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13 CHAPTER ONE: ALCOHOL AND SOCIETY

also made alcohol around 500 BCE, although archaeologists believe this was probably used as part of medical practice, rather than socially. Romans seem to have used alcohol for both purposes—medicinal and recreational. For example, the Roman doctor Galen, around 170 CE, used wine to disinfect wounds while he worked as a physician to gladiators. When it came to wine for drinking, the beverages Romans consumed were almost always diluted with water or some other ingredient. Romans almost never consumed pure wine, as people do today. In fact, the very idea was considered uncivilized.

Amphorae were special casks made by Ancient Greeks for transporting liquids such as wine and olive oil. These are on display in a Turkish museum after being rescued from a shipwreck.