Roman meals typically consisted of one large meal in the evening called cena, along with a light breakfast and lunch. The cena was the main meal and could last several hours. Wealthier Romans would recline on couches to eat, while poorer Romans used pottery. Meals consisted of multiple courses - gustatio as appetizers, primae mensae for the main meat course, and secundae mensae for desserts of fruits, nuts, and baked goods. Various drinks accompanied the meals like diluted wine, honeyed wine, spiced warm water and wine, or vinegar mixed with water.

1. By Sydney Jones

2. Meal Times

 Usually one large meal a day
 Breakfast (ientaculum), if taken, was very light
 Light lunch (prandium)
 Main meal in the evening (cena)
 Main meal could take up between an hour to four
hours

3. How Food was Eaten

Most sat upright to eat
Wealthy reclined on couches
The poor used coarse pottery for tableware
Wealthy purchased fine pottery, glass, bronze, silver, gold, and
pewter
 Used fingers to eat food
 Had knives made from antler, wood, or bronze with an iron
blade
 Spoons with pointed handles to extract shellfish
and snails from their shells





4. Gustatio: First Course

 Like an appetizer
 Consists of an egg dish, shellfish, fish, raw
vegetables, and breads
 Sauce was very important

5. Primae Minsae: Main
Course

 Meat is served
 Variety of birds
 Cooked vegetables

6. Secundae Mensae:
Dessert

 Baked sweets, fresh nuts, and fruits
 Almonds, grapes, dates

7. Drinks

 Watered-down wine
 Mulsum: honeyed wine
 Calda: warm water and wine laced with spices
 Posca: vinegar mixed with much water

8. What You’re Eating

 Grape juice
 Roman savory bread
 Roman “pizza”
 Dates

9. Sources

• "Ancient Rome :: Roman Diet."ThinkQuest.
Oracle Foundation, n.d. Web. 3 Nov. 2013.
<http://library.thinkquest.org/26602/diet.htm
#>.
• Hamper, Rich. "Roman Food and Drink."The
Third Dimension. N.p., n.d. Web. 3 Nov. 2013.
<http://www.therthdimension.org/AncientRo
me/RomanFoodDrink/romanfooddrink.htm>.
• "Roman Food - All About Roman Food."Roman
Food. N.p., n.d. Web. 3 Nov. 2013.
<http://www.romanfood.org/>.