1. Beckah Maxwell-LeRoy
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The Roman Cuisine
The Roman culture has always been viewed for its militaristic and conquest-
hungry government. The Empire stretched from Northern Britain to the Middle East
during the peak of its 1200-year existence. With so many inhabitants, one would wonder
how each citizen got his share of food, and what would they be fed?
Food was a very large aspect of Roman culture that separated the rich from the
poor during the Empire. Roman society was one of the first to have culinary vocations as
paying careers. Staples for both classes consisted of grapes, olives and grains.
Vegetables and fruits in the roman diet were always abundant and included apples, pears,
grapes, plums, artichokes, carrots, melons, asparagus, chicory, onions, beans, cucumbers,
peas, beets, cabbage, radishes, turnips and garlic. Nuts were frequently eaten by all
Romans. Almonds, hazelnuts, pistachios, walnuts and filberts were the most common.
Meats were rarely eaten compared to grains and produce. Fish and pork were
delicacies during empirical times. Beef was the greatest luxury because the liver, heart
and lungs of the cow was usually sacrificed to the gods and burnt on an altar. Beef was
also difficult to store and keep cool. Cows were usually kept for dairy instead, rather
than meat. Pigs were the most frequently consumed by Romans, which was called by
various names depending on which section of the pig was used. Sus, porcus, porca, and
aper were its main dishes out of fifty different ways to prepare a pig. Goat meat was a
plebian, or lower class meal.
Seafood and fowl were highly uncommon, especially caught wild. Chickens,
geese, pigeons, cranes, snipe and the very expensive peacock were among those fowl
which appealed to avian meats. Mullet and turbot fish (mullus and rhombus fish) were

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the commonly eaten fish. Since fish were extremely hard to catch, rich men often kept
fish ponds for commerce and sustenance. Salt water fish and oysters were imported from
Mediterranean Sea towns and considered very luxurious.
Dairy and grains came in many different forms. Milk, cream, curds and whey and
white cheeses came from cows, ewes and goats. Grain, after being ground or prepared,
either became cereal (frumentum), porridge or bread and pastries. Bread became a very
large part of civil peace after the second century C.E.., when Emperor Trajan made it
customary to distribute bread daily to the unemployed. Fine wheat flour made the best
bread. However, white, coarse wheat and bran flour were also used.
Water was unsafe to drink, so it was usually diluted with wine. Wine was
consumed by all Romans and was not only made from grapes. Apple wine, mead and
different herbal alcoholic drinks were made in very similar ways.
Roman meal schedule for higher, bourgeoisie classes contained breakfast
(jentaculum), lunch (prandium) and dinner (cena). Poorer families would often eat only
two meals, and richer families up to four. Jentaculum and prandium were not considered
formal and were much lighter meals of commodities. Cena would be eaten with guests
and in a dining room. Seating arrangements for diners were low, sloping couches place
around the table.. Each couch supported two to three people. Silverware and glassware
decorated tables in richer houses and the Arretine tableware belonged to the plebians
Dinner was divided into three courses: appetizers (gusta), main course (cena) and
desserts (secunda mensa). The courses were placed on trays, carried to the table,
removed from the trays and passed around to the guests. Once the dishes had been
passed around, they were placed on trays again and taken back to the kitchen. After

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secunda mensa, the guests would cry out soleas posce, meaning “bring my sandals!”
suggesting the guest was ready to leave.
Food in Roman times was a large portion of the culture, and still is today in
western society. Many traditions from empirical Rome have been borrowed into many
cultures. Food, in ancient and modern times, continues to bring societies together.♪
Bibliography
● "Ancient Roman Bread." Astray recipes. Web. 18 Jan. 2010. <http://www.astray.com/recipes/?
show=Ancient%20roman%20bread>.
● Johnston, Mary, Sumair Mirza, and Jason Tsang. "Roman Foods." Legio VI. LEG VI Ferrata
Fidelas Constans, 1999. Web. 18 Jan. 2010. <http://legvi.tripod.com/id43.html>.
● Mirza, Sumair, and Jason Tsang. "Roman Food." Rome Exposed. Rome Exposed, 1999. Web.
18 Jan. 2010. <http://www.classicsunveiled.com/romel/html/romefood.html>.