Publius Servilius Rullus

RULLUS, PUBLIUS SERVILIUS, a Roman tribune of the people in 64 B.C., well known as the proposer of one of the most far-reaching agrarian laws brought forward in Roman history. This law provided for the establishment of a commission of ten, empowered to purchase land in Italy for distribution amongst the poorer citizens and for the foundation of colonies. The commis sion was to be invested with praetorian powers, and Pompey, then in the East, was excluded by a provision that personal attendance was necessary to election. In fact, the commission as a whole was intended to act as a counterpoise to his power. There were pro visions for the purchase of further land by the sale of recently conquered territory and the use of the revenues from Pompey's provinces. The places to which colonies were to be sent were not specified, so that the commissioners would be able to sell wher ever they pleased, and it was left to them to decide what was public or private property. Cicero delivered four speeches against the bill, of which three are extant. It was not greeted with en thusiasm and was dropped before the voting. The whole affair was obviously a political move, probably engineered by Caesar, his object being to make the democratic leaders the rulers of the state. Although Caesar could hardly have expected the bill to pass, the aristocratic party would be saddled with the odium of rejecting a popular measure, and the people themselves would be more ready to welcome a proposal by Caesar himself, an expecta tion fulfilled by the passing of the lex Julia in 59, whereby Caesar at least partly succeeded where Rullus had failed.

See the orations of Cicero De lege agraria, with the introduction in G. Long's edition, and the same author's Decline of the Roman Repub lic, iii., p. 241 ; Mommsen, Hist. of Rome, bk. v., ch. 5; art. AGRARIAN LAWS.

RUM

or ROUM, an indefinite term in use among Mohamme dans at different dates for Europeans generally and for the Byzan tine empire in particular ; at one time for the Seljuk empire in Asia Minor, and now for Greeks inhabiting Ottoman territory (Arab. ar-Rum). When the Arabs met the Byzantine Greeks, these called themselves To)/Idiot, or Romans ; so the Arabs called them "the Rum" as a race-name (already in Qur. xxx. 1), their territory "the land of the Rum," and the Mediterranean "the Sea of the Rum." Later, inasmuch as Muslim contact with the Byzantine Greeks was in Asia Minor, the term Rum became fixed there geographically and remained even after the conquest by the Seljuk Turks, so that their territory was called the land of the Seljuks of Rum.

RUM,

a potable alcoholic liquor obtained by distillation from fermented products of the sugar cane. The origin of the term is obscure.

Production.

Rum is chiefly produced in the West Indies and, on account of geographical origin and method of preparation, may be divided into two main classes "Jamaica" and "Demerara." Jamaica rum is produced by fermentation of a wash consisting, in addition to water, of scum, molasses and "dunder." Liquor expressed from the sugar cane is steam-heated, the scum, contain ing much of the foreign. matter present in the liquor, thus being driven to the top and facilitating the withdrawal of the clear sugar solution. The scum is transferred to the still house whilst the

sugar liquor is either evaporated down in order to crystallize out the sugar or is first subjected to a further process of clarify ing. Sugar crystals are removed from the concentrated sugar solu tion by centrifugals or purgers, the uncrystallized molasses being added to the scum in the still house. The "dunder" is a viscous mass remaining at the bottom of the still at the end of the dis tillation and is taken out and added to the wash for the next operation. In order to render the latter sour and promote fer mentation the fibrous part of the crushed cane, known as "megass," is also added.

Fermentation occupies from six to twelve days, in some cases longer, and when it is complete the spirituous mass obtained is pumped into a pot still—the only kind used in the island. There are three types of rum produced in Jamaica. That for export to the United Kingdom forms the bulk of the production and is of the best quality. An inferior type for sale in the island is produced by more rapid fermentation and lacks the full flavour and aroma of that intended for the British market. The third type is the "flavoured" or "German" rum chiefly exported to the continent of Europe, where it is used for blending and flavouring purposes.

Demerara rum is prepared by the fermentation of molasses diluted with water to a density of about 1 o6o, the solution being first rendered slightly acid with sulphuric acid. Pot stills and patent stills of various types are used for the distillation. The resultant spirit, which has a low ester content and light flavour, most nearly resembles that produced in Jamaica for local con sumption.

Fictitious rum is prepared with spirit derived from potato and beet molasses, the rum flavour being imparted by the addition of artificial essence of rum chemically prepared, or of the "flavoured" Jamaican rum previously referred to. The one time extensive importation of this artificial preparation into Britain resulted in official action to differentiate between rum from Jamaica and other sugar cane producing countries and "imitation" rum, a term which must be applied to all spirit intended for sale as rum but which has not been produced in a country where the sugar cane is cultivated. In recent years, however, the importation has almost completely ceased, being only 143 proof gallons in 1926-27 against 44,00o proof gallons in 1900.

Composition.

Considerable variation is observed in the strength of rum as imported, the range being from 20 under proof to about 5o over proof, whilst the average is approximately 35 over proof or 77% by volume of absolute alcohol. The propor tion of secondary ingredients also varies.

Consumption.

The quantity of rum consumed during recent years has steadily decreased, the importation into Britain since the war years 1914-1919—when abnormal quantities were im ported—being as follows : *Figures for United Kingdom ; those for later years relate to Great Britain and Northern Ireland only.

These figures include a small quantity of "imitation" rum.