Illustrated Companion to the Latin Dictionary/Acratophorum

Illustrated Companion to the Latin Dictionary, and Greek Lexicon (Rich, 1849)

ACRATOPH'ORUM (ἀκρατοφόρον). Properly a Greek term, but familiarized in the Latin language as early as the time of Varro (Varro, R. R. i. 8. 5. Cic. Fin. iii. 4.), and employed to designate the vessel in which pure or unmixed wine was placed upon the table (Pollux, vi. 99.). It was, therefore, in some measure, an opposite to the Crater, a larger vessel, used for a similar purpose, but containing wine and water mixed together. The illustration (Acratophorum/1.1) is copied from a marble vase (Buonarotti, Vasi di Vetro. p. 31.), bearing an inscription dedicated to Silvanus, and ornamented with a wreath of vine leaves. It corresponds exactly in form with two others delineated by the Pompeian artists, one of which is placed at the feet of a statue of Bacchus (Mus. Borb. vii. 56.), and the other in the hands of the god Acratus (Mus. Borb. vii. 62.), which, taken together, are quite sufficient to identify the form.

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  Acratophorum/1.1