What did the Ancient Romans eat?

Welcome everyone, in this video we will uncover the ingredients, flavours, and dining habits that shaped Roman food culture, from everyday meals to extravagant feasts.

00:00 - 01:28 Introduction
01:29 - 07:40 Meals, Cooking & Taverns
07:41 - 12:44 Cereals
12:45 - 13:22 Legumes
13:23 - 15:40 Vegetables
15:41 - 21:18 Meat
21:19 - 24:06 Eggs & Dairy
24:07 - 27:40 Seafood
27:41 - 29:04 Olives & Olive Oil
29:05 - 32:25 Herbs & Spices
32:26 - 35:13 Fruits & Nuts
35:14 - 37:07 Sweets

Note 1: Gudgeon is actually a freshwater fish, I mistakenly placed Gudgeon in the saltwater fish category.
Note 2: Dolphins are mammals but I included them in the fish category for the sake of convenience.
Note 4: At some point, I mistakenly say that the Romans kept electric eels as pets in their pools. They did not have electric eels but European moray eels.

Music by:
Farya Faraji: @faryafaraji
Stefanos Krasopoulis/Στέφανος Κρασοπούλης: @stefanoskrasopoulis
Epidemic Music

A Big Thank You to my Patreon members: Robert G Ferrick

Sources:
-Patrick Faas, 'Around the Roman Table: Food and Feasting in Ancient Rome'
-Marco Gavio de Rubeis, 'Ancient Roman Cooking: Ingredients, Recipes, Sources'
-Gaius Plinius Secundus (Pliny the Elder), 'Naturalis Historia'
-Marcus Gavius Apicius, 'De Re Coquinaria'
-Marcus Terentius Varro, 'De Re Rustica'
-Marcus Porcio Cato, 'De Agri Cultura'
-Lucius Junius Moderatus Columella, 'De Re Rustica'

#history #documentary

[XellossBoi]

Very thorough and well presented. Probably the best I've seen on the subject of food history!

[nimblehuman]

'Piscina' is the word I learned in Spanish for a swimming pool. Never realized until this video that this is a reference to a literal fish pond 💀

[jona_KardCiv]

It's shocking how complex Roman society was that long ago.

[casteretpollux]

This put a whole new light on the French term for swimming pool " piscine" 🐟 🐠 🐟

[Samsham]

Great video. The Romans had a great variety of foods avaliable. I have always wondered about what they had, a lot seemed very modern.

[TarpeianRock]

Great vid, very thorough, thanks. One thing though : there’s no such thing as an electric moray eel. There’s no moray eel that is electric, some types of other eels can be electric.

[nildabridgeman]

Lots of great information.. Thankyou so much 🍇 🫒

[potatojoe]

When he said convivium, I immediately thought, ...welease woger!

[guycalabrese]

Halfway in to the video it seems like modern french cuisine is a mirror of ancient roman cuisine. Fois gras, snails with garlic.

[Ksennie]

great job! My only critique though is that you left out Rosemary from the herb list! It's still a critical component of the cuisine local to modern Rome today!

[matthewakian]

I'm hungry now after watching this!

[livrowland]

Interesting video, and their diet looks varied and tasty. I'd go to a Roman restaurant :-)

[Murgatroyd]

Very interesting video, really enjoyed seeing the different types of bread & all of the cool frescoes. Thank you!

[henrikgustafsson]

More food programes, please!
Lovely company while eating supper.

[brikener]

Wonderful video. Thanks.
Don't spare the garum.

[voxudnd]

This is a very good video for anybody doing research on ancient foods. It is interesting to note that vinegar and olive oil is still used in salads today.

[ubroberts]

Purslane. I have wild purslane growing in my yard in Arizona. The plant has amazing nutritional value.

[Salento]

I live in the deep south of Italy, and growing vegetables is still something almost everybody does around here. The majority of people here own a patch of land where they grow their own vegetables. Often there are olive trees as well

[oneilluminatus]

Anybody else got hungry while watching this video, or was it just me??

[LaineyBug]

I can't remember where I read or watched it, but there's supposed to be some botanists that think the ancient Silphium was a cross between 2 plants that grew near each other and think they are close to reproducing it...