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Precious Commodities in Antiquity
The first spice expeditions were organized in
ancient times to ensure that these coveted commodities
would always be in supply. Legend has it that
around 1000 B.C. Queen Sheba visited King Solomon
in Jerusalem to offer him "120 measures of
gold, many spices, and precious stones."
A handful of cardamom was worth as much as a poor
man's yearly wages, and many slaves were bought
and sold for a few cups of peppercorns.
Arab traders were
the first to introduce spices into Europe. Realizing
that they controlled a commodity in great demand,
the traders kept their sources of supply secret
and made up fantastic tales of the dangers involved
in obtaining spices.
At the crossroads
of land trade from India and sea trade from the
Mediterranean, spices played a huge role in Phoenician
trade. The Phoenicians were expert merchants and
smooth navigators; so much so that at the end
of the 14th century B.C., spices were called "Phoenician
merchandise." These slick middlemen knew
how to offer their services to kings as well as
pharaohs in order to extend their supply sites
and possibly pave the way to India.
But spices' origins
remained a mystery, despite the fact that, in
the 4th century B.C., the great conqueror Alexander
the Great lifted a part of the veil of this mysterious,
magical India where, as Herodotus wrote, "cinnamon
grows in deep lakes, near the homes of flying
animals."
Pepper
Reigns in the Roman Empire
The Roman Empire, whose boundaries progressively
extended from one side of the Mediterranean to
the other, couldn't ignore these bewitching spices.
Cleopatra herself used a "very stimulating"
food to seduce Caesar. Huge quantities of saffron
were strewn on the streets of Rome to celebrate
Nero's entrance into the city.
The reputed excesses
of ancient Roman food consumption were apparent
in the wide variety of seasonings used in the
meals of the rich. Pepper, the Roman spice of
choice, was as omnipresent as garum (a fish-based
sauce) on the Roman tables. Without a doubt, spices
had become status symbols.
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