Common and Foxtail Millet in Dietetics, Culinary Art and Therapeutic Procedures of the Antiquity and Early Byzantium

• Published in: Łódzkie studia etnograficzne 2015-01, Vol.54 (1), p.71-104
• Main Authors: Kokoszko, Maciej, Jagusiak, Krzysztof, Rzeźnicka, Zofia
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: 7th century; ancient byzantium; Ancient World; Anthropology; Antiquity; Barley; Bread; Consumers; Crops; culinary habits; Customs / Folklore; Flour; Grain; Healing; medicine; millet; nutrition; Rural areas; Rural communities; Taste; Wheat
• ISSN: 0076-0382; 2450-5544
• DOI: 10.12775/LSE.2015.54.06

Common millet (Panicum miliaceum L.) and foxtail millet, also knownas Italian millet (Setaria italica P. Beauv.), are among crop grasses that in theAntiquity and the early Byzantine period were grown on a relatively large scale.Yet although the sources indicate that they were among popular crops, they wereneither as widespread not as highly regarded by consumers as wheat and barley.Views pertinent to the dietetic doctrine with regard to those to plants evolvedbefore Galen’s lifetime and were very consistent, considering that they did notchange over the period from the 2nd to the 7th century. This doctrine pointed tothe less beneficial qualities of both these crop plants in comparison to the mosthighly values grains used in bread-making, especially to wheat. Also, commonand foxtail millet were constantly present in the cuisine of the period in question,both being used as food in the rural areas rather than in cities. They were usuallyput in boiled dishes, because millet bread was unpopular owing to its brittlenessand disagreeable taste.Both common and foxtail millet were included among the fármaka used in the periodbetween the 2nd and 7th century, although they certainly were not as favouredin medicine as wheat and barley. Common millet was more often mentioned inthe healing role. Both grains were used in medical procedures as components ofhealing diets, especially foods helpful in alleviating gastric disorders. Flour groundfrom common millet was applied as powder, whereas the grain itself found use as acomponent of warming cataplasms and poultices which usually had a drying quality.In addition, millet to was considered to be an efficacious antidote against poisons.