LA MER ET LES FRUITS DE MER CHEZ MARCUS GAVIUS APICIUS – ASPECTS HISTORIQUES ET JURIDIQUES
SEA AND SEAFOOD AT MARCUS GAVIUS APICIUS – HISTORICAL AND LEGAL ASPECTS

Summary/Abstract: Marcus Gavius, alias Apicius, born around 25 BCE, the author of the culinary work De re coquinaria, before his death travelled to the coast of Africa in order to obtain large shellfish that were to surpass those he had known up to then. This expedition was recorded by the sophist Athenaeus of Naucratis (Athenaeus Naucratita) (2nd / 3rd century AD) in Deipnosophistae 1.7b. Disappointed, Apicius, however, did not find satisfactory culinary products. In the Book IX entitled: „Seafood“ „De re coquinaria“ of Apicius we find the recipes for the preparation of dishes based on various seafood, such as: spiny lobster, European lobster, eyed electric ray, squid, cuttlefish, octopus, oyster, all kinds of shellfish, sea hedgehog, clam, Atlantic bonito, tuna, bullhead, salted fish, catfish and sea barbel. And although it is not known exactly what was written byApicius himself in the treatise, and what was added by a later compiler at the turn of the 4th and 5th centuries AD, , there is no doubt that the sea and the seafood played a great role in the life of Apicius. Was the journey of the Roman writer and culinary expert at that time something extraordinary? What kind of shellfish was Apicius cocus optimus looking for? Which legal regulations had the greatest influence on the sea journeys of an ancient gourmet - these are the questions that the current paper seeks to answer.

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