Nothing is more useful than wine for strengthening the body and also more detrimental to our pleasure if moderation be lacking.
Pliny the ElderCats too, with what silent stealthiness, with what light steps do they creep up to a bird!
Pliny the ElderWine refreshes the stomach, sharpens the appetite, blunts care and sadness, and conduces to slumber.
Pliny the ElderContact with [menstrual blood] turns new wine sour, crops touched by it become barren, grafts die, seed in gardens are dried up, the fruit of trees fall off, the edge of steel and the gleam of ivory are dulled, hives of bees die, even bronze and iron are at once seized by rust, and a horrible smell fills the air; to taste it drives dogs mad and infects their bites with an incurable poison.
Pliny the Elder