Marcus Gavius Apicius

Marcus Gavius ​​Apicius (c. 25 BC; † before 42) was a Roman gourmet antiquity. He lived in the 1st century AD

He is one of several Roman gourmets with ( In ) name Apicius, who as author name of De re coquinaria ( "On cookery " ), the oldest surviving Roman cookbook, handed down.

Apicius lived under the Emperor Tiberius (r. 14-37 ). Pliny the Elder wrote about him, he was the greatest spendthrifts and born to all kinds of luxury. Evidence of that Apicius Flamingo tongues praised as a special delicacy. From Apicius comes after Pliny the idea to fatten pigs with figs in order to obtain a particularly tasty liver. This ficatum than fegato (Italian ), hígado (Spanish ) foie (French ), etc. have been preserved as a term for liver in the Romance languages ​​. Seneca reported that Apicius ended his life by poison, after he had already wasted 100 million sesterces for the kitchen and calculated that his 10 million sesterces were "only " remained to life. This text dates from the 40s, Apicius was therefore already dead

Another episode from the life of the perfection of the culinary delights tracked with a certain radicalism Gourmets will of Athenaeus in Gelehrtengastmahl reported: Apicius have mainly lived in Minturnae on the coast of the Tyrrhenian Sea, a city that was known for the excellent quality of the crabs ( and their exorbitant prices). As Apicius heard that the cancers in Africa are perhaps even bigger and better, he sailed thither immediately, where he suffered much from the trip. The arrival of a cancer -obsessed super-rich had already made ​​the rounds at the destination, so that on arrival the ship of Apicius was surrounded by boats of the local fishermen who offered their crabs for sale. Apicius looked at the crabs and asked if it might be even bigger and even better give? When told, the offer represents the greatest and best thing is to have you here, Apicius ordered the immediate reversal without having even set foot on the soil of the country. Athenaeus also mentions that a certain type of cheese cake was named after Apicius.

It could be that Apicius was implicated in the affair of Sejanus early 30s.