But the culture’s habits never changed, and some historians believe that many among the Roman aristocracy suffered from lead poisoning. Eventually, as a host of mysterious maladies became more common, some Romans began to suspect a connection between the metal and these illnesses. It made up pipes and dishes, cosmetics and coins, bullets and paints. From the Middle Ages on, people put lead acetate or “sugar of lead” into wine and other foods to make them sweeter. The metal enhanced one-fifth of the 450 recipes in the Roman Apician Cookbook, a collection of first through fifth century recipes attributed to gastrophiles associated with Apicius, the famous Roman gourmet.
“For, in the boiling,” wrote Roman winemaker Columella, “brazen vessels throw off copper rust which has a disagreeable flavor.” Lead’s sweet overtones, by contrast, were thought to add complementary flavors to wine and to food as well. When boiling crushed grapes, Roman vintners insisted on using lead pots or lead-lined copper kettles. For winemakers in the Roman Empire, nothing but lead would do.
