Lecture 1 A Taste of Ancient Rome; Intro and Overview of Roman Foods PDF

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Kristin Lord, AR105...

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Colonialism: the Origin of the Term ● Etymology of "colony", "colonial", and "colonialism" ● Late Middle English (denoting a settlement formed mainly of retired soldiers, acting as a garrison in newly conquered territory in the Roman Empire) ○ From Latin colonia 'settlement, farm', from colonus 'settler, farmer', from colere 'cultivate' The Extent of Rome ● Rome grew from a small town in west-central Italy ○ Which is the small deep red area on the map (**slide 7 presentation 1**) ● Became the capital of the Italian peninsula before it became the leader of much of Europe, North Africa, Asia Minor, and the Middle East Weather in Rome ● See slide 8, 9, 10 ● Already seeing more substantial heat waves and droughts Growing Conditions ● Varied enormously in the parts the Romans ultimately controlled ○ Can be seen in the expansion Roman Empire from Augustus (died 14CE) and Trajan (died 117 CE) ○ Latter is its maximum extent Transportation ● Sophisticated transportation system that conveyed a variety of foodstuffs - especially staple items such as grain, wine, olives, olive oil - to Rome and other major cities ● See slide 12 Perishable Foodstuffs ● Perishable foodstuffs could and were transported from fishing areas, market gardens, and orchards to regional or large cities ● Ice was used to extend freshness, but drying and/or salting was cheaper Cuisine ● Ancient Rome cuisine, despite its differences from its modern equivalent, formed the beginning of what is now known as the Mediterranean diet The Ancient Mediterranean Triad of Foodstuffs ● The ancient Mediterranean triad of foodstuffs consists of: ○ Grains - specific type depending on the area ○ Grapes - often consumed as wine ○ Olives - often consisting of olive oil ● These do not provide a balanced diet by themselves Staples ● Bread and wheat ● Variety of other grains Wine Trade ● Big business in Rome ● Senators were not supposed to work in trade - but sometimes they did ○ Often in limited stock companies with equites (knights) and freedmen (former slaves)

● Slide - picture is testable Common Sources of Protein ● Sheep and goats are more efficient than cattle in most of the Mediterranean ● Soft cheese similar to the modern Feta preserve both milk and (female) animals ● Romans were more fond of pigs than other cultures in Europe during their time ● Rabbits were also often eaten Fish and Seafood ● Mediterranean was not abundant with fish and seafood, but fish were both caught and farmed in ancient Greece and Rome ● Red mullet was perhaps the favourite during this time Wild Boar and Roast Suckling Pig ● Roman delicacies ● Only the wealthy could afford it Dormice ● Popular delicacy - especially stuffed ● Human consumption of dormice is banned in Europe today Vegetables ● Available to both the ancient Greeks and Roman ● Salad greens (both domestic and cultivated), asparagus, kale, onions, garlic, leeks, cabbage, mushrooms, peas ● Probable ancestor of the modern cauliflower was also known ● Beans of many sorts were a staple of both the Greek and Roman diet in antiquity ● Pythagoreans (philosophical school) abstained from beans ○ Particularly fava beans ● Fava beans and chickpeas were known ● Some other beans are New World types ● Pliny the Elder, writing in the first century CE, describes a vegetable which he calls cyma ○ Probably a progenitor of the modern cauliflower ● Beans of many sorts were a staple of both the Greek and Roman diet in antiquity ○ Pythagoreans abstained from beans, particularly fava beans ● Fava beans and chickpeas were known to the Greeks and Romans; beans from the genus faseolus are a New World type Pumpkins ● Pumpkins, squashes and similar vegetables were known to the Romans ● Seneca wrote a parody of the deification of the Emperor Claudius ○ Called The Pumpkinification of the Divine Claudius (Apocolocyntosis) Rice ● Entered Europe during the Roman era ● Luxury item Fruits ● Fruits known to the Romans; peaches, apples, pears, figs, pomegranates, and melons Citron ● Known to both Greeks and Romans ● Lemon developed by later in the Empire

● Other citrus came later via Asia and the Middle East Sauces ● Were of high standard ● Most popular was the fish sauce garum ○ Thai and other Asian fish sauces are a good substitute - as is Worcestershire sauce in limited quantities ● Another popular one was liquamen ○ Less pungent "Flower of garum" ● Slide 28 Extinct Species ● The herb silphium was native to the city of Cyrene in North Africa ○ Romans harvested it to extinction in the first century CE ○ Considered delicious and had a reputation for fertility control ○ An inferior species disappeared shortly afterwards Herbs and Spices ● Many of the herbs and spice known to the modern kitchen were also known to the Romans ● Trade with India and the Arabian peninsula via the beginnings of the spice route that became well known in the Middle Ages ○ Trade both overland and partially on sea Caffeine ● Ancient Romans survived without coffee, caffeinated teas, and sugar ● Had herbal teas - sometimes known as tisanes Foods and Drinks Unknown to the Romans ● New world produce such as tomatoes, potatoes, maize, chocolate, coffee ● Asian foods - tea, eggplant ● Spinach would not be recognized in Europe until the Middle Ages ● Other greens and cheeses used in baked goods ● Pasta may have originated in ancient Rome and China independently ● Cranberries - New World food ● Blueberries are indigenous to Europe but historically have a northern distribution - same as lingonberries ● Honey was sweetener of choice - sugar cane and maple syrup were unknown Ancient Roman Recipes ● Best known Roman cookbook is ascribed to a first-century CE gourmand named Apicius ○ Manuscript is later and is a compendium from a variety of sources ○ When used in modern kitchens, recipes need adaptation for equipment and greater specificity of amounts Basic Terminology for Roman Meals ● Breakfast: ientaculum ○ A light meal often consisting of bread, goat or sheep's milk, cheese and fruit ● Lunch: prandium ○ Most evidence from the upper classes

○ Also a light meal Dinner: cena **TESTABLE** ○ Held in the evening ○ Biggest meal of the day ○ Hors d'oeuvres was called the gustatio or promulsis ○ Main course was the prima mensa ○ Dessert was the secunda mensa ○ Up to five courses could be served at an especially elaborate meal ● Much of the evidence comes from the upper classes and did not reflect how ordinary people ate Social Class and the Roman Diet ● Most of the elaborate dining rituals we know about come from the upper classes ● Greek cuisine was also admired and adapted by the upper classes Seating and Eating ● Roman dining room was called a triclinium, from a Greek word meaning "three couches" ○ Triclinium had a specific arrangement for people to sit ○ "parasites" or hangers-on sat on chairs of lounged on the floor ● Roman banqueters were served on couches not at a table ● Couches could seat nine ● Often other people involved in the meal - slaves, "parasites" (provided entertainment for a share of the evening) ● Most food was eaten with fingers ○ Spoons and knives were also used Roman women and Dinner Parties ● Evidence varies whether respectable women participated in dinner parties ● Poet, Ovid, speaks of his fantasy of snuggling up against his mistress at a dinner party at which her husband is also present ● Other evidence takes a more conservative approach - especially for "respectable" uppercrust ladies ● Middle-of-the-road approach is to assume that women often did attend dinner parties, although perhaps not strictly drinking functions ○ Comissatio, pl. comissationes ● Much of literary evidence is deals with the upper classes or is satirical in nature Doggie Bags in ancient Rome ● Sportula was used to refer to any gift of food or money from a richer Roman to a poorer one ○ Came to mean something akin to "doggie bag" at a banquet ● People took their own napkins to dinner and took leftovers home ● Very common, considered rude if you didn’t do it Apartment Life and Cooking ● Many lived at close to a subsistence level and apartments (insula, pl. insulae) ● Cooking was done outdoors or on indoor braziers ● Recent investigation from a sewer in Herculaneum shows that apartment dweller did cook, despite the cramped conditions and the risks ●

Meal out of ordinary Marcuses ● Apartments lacked fireplace ● Enjoying a snack at a popina ("greasy spoon") or thermopolium ("hot-food" joint) was common Terms and Ideas to know for the Midterm ● List three foods commonly eaten in North America today that were unknown to the Romans due to lack of travel to the Americas or due to the domestication of species at a later date ● List the ancient Mediterranean triad of grains, grapes (especially wine), and olives ● Familiar with silphium and garum ● Name two types of Roman delicacies ● Name the three main Roman meals, using English terms ○ Cena is the one testable Latin term of the set ● Explain why the lavish Roman meals we read about were actually uncommon ○ E.g. lack of money, lack of cooking space, people ate takeaways from a popina/thermopolium ● Define "triclinium" and "parasite" ● Answer that Apicius was considered the author of an ancient Roman cookbook - but recipes in the cookbook ascribed to him might be mainly by other people Ancient Roman Foodways and the Columbian Exchange ● "Columbian Exchange" is a term first used by Alfred W. Crosby in 1972 to refer to the widespread transfer of plants, animals, human populations, technologies, ideas, and diseases resulting from the European colonization and trade from the time of Columbus's 1492CE voyage and onward ○ Results were most beneficial to Europeans ■ Both those remaining in Europe and those settling another continents and their related islands ○ The greatest losers were the indigenous inhabitants of the Americas, Australia and New Zealand ■ Suffered the destruction of their societies and precipitous declines in their population due to conquest and disease ○ Another byproduct was the enslavement of millions of Africans ● Foods known in the Roman Empire do not include those that came to Europe as a result of the Columbian Exchange ○ Romans did benefit from earlier periods of trade and conquest ■ Apricot and peach became cultivated in Europe under Roman auspices Thanksgiving ● The turkey traditional at North American Thanksgiving is not indigenous to Europe ● Modern domesticated turkey is descended from the wild turkeys that ranged in the forests of North America Meats, Fish and Birds ● Many common domesticated animals (rabbits, sheep, goats, pigs, chicken, cattle) were consumed in all or part of ancient Mediterranean world ● Sheep and goats more common than cattle

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Romans were particularly fond of pork and bacon (pigs) Turkey was native to the Americas and not known in the ancient times Fish and bird species depend on habitat ○ At least one species of flamingo was known to the ancient Romans ■ Ones familiar to us in Canada are indigenous to the Caribbean and Central America ● Bison are indigenous to North America ● The ostrich was known in ancient Egypt, Iran, and Classical Greece despite originating in Africa Buffalo ● The bufalo (female, bufala) is a species of water buffalo which was introduced into Europe from Asia either in the Roman or Medieval period ○ Mozzarela di bufala is the cheese from milk of this species Wine ● Generally not served straight from the jar ● Often diluted with water in a small pitcher and often sweetened with honey ● Corks were used in the Roman period but were less securely fastened than they are today Cooking Pots ● Often made of metal ○ As in the House of the Vettii in Pompeii ○ Originals are actually in the local museum ● Lead could be an issue ● Clay cooking and baking pots were also common ● Terracotta utensils included the mortarium, a mortar used to puree or squash soft foods Dining and Literature ● Reasonable amount of literature written by ancient Romans about food and dining practices ● Marcus Terentius Varro wrote three books on agriculture ● Pliny the Elder composed material on a variety of scientific topics ● Cicero wrote extensively about dinner parties as both a host and guest ● A book of recipes of unknown authorship, de Re Coquinaria (On Cooking Matters) dating from the fourth or fifth century CE has been ascribed to Marcus Gavius Apicius ○ A gourmand who lived in the first century CE during the reign of Tiberius ○ Recipes have been tested and adapted for the modern kitchen ● There were Greek and Roman vegetarians ○ Pythagoreans were known for this diet ○ The Heretic's Feast: A History of Vegetarianism ● The Greek side ○ Poetic "advice" on highbrow dining in Athens in the fifth century BCE came from the gourmand and poet Archestratus of Gela ○ The comedy of Aristophanes is full of references to everyday fare and the problems of hunger during the Peloponnesian War...