BAU´CALIS
BAU´CALIS (
βαύκαλις,
βαυκάλη, also
καύκαλις), a large vessel for cooling wine in (
Anth.
Pal. 11.244, 4), made at Alexandria (
Ath.
11.784 c), like the
ψυκτήρ,
except that it was probably larger, and supported, according to
Hermann-Blümner (
Privatalt. 234, note 6), on four
wheels (
τετράκυκλος, Athen.
l.c.), if we are not to suppose with Krause
(
Angeiologie, 366) that the
κύκλοι are raised rings which divided the vessel into four
compartments. Philostorgius (1.4) says it was made of earthenware (
ἄγκος ὀστράκινον). It was perhaps sometimes
made of glass; at least Athenaeus, in immediate connexion with his
description, speaks of the elaborate glass-working at Alexandria, which
imitated every kind of clay. Brass seems to have been an unusual material
for the vessel to be made of (
Anth. Pal. l.c.).
Βαυκάλιον appears to have been a smaller
vessel of the kind.
[
L.C.P]
