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Quintus Fulvius Lippinus, Fulvius Lippinus for short (aka Fulvius Hirpinius) was an enterprising Roman farmer from the first century BC. He lived in the Roman region of Tarquinia, today's Italian Tuscany. His dealings are described in the Rerum rusticarum libri III by Marcus Terentius Varro, and a century later in Pliny the Elder's Naturalis Historia .
Fulvius Lippinus owned a domain of forty jugera in the vicinity of Tarquinia, a large domain in Statona, and some domains elsewhere. In these areas he had farms where methods were developed for keeping game such as hares, deer, and wild sheep. Lippinus was the first Roman to create game parks for keeping wild boar and pig, among others
However, Lippinus gained most fame by keeping and breeding snails. He built the first parks in Tarquinia, shortly before the civil war broke out between Pompey and Cæsar. With the construction and exploitation of these so-called cochlearia, Fulvius Lippinus was the first (documented) snail farmer in history. The cochlearia were parks surrounded by a water channel, to prevent the escape of the snails parked in there. These parks were equipped with an irrigation system that was the predecessor of the current agricultural sprinkler system: water pipes with a rose-shaped head were placed against a surface in such fashion that the water burst into a fine mist and thus provided the snails with the necessary moisture. Lippinus had a separate park for each snail species, each of which was marketed for its specific qualities. For example, he had small white snails from nearby Reate, large snails from Illyricum, medium-sized snails from Africa, and particularly large snails, also from Africa, the so-called Solitannae, which were very prolific.
Lippinus fed the snails with its own developed formula based on boiled wine, flour, and herbs. The snails would thrive on this diet. Pliny the Elder claimed that some snails grew so large that their houses could contain up to 80 quadrants.
With his innovative ideas for cooking snails, he also took Roman gastronomy to the next level: in preparation he would first lock the snails with milk, salt and bread in a jar with air holes for a few days, with the milk being changed daily and refreshed. As soon as the snails had swollen to the point of no longer being able to retreat to their homes, they were fried in oil or grilled on the fire and served with herbs and sauces.
Consuming escargot would initially only be popular among the wealthy Romans. But Lippinus' methods were so successful that he eventually had to import his snails from all corners of the world to meet the growing demand from Rome. He must have been a real entrepreneur, because he even set up a ferry service to deliver regularly from Sardinia, Sicily, Capri, and the Spanish and North African coasts. He was so successful in his endeavors that others, including the well-known Romans Lucius Lucullus and Quintus Hortensius, would follow his example.
The idea of fresh snails apparently caught on, as many Roman citizens began growing snails at home, and the cochlerium became a common sight not only in Rome, but throughout the Roman Empire.
Thanks to Lippinus, escargot found its place in the ancient Roman kitchen around the start of the era. Pliny the Younger treated his visitors at home with an exclusive menu composed of "a leaf of lettuce, three snails, two eggs, spelled mixed with honey, and snow", a recipe from Lippinus. His recipes even were echoed in De re coquinaria, the cookbook by Marcus Gavius Apicius, published during the first century.
This article is at its inception a translation from the Dutch Wikipedia article Quintus Fulvius Lippinus
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Marcus Terentius Varro was a Roman polymath and a prolific author. He is regarded as ancient Rome's greatest scholar, and was described by Petrarch as "the third great light of Rome". He is sometimes called Varro Reatinus to distinguish him from his younger contemporary Varro Atacinus.
The gens Fulvia, originally Foulvia, was one of the most illustrious plebeian families at ancient Rome. Members of this gens first came to prominence during the middle Republic; the first to attain the consulship was Lucius Fulvius Curvus in 322 BC. From that time, the Fulvii were active in the politics of the Roman state, and gained a reputation for excellent military leaders.
The gens Licinia was a celebrated plebeian family at ancient Rome, which appears from the earliest days of the Republic until imperial times, and which eventually obtained the imperial dignity. The first of the gens to obtain the consulship was Gaius Licinius Calvus Stolo, who, as tribune of the plebs from 376 to 367 BC, prevented the election of any of the annual magistrates, until the patricians acquiesced to the passage of the lex Licinia Sextia, or Licinian Rogations. This law, named for Licinius and his colleague, Lucius Sextius, opened the consulship for the first time to the plebeians. Licinius himself was subsequently elected consul in 364 and 361 BC, and from this time, the Licinii became one of the most illustrious gentes in the Republic.
De agri cultura, written by Cato the Elder, is the oldest surviving work of Latin prose. Alexander Hugh McDonald, in his article for the Oxford Classical Dictionary, dated this essay's composition to about 160 BC and noted that "for all of its lack of form, its details of old custom and superstition, and its archaic tone, it was an up-to-date directed from his own knowledge and experience to the new capitalistic farming." Cato was revered by many later authors for his practical attitudes, his natural stoicism and his tight, lucid prose. He is much quoted by Pliny the Elder, for example, in his Naturalis Historia.
The gens Terentia was a plebeian family at ancient Rome. Dionysius mentions a Gaius Terentius Arsa, tribune of the plebs in 462 BC, but Livy calls him Terentilius, and from inscriptions this would seem to be a separate gens. No other Terentii appear in history until the time of the Second Punic War. Gaius Terentius Varro, one of the Roman commanders at the Battle of Cannae in 216 BC, was the first to hold the consulship. Members of this family are found as late as the third century AD.
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The gens Modia was a minor family at Ancient Rome, known from a small number of individuals.
The gens Cossinia was a plebeian family at Rome. The gens originated at Tibur, and came to Rome early in the first century BC. None of its members ever obtained the higher offices of the state.
The gens Fundania was a plebeian family at Ancient Rome, which first appears in history in the second half of the third century BC. Although members of this gens occur well into imperial times, and Gaius Fundanius Fundulus obtained the consulship in BC 243, the Fundanii were never amongst the more important families of the Roman state.
Antigonus of Cumae in Asia Minor was an ancient Greek writer on agriculture, who is referred to by Pliny, Varro, and Columella, but whose age is unknown.
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The gens Laenia was a minor family at Rome during the first century BC. It is remembered chiefly from two individuals, one a friend of Varro, the other of Cicero. Both had houses at Brundisium, suggesting either that the family came from that region, or that the individuals mentioned were closely related.
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The gens Seia was a minor plebeian family of equestrian rank at ancient Rome. Members of this gens are first mentioned in the time of Cicero, and a few of them held various magistracies under the late Republic and into imperial times.
Snails are considered edible in certain areas such as the Mediterranean region, Africa, or Southeast Asia, while in other cultures it is considered as taboo food. In American English, edible land snails are also called escargot, taken from the French word for 'snail', and the production of snails for consumption is called snail farming or heliciculture. Snails as food date back to ancient times, with numerous cultures around the world having traditions and practices that attest to their consumption.
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The gens Ticinia was an obscure plebeian family at ancient Rome. Almost no members of this gens are mentioned in history, but a few are known from inscriptions.
The gens Turrania, occasionally written Turania or Tyrannia, was a minor plebeian family at ancient Rome. Members of this gens are first mentioned in the time of Varro, but none of them ever rose any higher than the praetorship.