Translated from french (please notify us of errors) Today, the tomato, aubergine and pepper are inseparable from Mediterranean cuisine, but all these products were unknown in the Roman world two thousand years ago… You will therefore find none of them in Roman dishes! These absences are explained by the isolation of continents until the Age […]
The satyrs’ secret garden
Translated from french (please notify us of errors) For the peoples of Antiquity, plants had multiple virtues: gustatory, but also medicinal, religious, magical and… aphrodisiac. In this last domain, three of them deserve the Pantheon. Savory Savory (Satureja) first, a Mediterranean plant, close to thyme, used since time immemorial as a condiment. In the Greek […]
Fifty shades of sow
Translated from french (please notify us of errors) Obélix had his wild boars¹, the Romans their pigs. Omnivorous animals requiring little upkeep, they were widespread in the countryside, including on modest farms. Professor Paolo Poccetti, a linguistics scholar at the University of Rome 2–Tor Vergata, describes the pig as “an animal at the centre of […]
August 24 or October 24? The date of Vesuvius’ eruption is debated
Translated from french (please notify us of errors) “October 24, 79”: this is what the first results show today when searching for the date of Vesuvius’ eruption on the internet. For centuries, however, historians and archaeologists accepted August 24, the date transmitted by Pliny the Younger. In 2018, the discovery at Pompeii of a charcoal […]
Julius’s New Year
Translated from french (please notify us of errors) Why does the year begin on January 1st? The answer lies in a reform carried out at full speed by Julius Caesar. At the end of the Republic, the Roman calendar had become a real headache. Heir to a very ancient organization, originally based on only ten […]
Celebrating Saturnalia in the 21st Century!
Translated from french (please notify us of errors) Saturnalia is an ancient Roman festival celebrated from December 17 to 23 in honor of Saturn, the god believed to have introduced agriculture and the arts of civilized life. It marked the end of the agricultural season and was a joyful, relaxed celebration. During Saturnalia, ordinary activities […]
An ancient shopping list
Translated from french (please notify us of errors) “Hey bro, how are you? Could you bring me some poultry, bread, lupin seeds, chickpeas, beans and fenugreek, please?” In this apparently banal form, a letter written in Greek in the 3rd century after our era has come down to us, preserved on papyrus and now held […]
The Saturnalia under Lucian’s critical gaze
Translated from french (please notify us of errors) Lucian has a caustic tongue and a biting satire. Born around 120-125 CE in Samosata, on the banks of the Euphrates in present-day southeastern Turkey, he is today readily presented as one of the great figures of critical thought. His trajectory is striking: coming from a modest […]
Yoghurt, barbarian delicacy for Roman palates
Translated from french (please notify us of errors) Pliny the Elder, in the 1st century, didn’t mince his words: for him, curdled milk was a barbarian affair. One can picture it: nomadic horsemen traversing the steppes with sheepskin bags of sheep’s milk attached to their saddles, fermenting under the jolting… He marvelled: “It is surprising […]
A spicy history of pepper
Translated from french (please notify us of errors) With wine and garum, pepper is the star ingredient in Apicius. The Roman cook used it in all his sauces. He did not hesitate to prescribe it for cooking, then recommend sprinkling it over the dish again before serving. Of the 500 recipes in the De re […]