calda

CALDAor CAL´IDA, sc. aqua, the warm drink of the Greeks and Romans, occurs as early as Plato (Rep. 4.437 E, where it is simply θερμόν). It probably consisted of hot water flavoured with spices or aromatic herbs. Wine was constantly drunk with it, but it is almost certainly a mistake to suppose that the calda was a kind of negus in which the wine was already mixed. We find θερμὸν ὕδωρ as a drink in Athenaeus (Athen. 2.45 d; 3.123 a) and Lucian (Asin. p. 575); and the phrase calidae gelidaeque minister in Juvenal (5.63) and several epigrams in Martial (Mart. 1.11; 6.86-Z2; 8.67-Z2, Caldam poscis aquam, nondum mihi frigida venit) all point to the conclusion that the wine was served separately, while the guests had the choice of hot or cold water to mix with it according to their taste or the season. The passages just cited refer to the use of this drink in the better sort of private houses; besides this, it could always be procured at certain shops or taverns called thermopolia (Plant. Curc. 2.3, 13; Bud. 2.6, 45; Trin. 4.3, 6). The less sensible emperors, such as Caligula and Claudius, some-times stopped the sale of hot drink (θερμὸν ὕδωρ) and hot viands on the occasion of a death in the imperial family; public mourning was to be marked by abstinence from such luxuries, and the breach of this regulation was punished with death (Dio Cass., 60.6).

The water for this purpose was heated in the AENUM( nec multum refert inter caccabos et aenum, quod supra focum pendet; hic aqua ad potandum calefit, in illis pulmentarium coquitur, Dig. 33, 7, 18.3), and kept hot in the AUTHEPSA, a vessel not unlike our tea urns, both in appearance and construction, and often of a very elegant form. (See the illustrations under AUTHEPSA ; also Böttiger, Sabina, 2.34; Becker-Göll, Gallus, 2.364.)

or Calĭda (sc. aqua). A hot drink of the Greeks and Romans, mentioned as early as Plato, who calls it θερμόν. It was probably nothing more than hot water, flavoured with spices and herbs; and though wine was often drunk with it, there is no good reason for considering calda a sort of punch or negus in which wine was already mixed. Hot water is occasionally mentioned as a drink (cf. Athenaeus, ii. 45 d; Lucian, Asin.p. 575; Mart.viii. 67), and the most that can be inferred from the passages usually cited is that wine was separately served while the guest had the choice of hot or cold water to mix with it, according to his taste. Shops or taverns called thermopolia served the same drink, and we read of decrees of the emperors closing them on the occasion of a death in the imperial family. (See Caupona.) The water was heated for this purpose in an aënum or caccabus (q. v.), and kept hot in the authepsa (q. v.), a vessel resembling our tea-urns.