In the early preparation of olives in order to remove the bitterness, they were soaked in water, which was renewed from time to time, sometimes hot water being used. The olives, after draining, were then held in brine. The green olives as well as the mature and black were used. The Romans exercised the greatest care in their preparation, and introduced refinements, by not only removing the bitterness, but by causing them to acquire various flavors through infusion in solutions containing aromatic substances. One of their methods for the preparation of green olives consisted in adding roasted salt to the olives after a preliminary soaking in hot water, then covering them with grape must, boiled wine, or honey water, and to this solution were added fennel, mint, and lentiscus seed. Fennel was used as a tampon to keep the olives immersed. A simpler method was to use vinegar with the brine. Sometimes the olives were beaten to facilitate the action, but this caused discoloration, which was avoided by making cuts in them. The brine was replaced by oil as a preserving liquid. Another method was to put the olives with the aromatics in the brine at the start, then they were removed, crushed lightly, and put in a mixture of oil, vinegar, and honey, to which were added leek, celery, mint, and sometimes rue. The rue was supposed to be most efficacious in bringing out the natural flavor, and was most prized. The mature olives were first put in brine for 30 to 40 days, then put in the preserving liquid with the aromatics. Olives prepared in the ways indicated were known as “Colymbades”. A form of conserve made by the ancients, and to which the name “Epityrum” was given, consisted in taking green, mature, or black fruit, though, as in the former, the green were preferred, and drying them in the shade, after which they were put in baskets, and crushed in a press. The crushed fruit was then put in vessels, sprinkled with salt, and had mixed with it lentiscus seed and minced leaves of fennel and rue, and was finally covered with oil.