Appetite for Mazzards: Referencing History in the Pliny’s HN 15. 102

Abstract

The following analysis concerns Pliny’s excursus on mazzard (sweet cherry) cultivation in Rome in the Book 15 of the Historia naturalis. Pliny links their introduction and spread to the conquests of the Roman army under the command of illustrious general and bon vivant L. Licinius Lucullus. The confrontation of Pliny’s narrative with other sources, as well as with the findings of contemporary researchers, indicate that Lucullus could not have been the first discoverer of the mazzard and the chronological information Pliny gives should be treated with special caution. Most relevantly, Athenaeus of Naucratis invoked the same tradition, according to which Lucullus was also the author of the name of the mazzard (Greek κεράσια, Latin cerasia), to mock the tendency of the Romans to attribute Greek achievements to themselves. Pliny’s embellished argument, however, aligns perfectly with his Romanocentric and imperialist world picture. As an eminent historian, naturalist and official of the Roman Empire, he used certain passages in his immense encyclopaedia as a departure point to present idealistically the successes of the Roman army and its culture-forming role. In this context, Pliny’s description of the discovery and spread of mazzard cultivation serves as another illustration of the genius of the Romans and the power of their empire.