Hellenistic and Roman cuisine

The main aim of this paper is to analyse the text of the 12th book of Geoponica for the identification of vegetable plants, which were described by Cassianus Bassus. The analysis will serve as the first step for further inquiries that will include the reconstruction of recipes that require some of the vegetables presented in the text.
The text of Geoponica is the basic source to get to know the agriculture but also the culinary art of the Byzantine Empire, even though it is rather hard to read due to the harsh style and quite a large number of technical terms (i.e. botanical, agronomical or astrological to name just a few). As already mentioned, the first part of the analysis is to identify the plants mentioned by Bassus, which will allow me to take further steps, i.e. to reconstruct the culinary recipes, in which the plants mentioned by the Author occur. Without this precise identification, the reconstruction of the recipes will not be possible at all.
In the 12th book of his Geoponica Bassus gave descriptions of several plants that should be taken into consideration while planning the garden, mostly for their medicinal or cooking properties. Amongst them, Author mentioned garlic, artichoke, melon, leek, radish, celery, and cucumbers. Having the rather big number of plants narrowed down will allow to demonstrate in vivo how they were served according to De re coquinaria by Apicius and present the practical usage of vegetables proposed by Bassus for cultivation. As Apicius’ cookbook is the only one preserved from Antiquity, it will remain the major source of the recipes presented in this paper.

The peach (Prunus persica [L.] Batsch) is a tree native to the region known today as Northwest China, where its fruits were known around 2000 BC. Inhabitants of the Mediterranean Area came into contact with the peach probably between the 6th and 4th century BC thanks to the contacts with Persian Empire. In the western part of the Mediterranean Region the peach appeared later (ca. 1st c. AD). In the period under study there were many varieties of the peach, and they were eaten in many different ways – e.g. raw, dried, boiled etc. They could be consumed without any other ingredients, or as an element of more complicated dishes. Ancient and early Byzantine authors, who wrote their treatises between the 1st and 7th c. AD, and dealt with medicine
(Dioscorides, Pliny the Elder, Galen, Oribasius, Aetius of Amida, Paul of Aegina, Athimus and others), described dietetic properties of a peach with details. Moreover, they left some information about a medical use of
this fruit. This aspect of their works is an element of a wider and well-known phenomenon, i.e. an important role of all groups of aliments in the ancient art of healing.

Nea Paphos was the capital of the island of Cyprus under firstly the Ptolemies and then under the Romans. In this paper, we intend examing -briefly-an assemblage of Roman pottery coming from the Italian excavations in Paphos, Garrison's Camp. Among cooking pottery, attention has focused in particular on the frying pans, a shape very popular in western Cyprus, with a very long lifespan (from Hellenistic to Late Roman period). So, we present the analysis of two different groups of frying pans, looking the fabric, the decoration and the chronological range. In addition, based on the surviving evidence, we propose a pattern of distribution of this shape in Cyprus and in other mediterranean sites, especially in the Levant; its circulation does not seem random and it can be clearly recognized looking the lack of evidence for frying pans from Eastern Cyprus. Finally, reading Latin (Apicius) and Greek sources (Athenaeus), we discuss a possible and interesting connection between decoration of frying pans and roman culinary tradition.

""À Nîmes, les débuts de l’Empire sont marqués, comme dans d’autres villes des Gaules romaines, par des transformations radicales d’un point de vue culturel, institutionnel et urbanistique. À partir d’un échantillon de mobilier céramique représentatif, le présent ouvrage - fruit d’un mémoire universitaire - étudie les changements qui affectent, sous les règnes d’Auguste et de Tibère, la vaisselle, les manières de cuisiner ou encore le commerce des produits transportés en amphores et consommés dans ce chef-lieu de cité.
Dans la première partie du volume, la documentation matérielle issue de trois fouilles préventives menées en contexte urbain et périurbain est décrite en détail, quinze ensembles ou contextes classés par phases réunissant plus de 21 000 tessons étant pris en compte. Ils permettent, en particulier, de s’intéresser à la chronologie des grandes étapes de construction du forum et de mieux appréhender le rythme des processus d’aménagement de la ville de Nîmes sous les julio-claudiens. Dans la seconde partie, plus de trente catégories céramiques font l’objet de réflexions d’ordre typo-chronologique et fonctionnel. Elles sont accompagnées d’un catalogue exhaustif de 77 planches de mobilier présentées en fin d’ouvrage. Dans la troisième et dernière partie, les dynamiques commerciales et culturelles sont étudiées, en s’intéressant notamment à la question de la place du vin dans l’économie nîmoise, à l’évolution des pratiques culinaires ou encore aux étapes de la transformation du répertoire céramique, en lien avec ce processus complexe qu’est la romanisation.
Au fil de l’ouvrage, l’ensemble de cette documentation est confronté aux données archéologiques locales et régionales les plus récentes, relatives à l’occupation du sol, aux pratiques funéraires ou encore aux activités artisanales en Narbonnaise, afin d’offrir au lecteur une nouvelle contribution à la connaissance de la colonia Augusta Nemausus.
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This dissertation aims to fill the gaps in previous academic analyses of Roman marine resource exploitation by examining the social status inherit within several connected elements of the Roman fishing industry. The guiding research questions are as follows: to what extent was the presence of saltwater fish in the Roman diet a status indicator? Can the evidence from Roman iconography, literature, and archaeology be used to create a definitive status hierarchy of consumable fish in the Roman world? What were the social status implications in the Roman fishing industry from sea, to net, to table? To answer these guiding questions, this dissertation combines primary source material with modern scholarly interpretations to form an original contribution to the archaeological studies of the Roman world.

The main aim of this paper is to analyse the text of the 12th book of Geoponica for the purpose of identification of vegetable plants, which were described by Cassianus Bassus. The analysis will serve as the first step for further inquiries that will include the reconstruction of recipes that require some of the vegetables presented in the text.The text of Geoponica is a basic source learn about the agriculture but also the culinary art of the Byzantine Empire, even though it is rather hard to read due to the complicated style and quite a large number of technical terms (i.e. botanical, agronomical or astrological to name just a few). As already mentioned, the first part of the analysis is to identify the plants mentioned by Bassus, which will allow me to take further steps, i.e. to reconstruct the culinary recipes, in which the plants mentioned by the Author can be found. Without this precise identification, the reconstruction of the recipes would not be possible at all.In the 12th...

The main aim of this speach is to present the opinion and views of Anthimus on eating the chicken that occurs in his letter named De observatione ciborum. This important booklet represents one of the few sources about the food in Late Antiquity and Early Middle Ages, which is strengthen by the fact that it was written in Latin, making this text being available in Europe in the period when the knowledge of Greek was not common.
Anthimus wrote his text in form of a letter addressed to Theuderic, the King of Franks. His work seems to be a complete, dietary treatise that links the Ancient and Medieval culinary art, deeply connected to the Byzantine empire. A clear view emerges from the text that the place where one lives, has indeed great influence on one’s dietary habits.
Despite its importance, the view on eating chicken and the preparation for eventual consumption will be extended on the Dietary calendar, attributed to Hierophylus the Sophist and most importantly on Apicius’ De re coqunaria. Thus, from the Roman cookbook I shall in consideration six recipes that will be reconstructed and to be prepared accordingly to the Latin text of the 6 th book, chapter 9 In pullo, where 16 recipes for different types of dishes are given. As mentioned before, six of them, in my opinion the most convenient in reconstruction, shall be presented.
This action of combining the three texts should, somehow, give a rough image of how the chicken might have been prepared in the upper class cuisine and help to revive, for a while, the Roman world through the taste buds.