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From the article: 'In ancient and in medieval times, acorns were also occasionally employed as food for man, in cases of emergency: “when there is scarcity of c
by addaon 6y ago
From the article: 'In ancient and in medieval times, acorns were also occasionally employed as food for man, in cases of emergency: “when there is scarcity of corn”, Pliny noted in the Naturalis Historia'...
Does anyone know if this quote is correct, or how it might be better rendered? Isn't corn (maize) a new world food that Pliny would be unfamiliar of, let alone consider a staple?
- addaon 6y agoTo further my confusion on this point, I notice that the Wikipedia article on Pliny's Naturalis Historia mentions: 'Some technical advances he discusses are the only sources for those inventions, such as hushing in mining technology or the use of water mills for crushing or grinding corn.'
- m-i-l 6y agoCorn is any cereal grain used for food, e.g. wheat, rye or even (in parts of Scotland) oats, not specifically maize (aka corn on the cob).
- addaon 6y agoThanks to both you and coddingtonbear for the clarification. I updated the English and Simple English Wikipedia pages to refer to "grain" instead of "corn."
- coddingtonbear 6y agoJust by the way, "corn" in british english is a generic term meaning "cereal crop" -- usually "wheat". They'd refer to what we call "corn" as "maize".
- addaon 6y agoAh... I thought I was familiar with most Britishisms that would lead to this level of confusion, but definitely was not familiar with this one! That explains it, thanks.
- commonturtle 6y agoIn England you'll find references to 'the corn laws' and 'the corn exchange'. Corn meant any kind of grain. I believe it still does in some places, and what is called 'Corn' in the New World is called 'Maize' everywhere else. More on this subject from actual historians: https://www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/comments/2tn77o/what_corn_did_the_romans_eat/ https://www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/comments/2tn77o/what_...
- aksss 6y agoOr some variation - Mais in German