Romans and diet

[Gladius Hispaniensis]

Wasn't there a myth that the Roman army was primarily vegetarian? Apparently this was due to a misreading of Plutarch IIRC.

[sylla]

Wasn't there a myth that the Roman army was primarily vegetarian? Apparently this was due to a misreading of Plutarch IIRC.

That's news to me. Please tell us more.

[Ursus]

I've seen that myth before, promoted especially on vegetarian sites. I'm not sure whence the myth derives. But yeah, the Romans soldiers ate a wide variety of animal flesh, which they hunted or fished while on the march.

[Klingan]

I've seen that myth before, promoted especially on vegetarian sites. I'm not sure whence the myth derives. But yeah, the Romans soldiers ate a wide variety of animal flesh, which they hunted or fished while on the march.

 

 

The diet was indeed varied, 1.4 kg bread, 0.45 kg meat, 1 l wine and 5 cl oil per day was a minimum according to Goldsworthy (1996, 291). He won't mention where he gets his information from however.

 

It is however true that food based on grain was more popular than other types of food, even meat. (I reckon that there is one ancient source mentioning that the soldiers revolted when they were out of grain and had to live on meat only for some time, something which could be miss-used in vegetarian propaganda - I cannot leave a reference to this though.)

[marcus silanus]

There is no doubt that Plutarch was a passionate vegetarian against the consumption of land mammals at least, although he did not seem to have any issue with sea food, regarding it as divorced from the common life led by human beings and oxen for instance who are "...nourished with the same food, inspire the same air...", whilst creatures of the sea are "...strangers to us and are brought up, as it were, in another world...".

 

Plutarch is immensely persuasive in his argument and everyone will take their own view, but I do not see how this can be taken to say that legionnaries were predominantly vegetarian. In practical terms, they would receive a large proportion of their diet from their 'hard-tack' and grain based commodities because they were portable and long lasting. However, Plutarch's ethical vegetarianism I doubt found favour with the commonalty of the roman legions.

[Gaius Paulinus Maximus]

For food Vegetius lists as staple corn, wine, vinegar and salt in plenty at all times. The men mostly ate porridge, bread and beans, supplemented by other vegetables and eggs, with meat on the numerous feast days, plus any obtained by hunting.

 

When campaigning they ate hardtack, long lasting wholewheat biscuits. Such hardships were made more acceptable by the way many generals even those of the imperial family such as Tiberius or Julian, shared their troops hardships while on campaign, sleeping on the ground and eating basic rations.

[sylla]

It seems that in Roman times many gladiators (and possibly most of the slaves and proletarians too) were vegetarians or quasi-vegetarians because meat was usually simply too expensive; the Plutarch diet may well have been their only alternative.

Edited August 2, 2009 by sylla

[Klingan]

It seems that in Roman times many gladiators (and possibly most of the slaves and proletarians too) were vegetarians or quasi-vegetarians because meat was usually simply too expensive; the Plutarch diet may well have been their only alternative.

 

This goes for most of the population actually - it is probable that most of the meat the general population ate came from public sacrifices.