The pontiffs of pagan Rome, men of exquisite delicacy and matured taste, caused oysters to be served at every repast.[XXI-219] This little piece of epicurism was very expensive, and it was necessary for these grave personages to carry the whole of the devotion which characterized them in their love of good cheer to the highest degree, to dare eat of a dish still uncommon a century before the Christian era. At this epoch a _borriche_ (a sort of basket) of oysters was worth one hundred sesterces (£9).[XXI-220] It is unnecessary to remark that the poor never tasted them. The Greeks and Romans, like ourselves, were remarkably fond of this delicious shell fish, and eat them (French fashion) at the beginning of a banquet.[XXI-221] For this reason Athenian epicures called oysters “the gastronomic prelude to the supper.”[XXI-222] They were often served raw,[XXI-223] and were then dexterously opened by a slave on the table,[XXI-224] in presence of the guests, whose experienced eyes greedily sought the light purple net which, according to them, surrounds the fattest and best.[XXI-225] The inhabitants of Italy preferred large oysters,[XXI-226] and exacted that this dainty manna of the sea[XXI-227] should be always fresh and abundant at their feasts.[XXI-228] This displayed wisdom on their part: this delightful fish excites the appetite and facilitates digestion.[XXI-229] To add to its delicate flavour, the “Roman club of epicureans,” a useful association, which modern Europe envies antiquity, caused to be sent from Spain, at a vast expense, that precious garum,[XXI-230] the recipe of which seems to have been lost, and the condiment itself forgotten by the whole of the Peninsula. The magiric genius of Rome did not hesitate to demonstrate that oysters do not form an exception to the law of perfectibility which governs all beings, and that it is possible to render their flesh more succulent and delicate by transporting them from their damp cradle into reservoirs exposed to the mild influence of the sun.[XXI-231] Sergius Orata or, perhaps, Fulvius Hirpinus, was the first who received this happy inspiration. He caused to be constructed, near Pouzzole, a short time before the civil war of Pompey, a fishpond, where be stowed oysters, which he fattened with paste and cooked wine worked into the consistence of honey[XXI-232]--_sapa et farre_. This worthy Roman enriched himself by the sale of them,[XXI-233] and bequeathed a name to posterity--a two-fold happiness for the gastronomist Fulvius, whose good fortune the poet Homer did not partake.