"Actually, I can trace my Royal lineage back to Roman Emperor Stromboli".
Posted on 06/19/2007 4:25:23 PM PDT by blam
Ancient Romans Preferred Fast Food
Jennifer Viegas, Discovery News
June 18, 2007 — Just as a U.S. Presidential state dinner does not reflect how most Americans eat and socialize, researchers think the formal, decadent image of wining and dining in ancient Rome mostly just applied to the elite.
According to archaeologist Penelope Allison of the University of Leicester, the majority of the population consumed food "on the run."
Allison excavated an entire neighborhood block in Pompeii, a city frozen in time after the eruption of volcano Mount Vesuvius in 79 A.D.
Historians often extend findings from Pompeii to other parts of Italy, particularly Rome, given the city's proximity to the Roman Empire's center.
"In many parts of the western world today, a popular belief exists that family members should sit down and dine together and, if they don't, this may represent a breakdown of the family structure, but that idea did not originate in ancient Rome," she told Discovery News.
Her claims are based both on what she did not find during the excavation, and what she did.
Allison noticed an unusual lack of tableware and formal dining or kitchen areas within the Pompeii homes. Instead she found isolated plates here and there, such as in sleeping quarters.
"Similar to how children today bring a plate of food to their rooms before watching TV or playing on the computer, my guess is that Roman youths would tote food to certain areas where they possibly engaged in other activities," she said, adding that kids might also have dined with slaves in nanny or caretaker roles.
What she did find in the homes were multiple mini barbecue-type fire boxes, suggesting that "BBQ or fondue-style dining" often took place.
Allison outlines her findings in the new Oxford University Press book, "The Insula of the Menander at Pompeii Volume III."
Stephen Dyson, one of the world's leading authorities on ancient Rome, is a professor of classics at the University of Buffalo who formerly served as the president of the Archaeological Institute of America. Dyson told Discovery News that the new book "was meticulously researched" and that his own work in Pompeii and Rome supports Allison's conclusions.
He said, "We've also found numerous fast food restaurants in Pompeii and other parts of ancient Rome."
Dyson likened these places to a cross between "Burger King and a British pub or a Spanish tapas bar." Open to the street, each had a large counter with a receptacle in the middle from which food or drink would have been served.
"Most Romans lived in apartments or rather confined spaces, and there is not much evidence for stoves and other cooking equipment in them," he said.
Dyson thinks "fast food" restaurants became popular because they were plentiful, the same way modern New Yorkers often eat out due to the panoply of affordable choices. Additionally, many of Rome's and Pompeii's residents, who worked as artisans, shopkeepers, weavers and such, made enough money to support these places.
Grabbing food to go, either in a house or on the street, also seems to match the energy and flexibility of the Italian mindset.
Dyson said, "Italy's vibrant street and bar scenes today, along with the often multipurpose design of homes with bedsteads stacked in a corner, or kitchenettes in surprising places, reflect the wonderful, slightly chaotic, aspects of early Roman life."
GGG Ping.
I recall in a past life I liked eating at BurgerEmperor
Eat Caesar Salad for better health.
They renamed the Gaul Fries to Republic Fries after they sided with Hanibal.
It’s not Romans particularly. The tradition has continued all along in Napoli. Which is actually just up the road from Pompeii or vice versa.
Oh God,we really do emulate the Roman Empire. What’s left, the fall I guess !!!
"Actually, I can trace my Royal lineage back to Roman Emperor Stromboli".
Many ancient Romans in Rome didn’t have kitchens. It was a fire hazard for one thing. And living space was so expensive, most Romans lived in little one or two room flats. So they had to eat somewhere. By the same token, most Roman dwellings didn’t have indoor plumbing, hence the public toilets.
So, I think this “on the go” attitude had a lot to do with their living space.
Did they wear shirts made of synthetic material while doing the chicken (’50s dance) in front of the candy store? Did they urge all of their kids to become lawyers?
The Colosseum or the Acropolis with the Mac arches in the back ground?
I'm waiting.........
They likely ate Porchetta, which puts hamburger to shame.
As a matter of fact, they invented the golden arches...
I studied this in Classical Archaeology back in 1975.
An excellent book by Joseph Deiss was one of our texts. It detailed the various little food shops all around Herculaneum, with photos of the lunch counters and even carbonized food that had survived a couple of thousand years under the lava flow.
In ancient Rome, the Hamburglar would have met his fate in the Coliseum.
MMM...carbonized...
The Roman Empire (West) lived until 476 AD and the East until 1453. If you start from the origin of the city until the end of the Eastern Empire (Byzantine) it lived over 2000 years.
Guess who conquered the Eastern Empire? It was the Muslim Turks!
In the original, you can still make out the baker's stamp on the segments of the loaf.
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