Pickled Lettuce, Boiled Pigeon & Amber Wine: Eating Like a Roman

Food gives us a window into the everyday lives of people in the past and reminds us that our own diet can have ancient roots. The “Mediterranean diet” of olive oil, fish and pulses, wine, grains, fruit and vegetables, was spread widely by the Roman conquests in Europe, north Africa and the Adriatic and Black Sea.

This presentation looks at what people in the Roman Empire ate and drank, the familiar and the strange, from chickpeas and olive oil to dormice and sparrows. It will explore not only diet but some cultural, religious, and political aspects of what, how, and why food was eaten. Our information comes from recipes and poems, mosaics and wall paintings, plant remains, human and animal bones, and archaeological finds such as the intact kitchen of a Roman villa and newly discovered remains of take away food at Pompeii. Food could be a symbol of wealth, power and status. Rich Romans had dinner at 3 pm and reclined to eat, taking food with their fingers from a shared plate, and waited on by slaves who brought finger bowls and towels. The bioarchaeology of human bones tells a less glamorous story, showing frequent rickets, scurvy and lead poisoning. Wine was central to society, mixed with water as an everyday drink and even used to wean infants. Graves and sarcophagi had holes and tubes for pouring in wine for the dead on their birthdays or festival days. Wine was mixed with pigeon dung for medicine, and offered to the gods every day at household shrines. This talk looks at food “from eggs to apples”, as the Roman saying went.

About the speaker:

Dr Tamara Lewit is an Honorary Fellow in the School of Historical and Philosophical Studies at The University of Melbourne, and a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries, London. She specializes in the archaeology of wine and oil in the Roman world and her interest in Roman food grew out of collaboration on two children’s novels by Anna Ciddor. Author of numerous academic publications, she has also published ‘The Archaeology of Olive Oil in the Ancient World’ and Tamara’s Secrets, a website on Roman life for children. Her exhibition on wine in the Greek and Roman worlds is currently on display at the Old Quad, University of Melbourne, until June 6.

This event is part of a program to celebrate National Archaeology Week, co-presented by The University of Melbourne, Hellenic Museum and CO.AS.IT. Museo Italiano. Visit the program hub to explore other events.