How did commoners eat and how did patricians eat?
Plebeians ate using all fingers. Patricians to distinguish themselves from the pleb used only three fingers so as not to get their ring finger and little finger dirty.
Before serving it was needed to have hands washed. Two types of spoons were also in use, a larger ligula and a smaller cochlear, which served more to fill snails or molluscs and served as the current fork. During the feast (price) larger pieces of food were cut into smaller pieces.
Sources
- Faas Patrick i Whiteside Shaun, Around the Roman Table: Food and Feasting in Ancient Rome, 2005
