Source for Wine cups?

[Ebusitanus]

Greetings,
I need to know where I could buy several of those nice decorated metal drinking cups like the one Claudius uses in his series or the ones used by Caesar in the recent series "Rome".

Any help would be really appreciated

[Carlton Bach]

I don't know the specific ones you're referring to, but Holger Ratsdorf has these

http://www.hr-replikate.de/katalog/bild ... 3_norm.jpg

for sale (no, not cheap. Probably worth every cent, but definitely not cheap). Was that what you were looking for?.

[Ebusitanus]

Thats a nice one for sure. Went into the page but its not easy to navegate and could not find it displayed besides your picture link.
The idea I had in mind was along these lines bellow.

[Carlton Bach]

They can be found via 'catalogue' - 'Roman' - 'other items'

I know, it's kind of annyoing, but you can'tn link to an item on his page directly.

[Ebusitanus]

Thanks for the pointer and sorry for the picture links I will take them off.

Besides that one model sold at that website..is there anything else out there?

[Carlton Bach]

Thanks for the pointer and sorry for the picture links I will take them off.

No,no, that wasn't about *your* pictures. I meant sorry about not linking to the article directly, but HR's website architecture makes that impossible. Otherwise I'd have provided a link directly to the cup in question.

Besides that one model sold at that website..is there anything else out there?

I've never seen anything. Holger Ratsdorf does (or used to do) custom work, but given his reputation I'm not sure what the waiting list would look like. Probably your best bet would be to contact a silversmith - maybe a hobbyist who will not charge an arm and a leg.

These guys

http://www.replik-online.de/de/index2.html

are also in the business, but I don't think many companies will have items of this kind - high-value craftsmanship, and precious metal - in stock.

[Ebusitanus]

Thanks, will try my luck elsewhere since 500 Euro a Cup is quite a steep price.

Btw...I keep reading Romans, beside diluting the wine with water, also used honey, lemon and even saltwater to mix with their drinks. Spices are also mentioned. Has anyone had a good experience with all this? What would be a nice tasting Roman mix?

[caiusbeerquitius]

In the 1920ies ( I think) vast amounts of Galvanos from the Hildesheim treasure were made. You could check ebay, or any of the large auction houses.

[Carlton Bach]

Thanks, will try my luck elsewhere since 500 Euro a Cup is quite a steep price.

Btw...I keep reading Romans, beside diluting the wine with water, also used honey, lemon and even saltwater to mix with their drinks. Spices are also mentioned. Has anyone had a good experience with all this? What would be a nice tasting Roman mix?

Lemon most likely not - while a variant of citron probably was known in Roman times, lemons as we understand them seem to be a evelopment of the Middle Ages. But yes, the Romans had a more utilitarian approach to wine than modern English-speakers do. I think the analogy to the modern way of drinking spirits is a good one - the finer varieties prized for their own sake, but others mixed with happy, experimental abandon. The prevalent modern attitude to wine is the result of some awful, middle-classish snobbery (and you don't get it in real wine-growing countries to the same degree). Traditionally, weines in the English-speakiong world were a luxury, and rich people were expected to know thie vintages and appreciate them. In the hands of upwardly mobile middle classes, this turned into a mystique of 'the wine', making the mixing or sweetening of even throroughly undeserving plonk a crime against good manners. I do wonder if anyone ever told the that the nobility used to take Burgundy beaten with raw egg and sugar for breakfast in the 1700s?

I don't know if the Romans knew carragheen, but if they did, they probably tried Samian jello shots I'm generally not a wine drinker, so I have to rely on anecdotal evidence here, but it seems once you get over your inhibitions and the expectation of a defined 'wine' taste, spices, honey, resin, or even salt water can make a pleasant addition. A palate cleanser of strong wine and myrrh certainly does the trick.