POSCA
POSCA vinegar mixed with water, was the common drink of the
lower orders among the Romans (Suet.
Vitell. 12), of slaves
(Plaut.
Mil. 3.2, 23), and of soldiers on service (Spart.
Hadr. 10). As to the theory that the celebrated
acetum of
Liv. 21.37 was
posca (see Capes
ad
loc.), it is well known that some rocks, as limestone, can be split by
any cold liquid poured over them when they are hot, and so more easily cut
into a roadway (see Blümner,
Technol. 3.71).
Hennebert (
Annibal, ii. p. 253; Paris, 1878) tries
elaborately to establish an explosive property for some composition called
ὄξος or
acetum.
[
W.S] [
G.E.M]
