My brother and cousin are coming from Rome to participate in the boundary ceremonies with the neighbors of their estates here in Venafrum. We have several bordering estates for our olive groves here, so there will be a full day of prayers, sacrifices, and feasting. The villa workers are making preparations now, and seem to be looking forward to the big day, perhaps mainly for the roast suckling pig. Terminus should be pleased.

Our friend Senex Caecilius has created a puzzle on the subject of Oleum et Bacca. Have a try!

And yet, so we are told, his cult dwindled and even his origin is shrouded by the mists of history. Volturnus was not the only god to meet this face. Other gods and religious rituals seem to have become mysteries even to the Romans themselves by the late Republic and into the imperial era.

There are areas of Ancient Worlds that face the same fate met by Volturnus: threads forgotten, groups gone silent, properties unfinished and unvisited. The press of daily life leaves a finite amount of time to visit threads, add to a roleplay, or build a property. But many members try and should be encouraged to keep writing, building, and creating. So drop a note to a member or leave a message in a thread when you see something you like. And maybe remember old Volturnus while you’re at it.

Coming up with an idea, mustering historical facts, and finding suitable images to go along with it are the challenge to building AW properties. After considering several ideas, I recalled reading something about Venafrum being regarded by ancient writers as the source of the best olive oil in the Roman world. This led to looking at a map of the Volturnus valley, then remembering that Romans regarded rivers as spiritual entities (male). Finally, from some Muse came the idea of “Volturnus” -- an image of the river deity to symbolize an olive oil brand.

Given the importance of the olive in Greek and Roman culture, I was also surprised that someone had not already created an olive grove or oil making property. So, in addition to creating a vendor for the Macellum, this domus was created in the form of an estate tour to give the “back story” on Roman olive oil production.

The company brand is, admittedly, anachronistic. Romans would have used images of a product or even a god to sell a product, but not in the modern form of a brand label. The rest of the facts presented, however, are all based on cross-referenced sources to give an authentic overview of how the Romans raised olives and how they used them – and not just as food.

I hope you enjoy this tribute to the olive, a fruit which was central to Roman life.

Olives, preserved in salt, along with the older idea, crushed into oil, were staples of the Roman diet and a basic food of the working class. Patricians ate olives at the beginning of a meal. For plebeians, they were the meal. Cato listed his workers’ provisions as bread, olives, wine, and salt.
Mark Kurlansky, Salt: A World History, New York: Walker and Company (2002), p. 67

Notes and Information:

The principal source on olive cultivation and oil production used on this site is William Smith, A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities, John Murray, London (1875) on the Lacus Curtius website.

More information on the history of olive cultivation in the Mediterranean and the methods of propagation of olives can be found at the 1911 Encyclopedia on the Olive.

Nutritional content and commercial regulation of olive oil can be found at the Wikipedia article Olive Oil.

Information on the traditional medicinal uses of olive trees and oil can be found at Sacred Earth.

For the use of olive groves in paintings by famous artists see L'olivo la cultura l'arte. This page is part of an interesting website (in Italian) on the entire process of olive oil production with many graphics and photos.