Quintus Fulvius Lippinus
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Quintus Fulvius Lippinus, Fulvius Lippinus for short (aka Fulvius Hirpinius) was an enterprising Roman farmer from the first century BC. He lived in the Roman region of Tarquinia, today's Italian Tuscany. His dealings are described in the Rerum rusticarum libri III by Marcus Terentius Varro, and a century later in Pliny the Elder's Naturalis Historia.
Fulvius Lippinus owned a domain of forty jugera in the vicinity of Tarquinia, a large domain in Statona, and some domains elsewhere. In these areas he had farms where methods were developed for keeping game such as hares, deer, and wild sheep. Lippinus was the first Roman to create game parks for keeping wild boar and pig, among others
Snail breeding
However, Lippinus gained most fame by keeping and breeding snails. He built the first parks in Tarquinia, shortly before the civil war broke out between Pompey and Cæsar. With the construction and exploitation of these so-called cochlearia, Fulvius Lippinus was the first (documented) snail farmer in history. The cochlearia were parks surrounded by a water channel, to prevent the escape of the snails parked in there. These parks were equipped with an irrigation system that was the predecessor of the current agricultural sprinkler system: water pipes with a rose-shaped head were placed against a surface in such fashion that the water burst into a fine mist and thus provided the snails with the necessary moisture. Lippinus had a separate park for each snail species, each of which was marketed for its specific qualities. For example, he had small white snails from nearby Reate, large snails from Illyricum, medium-sized snails from Africa, and particularly large snails, also from Africa, the so-called Solitannae, which were very prolific.
Preparation of escargot
Lippinus fed the snails with its own developed formula based on boiled wine, flour, and herbs. The snails would thrive on this diet. Pliny the Elder claimed that some snails grew so large that their houses could contain up to 80 quadrants.
With his innovative ideas for cooking snails, he also took Roman gastronomy to the next level: in preparation he would first lock the snails with milk, salt and bread in a jar with air holes for a few days, with the milk being changed daily and refreshed. As soon as the snails had swollen to the point of no longer being able to retreat to their homes, they were fried in oil or grilled on the fire and served with herbs and sauces.