendogli anzi una cocente umiliazione. L’epoca degli Sciti da Targitao, primo abitante di quella terra, e dai suoi tre figli Lipoxai, Arpoxai e Coloxai, ciascuno dei quali diede origine a una diversa tribù scita.

La loro comparsa nelle steppe del Ponto (Mar Nero), sempre secondo Erodoto, fu dovuta alle lotte fratricide che sconvolsero le regioni dell’Asia centrale, situata tra gli Urali meridionali e i mari di Aral e Caspio, tra alcune tribù leggendarie sempre di ceppo scita, quali gli Issedoni e i Massageti. Gli Sciti a causa di questa pressione militare dovettero migrare e irruppero nelle steppe della regione del Mar Nero, scacciando a loro volta i Cimmeri.

Per indicare gli abitanti della parte occidentale del mondo degli Sciti, che si estendeva dalla costa settentrionale del Ponto e dal Caucaso fino agli Urali, Erodoto e altri autori antichi propongono una serie di nomi tribali: Sciti nomadi, Sciti reali, Sciti agricoltori, Gerri, Geloni, Budini, Neuri, Androfagi, Sauromati, Tauri, Meoti.

Alcune di queste popolazioni erano sicuramente contemporanee di Erodoto, altre invece sembrerebbero vissute in tempi più remoti, altre addirittura mitiche, come i Gerri, abitanti di terre ai confini del mondo, che nella mitologia erano considerati i fantasmi dei guerrieri caduti in battaglia.

Per la loro mobilità e superiorità militare i nomadi incarnarono spesso agli occhi dei sedentari una realtà aliena e minacciosa. Le genti iraniche, e i persiani in particolare, ebbero a che fare per tutto il corso della loro storia con le loro violente incursioni lungo i confini settentrionali. Sebbene chiamassero le varie tribù con nomi diversi, avevano l’abitudine di identificare l’imprendibile mondo scita con il termine iranico di Šaka o Saci.

Contro i Massageti, Dario I re di Persia, tra il 515 e il 512 a.C., lanciò una possente invasione con un esercito che Erodoto stimava in quasi un milione di uomini, ma ben presto la campagna militare si tramutò in una disastrosa ritirata. La tattica dei nomadi, guidati dalla regina Tomiri, consisteva nel trascinare il nemico in profondità nei loro territori, cosicché ben presto i Persiani si trovarono a corto di rifornimenti, subendo ripetuti attacchi di cavalleria. I Persiani si salvarono a stento, ma a costo di ingenti perdite.

Anche nelle cronache cinesi è ampiamente documentata la presenza di gruppi nomadici quali gli Shanrong, i Dingling e, più tardi gli Yuezhi, nella zona orientale del mondo scita, a nord e a ovest dei territori cinesi. Gli Shanrong, per esempio, attaccarono ripetutamente i confini degli stati cinesi a partire almeno dal IX secolo avanti Cristo.

I misteriosi kurgan

Le steppe e le sue genti sono un fenomeno elusivo, sfuggono alla storia proprio perché portatori di uno stile di vita che non prevedeva testi racconto di Erodoto, che questa pratica funeraria può essere datata molto indietro nel tempo, tanto da poter affermare che nelle steppe euroasiatiche i kurgan più antichi risalgano a oltre 5000 anni.

È solo in epoca scita, però, che il fenomeno raggiunse la sua più grande monumentalità e perfezione. Alla morte di un re, principe o guerriero veniva costruita una spaziosa camera funeraria sotterranea, in taluni casi strutturata in più vani, in cui venivano deposte le spoglie del defunto, accompagnate da ricchissime offerte, spesso in oro e argento, armi e nei casi più eclatanti sacrifici umani di servitori o accompagnatori: coppieri, guardie, palafrenieri e ancelle.

Il rituale nomadico prevedeva anche la sepoltura dei cavalli più belli con ricche bardature, talvolta mandrie intere.

Sopra la camera funeraria era poi eretto un possente tumulo in pietra e terra, che in funzione dell’importanza del defunto, poteva raggiungere dimensioni colossali; nei casi più clamorosi, come i tumuli reali, il volume della struttura può raggiungere i 120mila metri cubi, con un’altezza di 20 metri e diametro di un centinaio di metri.

Per esempio nel caso del tumulo di Certomlyk, nelle steppe a nord della penisola di Crimea a pochi chilometri dal fiume Dnepr (nell’attuale Ucraina), che ha restituito uno dei massimi capolavori dell’arte scita (un’anfora in argento con decorazioni placcate in oro), il volume del riempimento di 80mila metri cubi era stato innalzato al di sopra di una camera funeraria formata da cinque vani, scavata a 12 metri di profondità.

L’architettura nella sua interezza restituisce l’immagine di una vera collina naturale posata su una gigantesca piattaforma in pietra che la differenzia da qualsiasi altro rilievo circostante.

Ai piedi del muro, il rinvenimento di scheletri umani e di cavalli ricorda da vicino il passo di Erodoto, in cui è narrato il rito di sepoltura del re e di come venissero sacrificati 50 servi vicini al sovrano e altrettanti cavalli, quasi a voler costituire una macabra guardia d’onore a protezione delle spoglie regali. La pratica di sepoltura nei kurgan non riguardava soltanto re o principi, ma anche persone di rango più basso, nobili o aristocratici, capi tribù o guerrieri influenti, o semplici sudditi. Essendo una società profondamente stratificata ed elitaria, gli unici elementi discriminanti erano la grandezza del tumulo e la sua ricchezza, in termini di corredo funerario.

La società scita, inoltre, a quanto c’è dato di capire dai ritrovamenti archeologici, riservava alla donna un ruolo speciale, se non egualitario all’uomo, sicuramente molto significativo. Sappiamo, infatti, che in molti kurgan trovarono sepoltura donne di rango molto elevato, accompagnate da sacrifici umani di ancelle o guardie del corpo e corredi in oro e argento di squisita fattura. In alcuni casi queste donne portavano al loro fianco armi di vario tipo, tanto da far riaffiorare alla nostra mente il mito delle Amazzoni, di cui Erodoto fu testimone.

Il tumulo di Tolstaja Mogila, invece, facente parte di un grande complesso funerario di venti kurgan situato vicino a Ordžonikidze lungo il corso del Dnepr, e risalente al IV secolo a.C., fu edificato per ospitare una tomba costruita per una famiglia reale. Il tumulo, che ha una struttura circolare con un’altezza di oltre otto metri e un diametro di circa settanta, conteneva due camere e due fosse sepolcrali ipogee.

Nella camera principale era sepolto un uomo, mentre quella secondaria conteneva i feretri di una donna, forse la moglie, e di un bambino in tenera età. Le due fosse, adiacenti alla camera principale, contenevano le sepolture di tre soggetti di sesso maschile e di sette cavalli, probabilmente la scorta reale per l’aldilà. Completavano il corteo, i cadaveri di un’ancella e di tre soggetti maschi, probabile personale di servizio per l’oltretomba, uccisi forse per strangolamento.

Il kurgan conteneva un ricchissimo corredo in oro, di eccezionale fattura, che ornava non solo i reali ma anche un cavallo e alcuni serventi. La principessa indossava monili d’oro, un alto copricapo e una lunga tunica, impreziositi da brattee e lamine d’oro.

Una terra gelida

La meglio conosciuta tra le tribù scite, sia nei tempi antichi sia recenti, grazie alle preziose fonti greche, è quella degli Sciti europei (nel Ponto), la cui cultura fiorì nella regione settentrionale del Mar Nero per almeno un millennio, dal VII secolo a.C. fino al III dopo Cristo.

A testimonianza eterna della loro straordinaria potenza e ricchezza tutta la steppa è disseminata di imponenti tumuli sepolcrali dalle foci del fiume Dnepr, a nord della Crimea, fino agli Urali meridionali. Ai kurgan citati in precedenza possiamo aggiungerne altre centinaia, e tra questi i più monumentali e sorprendenti sono: Solokha, Kul’Oba, Melitopol, Aleksandropol, Oguz, Filippovka. I nomi citati sono solo una piccolissima parte di un tesoro che ha arricchito, negli ultimi due secoli, le sale dell’Hermitage e decine di musei locali nell’ex-Unione Sovietica.

I tesori dell’Altai

Lo scenario di alcune delle più straordinarie scoperte sono luoghi di secolare isolamento: le valli intermontane dei monti Altai e Saini, in un lembo di Siberia in cui i confini di Russia, Mongolia, Cina e Kazakhistan si toccano. In questi altopiani sferzati dal vento gelido e con un clima rigidissimo, fin dagli anni ’20 del secolo scorso, furono rinvenuti da varie spedizioni russe decine di cimiteri kurgan di grandi dimensioni, appartenuti a popolazioni di cultura scito-siberiana, che qui seppellirono i loro morti in un periodo compreso tra il VI e il III secolo avanti Cristo.

La particolarità che ha reso uniche queste tombe è dovuta al perfetto stato di conservazione di quasi tutti i materiali organici, dovuto a due fattori concomitanti: la grande abilità degli Sciti nel praticare l’arte dell’imbalsamazione e un ben preciso fenomeno atmosferico, in questo caso davvero unico dell’Altai, che ha permesso la formazione di uno spesso strato di ghiaccio (permafrost) che per secoli ha letteralmente ibernato il fondo della tomba.

Nella valle di Pazyryk, in particolare, nell’altopiano di Ukok, a sud della moderna città di Novosibirsk, negli anni ’20 sono venuti alla luce per mano dell’archeologo russo Sergei Rudenko alcuni sensazionali kurgan, in alcuni casi purtroppo già saccheggiati nell’antichità, contenenti sepolture di cavalli con le loro immacolate selle intessute e splendidi tappeti in feltro e lana, un carro funebre di 3 metri di lunghezza e altri inestimabili oggetti che oggi fanno bella mostra all’Hermitage di San Pietroburgo, in Russia.

Osservando in particolare i bellissimi tappeti in lana con temi e decorazioni animalistiche-astratte, i più antichi che siano mai stati scoperti, è veramente difficile mascherare una sensazione di stupore e meraviglia.

Il ritrovamento più sensazionale di Rudenko, però, è il cadavere di un principe guerriero che al momento della morte doveva essere intorno alla cinquantina, e il cui corpo era ricoperto quasi completamente da una serie di tatuaggi raffiguranti animali selvatici in lotta: in particolare tra quelli meglio conservati spiccano un asino, un ariete, due cervi stilizzati dalle lunghe corna e un felino. Sul petto facevano bella mostra due mostruosi grifoni, sul braccio due cervi e una capra di montagna, mentre nella gamba spiccava un gigantesco pesce-carpa che andava dal piede al ginocchio. Sulla schiena erano presenti diversi cerchi concentrici lungo la colonna vertebrale, fatti forse per scopo terapeutico; usanza ancora oggi praticata presso gli uomini delle ultime tribù siberiane.

Testimoni silenziosi

Come abbiamo già detto la più grande e spettacolare scoperta nella regione dell’Altai fu fatta, però, dall’archeologa Natalia Polosmak, che riportò alla luce la cosiddetta “dama di ghiaccio”. Due anni dopo, per uno strano gioco del destino, il marito della Polosmak, Vyacheslav Molodin, trovò un uomo congelato, tatuato con un complesso alce, con lunghe trecce che raggiungevano la vita, sepolto con le sue armi. Ci sono situazioni in cui qualsiasi commento è davvero superfluo, e questa è senza dubbio una di queste: l’unica cosa che possiamo fare è ammirare in religioso silenzio queste opere che sfidando i secoli sono giunte fino a noi in tutto il loro splendore.

Le montagne dell’Altai sono davvero una miniera inesauribile di informazioni: per la prima volta, il mondo complesso e misterioso di queste fiere tribù di guerrieri ci è stato svelato nel profondo, permettendoci di vedere uno spaccato di complesse credenze religiose e concezioni altrimenti perdute per sempre.

E la ricerca nell’Altai continua. L’ultima scoperta risale al 2007. In un kurgan di Pazyryk è stata riportata alla luce la mummia di un misterioso capo guerriero dai lunghi capelli biondi, sepolto in un bellissimo sarcofago di legno intarsiato, e completamente tatuato; la sua giacca di zibellino, tra le tante cose rinvenute, è ancora così perfetta da sembrare come appena confezionata. Un altro squarcio nell’oblio del tempo.

I Cimmeri, il popolo di Conan

“Là dei Cimmeri è il popolo e la città, di nebbia e nube avvolti”, così scriveva Omero nell’Odissea per descrivere gli abitanti di una mitica terra oltremare, localizzata nell’estremo nord del mondo, dove il sole non faceva mai capolino.

Qualcuno di noi, forse, amante di letteratura fantastica, non potrà non ricordarsi del mitico Conan il Cimmero, protagonista della famosa saga pubblicata dallo scrittore statunitense Robert Howard negli anni ’30 e poi ripresa al cinema nel fortunato ciclo di “Conan il Barbaro”. Se dovessimo, però, ricercare le origini storiche di questa civiltà ci troveremmo di fronte a un vero muro di nebbia, difficilmente dissipabile, dove storia e leggenda si mescolano abilmente come nel migliore dei romanzi.

Erodoto narra nelle “Storie”, Libro IV.12, che i Cimmeri abitavano le steppe a nord del Ponto, l’attuale Mar Nero, prima che ne fossero cacciati dall’arrivo dei temibili guerrieri nomadi Sciti e costretti ad attraversare le montagne del Caucaso alla volta dell’Anatolia. La riscoperta delle civiltà del Vicino Oriente e delle cronache scritte in cuneiforme del tardo impero assiro, riportate alla luce nel XIX secolo durante gli scavi delle antiche capitali imperiali di Ninive e Calah (attuale nord-Iraq), ci hanno permesso di appurare che nel VII secolo a.C. esisteva una regione chiamata Gamir, a sud della catena montuosa del Caucaso, nelle odierne repubbliche di Georgia e Armenia, e che i Cimmeri venivano chiamati Gimirrai.

Le fonti assire sono più antiche di alcuni secoli rispetto alla tradizione greca e per questo assolutamente degne di nota, in grado, quindi, di fornirci uno spaccato indipendente e originale, ma allo stesso tempo fondamentali per confermare le parole di Erodoto. I testi riportano la migrazione dei Cimmeri e la morte in battaglia del grande sovrano assiro Sargon, che vanamente tentò di opporsi alle loro scorrerie, nel 705 avanti Cristo. Pochi anni dopo, nel 696-5 a.C., le orde cimmere si riversarono nel cuore dell’Anatolia sconfiggendo il potente regno di Frigia e portando al suicidio il famoso re Mida, figura leggendaria, di cui la tradizione greca ci ha lasciato pagine e pagine, esaltandone la proverbiale ricchezza, e che nei testi assiri viene citato varie volte con il nome di Mi-ta-a. Anche l’archeologia, negli anni ’50, ci è venuta in aiuto, confermando che Gordion, l’antica capitale frigia, localizzata a ovest di Ankara, fu attaccata e saccheggiata intorno al 700 a.C. da popolazioni di cavalieri, i Cimmeri con tutta probabilità.

Questo è uno dei rarissimi casi in cui fonti antiche e documentazione archeologica sembrano convergere diligentemente, permettendoci di ricostruire e identificare una serie di avvenimenti storici di vasta portata, che influenzarono e cambiarono profondamente le vicende del Vicino Oriente. Il riferimento a Cimmeri e Sciti in testi storici è anche la prima testimonianza originale in grado collocare storicamente le vicende di questi popoli di cavalieri nomadi, provenienti dalle terre del nord, che fino a quel punto appartenevano più alla sfera della leggenda e del mito.



Le donne guerriere e il mito delle Amazzoni

Già nell’Iliade (II, 810-succ.) Omero racconta come Priamo si fosse scontrato in battaglia con le Amazzoni, mentre Erodoto (IV, 110-4), nel narrarci le origini del popolo dei Sauromati, successori degli Sciti, ci sorprende affermando che questo popolo era il frutto dell’unione di giovani guerrieri Sciti e Amazzoni, che secondo la tradizione erano approdate nella palude Meotide (Mare di Azov, in Crimea) dopo essere fuggite alla prigionia dei Greci, che le avevano sconfitte in battaglia nelle loro terre, non lontano da Temiscira.

Scrittori antichi e moderni hanno speso fiumi d’inchiostro per dare una collocazione storica a questa tradizione, finendo spesso con il sottolinearne l’assoluta irrazionalità e relegandola nel mondo del mito. L’archeologia negli ultimi decenni, però, ha potuto confermare che nell’ambito culturale dei cavalieri delle steppe sono giunte fino a noi singole sepolture femminili di straordinario rilievo che possiamo attribuire a donne guerriere, o amazzoni.

Le donne arcieri a cavallo non furono affatto, quindi, personaggi fantastici della mitologia greca, ma figure storiche la cui esistenza è attestata in molte sepolture kurgan delle steppe. Il fatto che i corredi funebri di queste figure femminili, oltre a contenere armi, siano di una ricchezza, pari se non superiore a quella dei guerrieri maschi più ricchi, ci autorizza a pensare che esistesse una parità tra i sessi, quasi inconcepibile in un mondo patriarcale come quello greco.

Tra le tante tombe che hanno rivelato a sorpresa inumazioni femminili con un armamento sofisticato possiamo ricordare il kurgan 13 di Kapulovka, al di sotto del quale erano presenti due tombe parallele di due giovani donne, con un corredo che includeva anche armi: entrambe le guerriere disponevano di 52 punte di freccia in bronzo, una punta di lancia e una di giavellotto in ferro.

Testo di Antonio Ratti pubblicato in "BBC History Italia", Milano, Italia, settembre 2012, n. 17, estratti pp.14-19. Digitalizzati, adattato e illustrato per Leopoldo Costa
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Los etruscos tuvieron fama entre los otros pueblos de la Antigüedad por su sentimiento religioso, cuyas ceremonias y rituales heredaron en parte los romanos

Efectivamente, desde la instalación de los griegos en la zona se detecta la existencia de un intenso tráfico de metales en estado puro o semielaborado que afluían desde Etruria, sobre todo desde la isla de Elba, hasta el emplazamiento griego donde se procedía a la obtención del metal a partir del mineral y a la elaboración de productos metalúrgicos ya terminados.

Eso no suponía que los etruscos no permitieran el establecimiento de extranjeros en su territorio desde época temprana, especialmente de artesanos, como el ceramista Aristonoto en Cerveteri y el exiliado corintio Demarato en Tarquinia, cuya presencia propició el desarrollo de un auténtico arte etrusco. También impulsaron la fundación de puertos comerciales de intercambio ( emporia), como el de Gravisca, en la costa de Tarquinia, donde vivían comerciantes griegos que practicaban sus propios cultos y donde tenía importantes intereses el célebre Sóstrato de Egina, a quien Heródoto considera el más rico de los comerciantes griegos.

Durante el período de su apogeo, a lo largo de los siglos VII y VI a.C., la civilización etrusca era un mundo de ciudades que estaban organizadas en una confederación de doce miembros (dodecápolis). un sistema que al parecer extendieron fuera de los límites territoriales de Toscana en su expansión hacia el norte, hacia cl Adriático con su centro principal en Bolonia (Felsina), y hada el sur, por Campania, con centro en Capua.

FASTOS CIUDADANOS

Desconocemos el funcionamiento interno de estas ciudades pero es muy probable que su evolución fuera similar a la de las póleis griegas, con magistrados y asambleas cívicas que sustituyeron progresivamente a las antiguas monarquías, sin descartar tampoco la existencia de tiranos, entendidos como caudillos militares de fortuna con ejércitos propios que ampliaban sus áreas de dominio.

El extraordinario proceso de urbanización de Etruria se caracterizó por la creciente concentración de la población en determinados centros, la aparidón de un artesanado espedalizado, la mayor complejidad de las relaciones sedales y la sacralizadón del lugar mediante rituales que delimitaban el espacio protegido por la divinidad. También destacaban las grandes construcdones: templos decorados con estatuas de terracota, murallas y algunas obras de ingeniería y canalización , ideas que seguirían los romanos.

Hubo también otro tipo de estructuras, tal y como han revelado los hallazgos en Murlo y Acquarosa. donde han aparecido palados a la manera oriental, sede de potentados locales desde donde ejercían su dominio sobre el territorio circtmdante y sobre la pobladón agrícola alli instalada con un estatus de dependenda. La aristocracia etrusca, tanto la urbana como la rural, hizo gala de un estilo de vida suntuario, representado en las pinturas murales de sus tumbas o de sus palacios, con escenas de banquetes, de carreras de caballos, de danzas o de desfiles nupciales. Esta exhibición de riqueza servía para demostrar su prestigio sodal y su supremacía No se trataba sólo de festividades lúdicas, ya que muchas de las escenas representadas tenían sentido funerario y revelan, por tanto, no sólo su fácil disposición al lujo y al placer sino un sentimiento de piedad religiosa por el que los etruscos alcanzaron también fama entre los pueblos antiguos.

El legado de los enigmáticos y opulentos etruscos fue inmortalizado por los romanos, quienes acabaron con su poderío en el siglo IV a.C. Roma heredó sus nombres, los símbolos de su poder, algunos rituales religiosos y, sobre todo, la enorme pujanza que había hecho a los etruscos dueños del Mediterráneo Occidental durante varios siglos.

Mujeres con los mismos derechos que los hombres

Una de las  singularidades de la civilización etrusca es la condición de paridad de la mu¡er dentro de su sociedad. Mientras que las féminas griegas y romanas permanecran recluidas, al menos idealmente, dentro de su ámbito privado y mantenian una posición completamente secundaria frente a los hombres, las etruscas participaban en los banquetes junto a sus esposos y asistían a los juegos mezclándose con espectadores masculinos. Esto fue un motivo de escándalo para los escritores gregos, que convirtieron este tipo de conducta en una muestra más de la depravación moral etrusca. Según Teopompo, un historiador del siglo IV a.C .. Ias mujeres etruscas no sólo compartían mesa con su marido sino con cualquiera de los hombres que estuvieran presentes en e banquete, llegando hasta emborracharse y a prolongar sus atenciones más allá de lo debido, con la inevitable consecuencia de que na eran niños de los que se ignoraba quién era el padre.

La realidad, como siempre, era mucho más matizada. La mujer desempeñaba un papel importante dentro de la sociedad, como revela la existencia de un matronímico en las inscripciones funerarias. Tenía derecho a un nombre completo, podia ser dueña de esclavos y titular de algunas actividades productivas. Aparece asimismo representada junto a su esposo en los famosos sarcófagos y en otros monumentos funerarios. Pero no es necesario deducir de todo ello la existencia de un auténtico matriarcado, tal y como propuso el célebre estudioso alemán Bachofen, que consideraba que los etruscos habían conservado en plena época histórica los restos de una organización de este tipo.

Texto  publicado en "Historia National Geographic", Barcelona, España,n. 45, noviembre 2007, pp. 41-44. Digitalizacion, adaptación y ilustración para publicación en ese sitio por Leopoldo Costa.

Depuis le ciel, le temple apparaît et disparaît tel un mirage, simple tache brune au milieu de la forêt du nord du Cambodge. Sous notre avion s'étend la cité disparue d'Angkor: des ruines surtout peuplées de modestes riziculteurs. Des maisons, bâties sur pilotis pour se protéger des inondations de la mousson d'été, parsèment par grappes le paysage entre le Tonlé Sap, le grand lac d'eau douce de l'Asie du Sud-Est, à une trentaine de kilomètres plus au sud, et les mont Kulen, qui se dressent sur la plaine d'inondation, à peu près à égale distance, vers le nord. Soudain, alors que notre appareil ultra léger survole la cime des arbres, le temple se révèle dans toute sa splendeur.

Restauré dans les années 1940, le Banteay Samrè, bâti au XIII siècle et dédié au dieu hindou Vishnou, témoigne de ce que fut l'Empire khmer à son apogée. Le temple s'élève au centre de deux carrés de murs d'enceinte. Jadis les entouraient peut-être des douves symbolisant les océans qui encerclaient le mont Meru, la demeure mythique des divinités hindoues. Banteay Samrè n'est qu'un temple parmi plus d'un millier de lieux sacrés édifiés par les Khmers dans la cité d'Angkor, produits d'une fièvre architecturale dont l'ampleur et l'ambition n'ont rien à envier aux pyramides d'Égypte. L'avion poursuit sa route. Je me dévisse le cou, mais la forêt a déjà englouti l'édifice.

Angkor a connu l'un des effondrements les plus méconnus de tous les temps. Le royaume khmer dura du IX au XV siècle. A son apogée, il domina une large frange de l'Asie du Sud-Est, du Myanmar (Birmanie), à l'ouest, au Viêt Nam, à l'est. Sa capitale, Angkor, comptait pas moins de 750 000 habitants et couvrait une superficie d'environ 1000 km², soit le plus important complexe urbain du monde préindustriel.

A la fin du XVI siècle, lorsque des missionnaires portugais découvrirent les tours en forme de lotus d'Angkor Vat -le temple le plus sophistiqué de la cité et le plus vaste monument religieux du monde -, la capitale de l'empire agonisait déjà. Les spécialistes ont avancé de nombreuses explications: des envahisseurs insatiables, un changement dans les croyances du peuple khmer, un essor des échanges maritimes qui aurait condamné une cité ancrée dans les terres ...

Pour l'essentiel, il s'agit là de suppositions. Bien qu'environ 1300 inscriptions demeurent visibles sur les linteaux des portes des temples et sur les stèles en pierre, pas une seule n'évoque l'effondrement du royaume. Des fouilles récentes, entreprises non pas dans les temples eux-mêmes mais dans les infrastructures nécessaires au fonctionnement de l'immense cité, semblent suggérer une nouvelle hypothèse.

En réalité, Angkor aurait été condamnée d'avance par cette même ingéniosité qui transforma un ensemble de petits fiefs en empire. La civilisation khmère, qui avait appris l'art d'apprivoiser les déluges saisonniers de l'Asie du Sud-Est, perdit le contrôle de l'eau, la plus vitale des ressources, entrai nant ainsi son déclin.

Le récit captivant d'un témoin direct ressuscite la ville à son zénith. A la fin du XIII siècle, Zhou Daguan, un diplomate chinois, séjourne près d'un an dans la capitale. Il est l'hôte d'une famillle de la classe moyenne, qui mange le riz avec des cuillères taillées dans des noix de coco et boit du vin fait avec du miel, des feuilles ou du riz.

Zhou Daguan décrit l'épouvantable pratique, abandonnée peu avant son arrivée, consistant à recueillir de la bile humaine auprès de donneurs vivants en guise de potion destinée à se donner du courage. Des feux d'artifice et des combats de sangliers marquent les fêtes religieuses. Les spectacles les plus somptueux se déroulent quand le roi s'aventure parmi ses sujets. Lors des processions royales défilent des éléphants, des chevaux harnachés d'or et des centaines de servantes du palais parées de fleurs.

Les sculptures qui ont résisté aux siècles d'abandon et, plus récemment, à la guerre, évoquent également la vie quotidienne à Angkor. Sur les façades des temples, des bas-reliefs retracent des scènes de tous les jours- par exemple, deux hommes penchés sur un jeu de société ou une femme accouchant à l'ombre d'une toile de pavillon. Ils rendent aussi hommage à un monde spirituel peuplé de créatures telles que les apsaras, ces séduisantes danseuses célestes servant de messagers entre les humains et les dieux.

Pourtant, ce paradis n'est pas qu'un havre de paix. Entre les visions d'harmonie terrestre et d' illumination divine, les bas-reliefs relatent des scènes de guerre. Sur l'und 'eux, des guerriers du royaume voisin de Champa, armés de lances, s'entassent sur un bateau pour traverser le Tonlé Sap. Une scène immortalisée dans la pierre parce que les Khmers ont remporté la bataille.

Mais les rivalités claniques déchiraient Angkor. Elles fragilisaient la cité face aux attaques venues du Champa, à l'est, et du puissant royaume d'Ayuthia, à l'ouest. Les questions de succession des rois khmers, polygames, causaient d'incessantes intrigues de pouvoir entre princes. Selon Roland Fletcher, archéologue et codirecteur du programme de recherche Greater Angkor Project (GAP), l'État khmer était souvent instable.

La cité a péri comme elle a vécu, estiment certains spécialistes: par le glaive. Les annales d'Ayuthia mentionnent que des guerriers de ce royaume "Se sont emparés" d'Angkor en 1431. La cité avait indubitablement de quoi attiser les convoitises. Des inscriptions, que corrobore le récit de Zhou Daguan, vantent les tours de son temple recouvertes d'or. Il y a un siècle, pour concilier les légendes sur la richesse d'Angkor et les pitoyables ruines découvertes par les voyageurs occidentaux, des historiens français ont conclu des annales d'Ayuthia que la capitale khmère avait été mise à sac.

L'explication ne convainc par Roland Fletcher. Les premiers spécialistes, souligne-t-il, tendaient à voir Angkor à travers le prisme déformant des sièges et des conquêtes de l'histoire européenne. "Effectivement, le souverain d'Ayuthia affirme qu'il s'est emparé d'Angkor, et il est possible qu'il en ait ramené quelque trophée à Ayuthia." Mais, comme il a ensuite installé son fils sur le trône à Angkor, " il est peu probable qu' il ait saccagé la ville avant d'en faire cadeau à son fils".

La religion occupait une place centrale  dans la vie quotidienne - tandis que les intrigues de cour n'a ffectaient sans doute guère la plupart des sujets d'Angkor. Les rois, qui se prétendaient les empereurs du monde hindou, s'érigeaient des temples à eux-mêmes. Or, le bouddhisme theravada a peu à peu éclipsé l'hindouisme au cours des XIII et XIV siècles. Le principe d'égalité sociale qui régissait cette nouvelle doctrine a pu constituer une menace pour l'élite d'Angkor, jusqu'à saper l'autorité royale. "C'était une conception très subversive, explique Roland Fletcher, tout comme le christianisme s'avéra subversif pour l'Empire romain. Il devait être extrêmement difficile d'y mettre un terme."

L'argent n'existait pas à cette époque. Les finances de la capitale reposaient sur les tributs et sur les impôts. De facto, la monnaie d'échange était le riz, aliment de base des ouvriers enrôlés pour bâtir les temples et des milliers de sujets qui en recevaient ensuite la charge. Une inscription sur le Ta Prohm indique que 12 640 personnes servaient dans ce seul temple. Elle rapporte aussi que plus de 66 000 fermiers produisaient près de 2 500 t de riz par an pour nourrir la multitude de prêtres, de danseuses et d'ouvriers du temple.

Si l'on ajoute trois grands temples (le Preah Khan et les deux ensembles encore plus vastes d'Angkor Vat et du Bayon), on atteint vite 300 000 cultivateurs. Soit à peu près la moitié de la population estimée du Grand Angkor. Une religion nouvelle, égalitaire, comme le bouddhisme theravada, a pu conduire à la révolte.

À moins que la cour royale ait tout simplement décidé de bouder Angkor. Chaque dirigeant avait coutume de faire construire de nouveaux temples, laissant les anciens se dégrader. Cette propension à repartir de zéro a pu condamner la ville lorsque le commerce maritime s'est développé entre l'Asie du Sud-Est et la Chine. Et peut-être est-ce par pur opportunisme économique que, au XVI siècle, le pouvoir khmer décida de s'établir plus près du Mékong - non loin de la capitale actuelle du Cambodge, Phnom Penh pour bénéficier d'un meilleur accès à la mer de Chine méridionale.

Ces bouleversements économiques et religieux ont pu bâter le déclin d'Angkor. Mais ses dirigeants n'ont pas vu venir un ennemi d'un autre genre. Au Moyen Âge, la cité devint un centre dynamique grâce à un réseau sophistiqué de canaux et de réservoirs, qui permettait de stocker une eau rare durant les mois de sécheresse et d'évacuer le surplus lors de la saison des pluies. Des forces incontrôlables grippèrent cette machine bien réglée.

L'un des lieux sacrés d'Angkor se niche dans lesmonts Kulen, à la source de deux rivières, le Puok et le Siem Reap. À l 'ombre de banians, au fond de l'eau limpide, apparaissent des rangées de bosses érodées, d'une quinzaine de centimètres de diamètre chacune, taillées dans le grès sombre. Ce sont des linga, des sculptures cylindriques symbolisant le pouvoir fécond et créateur du dieu hindou Shiva.

Ils mènent à une autre sculpture réalisée dans le lit de la rivière: un cube de 1 m de côtés, doté d'un orifice étroit. C'est un yoni, symbole hindou féminin de la source de la vie. Les grands prêtres venaient là pour remercier les dieux de fournir au royaume son élément vital.

Un pont naturel en grès se trouve un peu en amont. Il donne son nom à ce lieu sacré: Kba  Spean -"tête de pont", en khmer. L'eau jaillit sur une paroi rocheuse où Vishnou, jambes croisées, médite au-dessus d'une mer déchaînée. De son nombril surgit Brahma, assis sur un lotus.

Angkor et ses dirigeants ont prospéré en exploitant les pluies de mousson dévalant des monts Kulen. Jayavarman il jeta les fondations du royaume au début du IX siècle. Ensuite, son développement reposa sur des récoltes de riz abondantes. Dans toute l'Asie du Sud, seules les villes d'Anuradhapura et de Polonnaruva, au Sri Lanka, et leurs célèbres réservoirs, pouvaient peut-être rivaliser avec la capacité d'Angkor à garantir un approvisionnement constant en eau.

Cette stabilité fut acquise au prix de véritables exploits techniques. Le Baray occidental, le troisième et le plus élaboré des réservoirs d'Angkor, mesure 8 km de long et 2,2 km de large. Pour sa construction, il y a un millénaire, 200.000 ouvriers khmers entassèrent quelque 12 millions de mètres cubes de terre, édifiant des digues de 90 m de large et d'environ 9 m de haut. L'eau de la rivière Siem Reap alimente encore le réservoir.

Le premier spécialiste à s'être rendu compte de l'importance des installations hydrauliques d'Angkor est Bernard-Philippe Groslier,  archéologue à l'É cole française d'Extrême-Orient (Efeo). Dans un ouvrage de référence, publié en 1979,il qualifie Angkor de "cité hydraulique". Les gigantesques bara y, explique-t-il, répondaient à deux exigences: symboliser la mer primitive de la cosmogonie hindoue et irriguer les rizières.

Groslier n'a pas eu le loisir de creuser cette idée. La guerre civile cambodgienne, le règne brutal des Khmers rouges et leur renversement par les forces vietnamiennes, en 1979, ont interdit l'accès à Angkor pendant vingt ans. Et, après le retrait des troupes vietnamiennes, les pillards se sont abattus sur la cité, dérobant les statues et détachant même des bas-reliefs à coups de burin.

En 1992,l'architecte et archéologue Christophe Pottier, aujourd'hui codirecteur du Greater Angkor Project, a rouvert le centre de recherche de I'Efeo à Angkor. L'urgence était aJors d'aider le Cambodge à restaurer les temples pillés et abîmés. Mais Pottier se sentait attiré par les étendues sauvages au-delà des murs des temples. Des mois durant, à moto et à pied, il a sillonné la moitié sud du Grand Angkor; il a en établi les plans d'habitations et de sanctuaires édifiés en hauteur, près de réserves d'eau. La partie nord, encore dangereuse, lui restait inaccessible.

Alors s'est produit la véritable revélation. En 2000, Roland Fletcher et son collègue Damian Evans ont mis la main sur des images d'Angkor prises par la Nasa. L'équipe de l'Université de Sidney, épaulée par l'Efeo et par l'Autorité pour la protection du site et l'aménagement de la région d'Angkor-Siem Reap (Apsara), a découvert les vestiges de quantité d'autres habitations, canaux et citernes, en particulier dans les zones inaccessibles de la cité. Plus important encore: les immenses bara y possédaient des entrées et des sorties. Ce constat a tranché le débat lancé par les travaux de Groslier: les baray servaient-ils seulement aux rituels religieux ou à l'irrigation? La réponse est claire: les deux.

L'ambition des ingénieurs d'Angkor a estomaqué les chercheurs. "Nous nous sommes rendu compte, précise Fletcher, que l'environnement du Grand Angkor est totalement artificiel."

Pendant des siècles, des équipes d'ouvriers construisirent des centaines de kilomètres de canaux et de digues, en utilisant les subtiles variations dans la déclivité naturelle du terrain pour amener de l'eau des rivières Puok, Roluos et Siem Reap vers les réservoirs. Lors de la mousson d'été, des déversoirs évacuaient le surplus d'eau. Après la saison des pluies, en octobre ou novembre, les canaux d'irrigation redistribuaient l'eau stockée. Les réservoirs aidaient peut-être aussi à préserver l'humidité du sol: dans les champs des alentours, l'évaporation, en surface, aurait fait remonter l'eau souterraine pour alimenter les cultures. "C'était un système incroyablement astucieux", s'écrie Fletcher.

Ce système hydraulique, constitué de dérivations et de retenues d'eau pour se protéger des crues, fit peut-être la différence entre la médiocrité et la grandeur. Une bonne partie du riz du royaume poussait dans des champs en remblais, évitant ainsi de dépendre des pluies de mousson ou des caprices du Tonlé Sap dans sa plaine d'inondation. L'irrigation devait accroître les récoltes. Ce système a également pu fournir des rations de survie les années de faible mousson, estime Roland Fletcher. Quand d'autres royaumes d'Asie du Sud-Est manquaient d'eau ou en recevaient trop, précise-t-il, les installations hydrauliques d'Angkor représentaient un "atout stratégique extrêmement précieux"

L'archéologue a été d'autant plus abasourdi lorsque son équipe a exhumé l'un des plus extraordinaires exemples du savoir-faire angkorien. Car ce vaste édifice, situé au milieu des ouvrages hydrauliques, avait apparemment été démoli par les ingénieurs d'Angkor eux-mêmes.

Il est presque midi, un jour de juin, à 16 km au nord d'Angkor Vat. Même au fond d'une tranchée boueuse de 4 m de long, rien ne protège du soleil torride. Fletcher ôte sa casquette et s'essuie le front. Le placide chercheur semble sur le point de se lancer dans une explication pointue sur les blocs de pierre rougeâtres que son équipe a mis au jour, épaulée par Chhay Rach na, de l'Apsara. Mais il soupire et s'exclame: "C'est tout simplement fantastique!"

Les blocs, ajustés à la perfection, furent taillés dans de la latérite, une roche spongieuse, riche en oxyde de fer, qui durcit à l'air. Ce que Fletcher et Pottier ont d'abord pris pour les vestiges d'une petite porte d'écluse s'est mué en un véritable monstre: les restes d'un déversoir appartenant à un barrage incliné, dont la superficie atteignait peut-être celle d'un terrain de football.

Vers la fin du rxe siècle, avec l'essor d'Angkor, les ingénieurs creusèrent un long canal. Il détournait les eaux de la rivière Siem Reap vers le sud, jusqu'au Ba ray oriental nouvellement construit -et presque aussi vaste que le Bara y occidental, plus tardif. Au milieu de la rivière, un barrage dérivait l'eau pour alimenter le canal. Une partie de l'énorme construction servait peut-être aussi de déversoir pendant la mousson, pour laisser le trop-plein d'eau rejoindre la rivière.

Ces ruines illustrent Je combat épique livré par des générations d'ingénieurs khmers pour maîtriser un système hydraulique de plus en plus complexe et incontrôlable. " Ils passaient sans doute une grande partie de leur vie à Je réparer", présume Fletcher. Des blocs du barrage gisent pêle-mêle; d'importantes sections de maçonnerie manquent. "L'explication la plus logique est que le barrage fut un échec." La rivière le rongea-t-il peu à peu? Une inondation exceptionnelle l'emporta-t-il? La plupart des blocs restants auraient alors été récupérés et utilisés ailleurs.

Un bassin du Mébon occidental-un temple édifié sur une île, au milieu du Bara y occidental-atteste les défaillances du système d'irrigation. Des grains de pollen conservés dans la boue montrent que le lotus et d'autres plantes aquatiques y fleurirent jusqu'au début du XIII siècle. Puis, de nouvelles sortes de pollen apparurent, provenant d'espèces comme les fougères, qui préfèrent les marais ou les sols secs. À l'apogée d'Angkor, l'un des réservoir est resté à sec, au moins temporairement. Daniel Penny, polynologue et codirecteur du Grea ter Angkor Project, conclut: "Quelque chose allait de travers bien plus tôt que nous ne le supposions."

Aucun ingénieur de l'époque ne pouvait anticiper certains phénomènes naturels. Et tout dysfonctionnement du système hydraulique aurait alors rendu Angkor vulnérable. L'Europe connut une longue période de climat inhabituel, à partir des années 1300, avec des hivers rudes et des étés froids. Comment les autres parties du monde avaient-elles traversé ce "petit âge glaciaire"? Jusqu'à récemment encore, les données restaient sommaires. Il apparaît désormais que l'Asie du Sud-Est a aussi subi des conditions extrêmes.

Autour d'Angkor, la mousson d'été du re à peu près de mai à octobre. Elle fournit près de 90% des précipitations annuelles de la région. Une mousson fiable est cruciale pour tous les modes de vie, dont celui des êtres humains. Pour connaître la nature des moussons du passé, Brendan Buckley, du Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory de Palisades, à New York, s'est enfoncé dans les forêts d'Asie du Sud-Est et a étudié les cernes de croissance annuels des arbres. Problème: les cernes de la plupart des espèces de la région ne sont pas visibles ou ne se forment pas annuellement. Après plusieurs expéditions, Buckley a repéré quelques espèces d'une grande longévité, dont le teck et le bois de Siam, un cyprès rare.

Certains bois de Siam, vieux de neuf siècles, témoins de la gloire d'Angkor comme de sa chute, narrent une histoire stupéfiante. Leurs cernes de croissance révèlent qu'ils ont enduré de grandes sécheresses successives, de 1362 à 1392, puis de 1415 à 1440. La mousson était faible ou tardive, voire inexistante. D'autres années, des moussons exceptionnelles lessivaient larégion. Ces conditions climatiques purent porter le coup de grâce à un royaume déjà chancelant.

Or, les installations hydrauliques d'Angkor se dégradaient depuis plusieurs décennies, à en juger d'après un Baray occidental hors service. "Nous ignorons pourquoi le système hydraulique fonctionnait au-dessous de ses capacités. C'est un mystère, concède Daniel Penny. Mais cela signifie qu'Angkor ne disposait plus de marge de manoeuvre. La ville était plus exposée à la menace de la sécheresse qu'à aucune autre période de son histoire." Ce que Roland Fletcher confirme: des sécheresses sévères et prolongées, ponctuées par des pluies torrentielles, auraient anéanti le système hydraulique.

"Angkor ne menaçait pas de se changer en désert", tempère Daniel Penny. Les habitants de la plaine d'inondation du Tonlé Sap, au sud des principaux temples, auraient été à l'abri des effets les plus graves. Le Tonlé Sap est alimenté par le Mékong, qui prend sa source dans les glaciers tibétains, insensibles aux caprices des moussons. Mais les ingénieurs khmers ne pouvaient pas atténuer la sécheresse dans le nord. La pesanteur était leur seule pompe. Pour détourner le Tonlé Sap, il aurait fallu inverser la pente du relief.

Si les habitants du nord d'Angkor mouraient de faim alors que d 'autres parties de la ville regorgeaient de riz, le décor était planté pour des troubles sérieux. "Quand les populations des pays tropicaux excèdent les limites des capacités de la terre, c'est alors que les vrais ennuis commencent, affirme l'anthropologue Michael Coe, de l'université Yale. Cela mène inévitablement à un effondrement culturel."

Une armée affamée, minées par des dissensions internes, a pu affaiblir les défenses de la cité. De fait, l'invasion par Ayuthia et l'éviction du roi khmer intervinrent vers la fin de la seconde grande sécheresse. Ajoutez au chaos climatique les vents changeants de la politique et de la religion qui balayaient déjà le royaume, et le destin d'Angkor était scellé, affirme Roland Fletcher: "Le monde autour d'Angkor était en pleine mutation. La société évoluait. Il aurait été surprenant qu'Angkor se maintienne."

Des catastrophes climatiques avaient déjà mis à bas d'autres civilisations. Alors qu'Angkor était en pleine ascension, de l'autre côté de la Terre, un déséquilibre environnemental frappait les cités mayas du Mexique et d'Amérique centrale. Bien des spécialistes sont aujourd'hui persuadés que les Mayas ont succombé à la surpopulation et à la dégradation de leur environnement, consécutives à trois sécheresses ravageuses, au IX siècle. " Pour l'essentiel, la même chose est arrivée à Angkor", avance Michael Coe, qui fut le premier, dans les années 1950, à percevoir les similitudes entre les civilisations khmère et maya.

Des défis climatiques analogues guettent peut-être les sociétés modernes. Un El Niño intense et persistant déclencha sans doute les sécheresses ravageuses d'Angkor, en réchauffant les eaux de surface dans la partie tropicale de l'est et du centre de l'océan Pacifique, estime Brendan Buckley. Les scientifiques se demandent si le changement climatique d'origine humaine renforcera El Niño; or, au Viêt Nam, les cernes des arbres montrent que les oscillations naturelles du climat dans le Pacifique suffisent à causer des catastrophes.

L'effondrement d'Angkor rappelle avec brutalité les limites de l'ingéniosité humaine. Les Khmers avaient transformé leur monde au prix d'infrastructures monumentales." Le système hydraulique d'Angkor était une extraordinaire machine, s'étonne Roland Fletcher, un merveilleux mécanisme pour réguler le monde." Durant six siècles, ses ingénieurs ont réussi à faire fonctionner ce joyau de la civilisation. Jusqu'à ce qu'une force supérieure finisse par l'écraser.

Par Richard Stone  dans "National Geographic France", Juillet 2009,  vol.21.1, Nº 118, pp.27-53. Numérisée, adapté et illustré par Leopoldo Costa.

Em todo o mundo, a gastronomia é produto da cultura e dos costumes dos povos. As influências étnicas e indígenas formaram conceitos que definiram as iguarias que, hoje, consumimos em nossas mesas. Por isso, em cada região os hábitos alimentares são diferentes, assim como as agriculturas familiares e as cozinhas de quintais. Essa diversidade revela vasta riqueza cultural!

Na França, quando Brillat Savarin escreveu "Fisiologia do Gosto", a gastronomia francesa adquiriu um novo olhar e passou a ser considerada como a nona arte. Nessa ocasião, diversos produtos passaram a ter suas regiões demarcadas.

Aqui em Minas Gerais, segundo relatos históricos da época colonial, o Arraial de São Bartolomeu, que pertencia à capital Vila Rica (atual Ouro Preto), produzia arroz, fubá, alho, toucinho e os "doces em caixotes de madeira"- nossa famosa goiabada. Esta ganhou tamanha importância que seu "modo de fazer"foi tombado como patrimônio imaterial do município.

Outro exemplo a ser lembrado é a culinária mexicana, declarada Patrimônio Cultural Imaterial da Humanidade pela Unesco em 2010. Esse reconhecimento objetiva fortalecer a cultura gastronômica e proteger seus produtos, seus terroirs e o modo de fazer as iguarias.

A cozinha brasileira é um legado da miscigenação entre portugueses, índios e africanos - e precisa ser perpetuada ao longo dos séculos. Cada região e/ou cultura tem um cardápio característico, típico, e de modo geral os nomes dos pratos revelam seus locais de origem: o acarajé 'fala' da Bahia, o feijão tropeiro 'fala' das Minas Gerais, o pato no tuicupi e o tacacá revelam o Amazonas. Isso é cultura!

Hoje, a Brasil está vivendo um momento importante para a gastronomia. Chefs do mundo inteiro estão com seus olhares atentos sobre nossa cultura gastronómica. E há um Projeto de Lei (6.562/13) do deputado mineiro Gabriel Guimarães que propõe alterar a Lei Rouanet, incluindo a gastronomia brasileira como segmento beneficiário da política de incentivo fiscal. Com essa lei aprovada, muitos trabalhos poderão surgir com recursos de empresas e parceiros. O artigo 216 da Constituição Federal (1988) define corno patrimônio cultural brasileiro "os bens de natureza material e imaterial, tomados individualmente ou em conjunto, portadores de referência à identidade, à ação, à memória dos diferentes grupos formadores da sociedade brasileira ".

Além dessa definição da Carta Magna, temos registros históricos que podem convencer os parlamentares de que a gastronomia é parte da cultura, da história - assim como o artesanato e a música. Entre os registros históricos, cito as viagens do botânico francês Auguste de Saint-Hilaire pelo Brasil (entre 1816 e 1822), quando conheceu e relatou a vida e os costumes do povo no início do século XIX, e os relatos de Eduardo Frieiro em seu best seller "Feijão, Angu e Couve", de 1973, em seu ensaio sobre a comida dos mineiros.

O relator do projeto de lei, deputado Jean Wyllys, já apresentou seu parecer favorável à Comissão de Cultura no último dia 3 de dezembro. Agora, o Instituto ATÁ, cujo fundador é o nosso representante internacional Alex Atala, está lançando uma campanha nacional com intuito de apoiar e fortalecer esse projeto, que busca elevar a gastronomia ao patamar de elemento cultural. E eu faço meu convite a todos - especialmente às escolas de gastronomia -para aderirem a essa campanha assinando em favor da aprovação do Projeto de Lei n- 6562/13 (eucomocultura.com.br) Precisamos atrelar, legalmente, nossa gastronomia à cultura do país - porque gastronomia é cultura. "Eu como cultura"!

Observação: Em 05/12/2017 o projeto de lei 6562/13 estava na Comissão de Constituição e Justiça e de Cidadania ( CCJC ), sendo que o deputado Marcos Rogério pediu vista. LC

Texto de Edson Puiati publicado no "Estado de Minas" de 14 de dezembro de 2014 no caderno "Degusta". Digitalizado, adaptado e ilustrado para ser postado por Leopoldo Costa.

1. XAVIER BURELLE

• 38 anos • Beaumont (France) • Chef do Le Jardin

Ir a Mougins e não comer bem é o mesmo que viajar a Paris e não visitar a Torre Eiffel. Não se sabe ao certo a razão, mas a pequena cidade no Sul da França se tornou destino obrigatório para quem aprecia comida de qualidade e hoje é conhecida como a capital da gastronomia. Nas charmosas ruelas da vila medieval, situada entre Cannes e Nice, encontram-se restaurantes estrelados e escolas de culinária que recebem alunos de várias partes do mundo.

O chamariz do Hotel de Moulins é ser um quatro estrelas bem perto de Cannes, mas seria uma injustiça não citar o trabalho do chef Xavier Burelle. O restaurante Le Jardin segue o conceito de cozinha bistronomique, ou seja, serve pratos de alta gastronomia em um ambiente mais informal e por um preço mais acessível. Com muita criatividade, Burelle se propõe a descobrir produtos da região e se guiar pela sazonalidade de cada um deles. Por isso, não existe uma lista extensa de pratos. O chef prefere trabalhar com um menu reduzido para dar destaque aos ingredientes frescos.

Ao longo da carreira, o francês adquiriu ampla experiência em cozinha de hotel. Depois de ser agraciado com uma estrela do Guia Michelin no restaurante The Nice Reserve, Burelle seguiu para Mônaco. Lá, permaneceu por três anos como chef no Hotel Columbus. Depois, ele se juntou ao Mas des Herbes Blanches, onde também é responsável pela cozinha. Burelle já trabalhou em hotéis de outras cidades da França, incluindo Antibes, Paris, Le Castellet e Nimes.

Mistura de sabores

Nascido em Beaumont, Burelle começou a cozinhar com apenas 15 anos em Montpellier. Mais tarde, teve a oportunidade de trabalhar com nomes de peso, entre eles Alain Ducasse, Gérald Passédat, Reine Sammut, Michel Del Burgo e Joel Robuchon. Apaixonado pela gastronomia do Sul da França, o chef ficou conhecido por unir os sabores marcantes das cozinhas provençal e italiana, o que permitiu que criasse sua própria identidade culinária. (Celina Aquino)



2. SERGE CHOLLET

• 70 anos • França • Restaurante Le Moulin de Mougins

Ficar à frente de uma cozinha por anos seguidos pode ser uma armadilha, já que uma das tarefas mais difíceis para um chef é manter o padrão. Mas o francês Serge Chollet é a prova de que o longo tempo de casa pode contar a favor. Há mais de 30 anos no comando do restaurante Le Moulin de Mougins, consagrado com três estrelas do Guia Michelin, ele continua a ser um dos profissionais mais conhecidos na Riviera Francesa. O requinte dos seus pratos chama a atenção.

Inspirado pela mãe, Chollet sabia desde cedo que seria cozinheiro. O francês começou a trabalhar como aprendiz e na década de 1980 conquistou o título de master chef da França. Ao longo de sua carreira, ele teve a oportunidade de conviver com grandes líderes. Roger Vergé é um dos nomes que merece destaque. Foi ele quem recebeu Chollet na cozinha do restaurante Moulin de Mougins, montado em um moinho de azeite do século XVI, situado ao pé de uma colina.

O trabalho do experiente chef se baseia principalmente em autenticidade, requinte e bom gosto. O que ele quer com a sua comida é contar história, proporcionar descoberta de sabores e conquistar o paladar dos turistas. Sentados em um jardim sombreado por oliveiras, os clientes podem apreciar pratos franceses clássicos combinados com ingredientes finos e um sabor exótico. Ainda é possível admirar as obras de arte que Roger Vergé coletou com seus amigos ao longo da vida.

Professor

Atualmente, o francês dá aulas na L’Ecole de Cuisine du Moulin de Mougins. A proposta dele é ensinar o  passo a passo de receitas variadas, que podem ser pratos requintados ou uma - simples sobremesa e convidar os alunos para colocar as mãos na massa Durante os cursos rápidos, Chollet destaca as influências gastronômicas de muitos lugares por onde viajou, em especial Jamaica, Suíça, Ilhas Maurício, Dinamarca Suécia Austrália Canadá e Brasil. (Celina Aquino)



3. EMMANUEL RUZ

• 49 anos • Lomes (France) • Lou Fassun

Na capital mundial dos perfumes, os aromas da comida de Emmanuel Ruz não ficam para trás. É ele quem comanda o badalado restaurante Lou Fassun, a cinco qwilômct ms do cent ro de Grasse, cidade na Riviera Francesa onde são desenvolvidos os melhores frascos. Já que tem o privilégio de trabalhar com ingredientes frescos, incluindo os peixes do Mar Mediterrâneo, o chef privilegia em sua cozinha produtos orgânicos rigorosamente selecionados, que remetem aos sabores do campo.

Aos 14 anos, Ruz conseguiu uma vaga como aprendiz na Hostellerie du Val-Suzon, na Borgonha. Apesar de ter entrado cedo para a cozinha, ele chegou a ficar dividido entre gastronomia e carpintaria. Sorte que o francês optou por seguir sua verdadeira vocação. Autodidata, Ruz adquiriu experiência em algumas casas conceituadas, entre elas Hôtel de la Poste, em Avallon, O Hostellerie du Chapeau Rouge, em Dijon, e Potinière du Palais, em Cannes. O chef chegou a trabalhar na República Checa antes de retomar à França disposto a abrir seu próprio restaurante.

Junto com a mulher, Ruz embarcou para Grasse e inaugurou o Lou Fassun no Centro da cidade. Logo, eles sentiram a necessidade de transferir o restaurante para uma antiga estalagem afastada do burburinho e com vista para a Baía de Cannes. O francês é um dos chefs que mais defende a culinária regional e encanta o paladar com pratos baseados em produtos orgânicos e aromas de Provence. "Cozinhar é uma arte, mas acima de tudo uma alegria para compartilhar.”

Reconhecimento

Em apenas um ano à frente do Lou Fassun, o francês foi recompensado com a primeira estrela no Guia Michelin. Em 2011, mais uma conquista: ele se tomou master chef da França. Para quem roda o mundo falando sobre seu trabalho, o título tem um significado especial. "É uma chance de ser aceito. Isso me permite viajar, promover a nossa profissão e criar rede com outros chefs. É também uma garantia de qualidade para novos clientes”, opina. (Celina Aquino)



4. MÁRCIA PINCHEMEL

• 60 anos • Goiânia • Embaixadora da culinária goiana

Baru, gengibre e azeite de dendê, tudo no mesmo prato? A mistura inusitada só poderia ser invenção de Márcia Pinchemel. "E não é que fica bom?", garante a baiana, que vive há mais de 30 anos em Goiás. A receita do molho que acompanha um lombo de bacalhau une duas paixões da chef: os frutos do cerrado e os ingredientes de sua terra, a Bahia.

Márcia pegou o gosto pela cozinha com a mãe. "Todo sábado ela fazia feira e no domingo preparava cozido ou feijoada baiana", relembra. Na década de 1980, quando já morava com a família em Goiânia, ela abriu seu primeiro restaurante. A chef foi quem idealizou o Festival Gastronômico e Cultural de Pirenópolis, inspirada no encontro de Tiradentes, e passou a desafiar os colegas a cozinhar com os frutos do cerrado, que são sempre estrelas dos seus pratos.

Reconhecida como embaixadora da culinária goiana, Márcia se identificou com o baru à primeira vista. Corajosa e ousada, a chef nunca temeu inventar receitas com a semente do cerrado. Em uma bem inusitada, ela juntou o baru com azeite de dendê, pequi e quatro tipos de feijão. Nas mãos da baiana, o produto ainda pode se transformar em gela- to, que é servido com calda quente de jabuticaba.

Toque baiano

Com a cagaita, ingrediente ácido de personalidade forte, não é diferente. Até então, Márcia só tinha visto o fruto em doces, mas ela quis inovar e começou a incluí-lo em pratos salgados. Para o Festival Cultura e Gastronomia Tiradentes ela criou uma receita com surubim, chantili de cagaita, batata-doce com gengibre, arroz negro com baru e raspas de limão siciliano. "Minha comida sempre tem um detalhe da Bahia. Uso gengibre, azeite de dendê ou leite de coco como forma de homenagear a minha terra e não perder as raízes”, justifica.

Recentemente, a chef decidiu deixar o restaurante onde trabalhava para se dedicar a consultorias e jantares particulares, enquanto prepara um livro de receitas que deve ser lançado ainda este ano. No futuro, Márcia sonha em ter um pequeno restaurante só com frutos do cerrado. "Precisamos usar tudo o que é nosso para elevar a autoestima gastronômica brasileira."



5. ROSA NUNES

• 52 anos • Palmas (TO) • chef do Cabana do Lago

Coragem é uma palavra que resume bem a trajetória de Rosa Nunes. A maranhense fechou sua loja de roupas em Imperatriz para entrar de vez na cozinha. Detalhe: ela resolveu montar o negócio na mais recente capital do Brasil, Palmas, que na época estava em construção. Para não deixar o espírito desbravador de lado. Rosa quis abrir o primeiro restaurante de comida típica nordestina da cidade. Dezessete anos depois, sabe como poucos fazer um prato regional.

No início, a chef cozinhava mais com pescada-amarela, muito comum no litoral do Maranhão. Com o tempo, ela incorporou ao cardápio do Cabana do Lago peixes encontrados com abundância nos rios Tocantins e Araguaia, entre eles pintado, filhote, pirarucu e tucunaré, espécie mais consumida em Palmas. Por causa dessa tradição, um dos pratos mais procurados no restaurante de comida baiana é o tucunaré em pé. Rosa desenvolveu uma forma de fritar o peixe para que ele fique em posição vertical no prato. De acompanhamento, vinagrete, farofa, arroz branco e pirão.

Entre os ingredientes típicos do Tocantins, a maranhense destaca o babaçu, palmeira nativa da Região Norte do Brasil. “Faço um molho com o leite do babaçu para temperar filé de tucunaré grelhado. É como se fosse leite de coco, mas com sabor um pouco mais acentuado e bem exótico”, comenta. Já o óleo se transforma em azeite, usado para substituir a manteiga na hora de preparar tapioca.

Infância

Mesmo com o sucesso dos pratos regionais, Rosa não se esquece de suas raízes nordestinas e continua a preparar o que aprendeu desde pequena com a mãe, nascida em Pernambuco. Aos 7 anos, ela já subia na cadeira para cozinhar no fogão a lenha.

Destaque para a carne de sol preparada de uma maneira peculiar, que pode ser de alcatra, picanha, filé e carneiro. "Depois de temperar, deixo escorrendo uma noite toda, espero murchar e levo para o freezer. A carne fica suculenta e com sabor de como se estivesse ido ao sol.” Para acompanhar, feijão-de-corda, feijão-verde com abóbora, maxixe e quiabo, arroz branco, baião de dois, purê de mandioca, paçoca de carne seca, mandioca cozida e, finalmente, rapadura de sobremesa. (Celina Aquino)



6. MARCELO BASTOS

• 33 anos • São Paulo (SP) • Chef do Jiquitaia

Comida italiana, francesa, mexicana e japonesa tinha de sobra em São Paulo. Sempre em busca de uma boa garfada, o paranaense Marcelo Corrêa Bastos ficava impressionado de ver que havia poucos restaurantes de cozinha autêntica brasileira. E assim surgiu o conceito do Jiquitaia, inaugurado há três anos. A proposta é valorizar ingredientes da gastronomia nacional em pratos apresentados de forma contemporânea e servidos em um menu executivo com preço acessível.

Marcelo estava sem entusiamo com a carreira de advogado quando resolveu ir além dos jantares em casa e entrar para uma cozinha profissional. Apesar de todas as adversidades, ele se sentia à vontade nesse novo ambiente e mudou de vida. O paranaense trabalhou em vários restaurantes, entre eles o renomado Porto Rubaiyat, onde entrou como churrasqueira e foi promovido a subchefe, mas o que ele queria era abrir um negócio totalmente diferente. "Optei por oferecer o mínimo de serviços de luxo. Não tem toalha de mesa, sommelier ou maitre. O foco aqui é a comida, com o menor preço possível.”

A cada dia, saem da cozinha do Jiquitaia quatro opções de pratos para o almoço, sendo um vegetariano. "A ideia é sempre valorizar um ingrediente que tenha identidade brasileira, nào necessariamente nativo do Brasil. Isso é bastante interessante porque não existe uma comida brasileira, são várias, então tenho muita liberdade", analisa. Na quarta-feira, quando os paulistanos estão acostumados a comer feijoada, o chef serve tropeiro com forte influência mineira.

Memória

Para criar o cardápio, Marcelo segue três linhas: reproduz fielmente a receita, baseia-se em um prato brasileiro (como o arroz de pato no tu- cupi, servido no jantar, que é inspirado na famosa combinação do Pará) ou usa a criatividade para valorizar um ingrediente. O nhoque de banana da terra surgiu assim. Decidido a fazer algo diferente, o chef inventou uma massa que leva apenas a fruta cozida. Seja qual for o caminho, o público se encanta. “Os pratos lembram sabor de infância ou de outros tempos. Então, ora ganhamos pela memória ora pela surpresa, como no caso do tucupi e do nhoque de banana." (Celina Aquino)



7. MANU BUFFARA

• 31 anos • Curitiba (PR) • Chef do Restaurante Manu

Depois de trabalhar nos Estados Unidos, Itália e Dinamarca, a paranaense Manu Buffara voltou ao Brasil com a certeza de que, quando assumisse uma cozinha, destacaria os produtos de sua terra. "Aprendi muito com os chefs de fora, mas o Brasil tem sua personalidade." Sempre criativa, Manu inclui no cardápio do restaurante que leva seu nome pratos feitos com alma, ou seja, que têm muita história para contar. Ingrediente, só se for fresco.

Para começo de conversa, todos os legumes e verduras saem de uma horta que ela mesma cuida O que não produz Manu faz questão de comprar de fornecedores da região. "Além de ter todo contato direto com o produtor, você pode cozinhar com um produto de excelente qualidade e muito frescor”, ressalta. Nem freezer tem no restaurante, já que nada é congelado.

Os peixes, por exemplo, chegam todos os dias do litoral. Em um prato com sabor adocicado, a trilha é defumada e servida com um inusitado vinagrete de amendoim, que leva cebola, coentro, vinagre de rosas, açúcar e amendoim torrado. Já a ostra, camarão, sururu e caranguejo saem de um mangue da Ilha Rasa. Foi em uma conversa com o produtor de lá, que trabalha com exclusividade para o Restaurante Manu, que surgiu uma ideia bem diferente. “Descobri uma maneira de substituir o sal e o limão que colocamos na ostra. Ponho sal no morango para ele ficar salgado e combino com neve de limão”, conta. A chef sempre gosta de trabalhar com frutos do mar, em especial os que estão bem próximos a ela.

Churrasco

Manu ainda tem a sorte de estar perto da região de Antonina, onde são produzidos variados tipos de mel nativos. Para valorizar o ingrediente, ela costuma aproveitá-lo até na hora de fazer marinada. "Uso mel de abelha mandaçaia, que tem acidez acentuada, para substituir o limão e faço marinada em vieira. Consigo ter um sabor levemente adocicado e ao mesmo tempo delicado", explica. A lenha da bracatinga, árvore encontrada nas regiões mais frias do Brasil, é usada para grelhar carnes na churrasqueira. Como todo sulista, a chef acredita que o gostinho da lenha faz toda a diferença.



8. RUBENS BELTRÃO

• 63 anos • Tiradentes •Tratoria Via Destra

Quando chegou a Tiradentes depois de trabalhar na Itália por anos e anos como executivo de uma grande multinacional, Rubens Beltrão experimentou uma prova de fogo: integrar a terceira edição do festival de gastronomia. Cozinheiro autodidata e pesquisador, ele havia optado por viver a paixão pela culinária naquela cidade. "Inaugurei a cantina pequena, com apenas 40 lugares, uma semana antes do evento. Digo que me joguei aos leões, mas com muita coragem para saber logo de início como seria recebido.”

Pois já se vão 15 anos, data comemorada mais uma vez com a participação em uma edição do evento. Nesta, ele cozinhará ao lado dos chefs Manu Buffara, Marcelo Corrêa Bastos, Rafa Costa e Silva e Serginho Jucá Entre as receitas, uma declaração de amor à Serra de São José, cartão-postal da cidade, que mostra porções do resultado das pesquisas nas quais está envolvido há anos. Interessa especialmente a Rúbens a culinária de raiz, mineira e italiana, e a interseção entre elas. Daí a mistura de risoto de açafrão da terra, coração de frango e ora-pro-nóbis em um dos pratos; a exaltação do queijo canastra em outro; e clássicos da casa como a famosa vieiras à la Via Destra (gratinadas na própria concha, com molho do chef). Merece destaque ainda o carro-chefe do cardápio, vesúvio (massa negra com camarões, tomates sem pele e pimenta biquinho, veja receita na página), prato mais comercializado em toda a história do restaurante.

Testemunha das mudanças ocorridas na cidade a partir do lançamento do festival de gastronomia e de outros também já consagrados, como o de cinema (realizado anualmente, em janeiro), Rúbens é só satisfação com a sua escolha de vida." Já fomos citados no The New York Times, recebemos vários prêmios, há clientes que retomam após anos para matar as saudades de um prato. Vivo diariamente a possibilidade de criar receitas inspiradas em minhas pesquisas sobre culinária antiga. Introduzi a rapadura, a pimenta rosa, os queijos e outros ingredientes orgânicos em receitas italianas. Vivo a oportunidade do intercâmbio com outros chefs e de divulgar meu trabalho para um público interessado em comer bem. E a resposta, ofeed back é motivação para seguir sempre em frente.” (Laura Valente)



9. JAIME SOARES 

• 43 anos • Belo Horizonte • Borracharia



10. JOSE LUIS DE OLIVEIRA

• 63 anos • Divinópolis • Carne de Lata

Jaime Solares e José Luis de Oliveira têm negócios diferentes, mas com muito em comum: ambos dedicam- se a manter as tradições da culinária de botequim.

Cozinheiro por hobby, o belo-hori- zontino Jaime buscou formação na área depois de desistir do direito. Estudou no Senac, ganhou experiência em alguns restaurantes da capital e mudou-se para temporada de especialização e novas experiências na França. De volta, trabalhou com Felipe Rameh no O Dádiva antes de abrir a Borracharia Gastro Pub. "A princípio seria uma bis- trô, mas logo assumi o conceito bote- queiro e o cardápio passou a ser inspirado naquilo que é servido no Mercado Central, na feira da Afonso Pena, nas fazendas em tomo da cidade”, registra.

Tudo feito artesanalmente. Daí opções de primeira que incluem frango a passarinho, torresmo, tropeiro, pé de porco, came de sol, tilápia crocante, costela de boi, sardinha frita e em conserva. São cerca de 12 tipos de "tapas” de boteco, e seis de petiscos maiores. Na próxima edição do Festival Cultura e Gastronomia de Ti- radentes, Jaime levará parte desse cardápio para a filial temporária do restaurante, montada no Largo do Chef (praça da Rodoviária). "O Brasil inteiro olha para o Festival. Participar é oportunidade de dar mais visibilidade ao meu negócio, além de fazer parte de um movimento muito bacana, que abre portas para muita gente interessada e envolvida com gastronomia”.

De Divinópolis, sede do Xavante Restaurante, José Luis distribui a carne de lata para todo o país. Há anos, a receita ancestral é o negócio da família. "Só trabalhamos com o pernil suíno traseiro, conservado na banha", avisa. A mulher e os três filhos ajudam na produção, que já caiu no gosto de che- fs como Alex Atala, entre outros. Também no Largo do chef, ele promete servir duas receitas, a came em si com sua paçoca (farofa feita de farinha de mandioca e a borra de fundo da fritura da came) e um arroz de carreteiro mineiro, prato que leva o ingrediente principal da casa, além de couve, tomate e cebolinha. Atento ao movimento de clientes antigos e de novos apreciadores durante o Festival, ele abre uma loja temporária em todas as edições (no Largo das Mercês, 22, Centro Histórico). Lá, também comercializa panelas de ferro, outra tradição antiga que faz questão de perpetuar. (Laura Valente)

Textos de Celina Aquino e Laura Valente publicado no suplemento especial  "Degusta" do "Estado de Minas" de 23 de agosto de 2015. Digitalizado, adaptado e ilustrado para ser postado por Leopoldo Costa.

Qualquer bom cozinheiro já constatou o poder da cebola na culinária. Agora, graças a um estudo da Universidade Nacional de Taiwan, o vegetal está mostrando sua força também fora desse universo. Pesquisadores da instituição oriental usaram células da planta para produzir um músculo artificial que, diferentemente de outras estruturas do tipo criadas, pode tanto se expandir quanto se contrair para se curvar em diferentes direções, dependendo da voltagem elétrica que recebe.

Músculos artificiais são estruturas que podem ser feitas de materiais variados. Elas contam com um revestimento metálico que, ao ser estimulado eletricamente, faz o conjunto se dobrar. As aplicações podem ser inúmeras, e esses dispositivos têm se mostrado úteis em áreas como a robótica e a medicina. Alguns anos atrás, por exemplo, pesquisadores da Universidade da Califórnia criaram um músculo artificial que restaurou em pacientes com paralisia facial a capacidade de fechar os olhos.

Um dos autores do novo estudo, o pesquisador Wen- Pin Shih explica, em um comunicado à imprensa, que o objetivo inicial era desenvolver uma microestrutura que aumentasse a capacidade dos músculos artificiais já existentes de se dobrar e esticar quando estimulados eletricamente. “Um dia, percebemos que a estrutura e as dimensões da célula da cebola eram semelhantes às que estávamos fazendo", conta Shih, cujo estudo foi publicado na revista especializada "Applied Physics Letters".

A epiderme do vegetal — a frágil pele encontrada logo abaixo de sua superfície — é uma fina e translúcida camada de blocos de células dispostas em uma compacta malha. Shih e seus colegas pensaram, então, que as células da epiderme do vegetal poderiam ser candidatas viáveis para a difícil tarefa de se criar um músculo mais versátil, que poderia se expandir e contrair enquanto se curvasse. Até então, explica o pesquisador, músculos artificiais podem fazer apenas um dos dois movimentos.

Os cientistas trataram as células com ácido para remover a  hemicelulose, proteína que toma a parede celular rígida. Depois, eles revestiram os dois lados da camada de cebola com ouro. Quando uma corrente elétrica percorreu os eletrodos feitos com o metal precioso, as microestruturas tratadas se dobraram e esticaram, como um músculo de verdade. "Fizemos a parte de cima e a de baixo dos eletrodos com espessuras diferentes de propósito, para que houvesse uma assimetria”, conta Shih.

A estratégia garantiu mais controle sobre o aparato. Uma voltagem reduzida faz o músculo artificial expandir e se dobrar para baixo, na direção da camada mais grossa. Quando os especialistas aumentam a carga elétrica, o efeito é contrário: o músculo se contrai e se curva para cima, na direção da camada de ouro mais fina. "Percebemos que essa malha celular pode gerar modos de atuação que músculos artificiais nunca alcançaram anteriormente", diz Shih.

Para demonstrar que o pequeno músculo artificial realmente funciona, os cientistas ligaram dos deles a uma pinça. Foi só estimular eletricamente as células de cebola para que o instrumento se fechasse e agarrasse uma bola de algodão. No futuro, conta Shih, a equipe espera usar a descoberta para aumentar o poder dos músculos artificiais.

Texto publicado na seção de "Ciência e Tecnologia" do "Estado de Minas" de 10 de maio de 2015, p.16. Digitalizado, adaptado e ilustrado para ser postado por Leopoldo Costa.

Los casamientos romanos iban acompañados de infinidad de ritos que subrayaban la fidelidad que debía reinar entre ambos cónyuges.

Unas ramas verdes o unas guirnaldas con cimas blancas colgadas en la puerta de la casa: estos signos indicaban en la antigua Roma que en aquel lugar se debía celebrar una boda. El matrimonio en Roma era uma ceremonia pública, pero se realizaba en el ámbito privado, con un amplio protocolo de ritos. Se desarrollaba en dos escenarios: la casa de la novia y el hogar del nuevo matrimonio en casa del esposo. Los ritos, teñidos de intenso paganismo, y los invitados, que atestiguaban con su presencia el compromiso social del matrimonio, enaltecían el enlace y lo dotaban de gran proyección y trascendencia.

Los romanos que no necesitaban trabajar podían ocupar parte del tiempo de sus mañanas contemplando el desarrollo de diversos tipos de ceremoniales: los esponsales, las bodas, el sellado de testamentos o las investiduras de toga viril. Se trataba de actos sociales en los que los asistemes actuaban simultáneamente como invitados y testigos. Los esponsales constituían un compromiso en el que se establecía la promesa de matrimonio con la aprobación de los familiares más próximos y capacitados en derecho para representar a los contrayentes. Ese consentimiento, preferiblemente paterno, estaba prescrito.

La alianza se sellaba mediante las arras, un depósito en metálico, aunque poco a poco se fue imponiendo la costumbre del anillo de compromiso, de hierro, de oro o hasta de piedras preciosas, si el novio podía permitírselo. Con frecuencia, el novio colocaba el anillo en el dedo anular de su futura esposa sin conocerla. No había, pues, nada de amor en el gesto, a pesar de que, según Apiano, se eligiera ese dedo porque posee un nervio que conduce directameme al corazón, "el órgano más importante del cuerpo".

El acto se cerraba con un banquete que realzaba el compromiso y lo transformaba en celebración o ceremonia. Estos esponsales podían preceder en varios años a la boda, y constituian un pacto de alianza entre familias que poclia atar a uma niña de seis o siete años a su destino de madre de familia apenas se la considerara núbil.

Para un varón,la transición de la adolescencia a la edad adulta estaba marcada por un rito de paso de eco social público y visible: la investidura de la toga viril, subrayada por la aparición de la primera barba. En cambio, para una adolescente romana, el tránsito a la condición adulta se reconocía en el seno del hogar en la víspera de su boda, como indicio de su naturaleza núbil, de gue era apta para ser fecundada y, por tanto, para casarse.

LA NOVIA SE DESPIDE DE SU CASA

Ese momemo llegaba cuando convenía casar a la joven para cumplir con su función social básica, la de la procreación a través de la unión matrimonial. Con frecuencia ocurría en edades muy tempranas, a partir de los 12 años, comúnmente antes de los 15, y para cumplir con el enlace pactado años antes a través de uma ceremonia de esponsales. De hecho, el matrimonio entre las clases acomodadas de Roma no era la culminación de un vínculo amoroso, sino una alianza.

La joven ofrendaba los juguetes de su infancia a los dioses del hogar en el larario o altar doméstico, lo que entrañaba un acto de veneración, de reclamo de protección y de voluntad de afrontar, a partir del día siguiente, una nueva etapa en su vida dejando atrás la niñez. A continuación, la doncella se desvestia para ponerse, por vez primera, la 'tunica recta', una vestimenta lisa y talar, de color blanco, del mismo tipo que la que portaría en la ceremonia nupcial. Además, antes de acostarse, debía cubrir su cabello con una redecilla roja. Los colores níveo y sanguineo sugerían, simbólicamente, la candidez virginal de la doncella.

La boda iba precedida de una lectura de auspicios al amanecer. Se examinaban las entrañas de un animal sacrificado por el dueño de la casa en honor a los dioses, los cuales maniefestaban de este modo su beneplácito. Mientras los invitados llegaban a la casa, la novia se acababa de preparar: una vez colocada la 'tunica recta', se la ceñía con un cinturón atado por un doble nudo, el llamado 'nodus herculeus', en memoria del héroe, Hércules, cuya progenie alcanzó los 60 vástagos. Era un elemento simbólico que sugería custodia y protección, la castidad que preludiaba una descendencia legítima, pues sólo el marido podría desatarlo en la noche de bodas.

LA BODA Y EL BANQUETE NUPCIAL

En la cereremonia de la boda propiamente dicha se unían los acuerdos de la alianza con los gestos personales de los contrayentes: se leían las capitulaciones matrimoniales pactadas ante diez testigos y se consignaban en unas tablillas. las 'tabulae nupciales'. Luego, los novios declaraban aceptarlas y se procedía a la unión. La oficiaba la 'pronuba', una mujer que acompañaba a la novia en todo el ritual de iniciación que constituía la boda y que debía cumplir un requisito: haberse casado una sola vez. Esta mujer de un solo hombre -'unívira'- procedía entonces a unir las manos derechas de los novios tras su consentimiento, con lo que quedaba instituido el matrimonio.

Después, el sacerdote que había leído las entrañas del animal sacrificado hacía una plegaria invocando la protección divina para los esposos. Éstos procedían luego a llevar a cabo su primera empresa matrimonial: el sacrificio de un buey y un cerdo. Con ello acababa la ceremonia y los asistentes felicitaban a los contrayentes, mientras se preparaba el banquete nupcial, que se prolongaría varias horas, y en el cual tendrían lugar bromas y chanzas jocosas.

Al caer la noche, cl banquete tocaba a su fin y los esposos marchaban juntos a su nuevo hogar, la casa del marido. La tradición exigía remedar el ancestral rapto de las Sabinas perpetrado por los hombres de Rómulo en los inicios de Roma. La novia se resistía a abandonar su hogar arrojándose en brazos de su madre, mientras el marido fingía arrebatarla a la fuerza.

LA LLEGADA AL NUEVO HOGAR

Los recién casados abandonaban la casa entre un cortejo que llevaba antorchas, cantaba y lanzaba bromas obscenas. De este modo se ahuyentaban los malos augurios y se propiciaba la fertilidad de la nueva unión, mientras los transeúntes evaluaban la importancia del enlace a tenor de lo nutrido y animado de la comitiva.

Al llegar al nuevo hogar se oficiaban nuevos ritos de agregación y fecundidad: la recién casada ungía con manteca los goznes de la puerta, recabando una unión fértil y fecunda,  tras lo cual la desposada mostraba la rueca y el huso que portaba, y el marido le hacía entrega de un copo de lana. A continuación ella colocaba un velo o um hilo de lana sobre la puerta como promesa de trabajo y dedicación al hogar. Por último pronunciaba la fórmula clásica de unión, fidelidady también de obediencia:
«Donde tú eres Cayo, yo seré Caya».

Desde este momento ya podia penetrar en su nueva casa pero sin pisar el umbral, por lo que debía entrar en brazos de los invitados y ser recogida por el esposo. Éste la investía de sus poderes como señora del hogar entregándole el agua y el fuego, elementos que simbolizaban los principios opuestos, el del marido y el de la mujer, que integraban el matrimonio. Éste se materializaba finalmente cuando los esposos compartían por primera vez el lecho conyugal en la noche de bodas por fin, la cortina se corría.

Texto de Pedro Angel Fernandez Vega publicado en "National Geographic Historia", Barcelona, España, nº 321, pp. 29-34. Digitalizacion, adaptación y ilustración para publicación en ese sitio por Leopoldo Costa.

Dal saluto mattutino) agli affari da sbrigare nel Foro, fino alla cena serale: la vita dei ricchi Romani era scandita da occupaziord e incombenze prestabilite.



Nell'antica Roma, coloro che appartenevano a famiglie nobili e ricche dorevano as assolvere molti obblighi nel corso della giornata. Dall'alba fino a tarda notte, tutte le loro attività erano orientate alla costruzione di una buona immagine sociale e di una reputazione irreprensibile. Per questa ragione dimostravano pubblicamente la loro generosità (liberalitas) e il loro valore (virtus), imprescindibili per mantenere o conquistare le più alte magistrature.

La giornata di un nobile romano iniziava molto presto, allo spuntare del giorno. Appena alzato, indossava la toga, con l'aiuto di un servo, e si preparava per una momento fondamentale nella vita di un patrizio: la salutatio matutina. In questa cerimonia egli riceveva e salutava individualmente tutte le persone che avevano un rapporto personale con lui: i membri della sua "famiglia" (familia)- nella quale erano compresi parenti e schiavi - gli amici e i "clienti" (clientes). Questi ultimi erano cittadini svantaggiati di varie classi sociali che si ponevano al servizio di un potente benefattore o signore (dominus) in cambio di protezione, cibo o denaro.

Una folla di postulanti

Ogni mattina, lo ianilor, cioè lo schiavo che sorvegliava l'ingresso della casa, apriva la porta, davanti alla quale si era radunata una turba di visitatori. Un servitore accompagnava gli amici intimi e le persone di pari rango alla camera da Ietto del padrone. Il resto, una massa di bisognosi, poveri e mendicanti, aspettava il proprio turno fuori dalla casa o nel vestibolo, il corridoio che conduceva dalla strada alla porta d'ingresso, finché il patrono non dava loro il permesso di entrare nell'atrio, dove si svolgeva la cerimonia del saluto. Uno schiavo specializzato nel riconoscere tutti i clienti, il nomenclator, si metteva vicino al padrone e gli sussurrava nell'orecchio il nome di ciascuno. Poi, il signore lo ripeteva ad alta voce mentre stringeva la mano del cliente e gli faceva consegnare la sportula, originariamente un cestino di vivande, che con il tempo divenne un'elargizione in denaro, generalmente di 25 assi d'argento.

La folla più numerosa di salutatores si poteva trovare a casa dell'imperatore, dove il personale incaricato di sonintendere alla cerimonia della salutatio (afficium admissionis) era molto numeroso. Oltre alla visita degli amici, per i qual i la salulatio era obbligatoria, l'imperatore riceveva anche i senatori, che erano accompagnati da mogli e figli. In alcuni giorni di festa, come l'anniversario dell'a cesa al trono o le calende di gennaio (il primo giorno dell'anno), le porte del palazzo venivano aperte a tutto il popolo, che sfilava davanti all'imperatore in segno di fedeltà.

Mentre riceveva gli amici e i clienti, il patrono consumava una colazione frugale (ientaculum), che in genere consisteva in pane condito con aglio e sale e immerso nel vino, a cui talvolta si aggiungeva un po' di formaggio, uova, frutta secca, uva, datteri o olive. Il ricco patrizio approfittava di queste prime ore del mattino per occuparsi anche delle attività gestite, sotto la sua supervisione, dai liberti e dagli schiavi della famiglia. Il saluto mattutino poteva durare due delle dodici ore in cui era divisa la giornata. Il padrone, quindi, non usciva di casa prima della terza ora (le nove), quando si recava al Foro, a piedi o in lettiga,  accompagnato dal codazzo di clienti che erano andati a porgergli il loro saluto.

l'attività lavorativa e la politica

Nel Foro i patrizi passavano gran parte della giornata, occupandosi del proprio lavoro, il negotium, che in genere era quello di oratore, giurista o argentario (banchiere). In particolare, trascorrevano molto tempo nei tribunali di giustizia, aperti tra l'hora tertia e la nona, dalle 9 alle 15, cercando strumenti per nuocere agli avversari e difendere amici e clienti dalle accuse.

Il mezzogiorno, che coincideva con la fine dell'ora sesta, segnava la pausa dal lavoro, durante la quale ci si riposava e rifocillava in qualche taverna (caupona o popina). Per questo secondo pasto (prandium o cibus meridianus) si potevano mangiare legumi, pesce, uova, pollame, frutta e vino. Dal riposo dell'ora sesta deriva la parola "siesta", che in latino si chiamava merirdiatio. In effetti, per lo meno in estate, il pisolino di mezzogiorno era un'abitudine molto diffusa, tanto che le strade della città apparivano deserte come a mezzanotte. L'attività del Foro riprendeva fino alla fine della nona e ultima ora, le 15, quando il Senato veniva chiuso.

L'attività politica poteva svolgersi anche nei dintorni dell'Urbe, poiché era necessario assicurarsi il consenso e il voto dei contadini. Per questo motivo, il patrizio andava nelle ville rustiche per stringere la mano ai suoi potenziali elettori e offrire loro il suo aiuto, la sua protezione e la sua ricchezza, il tutto servendosi di un'abile oratoria e di gesti e atteggiamenti studiati a tavolino.

L'otium e gli svaghi di fine giornata

I giorni di festa (feriae) e tutti quelli in cui, per superstizione, sia il Senato sia i tribunali rimanevano chiusi, erano interamente dedicati all'otium. I Romani più ricchi si ritiravano nelle loro ville di campagna o vicine al mare, a Tusculum sui Colli Albani, sul monte Circeo o a Ercolano, dove si dedicavano alla lettura e allo studio della filosofia, mentre la plebe partecipava agli spettacoli che l'aristocrazia offriva nel teatro o nel circo e che solitamente si concludevano con grandi banchetti gratuiti.

Nei normali giorni di lavoro, invece, una volta sbrigati gli affari ed esaurite le occupazioni che lo trattenevano nel Foro, il patrizio si concedeva una passeggiata tra i portici del Campo di Marte oppure si dedicava alla cura del corpo e al proprio benessere, recandosi dal barbiere o alle terme. In tutti questi luoghi aveva occasione di chiacchierare con amici e conoscenti, discutere delle ultime notizie e parlare d'affari. Questi incontri di fine giornata davano anche l'opportunità di organizzare un altro momento centrale della giornata dei Romani, la cena (coena) , invitando i commensali più appropriati o, al contrario, facendosi invitare in una casa importante. La cena, in effetti, era per i potenti un'occasione privilegiata per mantenere le relazioni sociali e crearne di nuove, in modo da garantirsi il consenso sociale e politico.

In occasione dei banchetti, i patrizi più abbienti esibivano la loro ricchezza con stoviglie di lusso e manicaretti esotici. Gli invitati non indossavano la toga ma una veste più comoda e leggera, la vestis cenaloria o synthesis. Alloro arrivo, erano accolti da uno schiavo, che gli toglieva i sandali, gli lavava mani e piedi e ti accompagnava ai loro posti su uno dei letti del triclinio, in base alla loro condizione sociale.

I fastosi banchetti

Come racconta Petronio nel Satyricon (l secolo d.C.), durante il celebre banchetto offerto dal liberto arricchito Trimalcione, i piatti, da tre a sette, erano serviti a intervalli regolari. Ognuno di essi, accompagnato da numerosi contorni, era portato da un gruppo di schiavi sotto la direzione di un tricliniarcha, esperto di etichetta e supervisore del banchetto.

Nei grandi ricevimenti, che duravano parecchie ore, il dolce (secundae mensae) dava inizio all'ultima fase del banchetto, la commissatio, in cui si offrivano bevande in abbondanza e intrattenimcnti vari, con musicisti, cantanti, ballerine, mimi e buffoni. Un'iscrizione ritrovata in una casa di Pompei, su una parete del triclinio, ammoniva così i commensali: "Non rivolgere sguardi languidi e non mettere gli occhi sulla sposa di un altro uodamo. Non essere maleducato nella conversazione. Evita di arrabbiarti e usare un linguaggio offensivo. Se non riesci a farlo, torna a casa".

F'inito il banchetlo, gli invitati, spesso ubriachi, tornavano alle proprie abitazioni dopo essere stati rivestiti dai rispettivi schiavi, che li avevano attesi seduti per terra davanti al triclinio e che, una volta a casa, li accompagnavano fino ai bordi del letto. Anche l'anfitrione si ritirava nella camera da letto (cubiculum), una piccola stanza con pochi mobili, situata intorno all'atrio o al peristilio, il porticato che circondava il giardino. Spesso, la camera da letto era posizionata in modo che la prima luce del mattino potesse filtrarvi all'interno e segnare così, per il patrizio, l'alba di una nuova, intensa giornata.

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LA DIMORA DI UN POTENTE ROMANO



1. Vestibolo

Le ricche dimore avevano un ampio vestibolo, che collegava la casa ala strada antistante. Qui ogni mattina I clienti si mettevano in fila In attesa di essere ricevuti dal padrone.

2. Atrio

Era Il centro nevralgico della casa, in cui il padrone esibiva la sua ricchezza e riceveva i visitatori, compresi i clienti mattutini. Era anche una zona di lavoro clestinlta aIle donne.

3. Tablinum

Tra l'atrio e A peristilio, originariamente serviva conte studio del padrone di casa. Diventò iIn seguito il cuore della vita familiare e poteva essere riccamente decorato.

4. Peristilio

Era il giardino Interno della casa, circondato da portici.  Aveva un uso più privato rispetto all'atrio. Nelle case più ricche, le sue pareti erano spesso decorate da affreschi.

Testo di Elena Castillo  pubblicato in "National Geographic Storia Italia", Milano, Italia, maggio 2012, n. 39, estratti pp.28-31. Digitalizzati, adattato e illustrato per Leopoldo Costa

Alfred Kinsey

Con il suo rapporto sulle abitudini sessuali degli americani, Alfred Kinsey scandalizzò il mondo.

Nella vita c'è sempre una prima volta. E per Alfred Charles Kinsey, il biologo americano che diventerà noto come il 'doctor Sex', ogni prima volta fu un disastro: la prima volta al college quando lo costrinsero a studiare ingegneria, la prima volta in luna di miele, la prima volta che decise di parlare di sesso all'America. Di questi fiaschi, però, almeno uno (l'ultimo) si trasformò in un sucesso.

SCANDALO

Due libri che parlano di sesso: ecco il motivo per cui il dottor Kinsey, negli Anni '50 del secolo scorso, fu acclamato come un eroe o disprezzato come un maniaco. Oggi non ci  scandalizzeremmo più di tanto: ormai persino gli adoslescenti sfornano romanzi sull'argomento. Ma forse questa nostra familiarità con il sesso dipende proprio dall'eredità lasciata da Kinsey, che con  le sue pubblicazioni contribui alla rivoluzione sessuale dgli Anni'60 più di quanto potrebbe fare, ai giorni nostri, l'autobiografia di una qualunque Melissa P.

"Le femministe usarono i suoi studi per affermare l'esistenza di una sessualità delle donne", afferma Elisabetta Vezzosi, docente di Storia degli Stati Uniti all'Università di Trieste. E anche se, soprattutto in America, c'è ancora chi lo accusa di aver contribuito alla perdita dei valori morali, senza Kinsey probabilmente Anna Tatangelo non avrebbe potuto cantare la storia di un gay all'ultimo Festival di Sanremo, perché l'omosessualità forse sarebbe stata illegale (come lo era fino a cinque anni fa in alcuni Stati degli USA).



BEST-SELLER. 

Eppure, a leggerlo oggi, il cosiddetto "Primo rapporto Kinsey" non ha niente di scabroso: si tratta di una ricerca sulla società americana del dopoguerra, 804 pagine piuttosto datate. Ma con un titolo che promette bene: il comportamento sessuale nel maschio umano. Più di mezzo secolo fa questo volume fu un best-seller: 200 mila copie andarono a ruba in soli due mesi, fu tradotto in 11 lingue ed ebbe anche un "sequel". Cinque anni dopo, infatti, apparve il "Secondo rapporto Kinsey", dedicato al comportamento sessuale delle donne.

Ma perché tanto scandalo? Quella di Kinsey non era certo l'America della pubblicità progresso sull'uso dei preservativi, delle sfilate per l'orgoglio gay e delle lezioni di educazione sessuale nelle scuole medie. Al contrario. Il sesso era una cosa sconveniente, di cui era meglio non parlare e che, secondo alcuni, era anche meglio non praticare. A meno che, naturalmente, non si fosse sposati: in questo caso diventava un'attività necessaria per mettere al mondo qualche altro bel ragazzone americano. O un'altra casalinga disperata.

PUNCENTE. 

Ironia della sone, il dottor Sex da ragazzo non era mai stato un mostro di scioltezza con le donne: il padre, un pastore metodista estremamente severo e agguerrito contro il sesso, l'aveva messo in guardia da quelle che lui considerava le abitudini "libertine" d'inizio Novecento (Alfred era nato nel 1894). E, con lo stesso spirito intimidatorio che usava la domenica per predicare in chiesa, aveva provato a farlo diventare ingegnere: ma Alfred, che di nascosto studiava Darwin, scelse biologia e si specializzò ad Harvard in tassonomia (la classificazione delle specie).

La futura inclinazione di Kinsey si può spiegare solo ipotizzando che le uniche istruzioni sul sesso ricevute dai suoi puritanissimi genitori, ammesso che gliele avessero mai impartite, fossero limitate alla favoletta dell'ape e del fiore. Altrimenti perché un biologo, a 44 anni suonati, sarebbe dovuto passare dallo studio accanito delle vespe galligene (ne collezionò oltre un milione di esemplari, diventando il maggior esperto mondiale di questi parassiti degli alberi) a quello, altrettanto accanito, delle abitudini sessuali dei suoi connazionali?

SESSO SCONOSCIUTO

Galeotto fu un corso sul tema "ll matrimonio e la famiglia" voluto, nel 1938, dall'associazione studentesca femminile dell'Università dell'Indiana. Felicemente sposato e padre di quattro figli,Kinsey rappresentava il docente perfetto. Ma presto capì che i ragazzi non sapevano nulla di sesso e che, più in generale, nulla si sapeva della sessualità degli americani. Decise perciò di colmare la lacuna e, per deformazione professionale, iniziò a farlo raccogliendo e analizzando scientificamente i racconti degli studenti, proprio come aveva fatto con le vespe.

Poi, per avere più dati, allargò l'indagine alla gente comune con interviste a tappeto. Il questionario, con le sue oltte 300 domande, non lasciava nulla di inesplorato. Ovvio che chi raccontava quante volte avesse tradito la moglie, o se avesse fatto sesso con una pecora, voleva però essere ben sicuro che nessuno l'avrebbe poi saputo. Così, per tutelare meglio la privacy dei 18 mila intervistati (tutti volontari raccolti ai quamo angoli d'America), Kinsey condusse personalmente le interviste, facendosi aiutare solo da tre assistenti e usando un codice segreto per le risposte.

Ma "Prok" (nomignolo appioppatogli dalla moglie) passò presto dalla teoria alla pratica, cronometrando, filmando e fotografando i rapporti sessuali dei volontari. Lo assistevano nel lavoro lo psicologo Wardell Pomeroy, l'antropologo Paul Cebbard e Clyde Martin, un laureato in economia che gestiva le statistiche e che si dice fosse anche l'amante del professore. Con loro pubblicò infine il primo libro sulle abitudini sessuali dei maschi americani.

NERO SU BIANCO. 

Scoppiò un quarantotto: non quello ottocentesco delle Cinque giornate di Milano, ma un vero "1948". Nello stesso anno in cui gli italiani festeggiavano la nascita della Costituzione e in America i 33 giri comindavano a suonare le loro canzoni, Kinsey aveva scoperto (e lo raccontava a tutti!) che tra i maschi il sesso prematrimoniale era molto comune, come le "scappatelle", la masturbazione e i rapporti omosessuali. E questo, secondo lui, rientrava nella normale variabilità. umana. In pratica: ognuno ba i suoi gusti.

«Il lavoro di Kinsey ebbe un profondo impatto sulla società americana)) spiega Arnaldo Testi, docente di Storia degli Stati Uniti all'Università. di Pisa. «l suoi libri furono bestseller che molti lessero, anche di nascosto, come manuali di educazione sessuale, imparando ad avvicinarsi al sesso senza sensi di colpa)). l giornali progressisti paragonarono il dottor Sex al suo eroe del passato, Charles Darwin. L'America puritana invece strabuzzò gli occhi: dov'erano fmiti tutti gli eterosessuali del continente? E la sana astinenza prima del matrimonio?

Eppure qualcosa di ciò che diceva Kinseyl'America doveva pur conoscerla: in fondo il biologo non aveva fatto altro che mettere per iscritto, nero su bianco, quello che la gente gli raccontava. Ma il problema era proprio quel "nero su bianco". «In un certo senso Kinsey non fece che rivelare agli americani loro stessi" osserva Testi. "Ma lo fece rompendo, a livello di linguaggio pubblico, il velo di pudore che copriva questi temi: gli americani facevano sesso come tutti, però non erano abituati a parlarne o a sentirne parlare esplicitamentente".

NON SOLO MAMME. 

Figuriamoci quando toccò alle donne! Con il suo secondo libro Kinsey scatenò le ire dei perbenisti. Mariti e padri non potevano ammettere che mogli e figlie facessero "certe cose" (peraltro le stesse che facevano loro). "Il libro non andava contro la morale corrente, ma contro la morale che si voleva affermare" dice Elisabetta Vezzosi. "Quei dati cozzavano contro la cultura puritana che glorificava la figura femminile come moglie e mamma".

Il lavoro di "Prok" cominciò a perdere popolarità. Religiosi e conservatori contestavano il suo metodo di indagine (lo descrivevano come un guardone con il camice bianco) e la scelta di un campione di intervistati che comprendeva solo "bianchi", oltre una certa percentuale di prostitute, galeotti e pedofili. Ciliegina sulla torta, una commissione guidata dal senatore repubblicano Joseph McCarthy accusò il suo Institute for sex research di far parte di un complotto comunista che voleva indebolire i valori della nazione americana.

Tuttora al campus di Bloomington, dove continua a funzionare il Kinsey institute, gli studenti raccontano ridacchiando che "qua intorno ancora si sentono i mugolii". E l'astio di una parte d'America non si è placato: il "Primo rapporto Kinsey" occupa il quarto posto nell'elenco stilato dal settimanale conservatore Human Events dei dieci libri più dannosi del XIX e XX secolo (superato solo dal Manifesto del partito comunista di Marx ed Engels, dal Mein Kampf di Hitler e dal Libretto rosso di Mao).



PLAYBOY. 

Eppure negli Anni 'so la cantante Martha Raye vendette mezzo milione di copie della sua canzone intitolata Ooh dr. Kinsey. E al dottor Sex si ispirò, pare, anche il giovane editore Hugh Hefner quando decise di fondare la rivista Playboy, nel 1953. Kinsey però non riusà a vedere oltre la trentatreesima "coniglietta del mese": mori infatti tre anni dopo per un attacco di cuore. Non era al lavoro dentro al suo laboratorio e neppure a trascrivere interviste: si trovava ne giardino di casa. Che cosa avevate pensato?

Testo di Maria Leonarda Leone  pubblicato in "Focus Storia Italia", Milano, Italia, settembre, 2018, n. 23, estratti pp.14-19. Digitalizzati, adattato e illustrato per Leopoldo Costa

... i nobili bevevano con cannellini d'oro e lapislazzuli, ma per l'uso comune bastavano anche canne di segale. Poi si passò alla carta.

Un sigillo rinvenuto presso la città di Ur, risalente a più di 5 mila anni fa, mostra come i primi a utilizzare le cannucce per bere furono i Sumeri, gli inventori della birra. La birra era torbida e non filtrata, perciò la si gustava con la cannuccia, per evitare che i suoi residui molto amari finissero sulle labbra. A quel tempo le cannucce erano in oro e lapislazzuli, come quella trovata nella tomba di Pu-Abi, nobildonna di Ur vissuta nel terzo millennio a. C.

Alterazioni. 

Da secoli anche il mate, un'infusione diffusa in America del Sud, è sorseggiato con la bombilla, una cannuccia in metallo o di canna con l'estremità immersa chiusa e bucherellata, al fine di evitare l'aspirazione delle foglie sminuzzate di erba infusa.

È pure remotissimo l'uso della menta per insaporire le bevande; ma poiché le foglie di menta perdono di gusto quando si riscaldano, per evitare di tenere il bicchiere in mano si usava una cannuccia d'erba di segale, che però alterava il gusto del liquido. Marvin Stone, un produttore di bocchini da sigarette di Washington che dopo l'orario lavorativo amava sorseggiare acqua e menta, pensò di produrre una cannuccia "artificiale" che non alterasse il sapore della sua bibita preferita.

A mano. 

Fu lo stesso Stone a brevettare nel 1888 il processo per produrre le prime cannucce di carta: ottenne il prototipo avvolgendo strisce di carta attorno a una matita e incollandole insieme. In seguito sperimentò la carta rivestita di paraffina (la cosiddetta "carta Manila") in modo che le cannucce non si rammollissero durante la consumazione della bevanda. Stone progettò anche una cannuccia a uso dei consumatori di limonata: il suo diametro era tale da evitare che i semi di limone passassero nel tubo. Nel 1906 la Stone Straw Corporation brevettò la prima macchina per la produzione in serie di cannucce, che sino a quel momento erano arrotolate a mano una alla volta. Ma si attese fino al 1937 perché il brevetto della prima cannuccia flessibile fosse concesso all'inventore americano Joseph Friedman.

Testo di Filippo Nieddu  pubblicato in "Focus Storia Italia", Milano, Italia, settembre, 2018, n. 23, estratti p.25. Digitalizzati, adattato e illustrato per Leopoldo Costa

Archeologists have found evidence from excavations at Jarmo in northeastern Iraq, that pistachio seeds were a common food as early as 6750 BC.The Hanging Gardens of Babylon were said to have contained pistachio trees during the reign of King Merodach-Baladan about 700 BC.The modern pistachio P. vera was first cultivated in Western Asia, where it has long been an important crop in cooler parts of Iran and Iraq. It appears in Dioscurides as pistakia πιστάκια, recognizable as P. vera by its comparison to pine nuts. Its cultivation spread into the Mediterranean world by way of Persia from Syria.

Additionally, remains of the Atlantic pistachio and pistachio seed along with nut-cracking tools were discovered by archaeologists at the Gesher Benot Ya'aqov site in Israel's Hula Valley, dated to 780,000 years ago.

Pliny in his 'Natural History' asserts that pistacia, “well known among us,” was one of the trees unique to Syria, and that the seed was introduced into Italy by the Roman consul in Syria, Lucius Vitellius the Elder (consul in Syria in 35 AD) and into Hispania at the same time by Flaccus Pompeius.The early sixth-century manuscript De observatione ciborum (“On the observance of foods”) by Anthimus implies that pistacia remained well known in Europe in Late Antiquity. The pistachio is one of three seeds mentioned in the Bible. The pistachio is mentioned once, in Genesis 43:11, as is the walnut in Song of Songs 6:11, while the almond is mentioned many times.

More recently, the pistachio has been cultivated commercially in the English-speaking world, in Australia, and in New Mexico and California, of the United States, where it was introduced in 1854 as a garden tree.David Fairchild of the United States Department of Agriculture introduced hardier cultivars collected in China to California in 1904 and 1905, but it was not promoted as a commercial crop until 1929.Walter T. Swingle’s pistachios from Syria had already fruited well at Niles by 1917.

The earliest records of pistachio in English are around roughly year 1400, with the spellings “pistace” and “pistacia”. The word pistachio comes from medieval Italian pistacchio, which is from classical Latin pistacium, which is from ancient Greek pistákion and pistákē, which is generally believed to be from Middle Persian, although unattested in Middle Persian. Later in Persian, the word is attested in Persian as pista. As mentioned, the tree came to the ancient Greeks from Western Asia.

Available in http://akpistachio.com/en/index.php/2013-07-23-16-18-35. Digitized, adapted and illustrated to be posted by Leopoldo Costa

1. Como é feito o lápis?

A fabricação do lápis é simples: consiste em colocar a grafite dentro de tábuas de madeira. Mas nem sempre foi assim. Apesar de a humanidade usar ferramentas de escrita desde os primórdios, a grafite só foi descoberta no século XVI, na Inglaterra - os ingleses confundiram o material com chumbo, engano desfeito no fim do século XVIII.

Nos primeiros lápis, pedaços de grafite eram enrolados em cordas ou pele de animais para facilitara manuseio. Mais tarde, alemães começaram a usar pedaços de madeira para cobrir a grafite. O apetrecho foi evoluindo até ganhar uma borracha na ponta em 1858, invenção do americano Hyman Lipman. A ideia, bastante simples, acontece na última etapa da produção: uma das extremidades é afinada, recebe uma cinta de metal para segurar a borracha, que é então colada e prensada. Depois, é só escrever: um só lápis é capaz de anotar 45 mil palavras ou riscar uma linha de 56 quilômetros de comprimento!
(Texto de Marina Motomura)



2. O que são ingredientes como umidificante e emulsificante?

Eles são aditivos alimentares, substâncias químicas naturais ou sintéticas que são misturadas aos alimentos industriaIizados pa.a conservá-los ou conferir aos produtos características como sabor, aparência e consistência.

A história dos aditivos nasce na Pré-História, quando o homem percebeu que o sal e o açúcar, por exemplo, não deixavam a carne estragar. Mas a importância deles cresce pra valer no início do século XIX, quando o francês Nicolas Appert inventa a conserva. Ele descobriu que colocar os alimentos em líquidos, guardá-los em vidros bem fechados e depois ferver o conteúdo em banho-maria prolongava a vida do rango. Isso abriu as portas para a indústria de alimentos, que a partir daí não parou de inventar e desenvolver novos aditivos, não mais apenas para conservar os alimentos, mas para praticamente qualquer coisa.

Os umidificantes, por exemplo, conservam a umidade da comida, e os emulsificantes mantêm água e gordura em uma mistura homogênea.

Apesar de suas utilidades, os aditivos também têm desvantagens. "A longo prazo, aditivos em excesso podem aumentar o risco de diferentes problemas de saúde", diz o nutricionista Welliton Popolim, de São Paulo. Os males podem ir de uma simples alergia ao câncer, dependendo do aditivo. Por isso, há concentrações máximas para cada um deles nos alimentos, reguladas pela Vigilância Sanitária.
(Texto de Tarso Araújo)



3. Quais são e o que significam os títulos de um professor?

Existem basicamente três títulos (ou graus acadêmicos): mestre, doutor (conhecido como Ph.D. em alguns países) e livre-docente. Quem termina a graduação, mas quer continuar estudando, tem que escolher, primeiro, entre duas modalidades de pós-graduação: lato sensu e stricto sensu.

O primeiro não confere título acadêmico, mas, sim, o certificado de "especialista" - MBA é um tipo de formação lato sensu na área de negócios. Já no strícto sensu o pós-graduando desenvolve e defende uma tese sobre um tema bem específico e, depois de aprovado, recebe o título de mestre ou doutor (dependendo do programa escolhido).

Depois de fazer um doutorado, o pesquisador pode fazer um pós-doutorado, que também segue o modelo de desenvolvimento de tese com  o acompanhamento de um orientador. Nesse mesmo ponto da carreira acadêmica, contudo, ele pode subir mais um degrau, tocando uma tese por conta própria, sem o auxílio de um orientador. Se aprovado, sobe ao grau de livre-docente.
(Texto de Luiz Fujita)



4. Como funciona uma bomba a vácuo?

As bombas a vácuo, conhecidas como termobáricas, usam o oxigênio da atmosfera em vez de oxidantes como reagente para explodir.

Não se sabem muitos detalhes sobre seu funcionamento - até por questões de segurança. Mas dá para ter uma idéia geral. Os danos provocados por essas bombas vêm de duas fontes: altas temperaturas e pressão. 

As primeiras bombas do tipo foram criadas na década de 1960 pelo Exército americano, que as usou na Guerra do Vietnã para destruir túneis, limpar campos minados e abrir clareiras na mata para pouso de helicópteros. Outro modelo de bomba a vácuo, o BLU-118/B, foi usado contra a Al Qaeda no Afeganistão, em 2002. Hoje, elas são usadas tanto em áreas abertas como fechadas - atingem até cavernas e bunkers, matando quem está dentro com a onda de pressão.  Diferentemente das bombas nucleares, as termobáricas não usam elementos radioativos (como o urânio e o plutônio) e, portanto, não fazem vítimas por contaminação.

Mas o estrago é feio: deixa o ambiente atingido com aspecto lunar, com o solo pontilhado de crateras. A mais poderosa arma não nuclear hoje - segundo os russos - é uma bomba termobárica conhecida como FOAB, da sigla em inglês para "pai de todas as bombas", testada em setembro de 2007 no país.
(Texto de Manoel Schlindwein)



5. O que aconteceria se a Terra parasse de girar?

Todas as construções desabariam. E não só os prédios  - todas as pessoas, árvores, carros e animais também sairiam voando pela tangente, desabariam sobre a superfície e se quebrariam em pedacinhos.

Isso aconteceria por causa de um fenômeno da física chamado inércia dos corpos: tudo que existe na Terra, inclusive o ar, gira junto com o planeta. Por isso, se o globo parasse subitamente de rodar, esses corpos, por inércia, tenderiam a manter sua trajetória com a mesma velocidade. É o que acontece em um acidente automobilístico, por exemplo. Se um carro bate em um poste, todos os ocupantes são projetados para a frente. Imagine o resultado de um tranco da Terra, cuja velocidade de rotação é de 1 675 quilômetros por hora na altura da linha do Equador (nos pólos ela é mais lenta).

O pior é que depois da interrupção seria provavelmente impossível continuar vivendo aqui. Sem a rotação, o lado do planeta que ficasse virado para o Sol se transformaria num deserto com temperaturas altíssimas, e o outro lado, sempre no escuro, seria tão frio que uma crosta de gelo seria formada rapidamente. Se isso acontecesse, todos os tipos de vida seriam extintos. Sem falar que a diferença térmica entre os dois lados provocaria ventanias terríveis.
(Texto de Yuri Vasconcelos)

Textos publicados em "Mundo Estranho", Editora Abril, São Paulo, edição 70, dezembro de 2007. Copilado, digitalizado, adaptado e ilustrado para ser postado por Leopoldo Costa.

INTRODUCTION: RESEARCH TRADITIONS

Did atheism exist in the Middle Ages? While this question is not easy to answer in one sentence, it is clear that the Middle Ages were, in many ways, one of the decisive periods in the history of atheism and therefore deserve attention. This statement may seem surprising, and certainly it contradicts popular assumptions about the Middle Ages as a dark and irrational period, and atheism as a result of rational reasoning. For that reason the present overview will start with an outline of the dominant popular assumptions as well as the research traditions, before presenting the results of empirical investigations.

On the one hand, it is very common to presume that inquisitors or religious elites in general persecuted atheism during the Middle Ages. On the other hand, the Middle Ages are thought to have been unable to even conceptualize the idea that there is no God. The period is often described as an age of faith, during which the doubts and the rational critique against theological propositions that spread in the Modern Era were unknown. These two assumptions are mutually exclusive and indicate that the study of medieval atheism is a field of controversies and many open questions and also, as will be shown here, of popular myths.

Both these theories—the persecution theory and the romantic Age of Faith—go back to traditions emerging in sixteenth and seventeenth-century Europe, at that time deeply involved in denominational conflicts. Within these struggles the idea gained ground that advanced thinkers had always seen through the machinations of the clergy, who in turn had continuously tried to suppress the truth. Some medieval individuals were named as examples, mostly well known personalities. They were taken from lists of medieval heretics, which were first compiled by Protestants and Catholics in order to provide historical examples for their own respective positions. Many names gathered in these corpora were inherited by the modern scholarly debate on atheism. Western scholars also sought affirmation from outside Europe for their opposition towards the established Western Churches. They found them in Eastern writings and gathered names from Arabic polemical literature as examples for early Muslim atheists. During the nineteenth century the thesis gained ground that Muslim philosophy was even instrumental for the emergence of enlightenment and atheism in Europe.

At the end of the nineteenth and the beginning of the twentieth century the European debate on atheism reached one of its first peaks. Hermann Reuter, John Robertson, and Fritz Mauthner wrote the first comprehensive histories of atheism. They summarized the examples and polemical sources and handed them down to scholars in the twentieth century, who were to become deeply influenced by their works (Reuter 1875–1877; Robertson 1899; Mauthner [1920–30] 1985). The category ‘atheism’ they used (or ‘enlightenment’, which appeared as a synonym in their studies) was very broad. They defined atheism, enlightenment, scientific and scholastic thinking, heresy, criticism of the church and free thought as part of the same opposing movement against religion.

The seminal works just quoted were historical studies, but they were not written by professional historians. Rather, the scholarly field was dominated by the theologians, philosophers, and philologists. These disciplines shaped the definitions of atheism, the choice of sources as well as the methods of the research tradition: individual writers and their thoughts remained in the focus. During the twentieth century many writings of both Arabic and Latin thinkers were edited and studied.

One important research result of this research made revisions inevitable and caused controversies to the present. A close look revealed that many of the assumed early heroes of atheism were much less radical than previously expected. None of those named before could be proven to have themselves denied the existence of a God.

At the same time, historical studies (e.g., Thomas 1950; Murray 1986; Goodich 1988; Arnold 2005) showed that medieval societies were far less in line with official dogmas than earlier generations had imagined. While historians of the Middle Ages had largely abstained from taking part in the debates on atheism, they had intensively investigated medieval spiritual life in its concrete forms.

On the basis of this research it makes theoretical and empirical sense to presuppose the existence of doubts about religious propositions, ignorance, disinterest, and the absence of belief in the medieval world, both Muslim and Latin Christian. Yet, the actual forms and extent of this phenomenon, and its relation to modern atheism, remain highly controversial even among those who generally favour this position. What is more, the overall scarcity of medieval sources and especially the lack of so called ego-documents, autobiographical writings, and other documents produced by the people themselves testifying to their personal convictions, make general statements of any kind highly speculative.

Early experiments to include Jewish influences on medieval Latin philosophy have not been followed up in recent years and there is generally less interest in atheism among Jews in the Middle Ages. This is also true for Orthodox and ancient Oriental Churches. Both Jews and Eastern Christians were not included in the European discourses sketched above and thus have remained in the shadow. The state of research is therefore very unbalanced within the different fields of medieval studies.

CHALLENGES TO INSTITUTIONALIZED RELIGIONS

The age before 1500 was a period of religious dynamics and diversity. Even the beliefs of those who tried to be more or less in line with the approved teachings were neither simple nor uniform. Because of the overwhelming majority of illiterates there was also sheer ignorance, which led to propositions different from orthodox theology. Where some teachings and snippets of texts were known through oral transmission, they contradicted experiences of everyday life. Men and women knew about practical processes of procreation, life and death, production processes of food, necessities of commerce, social realities, and other everyday concerns (Arnold 2010). Virgin birth, resurrection, incarnation, transubstantiation, and other teachings were not congruent with these experiences. Even the philosophically trained thinkers, clerics as well as philosophers, had their doubts about the incarnation. Common sense as well as philosophy struggled with speculative teachings like the creatio ex nihilo. While the forms of opposition against the main religions differed dramatically between the Arabic and the Latin world, they both faced a simple truth: not a single theological teaching, be it Jewish, Muslim, or Christian (or pagan, for that matter), was left unquestioned either by polemics from outside, by opposing groups from inside, or even by those who, with the best of intentions, could not help not to be convinced.

In two main waves of heated inter- and intra-religious controversies the main arguments against Jewish, Christian, and Muslim teachings were developed and spread. The first surf swept over Western and Central Asia during the first centuries of Muslim rule. It was set in motion by the polemical debates between the religions and the philosophical circles (see Ess 1991–1997). The second wave included twelfth to fourteenth-century Europe. At that time Europe received translations from classical philosophy and Arabic learning. In the emerging schools and universities these texts were discussed eagerly, though not as radically as in the early Muslim world. Still, some masters in the Latin universities and Byzantine scholars developed their own views on theology, the cosmos, creation, the stars, life and death, or anthropology, which differed from orthodox Christian doctrine. In the West, like in the East, religious movements and sects additionally challenged the institutionalized religions. To answer these challenges, apologetic tracts were written.

Some of the objections made by medieval contemporaries have been interpreted as signs of atheism (e.g., the theory of the eternity of the world, mortality of the soul, invalidity of prophethood, faked sacred texts). While this might sometimes be the case—an example will be given later—these elements alone cannot serve as a positive proof. For what might be a cornerstone of atheism in the modern world could be part of an individual way to believe in the Middle Ages. For example, the socalled ‘Ortlieber ’, a religious sect, believed in the eternity of the world (Fößel 1993). The outspoken church critic Thomas Müntzer (1489–1525) rejected the divine revelation of the Bible, but was nonetheless deeply religious. Medieval religious discourses were in some respect more diverse than modern ones.

Therefore, an unequivocal context for certain propositions is needed in order to decide on their philosophical motivation. In this respect, one missing element is most striking: none of the medieval polemics ever actively denied the existence of God or even claimed an agnostic position for a given author. As a case in point, Burzōē the Persian in the sixth century, after having failed to find criteria to decide which of the bickering theologians defended the best religious system, did indeed turn away from them all. Contrary to modern interpretations, however, he did not renounce faith in God. Instead, he continued his own individual ways to care for the afterlife of his soul by pleasing God as best he could (Burzōē the Persian [500s] 1912).

LAWS, HERESIOGRAPHY, AND THE ALLEGED PERSECUTION OF ATHEISTS

The sheer lack of unequivocal sources is often explained by the assumption that atheists were afraid to expose their ideas. Thus, a closer look at legal conceptions and persecutions in the Middle Ages is in order. Medieval societies were deeply concerned with maintaining the ever-fragile order and internal peace. Personal loyalty or rather faithfulness to God and man was the building block of society. Personal convictions, on the other hand, were not. Jewish, Christian, and Muslim religious leaders demanded personal acceptance of basic religious propositions by lay people. Abū Ḥanīfa (d. 67 CE), an important Muslim theologian, held that to be called a ‘believer ’ a Muslim needed to assent to the teaching of the one-ness of God and the prophethood of Mohammed (on the concepts of believer/unbeliever, see Griffel 2000). Sa‘adyā Gaon (882–942), an influential Jewish sage, demanded that individuals should adhere to Judaism with knowledge and active understanding (Sa‘adyā Gaon [933] 1989). The Fourth Lateran Council in the year 1215 demanded that Christians should firmly believe in the basic Credo of the church.

After all, however, these convictions were an individual soteriological problem. Faith, on the other hand, was also a crucial legal and social category. The conception comprised commitment and trust. Thus, those who were designated as ‘unbelievers’ in medieval thinking were not primarily thought of as individuals who were not personally convinced of the existence of God. Rather, this term signified members of other religions, enemies outside of one’s own secular system of loyalty or rebels from the inside. The English terms ‘infidels’, ‘infidelity’ and ‘faithlessness’ still show traces of this understanding.

Any good Muslim or an acknowledged authority traditionally had and still has the right to takfīr, to declare a Muslim opponent as an ‘unbeliever ’ in front of the community, which has serious consequences for the accused. Yet, in the past atheists were not the target of this accusation—at least, there is no proof that they ever were. Only today this indictment can be shown to threaten atheists. Apostasy as defection was systematically dealt with in Muslim and Late Antique Christian law and harshly punished. In medieval Christianity the notion of heresy was more important. Judaism developed more allowing legal constructions. A Jewish apostate was perhaps counted as a bad Jew, but he or she remained Jewish. Neither of these legal practices defined apostasy as a synonym of atheism (Slaughter 1993; Cohen 1999).

Medieval religious thinkers of the different religions also developed conceptions of religious unorthodoxy, which implied in their eyes disloyal, immoral, or even rebellious behaviour. They defined certain rulings which led to the excommunication of such errant members or even to their secular punishment. Concerning atheism the Muslim-Arabic world and the Latin world differed in their concepts of deviance. Muslim heresiography (Ess 2011) contains terms like mulḥid (lit.deviator), zindīq (lit. Manichean) or dahri (lit. believer in fate and the eternity of the world; These notions designate a wider range of teachings and actions a writer deemed as aberrant, and they are not synonymous with atheism. Dahri, for example, could be used in a polemical way against Christians. Christianity could even be called the worst dahriyya of all (Tannous 2010: 536). Yet, atheism could clearly be one intended understanding of these conceptions in the heresiographical literature (Chokr 1993; Ess 2011; Crone 2012). On the other hand, all of the known individuals designated with these terms, as well as all of those actually brought before court and punished, can be shown to have been believing in some God or gods (Stroumsa 1999). One important example is the notorious critic of Islam, Ibn al-Rawandi (c.827–864/911).

Jewish heresiographers used some of the Arabic terms already mentioned (like dahri) as well as the ominous notion ‘Epicureans’ to designate deviant groups. This word appears in the Talmud. Friedrich Niewöhner has suggested that the term included the idea of atheism (Niewöhner 1999). This supposition is not undisputed and no individual was ever identified to be an atheist.

In the Latin world, an ever increasing number of teachings and actions since the eleventh century were judged as heresy. The debate on the mortality of the soul occupied the public and the inquisitorial tribunals in the Late Middle Ages alike (e.g., Murray 1986). At that time lawlessness and a libertine lifestyle were also conceptualized as ‘Epicureanism’. Similar to the Jewish sources ‘Epicureans’ were said to deny the punishment of the soul in the hereafter. Therefore they seemed not to have a reason to abide by the law. Vice versa, immoral individuals were called ‘Epicureans’ because of their actions, regardless of their personal attitudes. As perpetrators often had no secular enforcement to fear and because of the resulting general lack of social peace, ‘Epicureans’ seemed to be existing in great numbers, especially in Italy. In the inquisitorial protocols, however, contemporaries who deny the immortality of the soul, can only very rarely be identified (Murray 1984).

Numerous inquisitorial protocols reveal a wealth of unorthodox and radical beliefs. Yet, among the suspects tried before court by the inquisitor Bernard Gui (1261/2–1331) only perhaps one peasant in 900 seems to have been an atheist (Given 1997). What is more, the peasant in question and a small number of others were punished for rival teachings, not for atheism. The sheer absence of belief in the existence of a God was never defined as a heresy. As the inquisitorial and heresiological writings aimed to be comprehensive, this absence must be intentional.

In medieval Islam, blasphemy against the prophet and his companions by Muslims or non-Muslims was conceptualized as rebellious behaviour. Blasphemy could be processed by a court and punished by death (Slaughter 1993; Wiederhold 1997). This was also the case in Latin Christianity from the thirteenth century. Although in modern days medieval blasphemy has often been seen as a sign of medieval atheism, this inference is not confirmed by empirical research on court protocols (Schwerhoff 2005). During the Latin Middle Ages blasphemy was understood as a hostile speech act against God, which could threaten the relation between him and his community on earth. In the centuries after 1500 legislation against blasphemy seems indeed to have been directed against atheists, but for the Middle Ages proofs are lacking.

Religious doubt as a problem of religious law has been little studied. Religious sceptics in a philosophical sense are again featured in Arabic Muslim heresiography (Turki 1979; Ess 1991–1997). They are generally subsumed among one of the heretical categories mentioned above, regardless of the personal belief they might have had. In Latin Christianity indications of religious scepticism of the philosophical kind are not extant. Neither scepticism nor spiritual doubts were featured in canon or criminal law. The famous norm ‘Dubius in fide infidelis est …’ from the decretals by Pope Gregory IX (Corpus Iuris Canonici, vii, 1) has often been misinterpreted. Dubius is not the medieval term for a sceptic, but for unreliable humans or things (like roads or relationships). The sentence is best understood in the context of the persecution of heretics. The decretal refers to an unreliable witness in court, when heretics are questioned, because the witness has a tendency to heresy. Inquisitorial manuals as well as ecclesiastical and criminal law also show that doubt was never defined a crime.

The persecution of religious deviances was in any case restricted to certain areas, religious trends or jurisdictions—the Abbasid caliphate, the Roman church—and depended on aims, means and ends to carry out persecutions of certain propositions or groups. Jewish communities in the Middle Ages had neither the means nor the strategies to persecute religious deviance violently. Christian minorities in Muslim countries also refrained from systematic persecution of their heretics as it would only have given a pretext for external harassment by secular powers.

The results of one hundred years of modern study of religious persecutions were and are very useful for the history of atheism. The scarcity of positive witnesses for medieval atheism can today no longer be explained by persecution. There is ample proof for deviant propositions which were defended with conviction. Thus a dominant trope of modern literature on atheism, the assumption that medieval atheists did not speak out for fear, can now best be explained by the internal dynamics of the modern atheism discourse mentioned above.

SECULAR LITERATURE

Some of the examples for allegedly unbelieving individuals go back to secular literature like chronicles, sagas, songs, poems and parodies of the Latin Christian world. Since the early Middle Ages stories were told about extremely impious contemporaries, who mocked faith in God in the strongest terms (Prinz 1989). Tales about impious kings and nobles, about simple villagers and fools and, last but not least, about the clergy itself, entertained the public. Some of these accounts were transculturally spread by attaching them to new personages. These texts are often critical of the secular and religious hierarchy and are part of the contemporary discourses on political power and the state of the church. Parodies and comical dialogues clearly serve to amuse, even in a sometimes daring manner. Monastic and pious life did not exclude rude jokes.

While there is every reason to assume that some mighty lords were not very pious, the source value of the narrations is limited because of these critical tendencies. Also the wording is misleading. Philological studies show that the very phrase ‘to deny God’ or ‘not to believe in God’ had a wider meaning in the Middle Ages, comprising ‘to abnegate, to defect’ or ‘not to trust’. The texts on seeming non-believers therefore include a wider range of deviant and disloyal behaviour than the wording suggests. As an example a wilful French knight shall be mentioned, who mutilated two other knights and betrayed their trust in him. Because of this action he is called a cruel enemy of the faith who negates and abjurates God and the faith (Vaux-de-Cerney, 128–32), again regardless of his personal religious convictions. This phrase refers to the Biblical Psalm 14 ‘the fool says in his heart that there is no God’, which mentions a tyrannical person, who does not care for the needs of the weak. Read in the context the fool of the Psalms clearly affirms the existence of a God, but he does not care about his commandments. Thus, the sentence ‘he says in his heart that there is no God’ was often connected with irresponsible and immoral individuals in order to criticize them, even if the narrator clearly knew that the person in question believed in a God (Weltecke 2010: 261).

In secular literature there are also stories narrated about individuals, often about noble men, who were severely tormented by religious doubts. They served as examples of bad human fate and must be interpreted within the context of the respective works where they appear. More of these examples are gathered in spiritual literature, discussed further on.

THEOLOGICAL LITERATURE AND THE CASE OF THE PROOFS

The first medieval thinkers to probe the idea that there is no God were philosophers during the period of the formation of Muslim speculative theology (eighth to tenth centuries). They, for example, recorded disputations between a Muslim and various religious opponents. Some of these adversaries allegedly came forward with the confession that they did not believe in the existence of a God (Chokr 1993: 111ff.; Daiber 1999), often to be convinced of the contrary by the victorious Muslim in the course of the debate. Heresiographers systematically described the propositions of various deviant groups, among them again groups of people who denied that there existed anything outside the tangible world. These groups are sometimes also referred to as ancient philosophers and in general remain rather oblique (Ibn Warrāq in McDermott 1984). The Muslim writers interpreted these propositions not only as aberrant thoughts, but also in ethical terms: they saw them as arrogant philosophy, as moral deficiency, anarchy or madness and folly. The Jewish sage Sa’adyā Gaon also referred to those who did not believe in the existence of God as ignorants or libertines driven by their desires (Sa‘adyā Gaon [933] 1989: 33; Stroumsa 1999: 140). These judgements later also reappear in the Latin world, where the interpretation of atheism as foolishness dominated.

Muslim theological writings of different genres often contained a proof of the existence of God. Muslim and Jewish thinkers also gathered philosophical reasons for the contrary. They then set out to refute these arguments. These demonstrations are often placed at the beginning of their comprehensive works of speculative theology as will be the case later in the Latin world.

There is an on-going controversy among scholars of Islam on the relation between these passages, the adversaries they mention, and the social reality of the time. Crone argues that these works confirm the existence of atheism (2012). Stroumsa stresses the observation that no individual was shown to have held this idea. She rejects the idea that the texts refer to real atheists (Stroumsa 1999: 122–4).

In the European world some arguments of the early Muslim world were repeated some centuries later. At that time the professionalized speculative theologians of the era of the so-called scholasticism (twelfth to fourteenth centuries) composed the proofs of God’s existence. The Latin Masters actively quoted some Arabic scholars. In the tract by Anselm of Canterbury (c. 1033–1109), who started the tradition, the adversary is clearly a theoretical construct ([1078] 1986): again we meet the fool, who speaks in his heart that there is no God (Psalms 14 and 51). This time, the phrase is meant in the literal sense. In form and scope Anselm’s work reaches a new level compared to earlier Christian commentaries to this Psalm. Anselm strives to dispute the thesis that there is no God with rational arguments and without the help of revealed truths. In the following centuries these lines of reasoning form part of the introductions of the great theological works of the masters, which were the obligatory textbooks of the time (Daniels 1909). These broadly read school works were the Summae as well as the commentaries on the Sententiae of Peter the Lombard. One most influential author of a Summa, Thomas Aquinas (c.1225–1274) probed the theistic proposition without mentioning any historical adversary ([1265–1274] 1888–1906: I-I, qu. 2, art. iii). William of Ockham (1285/90–1348), another important master, refers to anonymous contemporaries who doubt that there is a God ([1322–4] 1980: I, 1. 1, p. 2, 27–8).

The proofs did not establish the basis of belief, either in the Arabic or in the Latin treaties. Belief was given by faith. Opponents of Muslim and Latin speculative theology even considered these proofs to be superfluous at best and heretical at worst. In their eyes God surpassed human reasoning. Yet the arguments demonstrated the reliability of the rational method the intellectuals advocated (Stroumsa 1999: 122ff.). Here, too, some modern scholars support the theory that the anonymous non-believers of William of Ockham and the general interest in these demonstrations represent real atheists of the time (Reynolds 1991; Pluta 2011).

However, there are good reasons to assume that those who systematically treated the sentence that there is no God were not the heterodox philosophers. Rather the orthodox theologians themselves developed the argument. One may say, therefore, that beside the ancient traditions one of the main roots of Western atheism is the speculative theology of the Middle Ages. The difference between the medieval world and the modern era is not so much an increase of radicality or validity of the proposition, but rather the fact that at the time none of the Latin masters, neither theologians nor philosophers, took the thought seriously. Consequently, unlike many other propositions (e.g., the eternity of the world), the sentence ‘there is no God’ was never banned from being discussed in the European schools. It could be treated as a sophistic assertion of the same quality as the absurd statement that the Trojan War is still continuing. In this context Siger of Brabant (c.1240–1283) presented the idea that there is no God in his so-called Impossibilia, intended for the training of students in logical disputation ([c.1270s] 1974: 67–97).

A case in point is the pagan interlocutor in a fictitious inter-religious disputation between a Jew, a Christian, and a Muslim by Raimundus Lullus (1232/3–1316). This pagan man, clearly a theoretical construct like Anselm’s fool, is presented as a sad and ignorant fool as long as he has no knowledge of God. Only after being introduced to this basic information by the three religious sages is he designated a ‘wise philosopher ’ (Ramon Lull [c.1270s]). The reception of the materialistic cosmography of Lucretius (c.99–c.55 BCE) in the Latin Middle Ages is another example. Far from ever appearing on black lists the work was copied a few times for monasteries in the early Middle Ages. The work was repeatedly used as a stylistic model, yet was not taken seriously as a cosmological theory. In the scholars’ eyes, Lucretius was simply a poor madman with absurd ideas, who suffered from a terrible life and death (Reeve 2007).

Hugh of St Victor (1096–1141) in Paris explained different levels of faith. On the lowest level the existence of God is recognized (fides cognitionis). On the next levels the divine truth is accepted and actively taken on, the believer entirely trusts his life to God, he now believes in God (Weltecke 2010: 437). An educated man from the schools had at least reached the first level. Knowledge of God distinguished him from ignorant peasants, women, or beasts. Writers occasionally reveal the anxiety that perhaps it was the other way round and the believer might be the fool, yet this apprehension remained an undercurrent. Only at the end of the Middle Ages the tides seem slowly to begin to turn.

Some scholars, like their Muslim counterparts centuries earlier, connect the idea of doubts in belief or in the purposefulness of any religious cult to the arrogance of philosophy as well as to bodily ailments (Hankins 2007). At the occasion of the Council of Constance, 1414–18, Poggio Braccioloni (1380–1459), who, like other humanists, browsed old libraries in search of old manuscripts, visited the monasteries of the region. He came across a manuscript of Lucretius and, while remaining a theist himself, considered the materialist cosmology at least worth studying. A new era began.

RELIGIOUS EDUCATION AND SPIRITUAL CARE

Doubts free of adherence to a heresy were gathered in books used for education and for spiritual edification. One could perhaps also read Sa’adyā Gaon’s Book of Beliefs and Opinions in this context. Sa‘adyā was a sagacious teacher indeed, who took the doubts of students seriously and as one step towards knowledge (Sa‘adyā Gaon [933] 1989: 9–26). At the same time Sa‘adyā polemicized against those who rejected rational inquiring of this kind. Sa’adyā mentions people who seemed not to believe in or to worship any God or Gods (ibid.: 34–5).

Interestingly, he does not dispute the idea that there is no God, but instead refutes the proposition that there are two (ibid.: 37ff.). Dualistic theology in general was the more menacing tendency for monotheists than atheism and thus reappears in polemics and theoretical theology. This was also the case in the Latin world. Ramón Sibiuda (d. 1436) wrote a tract for not professionally trained monks (like Carthusians), nuns and laypeople also covering dualism and many other doubts about orthodox Christian teachings, but not atheism ([1434–6] 1966).

Following early traditions the Latin Christian world conceptualized religious doubts as ‘temptations’, as something which torments the believer with God’s assent to prove his worth. Pope Gregory the Great (c.540–604) wrote about them, and he was widely read in monastic and clerical circles. During the next centuries temptations all in all remained behind the walls of the monasteries and inside the confessors’ chambers. Only at the threshold to the High Middle Ages, the Benedictine Monk Otloh of St Emmeram (c.1010–79) wrote openly about them. Instead of ‘philosopher ’ as a ‘friend of wisdom’ he calls the protagonist of his story a ‘friend of doubts’ (amator dubitationis).

This persona doubts the truth of the Holy Scriptures and the existence of God. His own sad situation and the terrible state of the world seemed plausible arguments (Otloh of St Emmeram [1060s] 1999: 256, 286). A demon seems to susurrate these destabilizing thoughts into his ear. Mention should be made here of a contemporary parallel from the Muslim world. In his philosophical parable ‘Hayy b. Yaqzān’ the Persian scholar Ibn Sina (973/980–1037) also speaks about demons whispering into the ear of humans and taking over their thoughts and their behaviour. They suggest that there is no eternal being that rules in heaven (Ibn Sīnā, § 19, p. 46). Otloh had no knowledge of Ibn Sīnā. Yet the faithful on both sides of the Mediterranean faced similar problems and found similar ways to describe and to conceptualize them. Otloh intended his Liber de Temptatione for novices who suffered like the tempted persona of his narration did. Some modern scholars struggled to accept Otloh’s sentences for what they are, but Otloh is sufficiently explicit about them. Other writers were much more oblique. Edifying self-descriptions by doubters, although written to the present age, are very rare.

More often atheist thoughts are related about others. These stories, edifying exempla, intended for use in the spiritual care, were especially told about unschooled hermits, monks, nuns, and recluses. The religious sincerity and the high morality of these personas were given within the frame of these narrations (not in others) and thus listeners could identify themselves with their struggles.

Another way to interpret atheist thoughts was to declare them as lack of knowledge. When Latin pastors became more interested in the religious state of the lay communities during the central Middle Ages, atheistic feelings among them were noted. One of these acute observers was Peter of Cornwall, the Prior of Holy Trinity in Algate (c.1139–1221). In the preface to a work of his Peter wrote that few people still believed in idols nowadays, but many assumed that there was no God, that the world was eternal and that it was ruled by chance, not by divine providence. Peter interpreted these erroneous convictions as childish ignorance. He claims to confront these doubts with a collection of narrations on visions (Flanagan 2008: 86). A hundred years later Guillaume Peyrault (c.1200–71) also treated the problem of non-belief in his widely read work intended for (not university trained) pastors and for their flock in the cities (Guillaume Peyrault, 46). He explained to them that the belief that there is no God was an utterly foolish proposition. Those who accepted such a theory as true were not even worth a punishment. They needed brains instead of beatings. Four hundred years before Blaise Pascal (1623–62) and 400 years after the first Muslim thinkers (Chokr: 1993: 124) he demonstrated that to believe was the more prudent and the more rational decision. While Guillaume acknowledged the lack of empirical proof he stressed that believing would cause no harm, should it be unfounded. Not to believe, however, could result in an unwelcome surprise in the face of the Divine Judge after death (Guillaume Peyrault, 50–51; Weltecke 2010: 445f).

By regularly asking penitents whether they believed ‘firmly’ as was demanded by the Fourth Lateran Council, confessors became aware of doubts. The situation of confession itself also gave rise to introspection and doubts. As reformers were aware of this correlation they advised parsons not to be too harsh with tormented penitents. However, the theologians did not consider these feelings worthy of theological and philosophical consideration.

As the Latin pastoral reformers tried to systematize acts and thoughts by the communities they developed the received Early Christian categories of vices and virtues since the 13th century. These categories reveal their observations and interpretations. An important category was acedia. Acedia (among other aspects) described a state in which a person’s relation towards faith and the church in general was affected. In this case feelings like strong tedium, dislike of and indifference towards God and everything spiritual accompanied the reluctance to act as one should. Acedia by definition named a pure rejection of and disinterest in faith on an ascending scale. In the middle of the fifteenth century the Augustinian Canon Stephan of Landskron (d. 1477) in Vienna wrote a spiritual work in German for lay people in the cities who were able to read German. His book, The Road to Heaven (hymelstraß), is very mild in its exhortations and easy to read. Talking about acedia he acknowledged feelings and thoughts against the faith which already had become traditional.

According to Stephan, these feelings destroyed one’s internal consent to faith. Yet one should not distress oneself because of such uncontrolled thoughts. Only when a person gave his or her inner consent to this dislike acedia became a capital sin (Stephan von Landskron, f. 102r–102v). This is also the case for those who despised, actively scorned or disturbed the celebration of the sacraments in church because of their irreconcilable aversion (Stephan von Landskron, f. 53r). As a sin acedia was punished with excommunication. In order to obtain penitence one had to ask for it with sincere contrition. According to these writings contrition was not self-understood. Stephan is very aware that his admonitions reached only those who were interested in their spiritual welfare.

In the early Muslim world the theodicy problem was discussed intensively because of the confrontation between monotheist and dualist religions. In Eastern Christian communities the experience of catastrophes led to a theological debate on the theodicy question. In the Latin world the theodicy problem was of no concern for theoretical thought until the New Modern Era. Latin theoreticians relied largely on traditional answers from the Late Antiquity like the Consolatio Philosophiae by Boethius (475/8–c.525). As an answer to why the tyrant was not hindered by the almighty God, Boethius explained that the tyrant might do what he liked but not what he really wished.

The true aim of everything human, he said, was the highest good. The tyrant, however, was never able to reach it. In this respect the oppressor is powerless, in spite of his worldly might. More than 400 manuscripts of this text are extant, many commentaries explain the difficult language. Boethius even provided an influential model for explaining fugacity, felicity and providence. Later writers strove to emulate him and composed consolatory books (Auer 1928). Other philosophical traditions like stoicism taught how to endure injustice. Astrologers explained catastrophes with the laws of nature and the effects of the stars.

When practitioners were confronted with concrete questions concerning Divine Justice in the face of earthly injustices they conceptualized these protests as a vice, the vice of murmur. Numerous examples in the spiritual literature confirm that murmur was something of an ambient noise of medieval Christian life. Many pastors saw murmur during a deadly disease as especially dangerous for the soul and constantly warned against impatience (impatientia) during illness. They acknowledged that on their deathbed some people were afflicted with fury and spoke in their hearts ‘there is no God at all, there is no justice’ (Stephan von Landskron: f. 200v–201r).

CONCLUSION

The medieval period was decisive for the formation of the atheist discourse in two ways. Intensive interreligious debates and the professionalization of theology and philosophy produced rational, philosophically founded polemics against particular religious systems by the different opponents. In the modern world, these arguments were ready to be taken up by critics of any religion. The atheist alternative in the Middle Ages also existed as a thought. Yet it is known to us as a theoretical construct by the orthodox academics themselves. The masters gathered arguments for and against the proposition that there is no God, without ever affirming it themselves. As their debate augmented and surpassed the ancient discussion on atheism and as their treatment was an integral part of any systematic theological tract, one could argue that the scholars were in part also responsible for the emergence of the phenomenon itself. At any rate their debate was also taken up after the year 1500 by critics of religion.

Although there are obvious differences between the established religions’ treatment of the atheistic idea there are also clear parallels. The Latin world even repeated debates some centuries after the early Muslims, albeit not on the same high intellectual level. In general the medieval reactions to the absence of faith are similar among each other and differ from the modern world. In contrast to modern obsessions with the atheism debate, the medieval worlds did not take atheism all too seriously. Instead, religious and secular elites largely considered alternative religious convictions as much more dangerous than no belief at all.

From the extant court records and legal collections it seems that neither religious law nor any concrete forms of persecution were aimed at the persecution of atheists. The reason for the fact that no heterodox philosophers are known who affirmed the atheist idea, was certainly not the fear of persecution. Atheism was considered as an immorality, as a sign of ignorance, or as a spiritual problem. For that reason atheistic feelings among the public were treated with educational means and confessional admonition. Latin Christianity systematized atheistic thoughts as a spiritual problem and as a vice. Finally, to come back to the questions asked in the beginning: did atheism exist in the Middle Ages? The answer will be yes and no: modern atheism developed within a specific discourse, which rests on medieval roots but which started with a radical reshuffle of medieval arguments. There are good sources to argue, however, that there were people who did not believe in the existence of a God or gods.

By Dorothea Weltecke in "The Oxford Handbook of Atheism", edited by Stephen Bullivant & Michael Ruse, Oxford University Press, UK, 2013. Digitalized, adapted and illustrated to be posted by Leopoldo Costa.

There is no knowing what can set people off – even laughing, dancing and kissing are a risk…



1. MARS ATTACKS - WAR OF THE WORLDS

Who could possibly believe a radio adaptation of HG Wells’ alien invasion novel, War of the Worlds, was real? Orson Welles’ broadcast in 1938 used news-style bulletins to great effect, persuading listeners that Martians had landed on the US east coast. Although the panic was not as widespread as newspapers suggested, locals of Grovers Mill, NJ (which had been ‘attacked’), fired at the water tower, believing it to be an alien war machine.



2. JACK THE RIP-OFF - THE HALIFAX SLASHER

For most of November 1938, the people of Halifax, West Yorkshire, lived in fear of a madman. Despite over half-a-dozen reported attacks with a mallet or razor, the ‘Halifax Slasher’ proved so elusive that Scotland Yard had to be called. Then the truth came out – the Slasher did not exist. The victims came forward one by one and admitted to inflicting their wounds themselves, leading to four being imprisoned for public mischief.



3. JITTER BUG - DANCING PLAGUE

In 1518, men, women and children took to the streets of Strasbourg filled by an overpowering desire to dance. That, however, is where any similarity to an uplifting musical number ends. Unable to stop, they twisted and twirled until, their feet bloody, they collapsed from exhaustion or literally danced themselves to death. The cure: more dancing, doctors claimed, would burn off the fever – leading the authorities to build a stage and hire musicians to keep the deadly party going. Two months later, the dancing stopped as suddenly and mysteriously as it began.


4. CAT GOT THE NUN’S TONGUE - FRENCH NUNS START MEOWING

Everyday life for a medieval nun was all about routine and ritual, with little opportunity for excitement. But not in one French convent. It began when a nun suddenly started meowing like a cat. Soon, the moggy madness had spread until everyone would meet for regular sessions of caterwauling. The noise made superstitious local villagers nervous, so soldiers had to be called in and threaten to whip the nuns to get them to stop the feline foolishness.



5. DOOM AND BROOM - SALEM WITCH TRIALS

While hysteria undoubtedly lay at the heart of all of history’s witch hunts, the most notorious display of leaving common sense at the door has to be Salem. When witchcraft was blamed for causing the fits and screaming outbursts of two young girls in early 1692, a deadly cycle of accusations and trials commenced. Those who would not confess to consorting with demons were sentenced to death – 25 residents of the small Massachusetts town died.



6. INFECTIOUS LAUGH - TANGANYIKA LAUGHTER EPIDEMIC

If laughter is the best medicine, this proves it can also be the illness. On 30 January 1962, three girls at a boarding school in Kashasha, Tanganyika (now Tanzania), got the giggles during class. The teacher may have initially scolded them as troublemakers, but the laughter spread. Hysterical fits lasted between a few minutes and 16 days. The school eventually sent the girls home, taking the infection with them. In all, 14 schools had to close.



7. NOT WELL IN HOLLINWELL - THE ‘HOLLINWELL INCIDENT’

Children came from all over the East Midlands to take part in the annual Hollinwell Show in July 1980, hoping to win the brass and marching-band competition. Before they could perform, though, hundreds were struck down by a seemingly contagious bout of fainting spells. “My legs and arms felt as if they had no bones in them,” said one girl. Could pesticides be to blame, or a mass attack of nerves?

8. IT’LL BE ALRIGHT ON THE FRIGHT - THE IRISH FRIGHT

With tensions between Catholics and Protestants at breaking point in 1688, an incident such as the Irish Fright was perhaps inevitable. Rumours circulated that Irish soldiers – supporters of the deposed (and Catholic) James II – planned to pillage their way through England, “putting all before them to fire and sword,” as one bishop put it. Fear of the Irish had become so deeply established that tens of thousands of men across London and at least 19 counties mobilised and prepared for a fight that was never coming.

9. LOOK OUT BELOW - KORO PANIC

Over a couple of months in 1967, nearly 500 Singaporean men – most under the age of 20 – rushed to hospital with the same, unusual concern. They were all found to be suffering from ‘koro’ syndrome, the belief that their genitals were shrinking. These fears, brought about by reports linking koro to eating tainted pork, could only be assuaged by an emergency television conference by the Singapore Medical Association.

10. KISS OF DEATH? - KISSING BUGS HYSTERIA

A “newspaper epidemic” was the best description of the wave of panic across the northeast United States in 1899. On 20 June, James McElhone of The Washington Post claimed ‘kissing bugs’ – so-called for biting people on the lips – posed a plague-like danger. Suddenly, every mark and blemish on the skin looked like a life-threatening bite and, with no credible signs of any bugs, the tales grew increasingly wild. An alleged sufferer claimed to have seen a kissing bug with a head like a rat and two fangs.

Published in "History Revealed", issue 48, November 2017, excerpts 46-47. Digitized, adapted and illustrated to be posted by Leopoldo Costa

Leopoldo Costa

A conhecida pamonha de milho verde de Piracicaba surgiu  na década de 1950, no município do interior de São Paulo que hoje conta com 400.000 habitantes, sendo o 17º mais populoso do estado de São Paulo.

Piracicaba foi fundada em 1767, às margens do rio Piracicaba. A agricultura desenvolveu-se no município, com destaque para o cultivo da cana-de-açúcar e do café. Contudo, ainda na primeira metade do século XX, a cidade entrou em decadência. Com o fim do ciclo do café e a queda constante de preços do açúcar, a economia piracicabana estagnou-se. Isso foi revertido a partir do início de sua industrialização, chegando a ser o 52º maior PIB brasileiro em 2012.

O puro creme do milho (pamonha) que atravessou fronteiras e fez a fama do município de Piracicaba, entre as décadas de 60 e 80. O creme de milho é adoçado com açúcar cristal e cozido em uma embalagem da própria palha do milho. As pamonhas de Piracicaba já são parte da cultura popular brasileira e, atualmente, existem projetos para exportar para outros países.

As irmãs Vasthy e Noemi Rodrigues foram as divulgadoras do produto, pois, em Goiás, a bastante tempo,já se produzia um tipo diferente de pamonha. Tudo começou em meados da década de 50, quando as duas decidiram fazer e vender a pamonha para ajudar no sustento da família, face às dificuldades financeiras. No começo, a dona de casa Vasthy fazia 200 pamonhas por dia que ela mesma vendia de porta em porta. Vendia num cesto que ela carregava o produto pelas ruas que logo ficou pequeno. A saída foi acomodar as pamonhas em um carroça puxada por cavalo. Com o sucesso conquistado pelo sabor e qualidade, logo surgiram pessoas interessadas em vender a pamonha e as irmãs puderam aumentar a produção. Já na década de 60, elas compravam roças inteiras de milho.

O auge da fama das pamonhas de Vasthy e Noemi ocorreu na década de 70. Além dos vendedores de rua, começaram a surgir os pamonheiros com suas Kombis equipadas com amplificadores para anunciar o produto. A famosa gravação “Pamonha, pamonha, pamonha de Piracicaba” foi feita pelo vendedor Dirceu Bigelli que se destacava pelo forte sotaque caipira e logo ganhou popularidade junto à clientela. Vasthy produziu pamonha até sua morte em 1983. A família não conseguiu manter a qualidade das pamonhas, a procura decaiu, e pouco tempo depois as máquinas foram paradas e colocadas à venda. Dirceu Bigelli ainda continuou vendendo pamonhas, adquiridas de outras pessoas que entraram no mercado, e só parou em 1990, quando sofreu um acidente de carro e faleceu.

Está sendo montada uma moderna fábrica de pamonhas que ocupa uma área de 500 metros quadrados.  Visa atender os pequenos produtores da região. A linha de produção terá um despolpador que fará a retirada do milho das espigas e a moagem dos grãos, transformando-os em um creme. A segunda máquina é o formulador, responsável pela mistura do milho moído, água e açúcar, que são os ingredientes da pamonha. O terceiro equipamento é o envasador, desenvolvido com um sistema de válvulas que determinarão a quantidade do creme com um volume padrão para cada palha que envolve a pamonha. A linha de produção é finalizada com máquinas automatizadas para a costura de fechamento da palha. Em seguida, o produto será disposto em gaiolas com um sistema de guincho para que sejam mergulhadas nos tachos de cocção para o cozimento.

From long braids to powdered wigs and pixie cuts, discover how hairstyle trends have changed throughout time.

1. WIGGING OUT (1550-300 BCE)
Both Ancient Egyptian men and women shaved their heads entirely and wore elaborate and heavy wigs instead. Archaeologists have discovered combs inside the tombs of those from the elite circles of society.



2. CLASSIC CURLS (800-500 BCE)
Greek women curled their long hair using bronze rods heated over a fire and wore updos adorned with flowers and gold powder. The length of a woman’s hair indicated her social status while men either shaved or kept their hair short with facial beards.

3. ALL HAIR LEADS TO ROME (500 BCE-400CE)
False hairpieces, made from slave hair, created long, thick hair that was elaborately decorated to indicate wealth. Hairnets and veils were also popular accessories for women while men began to abandon their beards.

4. BRAIDED TRESSES (MEDIEVAL AGE)
Women wore long, braided hair decorated with ribbons and thread, which they covered with hats and veils if they were married. The pageboy hairstyle became popular among men along with the clean-shaven look.



5. PLUCKING AWAY (16th CENTURY)
Plucking one’s forehead was all the rage when women sought to emulate Queen Elizabeth I’s look, complete with ornate headdresses. When the queen began to lose her hair and resorted to wigs, their popularity soared.

6. REACHING NEW HEIGHTS (1700-1800s)
The hairstyles of French women, particularly the ‘pouf’, became so tall and extravagant that padding and wire structures were necessary to keep them supported. Powdered white wigs were popular with men.

7. SOPHISTICATED STYLE (19th CENTURY)
Victorian women loved upswept, romantic styles with curly hair or tight ringlets, more elegant and demure than the previous century. Facial hair made a comeback for men with moustaches, sideburns and beards.

8. DARE TO BE DIFFERENT (1920)
Women rebelled against social expectations by cutting their hair short, with styles like the bob popularised by Hollywood actresses. Brylcreem hit the market and led to men adopting smooth, comb-backed hair.


9. HOLLYWOOD HAIR (1930/1940)
Hollywood actresses such as Rita Hayworth sported long, soft curls, which quickly caught on with the public. Factory workers began to wear bandanas and other accessories to prevent getting their hair caught in the machinery.

10. KEEP IT SHORT (1960s)
Women rejected time consuming hairstyles for short ones like the pixie cut or the inverted bob. The Beatles’ mop-top style made long hair fashionable for men again.



11. TURN UP THE VOLUME (1970s)
Long, voluminous, sun-kissed hair with a centre parting was all the rage thanks to actress Farrah Fawcett. African-American men and women embraced their natural hair with the Afro hairstyle.

12. ECCENTRIC GLAM (1980s)
Perms took centre stage for women’s hair alongside copious amounts of teasing and hairspray. As for men, it was business in the front, party in the back as the mullet hairstyle arrived on the scene.

13. LAYERED LOCKS (1990s)
Reacting against the excess of the 1980s, super-sleek, straight, layered hair and natural, unkempt styles were all the rage with the arrival of the minimalist and grunge movements.

14. BLAST FROM THE PAST (2000s TO PRESENT)
Hairstyles have become more free and experimental than ever before with lots of different cuts and colours for both men and women. Vintage trends from the past century have resurged once again but most have come with a modern twist.

Written by David Crookes, Catherine Curzon, Lucy Kyselica and Jessica Legget in "All About History", UK, issue 058, February 2018, excerpts pp. 15-17. Digitized, adapted and illustrated to be posted by Leopoldo Costa.

Freyr and Freyja, by Richard Pace

Discover the role of women in Viking society, their relationship with religion and their devotion to one Norse goddess in particular.

From the one-eyed god Odin to his hammer-wielding son, the thunder god Thor, Norse mythology is full of colourful deities. They were an integral part of the Old Norse religion, paganism, which was displaced in Scandinavia by the end of the 12th century with the arrival of Christianity. However, out of all of them, there was one pagan deity whose popularity continued to rise after Christianisation: Freyja. Devotion to her remained strong among Norse women despite Christian attempts to stamp out her popularity. Freyja, along with her brother Freyr, was the child of Njörd and his sister, whose name remains unknown. She was married to Oðr and together they had two daughters, Hnoss and Gersemi, although Oðr’s eventual disappearance leaves Freyja heartbroken. She is the goddess of love, sexuality, fertility, magic, war and death, portrayed in Norse mythology as a strong and independent deity, especially after the disappearance of her husband.

The majority of the information regarding Freyja comes from the 13th-century Icelandic sagas, most prominently in the Prose Edda by Snorri Sturluson, who refers to her as “the most renowned of the goddesses.” If there is one thing that can be assured, it is that Freyja was definitely a goddess who was not to be messed with. For example, when the giant Thrym stole Thor’s hammer, Mjölnir, he agreed to return it on the condition that Freyja was given to him as his wife.

While Thor and the other gods were ready to cede to these demands, Freyja was left outraged and refused to cooperate. As a result, Thor was be Freyja, to trick Thrym in order to regain his hammer. To the giants, Freyja was an object of lust and desire and was subject to their various plots and schemes to trap her into a marriage, as mentioned in the sagas.

Freyja’s ability to refuse these marriages reflects the real-life situation of Norse women. Despite the image of brutish and forceful men that may be conjured up when thinking of the Vikings, Norse women generally couldn’t be forced into a marriage against their will. Marriage was seen as an arrangement between families to build social alliances with each other, rather than as an institution of love. A male relative, usually her father or her brother, represented the bride during the marriage negotiations.

A happy marriage was in everyone’s best interests as it was a financial investment. The bride’s family were compensated for the loss of her labour, known as the bride-price, and the groom took her dowry. It was good practice to seek a bride’s approval of her future husband —an unhappy match could lead to divorce, ending the alliance that had been built.

Surprisingly, divorce was a relatively easy affair for the Vikings, for both men and women. Wives had the same rights as their husbands to end their marriage and they were often the ones to initiate a divorce. A woman could request a divorce if she caught her husband wearing feminine clothing and, in turn, he could divorce her if she wore masculine clothing. In some cases, a marriage could be ended if a wife and her husband had not slept together for three years or, quite simply, because the couple were unhappy.

The most popular reason that was cited in the sagas for divorce was violence — if a man slapped his wife three times in front of witnesses, she could go for a divorce. Compared to modern court proceedings, Norse couples simply had to state their reasons in front of witnesses before it was officially confirmed. The division of property was also an easy process as each party essentially left the marriage with what was originally theirs.

Although Norse women had a substantial level of independence when it came to marriage, they were still in an inferior position compared to the men in their society. It is easy, with sagas depicting tales of Freyja, shield maidens and strong, fierce women, to fall into the wishful trap that women held in a far more superior position than would be expected of the time. Regardless of her greater freedom in terms of marriage, a Norse woman’s role was primarily to manage the household and the farm, particularly.

if her husband was away. Even in circumstances where a woman held some form of political power, perhaps because of her wealth, she was still responsible for the running of the home. That being said, it was also women who held absolute authority when it came to the household and so they still exercised influence in this way.

The situation was slightly different for widows, especially those of a high status. These women had the right to marry whoever they wished and could distribute their wealth however they saw fit. It was not uncommon for aristocratic widows to be able to support themselves as women held the right to inherit property and land. A woman who was mistress of her own property, or owned her own estate, was known as ‘the lady of the house’ in reference to Freyja, whose name literally meant ‘the lady’, in honour of her popularity.

Along with running the household, a woman was also expected to provide her husband with children. For this reason, sacrifices to Freyja formed part of the wedding ceremony in the hope that the goddess would bless the newlywed couple with fertility. The sacrifice was usually a sow, the animal associated with Freyja.

She would also be called upon during childbirth, which was a dangerous and uncertain experience for Norse women. It was hoped that she would protect the mother and child, ensuring that the birth would go smoothly. As Freyja was known for her unbridled sexuality, it is unsurprising that she was worshipped for her role in fertility. At one point, it brought her into conflict with Thor’s brother, Loki, after he accused her of wanton and incestuous behaviour in Lokasenna, one of the poems from the Poetic Edda.

Such faith was held in Freyja that women are believed to have taken part in numerous fertility rituals dedicated to her, which managed even after the adoption of Christianity. It is difficult to get to grips with the process of pagan worship, thanks to the lack of contemporary sources that are available today. Indeed there are the sagas where a large proportion of the information regarding Norse mythology derives from, but they were composed in the 13th century, some 200 years after the conversion to Christianity, and for the most part are inaccurate.

This also creates another problem, as the men who wrote the sagas typically failed to pay much attention to the subject of female worship — so how do we know that Norse women continued to worship Freyja after the decline in paganism? Well, there are a number of places, particularly in Sweden, which we know have names derived from or that are associated with Freyja. To choose names in honour of her is a testament to the goddess’ continuing importance in Norse society and to Norse women as a deity of fertility.

Worship of Freyja was certainly at odds with Christianity. Not only was she a lingering reminder of paganism, but also her sexually vivacious reputation went against the Christian ideal of a chaste woman. Young lovers would call upon her to support their affairs while women continued to look to her for matters on love and fertility.

Freyja was said to enjoy love poetry and, as a result, it soon became illegal under the new religion as Christians began to target the freewilled goddess and her popularity. For this reason, it is surprising to learn that the majority of Norse women actually embraced Christianity, despite its use of patriarchal oppression.

For Norse women, Christianity actually offered them some really appealing options that paganism could not. Most notably, it denounced infanticide — a practice that was used frequently among the Vikings, especially towards female infants.

It has been suggested that this is the reason for the lack of female remains discovered in Scandinavia that date back to the Viking Age, with the exception of Birka, Sweden, where the number of female graves outnumbers the men’s. For any Norse mother, the thought of a religion protecting her children from harm would have surely encouraged her conversion.

Another reason that women accepted Christianity so easily was its promise to give them a better afterlife. Valhalla, the hall of Odin, was not accessible to women after death as it was the destination for those who had died in battle.

There is no explicit evidence that clarifies where Norse women were expected to go once they had died. However, going by the graves of Norse women, who were usually buried with jewellery and household tools, it can be assumed that they did expect to enter the afterlife. It left them with one option: the realm of Hel.

Hel was a dark, dreary and depressing place, not exactly the dream place for women to spend their afterlife. It is hardly any wonder that women turned to Christianity in the hope that one day they would reach something better.

Speaking of the afterlife, it is interesting to note that although she was a deity of stereotypically feminine attributes, Freyja also played a key role as the goddess of war and death. As told in the Eddic poems, she got to choose half of the warriors who were slain in battle to enter her hall, Sessrúmnir, on the field of Fólkvangr, while Odin received the rest.

Judging by Egil’s Saga, it has also been assumed that perhaps women believed they could also go to Freyja in the afterlife. Egil’s daughter, Thorgerd, threatened to starve herself to death when her father refused to eat after the death of his son. She declared, “I have had no evening meal, nor will I do so until I join Freyja.” Does this imply that women could hope for an afterlife with the goddess? Unfortunately there is little information out there, besides Egil’s Saga, to suggest that Norse women could go to Freyja after death.

Considering existing evidence, it is generally assumed that while those killed in battle went to the halls of Freyja and Odin, everyone else went to Hel. This leads to the conundrum of female warriors, also known as shield maidens.

Whether women actually held roles in the military continues to provoke heated debates, particularly when it comes down to recent archaeological findings, with arguments for and against. If women did indeed fight as warriors, it is certainly worth thinking about whether they would have been allowed to enter Freyja’s hall, or even Odin’s, on the basis of their profession rather than their sex.

Despite the advantages for women adopting Christianity, their devotion to Freyja continued, if the sagas are to be believed. It was said that out of all of the Norse gods, Freyja became the last living deity after the death of her brother. She continued to perform sacrificial ceremonies, increasing her popularity with her worshippers.

As Christianity tightened its grip across Scandinavia, Freyja gradually became assimilated into Scandinavian folkore. Although the role of Norse women in society and religion changed as paganism began to fade, it seems that there was still some focus on the traditional mythology and worship of the fertility goddess.

Written by Jessica Legget in "All About History", UK, issue 058, February 2018, excerpts pp. 66-71. Digitized, adapted and illustrated to be posted by Leopoldo Costa.