Food and dining Roman Empire

most apartments in rome lacked kitchens, though charcoal brazier used rudimentary cookery. prepared food sold @ pubs , bars, inns, , food stalls (tabernae, cauponae, popinae, thermopolia). carryout , restaurant dining lower classes; fine dining sought @ private dinner parties in well-to-do houses chef (archimagirus) , trained kitchen staff, or @ banquets hosted social clubs (collegia).

most people have consumed @ least 70% of daily calories in form of cereals , legumes. puls (pottage) considered aboriginal food of romans. basic grain pottage elaborated chopped vegetables, bits of meat, cheese, or herbs produce dishes similar polenta or risotto.

an ostian taberna eating , drinking; faded painting on counter pictured eggs, olives, fruit , radishes

urban populations , military preferred consume grain in form of bread. mills , commercial ovens combined in bakery complex. reign of aurelian, state had begun distribute annona daily ration of bread baked in state factories, , added olive oil, wine, , pork dole.

the importance of diet health recognized medical writers such galen (2nd century ad), treatises included 1 on barley soup. views on nutrition influenced schools of thought such humoral theory.

roman literature focuses on dining habits of upper classes, whom evening meal (cena) had important social functions. guests entertained in finely decorated dining room (triclinium), view of peristyle garden. diners lounged on couches, leaning on left elbow. late republic, if not earlier, women dined, reclined, , drank wine along men.

the famous description of roman meal trimalchio s dinner party in satyricon, fictional extravaganza bears little resemblance reality among wealthy. poet martial describes serving more plausible dinner, beginning gustatio ( tasting or appetizer ), composed salad of mallow leaves, lettuce, chopped leeks, mint, arugula, mackerel garnished rue, sliced eggs, , marinated sow udder. main course succulent cuts of kid, beans, greens, chicken, , leftover ham, followed dessert of fresh fruit , vintage wine. latin expression full-course dinner ab ovo usque mala, egg apples, equivalent english soup nuts.

still life on 2nd-century roman mosaic

a book-length collection of roman recipes attributed apicius, name several figures in antiquity became synonymous gourmet. roman foodies indulged in wild game, fowl such peacock , flamingo, large fish (mullet prized), , shellfish. luxury ingredients brought fleet far reaches of empire, parthian frontier straits of gibraltar.

refined cuisine moralized sign of either civilized progress or decadent decline. imperial historian tacitus contrasted indulgent luxuries of roman table in day simplicity of germanic diet of fresh wild meat, foraged fruit, , cheese, unadulterated imported seasonings , elaborate sauces. often, because of importance of landowning in roman culture, produce—cereals, legumes, vegetables, , fruit—was considered more civilized form of food meat. mediterranean staples of bread, wine, , oil sacralized roman christianity, while germanic meat consumption became mark of paganism, might product of animal sacrifice.

some philosophers , christians resisted demands of body , pleasures of food, , adopted fasting ideal. food became simpler in general urban life in west diminished, trade routes disrupted, , rich retreated more limited self-sufficiency of country estates. urban lifestyle came associated decadence, church formally discouraged gluttony, , hunting , pastoralism seen simple, virtuous ways of life.