how did the Roman army eat?

Question

I am interested to know, what were the logistics involved in feeding a mobile army 2000 years ago? Did the warriors cook for themselves? Did they take slaves with them? If so, how did they mobilize them? And how did they make sure the food wasn't poisoned by them?

Answer 1

I know the Roman soldiers baked their own bread. They carried an iron skillet in their pack just for that. No slaves for the ordinary legionaire. The army docked their pay for the grain they were given, and some of the soldiers even worked on army farms.

"Early records show that the soldiers had to purchase their corn and clothes and some of their arms, presumably replacements, at a set price which the quaestor deducted from their pay."

"A Roman legion was a vast body of men who all required food. A soldier's daily grain ration was the equivalent of 1.5 kg (ca. 3 lb 5 oz), which was generally supplemented with other foodstuff."

"However, this meant that the total consumption of grain was around 7500 kg a day. Together with up to 500 kg of fodder for the animals this made a substantial amount of food.
In military bases, units were heavily involved in their own supply. Land was set aside for the use of the military to plant crops and graze their animals. These lands were referred to either as prata (meadow), or simply as territorium (territory).
Herds of cattle were also kept, watched over by soldiers called pecuarii (herdsmen). There are reports, particularly in the later empire of large numbers of limitanei (frontier guardsmen) who acted as soldier-farmers, charged with growing the crops for the troops."

"In some areas though grain could simply not be grown on the scale required and had to be imported."

"Merchants would fulfil the function of shipping the grain from its point of origin to the army bases. But so too veterans and even some acting soldiers were involved in the trade."

"Further food was brought in by hunting expeditions. Archaeologists have unearthed the remains of deer, foxes, even bears in the scrap heaps of military camps."

"And yet an army was not supplied with food alone. Wine beer and olive oil had largely to be imported."

"The Roman Army : Soldier's Pay & Army Supplies" : http://www.roman-empire.net/army/army.html

"Each soldier ate about 1/3 of a ton of corn a year. It is estimated that just the soldiers in Britain ate over 33.5 tons of corn a day. A soldier always marched with at least a good supply of bacon, hard tack biscuits, and sour wine. An army was often accompanied by a herd of cattle, a mobile food source."

"While the soldiers were on long campaigns, such as Caesar’s conquest of Gaul, the supplies would run low, and the army would take from anyone it passed."

"When on station, the soldiers ate considerably better. They always maintained a herd of cattle, sometimes herding other animals such as sheep and goats, grew corn and other crops, including vegetables, and foraged for variety. Naturally, the diet varied somewhat, depending on the terrain, as some crops could not grow in certain areas, and the local fauna varied. For example, a unit in Corbridge is known to have eaten hares, deer, foxes, badgers, beavers, voles, wild oxen, and moles, while one in Benwell ate fresh-water mussels, and a unit in the Valkenburg ate a variety of poultry, such as chicken, duck, petrels, cormorants, herons, spoonbills, mallards, teals, geese, cranes, and crows."

"Another source of food in the army was contributions from friends and family members. Many letters have been recovered on this subject and the matter of payment surrounding it. In fact, this is where much of the information on the soldier’s diet comes from."

"Perhaps the most significant fact about the Roman soldier’s diet is that there are no recorded complaints about it."

"Army Food" : http://numbera.com/rome/people/food.aspx

"The Vindolanda tablets provide a good source of information about the dietary requirements of the Roman Army stationed at Hadrian's Wall. It is especially informative about the food ordered for the Commanding Officer who like other rich Romans enjoyed meats such as venison and wild Boar. The following tablet, found at Vindolanda, contained a 'shopping list'; of the food that was probably intended to feed the garrison."

"... bruised beans, two modii, twenty chickens, a hundred apples, if you can find nice ones, a hundred or two hundred eggs, if they are for sale there at a fair price. ... 8 sextarii of fish-sauce ... a modius of olives ... To ... slave of Verecundus."

"The Roman Army consumed a healthy combination of simple high-energy food. Bread was their staple food and grain production was increased throughout Britain to meet the demand from the army. Large 'beehive' bread-ovens were positioned all the way around the Legionary Fortress at Caerleon. A lead bread stamp, reading ‘Century of Quintinius Aquila’, found in the Fortress suggests that each Century of soldiers baked and consumed their own bread. Accounts from Vindolanda indicate that Roman soldiers also ate a lot of bacon. Every group of eight soldiers had a frying pan that folded away in their pack and enabled them to have a fry-up even on campaign. They also ate porridge and stews would have included meat and vegetables. Soldiers snacking at the Fortress Baths in Caerleon certainly ate lots of chicken and bones discovered there had been boiled white. Wild boar was another favourite treat that the soldiers could have bought from the bathhouse vendors. Once the Roman occupation of the lands of the Silures was secure the soldiers would have been able to dine-out in the restaurants and towns that surrounded the fortress."

"Food in Romano-Britain : The Roman Army" : http://resourcesforhistory.com/Roman_Food_in_Britain.htm

Answer 2

What Did The Roman Eat

Answer 3

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Answer 4

When they were on the march, their diet was mostly grain: wheat, barley, and oats, spelt and rye. They were given a measure each day, and carried it with them. They cooked for themselves, and often were allowed to forage for fruits and other items in the countryside they were passing through. Basic supplies were provided by the army, and there were supply trains that travelled with them. Though most of the "loot" from conquered areas was sent to Rome, soldiers were allowed to keep foods they had found. Cheeses were carried with them, as well as some animals that were later shared among the men.
They didn't bring slaves with them, at least not the common soldiers, but on large campaigns merchants and contractors followed in trains behind the army. Livy described the merchants who followed, and the wares they carried. The merchants carried luxury items; olives, wines, and other foodstuffs that were portable.
Once they had built forts, and become settled, their diet changed. R. W. Davies wrote a book called "The Roman Military Diet"...he used archaeological evidence to base his conclusions on. Davies' work in "The Roman Military Diet" is interpretation, but some of it is scientific analysis of bones excavated from Roman British and German military sites dating from Augustus to the third century. From the analysis, we know the Romans ate ox, sheep, goat, pig, deer, bore, and hare, in most places and in some areas, elk, wolf, fox, badger, beaver, bear, vole, ibex, and otter. Broken beef bones suggest the extraction of marrow for soup. Alongside the animal bones, archaeologists found equipment for roasting and boiling the meat as well as for making cheese from the milk of domesticated animals. Fish and poultry were also popular, the latter especially for the sick.

Answer 5

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Answer 6

If they got the meals our soldiers have they would be thrilled. Their diet was mostly grain: wheat, barley, and oats, mainly, and also spelt and rye in the form of unleavened bread. Roman soldiers got meat so rarely that some even disliked it. Sometimes root vegetables from the area were used to make simple soups. In certain areas, where meat was available, they did eat it.

Answer 7

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Answer 8

there was a small town of bakers weapon makers cooks doctors who were mostly slaves accompanied the main army