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Colum

 p322  Article by James Yates, M.A., F.R.S.,
on pp322‑323 of

William Smith, D.C.L., LL.D.:
A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities, John Murray, London, 1875.


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COLUM (ἠθμός), a strainer or colander, was used for straining wine, milk, olive-oil, and other  p323 liquids. Thus we find it employed in the making of olive-oil to receive the juice of the berry when pressed out by the prelum. Such cola were made of hair, broom or rushes (Virg. Georg. II.242; Colum. R. R. XII.19). Those that were used as articles of luxury for straining wine were frequently made of some metal, such as bronze or silver (Athen. p740D). Various specimens of cola have been found at Pompeii. The preceding woodcut shows the plan and profile of one which is of silver (Mus. Borb. vol. VIII.14 fig. 4, 5).

The Romans filled the strainer with ice or snow (cola nivaria) in order to cool and dilute the wine at the same time that it was cleared. [Nix.]º


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Page updated: 19 Dec 06