en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vitellius
2 corrections found
Marcus Gavius Apicius, named after the emperor a less exotic dish of peas or broad beans mashed with sweet and sour ingredients.
This attribution is chronologically impossible. Marcus Gavius Apicius died in the reign of Tiberius, decades before Vitellius became emperor in AD 69; the Vitellian bean/pea recipes come from the later cookbook attributed to Apicius, not from Marcus Gavius Apicius personally naming them after Emperor Vitellius.
Full reasoning
The article says Marcus Gavius Apicius named a dish after Emperor Vitellius. That does not fit the chronology.
- Encyclopedia.com dates Marcus Gavius Apicius to c. 25 BCE – c. 37 CE, explicitly saying he "lived at the time of the emperor Tiberius." That is more than thirty years before Vitellius ruled in AD 69.
- The same reference also explains that De re coquinaria is "the product of a Late Antique compiler, writing about 400 CE", though it drew on earlier material associated with Apicius.
- In the surviving cookbook attributed to Apicius, Book V includes recipes titled "Peas or Beans à la Vitellius" (Pisam Vitellianam sive fabam) and **"Peas à la Vitellius". That shows where the Vitellian dish-name comes from: the later recipe collection attributed to Apicius, not a dish personally named by Marcus Gavius Apicius during his lifetime.
So the problem is not that Vitellian recipes do not exist; it is that the page attributes the naming directly to Marcus Gavius Apicius himself, which is incompatible with the dates given by standard reference works.
2 sources
- Marcus Gabius Apicius | Encyclopedia.com
The proverbial gastronomer Apicius (M. Gavius Apicius, c. 25 b.c.e - c. 37 c.e.), who lived at the time of the emperor Tiberius... The book, De re coquinaria (On Cookery), is actually the product of a Late Antique compiler, writing about 400 c.e....
- LacusCurtius • Apicius, De Re Coquinaria - Book V
189 Peas or Beans à la Vitellius Pisam Vitellianam sive fabam... 193 Peas à la Vitellius Pisam sive fabam Vitellianam...
the commander of the sixth legion serving in Pannonia
This identifies Marcus Antonius Primus’s legion incorrectly. Ancient and reference sources place him in command of the Seventh legion in Pannonia, not the Sixth.
Full reasoning
The page says Marcus Antonius Primus was "the commander of the sixth legion serving in Pannonia". The standard sources I checked instead identify him with the Seventh legion.
- In Tacitus, Histories Book III, Antonius Primus is introduced as "commander of the Seventh legion, Galbiana".
- The 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica entry on Primus likewise says Galba "placed [him] in command of the 7th legion in Pannonia."
So the legion number on the page is wrong: it should be Seventh, not Sixth.
2 sources
- Tacitus, Publius Cornelius (c.56-c.120) - The Histories: Book III, I-XXXI
Antonius Primus (commander of the Seventh legion, Galbiana, and the most passionate advocate for war) replied...
- 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Primus, Marcus Antonius - Wikisource
He was subsequently reinstated by Galba, and placed in command of the 7th legion in Pannonia.