Grape of antiquity Legendary

Apianae

Synonyms — Apiana, Uva Apiana

Pliny's "bee grapes" — uvae apianae, so called because their sweetness drew the bees. They were among the sweet, aromatic grapes of Roman Italy, used for honeyed wines, and their muscat-like scent has made them a perennial candidate for the ancestor of the Muscat family.

That link, though, is folk etymology, not evidence: "attractive to bees" describes many sweet grapes, and nothing ties the apianae by descent to today's Muscats. Like the other grapes named only by Rome's writers, the bee grapes are a vivid description without a verifiable identity — a reminder that the ancients recorded taste and habit far more faithfully than the vines themselves.

Through time

Indicative presence index, 0–100Origins & Antiquity — 35The Monastic Middle Ages — 0Exploration & the Fortified Age — 0Classifications & the Golden Age — 0Phylloxera & the World Crises — 0The Modern & New World Era — 0Antiquity3550015001700187519500