{"id":4475,"date":"2019-02-22T14:56:28","date_gmt":"2019-02-22T14:56:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/latin\/?p=4475"},"modified":"2019-02-22T19:12:00","modified_gmt":"2019-02-22T19:12:00","slug":"roman-dining","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/latin\/roman-dining\/","title":{"rendered":"Roman Dining"},"content":{"rendered":"

Note: This blog post is a companion to Unit X of our Introduction to Latin Vocabulary course. You can learn more about the course here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Food is an essential part of all cultures, but when it comes to ancient cultures, food doesn\u2019t tend to be one of the things that survive for very long. Luckily, we actually know a surprising amount about what, and how, the Romans ate. People have even managed to recreate Roman dishes today, like the one \u00a0included below! In food, just as in all aspects of their lives, the Romans were in some ways very similar to us and in others vastly different. Let\u2019s take a look at their food culture.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Triclinium<\/span><\/h1>\n
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A reconstruction of a Roman triclinium. Image by Mentnafunangann on Wikimedia Commons, licensed under CC-BY-SA-3.0<\/p><\/div>\n

The dining room in a Roman mansion was called the <\/span>triclinium<\/span><\/i>, from the Greek words for three (<\/span>tris<\/span><\/i>) and lean (<\/span>clinein<\/span><\/i>). This was because Romans and Greeks didn\u2019t sit down to eat as we do, but would instead lie down on couches. These couches were arranged in groups of three (hence the <\/span>tri<\/span><\/i>clinium<\/span><\/i>), in a horseshoe pattern, with the food on tables in the middle of the horseshoe. Diners would prop themselves on their elbows to reach the food.<\/span><\/p>\n

Three people would lie on each couch\u2014cozy!\u2014and seating arrangements were based on status. The hosts would lie on the <\/span>lectus imus <\/span><\/i>(left-hand couch); the least important guests would lie on the <\/span>lectus summus <\/span><\/i>(right-hand couch); and the guests of honor would lie on the <\/span>lectus medius <\/span><\/i>(middle couch), with the most important guest on the far left side of the <\/span>lectus medius<\/span><\/i>, in the place called the <\/span>locus consularis<\/span><\/i>.<\/span><\/p>\n

There were no utensils and no personal plates. Everything was eaten by hand, so slaves would provide bowls of water for washing-up before the meal.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Roman Cuisine<\/span><\/h1>\n

If you aren\u2019t a fan of honey, salt, or vinegar, then I sincerely hope you never fall into a time warp back to ancient Rome! Those three ingredients were in almost every Roman dish. Salt was used to bring out flavors, just like today, but instead of sugar, honey was used to provide sweetness (sugar was only known as an Indian medicine during Roman times). These three ingredients were used in ways you might find unpleasant today\u2014like cabbage cooked in a boiled honey-vinegar mix\u2014but the Romans loved these flavors. (They were also big fans of garlic; one recipe for ancient pesto calls for <\/span>20 cloves of garlic<\/span><\/i>. Personally, I\u2019m into it.)<\/span><\/p>\n

While we\u2019re on the subject, I really can\u2019t leave out their favorite seasoning, a sauce known as <\/span>garum <\/span><\/i>or <\/span>liquamen<\/span><\/i>. <\/span>Liquamen<\/span><\/i> was made by pouring heaps of salt over fish guts, then leaving the mixture out in the sun for days to rot. When it was good and stinky, the <\/span>liquamen<\/span><\/i> would be strained, bottled, and sold. The Romans couldn\u2019t get enough of the stuff. And even though that description sounds really gross, <\/span>liquamen<\/span><\/i> was probably delicious. Many salty sauces today\u2014Worcestershire sauce, soy sauce, Thai fish sauce\u2014are made by letting the ingredients rot a little bit.<\/span><\/p>\n

Most of what we know about cooking in ancient Rome comes from a cookbook called <\/span>Apicius<\/span><\/i><\/a>, containing hundreds of recipes, which was probably first written in the 1st century AD and then added to over the centuries. The recipes are very different in format from the ones we use today\u2014there are almost no measurements, temperatures, or times, so modern chefs who recreate ancient dishes have to use a lot of guesswork.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Recreation of\u00a0 a Garum Factory. Image by Kolforn on Wikimedia Commons, licensed under CC-BY-3.0<\/p><\/div>\n

Cena<\/span><\/h1>\n

A banquet (<\/span>cena recta<\/span><\/i>) was a major social event. Dozens, even hundreds of guests might be invited, and they would come wearing special, colorful dining clothes called <\/span>cenatoria<\/span><\/i>. Guards were posted to prevent gate-crashers (<\/span>parasiti<\/span><\/i>), who often managed to sneak in anyway.<\/span><\/p>\n

Banquets would begin with the <\/span>gustatio<\/span><\/i> (appetizers), usually small savory foods like sausages, eggs, or honey-dipped rodents, and then continue on to the <\/span>cena<\/span><\/i> (main course).<\/span><\/p>\n

This could be almost anything, and the richer you were the more dramatic you wanted your <\/span>cena<\/span><\/i> to be. A simple main course might involve chicken cooked in wine, or a pig\u2019s stomach cooked with nuts and vegetables. A really extravagant host might serve his guests flamingo tongue or ostrich stew.<\/span><\/p>\n

After the <\/span>cena<\/span><\/i> was taken away, slaves would bring in the <\/span>secunda mensa<\/span><\/i> (dessert). Just like today, the <\/span>secunda mensa<\/span><\/i> was sweet: dishes like honey-cakes or apricots in honey-milk, and fruits like figs and apples. Because meals almost always started with eggs and ended with apples, the Romans had a saying: <\/span>ab ovo usque ad malum<\/span><\/i>, or \u2018from the egg to the apple\u2019, which meant \u2018from beginning to end.\u2019 You would probably find a lot of Roman dishes strange, but the desserts still taste pretty good. Try <\/span>this recipe<\/span><\/a> for dates with honey and pine nuts\u2014it\u2019s delicious!<\/span><\/p>\n

At the end of the night, guests would be allowed to take home whatever they could carry in a <\/span>mappa<\/span><\/i> (napkin). Providing enough food that there would be leftovers was an important part of Roman hospitality.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Wine<\/span><\/h1>\n

Romans drank almost exclusively wine with meals. They knew about other alcoholic beverages, like beer and cider, but virtually never drank them. Wine was an essential part of what it meant to be Roman.<\/span><\/p>\n

However, they wouldn\u2019t drink wine <\/span>merum<\/span><\/i> (straight-up). If they were in a sweet mood, they would mix honey into the wine, for a drink they called <\/span>mulsum<\/span><\/i>. At most other times they added a certain amount of water to the wine, and at a party there was a person whose job it was to decide how much water to add. This person was called the <\/span>arbiter bibendi<\/span><\/i>, and they had a serious responsibility. Too little water, and the wine would be sour and unpleasant; too much water, and nobody would get drunk. The <\/span>arbiter bibendi<\/span><\/i> had to read the mood of the party, and mix accordingly.<\/span><\/p>\n

Daily Dining<\/span><\/h1>\n
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Ruins of a Roman Taberna. Image by Mentnafunangann on Wikimedia Commons, licensed under CC-BY-SA-3.0<\/p><\/div>\n

Most people who lived in Ancient Rome didn\u2019t have <\/span>triclinia<\/span><\/i>, or slaves to cook for and serve them. In fact, in the cities, many middle-class and poor people lived in <\/span>insulae<\/span><\/i> (apartment buildings), where starting a fire for cooking risked burning the whole building down. These people would usually eat on the street, at stands or small restaurants called <\/span>tabernae<\/span><\/i> or <\/span>popinae<\/span><\/i>, where food was cheap and hot. The Roman government also provided flour to the lower classes cheaply or for free, but those who received the flour had to take it to a bakery and pay to have it made into bread. Lower-class people who wanted a taste of the good life would have to sneak into rich-guy parties as <\/span>parasiti<\/span><\/i>.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Yes, Roman banquets were (for rich people) sociable, luxurious, probably pretty smelly affairs. How do they sound to you? Would you want to eat dinner sprawled on a couch with your family? Would you eat the flamingo tongue? Would you sprinkle some <\/span>garum<\/span><\/i> on it?<\/span><\/p>\n

Glossary of Latin Words and Phrases<\/span><\/h1>\n

ab ovo usque ad malum<\/span><\/i> – \u2018from egg to apple\u2019, a phrase meaning \u2018from the beginning to the end\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n

arbiter bibendi<\/span><\/i> – the \u2018drinking judge\u2019, whose job it was to decide how much water to add to the wine<\/span><\/p>\n

cena<\/span><\/i> – dinner\/main course<\/span><\/p>\n

cena recta<\/span><\/i> – banquet<\/span><\/p>\n

cenatoria<\/span><\/i> – dining-out clothes, usually colorful<\/span><\/p>\n

garum<\/span><\/i> – see liquamen<\/span><\/p>\n

gustatio<\/span><\/i> – appetizers<\/span><\/p>\n

insula<\/span><\/i> – apartment building<\/span><\/p>\n

lectus imus<\/span><\/i> – left-hand host couch<\/span><\/p>\n

lectus medius<\/span><\/i> – middle, guest-of-honor couch<\/span><\/p>\n

lectus summus<\/span><\/i> – right-hand, less-important-guest couch<\/span><\/p>\n

liquamen<\/span><\/i> – a salty sauce made of rotten fish, used by the Romans in or on almost every savory dish<\/span><\/p>\n

locus consularis<\/span><\/i> – the most privileged spot in the <\/span>triclinium<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

mappa<\/span><\/i> – napkin<\/span><\/p>\n

merum<\/span><\/i> – unmixed or straight-up wine<\/span><\/p>\n

mulsum<\/span><\/i> – wine with honey<\/span><\/p>\n

parasitus<\/span><\/i> – a gate-crasher or moocher<\/span><\/p>\n

popina<\/span><\/i> – a small restaurant or snack stand serving street food<\/span><\/p>\n

secunda mensa<\/span><\/i> – dessert<\/span><\/p>\n

taberna<\/span><\/i> – see popina<\/span><\/p>\n

triclinium<\/span><\/i> – Roman dining room, with three reclining couches arranged in a horseshoe pattern<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\"\"

Note: This blog post is a companion to Unit X of our Introduction to Latin Vocabulary course. You can learn more about the course here. Food is an essential part of all cultures, but when it comes to ancient cultures, food doesn\u2019t tend to be one of the things that survive for very long. Luckily…<\/p>\n

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