From the Living Museum
Decio
- Origin
- Northern Italy (Veneto and Emilia-Romagna)
- Era
- Claimed 5th c. / ancient Italian
- Type / use
- Dessert
History & Stories
Claimed by tradition to date from the time of the Roman general Aetius (5th century CE) and to have been brought from Latium; while the Roman connection is debated by modern scholars, the variety is genuinely ancient and was documented in Italian sources for centuries, including a list of fruit served at a reception in Este-ruled Ferrara 2. Small-to-medium fruit with firm, fine-textured, mildly sweet-subacid flesh. Unique for the extraordinary historical claims attached to it and its survival as one of the oldest named European apples still in collections. High priority for DNA and archival work.
Folklore & Name
Italian variety with strong traditional claims of ancient origin (linked in lore to the Roman general Aetius / Ezio in the 5th century). While modern scholars debate the Roman connection, it is genuinely old: a list of fruit for a reception at the Este court in Ferrara names it 2. Its stronghold today is Belfiore, near Verona 3. High historical interest.
Digging into the History
Below my own notes, here is what the old fruit books and today’s collections record about this apple, kept apart from the stories people tell.
What we know
Decio is an old apple of northern Italy, grown in the Veneto and in Emilia-Romagna under names such as Deci, Dezi, Dezzo and Melo d'Ezio 1,2. The Emilia-Romagna regional register of old varieties gathers its paper trail. A list of fruit served at a reception in Ferrara under the Este dukes names it, according to Joan Morgan and Alison Richardson's 1993 book of apples. A Modena farming report of 1809 mentions a related "Decimo." In 1927 it was still one of the most planted apples around Ferrara, and in 1940 that province grew some 1,250 quintals of it 2 (our translations).
Its stronghold today is Belfiore, near Verona, where Slow Food supports its growers as a Presidium. A 1941 agricultural handbook already called it an "old Veronese variety." The fruit is hard and sour at picking and is eaten in deep winter; its scent was once strong enough that people tucked the apples into wardrobes and drawers 3 (our translations). The UK National Fruit Collection also holds it and describes small, firm, mildly sweet fruit 1.
The competing accounts
- UK National Fruit Collection 1: "said to date from the time of Attila (c. 450 AD)," brought from Latium by the Roman general Ezio (Aetius). Its summary says "to England," which looks like a slip.
- Emilia-Romagna register 2: gives two stories for the name. One says it honours the emperor Decius (249–251), who fought the Goths. The other, from the Adria historian Francesco Bocchi as reported by Ferruccio Zago in 1901, says Aetius brought it from Latium when he landed at Adria to fight Attila, so it should really be "Melo d'Ezio." Zago noted that some growers rejected this and kept "Decio."
- Slow Food 3: follows the Aetius story, with the general landing at Adria and fighting Attila near Padua.
Most likely (our judgment, not a certainty): a north Italian apple grown at least since the time of the Este dukes, whose court ran Ferrara until 1598. The written record supports that much 2. Both Roman stories are traditions about the name; the Aetius version can be traced only to a local historian reported in 1901, and no ancient text names the apple.
What we think: stories & traditions
A name in search of a hero. The two Roman explanations pull in different directions, one toward an emperor of the 200s, the other toward a general of the 400s 2. That a single apple name attracted two heroic origin stories suggests how proud local growers were of it.
Sources
- UK National Fruit Collection, "Decio." www.nationalfruitcollection.org.uk/full2.php?id=1510&fruit=apple
- C. Buscaroli (CRPV) et al., "Decio," variety record, Regione Emilia-Romagna agrobiodiversity register (Italian). agricoltura.regione.emilia-romagna.it/produzioni-agroalimentari/agricoltura-sostenibile/agrobiodiversita/schede-specie-vegetali/melo/decio.pdf/@@download/file
- Slow Food Foundation, "Melo decio di Belfiore," Slow Food Presidium (Italian). www.fondazioneslowfood.com/it/presidi-slow-food/melo-decio-di-belfiore/
Curious about Decio?
Email us at drgoss@honeytreeorchard.com.