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Ancient Rome played a pivotal role in shaping modern Western civilization. Its emphasis on freedom and legal systems mirrors our own values, yet aspects of its culture, such as the brutal gladiatorial games, would be shocking to contemporary sensibilities.
The culinary world of ancient Rome offers a fascinating mix of the familiar and the bizarre. Staples like bread, wine, and olives remain popular today, while exotic dishes such as pungent fish sauces and savory soufflés would likely baffle even the most adventurous modern diners. This list delves into the intriguing eating habits of ancient Romans.
10. The Mediterranean Triad
The foundation of ancient Roman cuisine rested on three key ingredients: grapes, grains, and olives, collectively known as the “Mediterranean Triad.” Grapes were consumed fresh or transformed into wine, ranging from premium vintages for the wealthy to basic acetum, or vinegar, which served multiple purposes, including culinary uses and even firefighting.
Grain was the cornerstone of the Roman diet, consumed by all social classes. The affluent enjoyed finely milled wheat transformed into soft white bread or enriched porridges with diverse ingredients. Meanwhile, the poorest citizens received a free grain ration, which they either took to bakers for bread-making or used to prepare simple porridge at home.
Olives were indispensable in daily Roman life, primarily for their oil, which served multiple purposes—from lighting lamps to post-exercise cleansing. These three essentials—grapes, grains, and olives—were the backbone of Roman culinary traditions.
9. Garum
During its peak in the first century AD, garum was immensely popular. It was often mixed with wine, oil, pepper, or water to create versatile sauces or beverages, enjoyed on their own or as meal enhancers. While basic garum was affordable for laborers, premium varieties were a luxury even for the wealthy. Production facilities and trade networks spread across the empire, making garum a staple in distant regions. But what exactly was garum?
Fish sauce.
While no direct Western equivalent exists today, Asian fish sauces are the closest comparison. Once immensely popular, it gradually disappeared from Western cuisine following the decline of the Roman Empire.
Even basic garum required significant time to produce, though it wasn’t labor-heavy. It was crafted by layering salted fish innards with aromatic herbs and spices, then left to ferment under the sun for months. The result was a strong-smelling paste. Proper salt levels were crucial: insufficient salt led to spoilage, while excess salt hindered fermentation. The mixture was strained to yield a golden sauce enjoyed across the Roman world. The leftover paste, though less prized, was also sold as a food enhancer.
Since garum was made from salt and fish byproducts, basic versions were affordable. However, premium garum used specific fish and secret herb-and-spice blends. Pliny the Elder noted that the finest garum, known as garum sociorum, was produced near modern-day Cartagena in Southern Spain.
8. Puls
Grain was the cornerstone of the Roman diet, and the simplest dish made from it was puls, a type of porridge. Basic porridge involved boiling grain in water until it softened and thickened, often seasoned with salt if available. Unlike modern sweet porridges, Roman versions were typically savory. More elaborate recipes, like Punic porridge, included ingredients such as honey, cheese, and eggs, turning it into a substantial meal. The most refined porridges even featured herbs and spices for added flavor.
In the Roman army, meals were prepared at the contubernium level—a group of eight soldiers who lived and fought together. Cooking duties usually fell to one or two members of the unit. Since soldiers received raw grain rations, porridge became a practical choice, as baking bread was time-consuming. This association with the military and lower classes led wealthier Romans to avoid porridge whenever possible.
7. Panis Quadratus
While porridge was the simplest Roman dish, bread became the most widespread, particularly in the empire's later years when free grain rations for the poor were replaced with free bread. Produced in large bakeries on an industrial scale, the standard loaf was the panis quadratus, a round bread with a top scored into eight slices.
Excavations in Pompeii have uncovered charred remains of panis quadratus and numerous frescoes depicting it in bakeries. Archaeological evidence suggests this bread was a staple, especially in cities where people relied on purchased food rather than growing and preparing it themselves.
The recipe for panis quadratus was similar to bread-making methods used until recent times. Cheaper loaves were dark and coarse, while pricier ones were lighter, made from finely milled flour. Stone mills or querns used for grinding often left tiny stone fragments in the flour, gradually wearing down people’s teeth. To combat low-quality bread, bakers were required to stamp their loaves with unique identifiers, ensuring accountability for substandard products.
6. Posca
Winemaking was a major industry in ancient Rome, generating significant waste, primarily in the form of spoiled or improperly aged wine, which turned into vinegar or acetum. The Romans excelled at recycling, and this vinegar found multiple uses. It was chiefly used to produce posca, a beverage popular among the lower classes and soldiers due to its affordability and accessibility. In military settings, drinking regular wine was often frowned upon or outright prohibited, especially for armies in the field.
While drinking vinegar might sound unappetizing, it could be made more enjoyable with added ingredients. The simplest posca consisted of vinegar-wine mixed with water, which, though an acquired taste, was safer than plain water. More refined versions included honey and spices like coriander, masking the sharp, acidic flavor of the acetum.
5. Defrutum
In addition to spoiled wine and vinegar, the Roman wine industry produced grape skins, pits, and pulp, which were repurposed into a low-cost sweetener called defrutum (sometimes spelled defritum). The distinction between defrutum and sapa, both made from grape must, remains unclear. Columella’s writings suggest the terms may have been interchangeable.
Defrutum served as an economical additive to meals, enhancing flavor and calorie content. Similar to modern jams or preserves, it was cooked until thickened and reduced by half or a third. While honey was a superior sweetener, it was costly and regionally limited, unlike wine, which was produced across the Roman empire. Though not a delicacy, porridge sweetened with grape jam was far more appealing than plain porridge.
4. Silphium
In the ancient region near Cyrene, a highly sought-after plant called silphium thrived during Roman times. Valued for its versatility, it could be roasted, boiled, or consumed raw. Its dried and grated sap enhanced meals and was used in perfumes. Silphium also played a key role in herbal medicine, particularly for treating ailments like anal growths and dog bites. Remarkably, it was also believed to act as an early contraceptive or to “purge the uterus.”
Silphium became deeply embedded in Roman and Greek culture, celebrated in poetry and literature, and even depicted on Greek coins. Cyrene grew wealthy from its trade. Julius Caesar himself acknowledged its worth, storing 680 kilograms (1,500 lb) in the national treasury.
Despite its value, silphium only grew naturally around Cyrene, and all cultivation attempts, including those by the Greek botanist Theophrastus, failed. It had to be harvested in the wild. Later, Cyrene’s kings tried to protect it by fencing it off, but their efforts were in vain. By the mid-first century AD, silphium had nearly vanished. The last known specimen, gifted to Emperor Nero between AD 54 and 68, was treated as a rare curiosity.
3. Gustum De Praecoquis
A prime example of the Roman preference for combining sweet and savory flavors comes from De Re Coquinaria. Gustum de praecoquis was an appetizer reserved for the elite, as lower-class Romans rarely indulged in multi-course meals. This dish showcased the host’s access to premium ingredients and the culinary expertise of their hired cooks, serving as a statement of wealth and sophistication.
Gustum de praecoquis was essentially apricots in a rich sauce. The preparation involved boiling apricots, then blending them with ground pepper, mint, fish sauce, raisin wine, regular wine, vinegar, and a touch of olive oil. Once the mixture thickened into a sauce and the apricots softened or dissolved, it was garnished with additional pepper before serving.
While undeniably sweet, this dish could easily pass as a dessert. However, the inclusion of pepper, vinegar, and fish sauce introduced a sharp, slightly bitter contrast, making it a unique starter.
2. Patina
A patina was a Roman dish resembling a modern soufflé, versatile enough to be sweet or savory, served as either a dessert or a main course. Highly favored by the Roman elite, Apicius’s De Re Coquinaria features 36 distinct patina recipes, incorporating ingredients ranging from pears to fish. Roman cuisine often blended sweet and savory flavors, resulting in combinations that might seem unusual today. Eggs were a key ingredient, adaptable to both sweet and savory dishes, making them ideal for Roman cooking.
Eggs formed the base of a patina, mixed with other ingredients in a specialized pot placed directly into hot embers. Cooking with the lid on produced a light, fluffy texture, while leaving the lid off resulted in a denser, crispier dish. This versatility allowed the patina to take many forms. One recipe, “Patina of Pears” (pictured above), combined nine ripe pears, sweet wine, honey, olive oil, cracked pepper, six eggs, cumin, and fish sauce into a paste, baked for an hour until firm.
1. Moretum
The typical diet of a Roman soldier or laborer consisted of bread, porridge, and vinegar-water—hardly thrilling. However, Virgil’s poetry describes a peasant plowman preparing his morning meal: moretum, a cheese salad, enjoyed with flatbread.
Roman cuisine was known for its bold flavors. Even the simplest dishes, like the peasant’s cheese salad, were rich in taste. This garlic-based sauce was made from aged sheep’s or goat’s cheese, parsley, rue, dill, coriander, salt, vinegar, olive oil, and four garlic bulbs, all ground into a paste using a mortar and pestle. The paste was spread on flatbread, which often served as both plate and meal in Roman culture.
Such meals were widespread, evidenced by the abundance of mortars and pestles found across the Roman world. While coriander was costly, other ingredients were easily accessible. Rural peasants typically grew their own herbs, making parsley, dill, and garlic free. Bread, salt, vinegar, and olive oil were staples of the Roman diet. Though elaborate dishes were reserved for the elite, even a humble peasant could enjoy a flavorful, affordable breakfast.
