A tangy and refreshing drink made of water and a splash of wine vinegar, sometimes sweetened with a little honey and herbs. It purified questionable water on campaign and kept men going under the Eastern sun.

Why this dish? Cassius, to strengthen cohesion with his troops on campaign against the Parthians, symbolically shared the soldier's basic ration: posca, the drink of vinegar mixed with water that the whole legion drank on the roads of Mesopotamia.

Do you think I would drink the pure wine of banquets while my soldiers swallow the stagnant water from cisterns? No. On the road to Ctesiphon, I hold out my cup like the lowest of my velites: a finger of vinegar, water, and the throat holds out until evening. The leader's stomach must know the same thirst as the ranks — that is how you command men, not by the table, but by example.

How it was made : Posca was the official drink of the Roman soldier, distributed in rations. The vinegar made often insalubrious water drinkable. It was this same poor man's drink that a soldier reportedly offered on a sponge — a mundane gesture of military life, not a cruelty.

The contemporary twist : Served over crushed ice with a lemon slice, posca becomes a refreshing Roman switchel for hot summer days.

Avidius Cassius · Charactorium