Curiosities of ancient Rome (Food)
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Trojan pig – Roman dish
Information about a luxurious Roman dish – the so-called The “Trojan pig” comes from the 5th century and we owe it to the scientist Macrobius. Macrobius himself describes the meaning of the dish as follows: “made pregnant with other animals ... Read more
How did ancient Romans eat their meals?
Ancient Romans consuming soup mainly used spoons made of bronze, animal bones or wood. Richer Romans used silver cutlery. The so-called ligula a small dessert spoon. There was another type, for example, coclear – a spoon with a sharp tip ... Read more
Cumin in ancient times
Ancient Rome used a range of overseas spices such as black pepper, long pepper, ginger, cardamom and cinnamon. However, the most frequently used raw materials, both in cooking and in medicine, that were grown locally – coriander, mint and Roman ... Read more
Exaggerated feasting and vomiting in Roman world
Excessive consumption of food and excess was something the ancient Romans believed should be avoided at all costs. The ideal Roman should be devoted to the gods, his family and homeland, and above all, he should live a simple life ... Read more
Ancient wine “Villa dei Misteri – Mastroberardino”
Palaeobotanists recreated the ancient wine that was drunk in ancient Rome two thousand years ago. For this purpose, orchards with grapes were created in Pompeii and the cultivation of plants was undertaken as the Romans had done before the eruption ... Read more
Moralia – collection of Plutarch’s texts
Plutarch of Chaeronea (c. 50 – c. 125 CE) is a Greek historian whose most famous work is the collection of lives of famous figures of the ancient world – the so-called Parallel Lives. His other speeches and contents, collected ... Read more
Frogs in world of ancient Greeks and Romans
Ancient Greeks and Romans identified frogs with harmony, fertility or debauchery and the goddess Aphrodite (Venus). Ancient writers devoted numerous texts to frogs, including “Batrachomyomachia”, which tells about the war of mice with frogs and is heroicomic. The authorship of ... Read more
Recipe for Roman cream
Cream recipe by Marcus Gavius Apicius, a gastronome from the times of Octavian Augustus and Tiberius. In a chafing-dish put honey, pure wine, raisin wine, pine nuts, nuts, cooked spelt, add crushed and toasted hazelnuts and serve. – Apicius, De ... Read more
Bucellatum – Roman biscuit
The late-Roman Codex Theodosianus, which is a collection of Roman laws, mentions that a Roman soldier should be equipped with a buccellatum ac panem, vinum quoque atque acetum, sed et laridum, carnem verbecinam, or “hardtack and bread, wine too and ... Read more
Basil – spice of Greeks and Romans
Basil was already known in ancient Greece and Rome. It was known as ocimum (Latin) or basilikos (in Greek “a herb worth a king”). It is mentioned i.e. by Pliny the Elder, who distinguishes one type of this herb. He ... Read more
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