Barley is one of the most ancient aliments of man, a fact that is proved by a custom of the Athenians, mentioned by Menander,[144] as also by the name of “hordearii,”[145] that used to be given to gladiators. The Greeks, too, prefer barley to anything else for making polenta.[146] This food is made in various ways: in Greece, the barley is first steeped in water, and then left a night to dry. The next day they parch it, and then grind it in the mill. Some persons parch it more highly, and then sprinkle it again with a little water; after which they dry it for grinding. Others shake the grain from out of the ear while green, and, after cleaning and soaking it in water, pound it in a mortar. They then wash the paste in baskets, and leave it to dry in the sun; after which they pound it again, clean it, and grind it in the mill. But whatever the mode of preparation adopted, the proportions are always twenty pounds of barley to three pounds of linseed,[147] half a pound of coriander, and fifteen drachmæ[148] of salt: the ingredients are first parched, and then ground in the mill. Those who want it for keeping, store it in new earthen vessels, with fine flour and bran. In Italy, the barley is parched without being steeped in water, and then ground to a fine meal, with the addition of the ingredients already mentioned, and some millet as well. Barley bread, which was extensively used by the ancients, has now fallen into universal disrepute, and is mostly used as a food for cattle only. CHAP. 15.—PTISAN. With barley, too, the food called ptisan[149] is made, a most substantial and salutary aliment, and one that is held in very high esteem. Hippocrates, one of the most famous writers on medical science, has devoted a whole volume to the praises of this aliment. The ptisan of the highest quality is that which is made at Utica; that of Egypt is prepared from a kind of barley, the grain of which grows with two points.[150] In Bætica and Africa, the kind of barley from which this food is made is that which Turranius calls the “smooth”[151] barley: the same author expresses an opinion, too, that olyra[152] and rice are the same. The method of preparing ptisan is universally known. CHAP. 16.—TRAGUM. In a similar manner, too, tragum is prepared from seed[153] wheat, but only in Campania and Egypt. CHAP. 17.—AMYLUM.