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The Roman legions' staple ration of food was wheat. In the 4th century, most legionaries ate as well as anyone in Rome. They were supplied with rations of bread and vegetables along with meats such as beef, mutton, or pork.
- The Evidence
- The Daily Roman Cuisine
- The Roman Diet
- Fish Sauce
The most tangible evidence of the Roman diet is food and human waste excavated by archaeologists. The cities of Herculaneum and Pompeii (destroyed in the 79 AD eruption of Vesuvius) have left sewers and rubbish heaps packed with digested dietary evidence. Rome’s rich literary and visual culture can also provide clues. Petronius’ over-the-top Satyri...
For the ordinary Roman, their diet started with, ientaculum – breakfast, this was served at day break. A small lunch, prandium, was eaten at around 11am. The cena was the main meal of the day. They may have eaten a late supper called vesperna. Richer citizens in time, freed from the rhythms of manual labour, ate a bigger cena from late afternoon, a...
The Mediterranean diet is recognised today as one of the healthiest in the world. Much of the Roman diet, at least the privileged Roman diet, would be familiar to a modern Italian. They ate meat, fish, vegetables, eggs, cheese, grains (also as bread) and legumes. Meat included animals like dormice (an expensive delicacy), hare, snails and boar. Sma...
All classes had access to at least some of Rome’s key ingredients, garum, liquamen and allec, the fermented fish sauces. The sauces were made from fish guts and small fish, which were salted and left in the sun. The resulting gunk was filtered. Garum was the best quality paste, what passed through the filters was liquamen. The sludge left at the bo...
- Colin Ricketts
Feb 1, 2024 · The diet of ancient Romans, as varied as the empire itself, ranged from simple grains and vegetables to exotic meats and elaborate desserts. The Roman table was a reflection of its vast territories, social stratification, and the exchange of goods and ideas throughout the Mediterranean and beyond.
Jul 18, 2023 · The collection of ancient Roman cookery, known as De Re Coquinaria or Apicius, documents the meat loaf's first form, dating back to the 4th and 5th century in Rome, where cooks often made it from...
May 6, 2014 · The ancient Mediterranean diet revolved around four staples, which, even today, continue to dominate restaurant menus and kitchen tables: cereals, vegetables, olive oil and wine. Seafood, cheese, eggs, meat and many types of fruit were also available to those who could afford it.
- Mark Cartwright
Meat and Fish. Meat and fish were both considered luxuries in ancient Rome, and were primarily reserved for wealthier citizens. Pork was the most common meat, either cooked fresh (stewed or roasted) or turned into bacon. Fresh fish and seafood included tuna, eels, sea urchins, and other shellfish.
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Mar 25, 2013 · The Romans kept animals for their meat. The rich ate beef, pork, wild boar, venison, hare, guinea fowl, pheasant, chicken, geese, peacock, duck, and even dormice (served with honey). The poorer Romans didn’t eat as much meat as the rich, but it still featured in their diet. Fish. Lots of seafood was consumed by the Romans.
