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Julius Caesar’s Beer

History tells us that Julius Caesar was stabbed in the back by Brutus in 44 BC. If everyone had just been a little patient, Caesar’s passion for a mug of beer would have killed him off without the mess of the Ides of March stabbing. In fact it was probably the Roman passion for a good beer that killed off the entire Empire.

The Beer-Related Death of Caesar?
It wasn’t the actual beer that would have killed the Roman ruler, it was his lead-laced beer mug. Roman brewers used a variety of earthenware containers to store and serve their beer. The pottery and glaze were lead based. The risk to the beer drinker would increase based on the amount of beer consumed or the age of the brew.

If Brutus had waited a little longer, Julius Caesar could have literally drunk himself to death by lead poisoning, which was very common in the years of the Roman Empire (from 753 BC until around 476 AD) The Romans used lead in a large number of products. Roman women had lead-based cosmetics. When their faces became damaged from the makeup, they would apply more cosmetics to cover up the damage.

The Beer-Related Fall of Rome
Beer could have caused the fall of the Roman Empire because it probably led many Romans to settle in lands far away from Rome, leaving the heart of the empire unprotected against ravaging barbarians.

Julius Caesar is known for his military conquests. He gained much prestige in his military campaigns in the province of Gaul (present-day France) before he appointed himself dictator, and later throughout Europe and Asia. In the time of Caesar, Roman legions wandered far and wide conquering lands to expand the Roman Empire.

The legions were rumored to be able to march for days while only consuming water and a hardtack. No recipes for this bread have survived, nor has anyone been able to reproduce a similar bread based on Roman ingredients. One can only imagine that barley and wheat would have been hardtack’s main ingredients, with maybe a little honey and water.

It’s no coincidence that beer is sometimes referred to as liquid bread. If you were a thirsty legionnaire between towns, wouldn’t you experiment with your rations? The tack was probably unleavened, so all a legionnaire with ingenuity needed was a little yeast (wild yeast) and a lot of luck.

The legion did a lot of marching and that makes a fellow thirsty, so a lot of beer would be needed. Hardtack would undoubtedly not suffice. Beer could not travel well, and hops had not yet been introduced as a preservative. It was easier to store and transport the grains than to move around large quantities of beer, so brewers followed along with the march.

For the local brewery to be able to supply the garrison with its favorite beer, a supply of grain would be needed. This could be taken from the military stores, but those would run short. A local crop of grain would be harvested or expropriated.

As the Roman Empire grew, the nobility created vast estates in the newly acquired territories. More and more forests were cleared to cultivate grain. Two of the first crops planted were wheat and barley. One week after the harvest, the first batch of fresh beer would be served.

Meanwhile, legionnaires often stayed behind to settle in newly conquered areas. After all, put yourself in their sandals. If your term in the legion were up, would you march back to Rome or would you stay where you were? What does Rome have to offer that you haven’t got right here? There are plenty of women around. (It is no surprise that brewmasters traditionally were woman — it was well known then that the way to a Roman’s heart was through his stomach.)

Besides, the Empire is being constantly harassed by hoards of barbarians, whereas the locals have surrendered and you have your eye on a baker who shares your passion for creating gastronomic delights with a little grain, yeast, sugar, and water.

You could go into business together and open a tavern that served fresh beer and breads — the two main ingredients in the Roman diet. A lot of the same equipment would be used. The need for a source of fuel, ingredients, and a work space are similar. Because the baker uses the kitchen earlier in the day, the brewer has a bit more room to work later. You could leave Rome behind and share your lives and ingredients together.

Which is exactly what a lot of people did. When push came to shove, there were not enough soldiers to protect Rome from the barbarians. They were all sitting in little country pubs far away from the heart of the Empire in Italy, sharing a crock of beer with a friend.

Roman Beer
Fresh water is one of the vital ingredients for a good beer. Roman communities had fresh running water, which was brought in from vast distances through their viaducts. It was piped in to public fountains and the homes of the rich. In fact during times of drought, the water department would reduce the flow of water to the public first before the supply to the rich would be affected, and even the rich took a backseat to beer.

Breweries would be located upstream from the community and the flow of water would not be reduced. Too many taxes would be lost by cutting off the supply of water to such valuable and essential businesses.

Created with the water and local grains, wort would be cooked in a large copper pot.

Then it was transferred to a clay pot. Because yeast’s role in beer making was not fully understood until just a few decades ago, the pot was left to sit open in the hope that the goddess of beer (and wine) would kiss it and make it start to ferment.

The use of central heating in Roman homes would make the production of beer easy to control. The floors were heated, so a clay pot sitting over an open vent would be warmed directly on the bottom. Of course most breweries were located in areas of the countryside where the natural climate was ideal for the production of beer.

The equipment used to make beer and wine has not changed much since the Romans introduced the screw press, which is used even today for crushing grapes. Many modern brewers are using methods and equipment that have been handed down through the generations. Clay crock pots (primary fermenters) like those used by the Romans (minus the lead, of course) will always be with us. Modern airlocks, yeasts, and cleansers have been added to the brewer’s list of supplies, simple improvements on classic techniques.

The Romans, like the Greeks and Egyptians before them, were constantly trying to improve their brewing and vinification (wine-making) techniques. In ancient times brewing knowledge and techniques would be part of the secret society of brewers. To learn the craft Romans would work in a guild or family that held the secrets of the brew. While the brewers themselves were well known in the community, the knowledge of how to make a good beer was not shared with the public or even within the brewing community. It was important that the competition not find out the brewer’s trade secrets.

Although the secrecy may have led one brewer to covet another’s method, not much was known about the science of making beer. When it came to making a beer, the Romans used the techniques and equipment that worked the last time and relied on locally grown ingredients. Therefore, each town’s beer had a unique taste and appeal.

Issue: March 1997