Vinegar comes from the French words “vin” “aigre” meaning “wine” “bitter or sour”. Essentially, vinegar is soured “wine”, wine here referring not just to grape juice but any fermented fruit juice. There are several references to vinegar in the Bible. Used as medicine, antiseptic, condiment, detergent and more, it was not likely to have been consumed straight. Many scholars reckon that it is “posca” or the diluted “sour wine” aka vinegar consumed by Roman soldiers that is referred to in Ruth 2:14 and in each of the gospels as being administered to Christ to assuage his thirst while on the cross.
Posca became a standard beverage of the Roman army and it is listed in the Appian record of provisions around 153 BC. Every soldier received a portion of vinegar and to make it last longer, would dilute it, sweeten it or add herbs to make it more flavorful.
It helped prevent scurvy and killed the harmful bacteria potentially present in foreign water supplies, making it a vital part of any soldier’s kit for survival. As common as it was, no recipes have survived to current day, so feel free to adapt this recipe to your favorite herbs or flowers for flavor and benefits.
Another remedy popular in ancient times was oxymel which is Latin for “acid honey.” Cato the Elder (234 BC-149 BC) gives the recipe for oxymel as “ten pounds of honey with five heminas (1365 ml) of vinegar.” It was often mixed with other herbs or medicines as a carrier and sweetener to help the “medicine go down.”
