What kind of foods did Ancient Romans eat?

Question

I want to write a book about a man in rome and i want to know what kind of meat or vegitables they ate.

Answer 1

The ancient Romans ate a lot of fruits and vegetables such as olives, cabbages, apples, pears, figs, plums, and raisins. The Romans really liked cheese. They also ate bread made of wheat or barley. They also had wheat porridge. Wine was a big part of their culture, and they liked to mix it with water. They loved pork and ham as well as goat and sheep meat. The ancient Romans seemed to like complicated meals, such as a duck inside of a goose inside of a pig inside of a cow and eating the whole thing together.

Answer 2

The poor ones ate a lot of bread and drank beer; the ones who could afford it ate lentils, olives, lettuce, figs, pears, apples, eggs, fish and shell fish, lots of birds: ducks, swans, etc.

That's why the saying, "Bread and Circuses"; because the Romans in power felt that if they kept the poor fed and entertained they'd be happy.

Unfortunately, the Romans cooked in lead pots and even added lead to things like wine as a sweetener and preservative, which caused lead poisoning, birth defects, infertility, etc. Some theorize that lead poisoning contributed to the fall of the empire.

P.S. Use spell check next time.

Answer 3

Apart of the bread, olives and watered wine, do not forget to include the "garum" - a special sauce made from fish and herbs, which the romans tended to add to almost every other food stuff.
A classic description of a Roman feast is "Ab ovo ad mala" = "begins with an egg and ends with an apple". In between these two "standard" items- anything goes! (with plenty of garum)

Answer 4

i think the ancient romans ate olives like the ancient greeks also they drank a lot of wine grew grapes so they could drink more as to meat bulls or castrated male cattle most likely the meat would not be cow meat as it would be more common to eat male meat then female meat they would have eaten bread as well dipped in olive oil

Answer 5

They ate all types of things, even such strange "delicacies" as peacock tongues! I'm sure many foods now served throughout the Mediterranean would be familiar to them, though.

Answer 6

Lots of bread via egyptian imported wheat.

Answer 7

Almost everything you can imagine, in case you're thinking that they were limited in their menus. Caesar's favorite treat -- believe it or not -- was ice cream! If you have more questions, feel free to contact me directly.

Bruce F in CA