“Vetus novum vinum bibo, veteri novo morbo medeor”. Un proverbio latino tra religione, magia e vinificazione

Sententious literature was already present in ancient Greece, where proverbs, although considered by Aristotle as relic of ancient philosophy, were spread through communication channels other than those used by the philosophical texts. Even if the motto can be linked to the celebration of Roman wine festivals, the Meditrinalia and the Vinalia, the relationship between the two festivals and their connection with the involved deities, in particular Jupiter and Liber, still lacks an interpretation. The parallelism between the two parts of the motto also requires careful analysis to give value to the comparison. The interpretation that wine was usedas a remedy for diseases affecting human health does not preclude other forms of reading, thanks to the statements of ancient authors, that the must, or new wine, could be mixed with the must from the previous year, to increase its alcohol content and prevent it from spoiling: the old wine was thus a medicamentum for the new wine.