What did the Romans Eat for Breakfast?

The Little Apple Thief, Ettore Forti (Italian, 19th century)

If there is one thing the wealthy and elite Roman liked to do, when they weren't complaining about having to spend all day watching gladiators boshing each other over the head (even though they willingly spent all day watching gladiators boshing each other over the head), it was lolling about eating things.

One of the most common views we have of the Romans is as gluttons, a viewpoint based almost entirely on a narrow set of descriptions of the lives of extremely wealthy people. To be a glutton was actually seen as very 'un-Roman' and frowned upon by those with high moral values. Ancient history tends to be the stories of the elite in society, and tales of avarice and excess among that elite are less reflections of a commonly held practice and more about the indignant stance of such behaviour by the author towards the immoral decadence of the protagonists. Petronius' Satyricon describes a feast held by Trimalchio, the gaudy and boorish nouveau-rich host, which is pure excess and forms the epitome of what we consider to be the Roman banquet. It is magnificently over-the-top to the extent that even Trimalchio's guests reel at the crassness of it all. Petronius hams it all up for the sake of satire, but like all satire, it must contain an element of truth for the carefully aimed blows to land properly.

In reality, the common Roman diet, even among the elite, was much more ordinary than the great feasts we imagine. Sure, those banquets existed, but they appear in the written record primarily because they were noteworthy, not because they were common. Every time King Charles holds a great state banquet for the visiting President of Wherever, the newspapers print a brief resume of the menu, telling us they ate the finest roast swan with escalopes of narwhal or somesuch. The newspapers don't tend to tell us that the King had cornflakes, some toast and a mug of tea for breakfast, although that's likely what he eats.

Today's question is about the Roman diet, a subject that could spawn all manner of wonderful recipe books, and has. But, specifically, today we have been tasked with answering a question about what the Romans ate for breakfast.

For most Romans, breakfast - ientaculum - was consumed early in the morning, shortly after sunrise, and often on-the-go. Unlike the more elaborate cena (evening meal), ientaculum was characterized by simplicity and modest portions. Pliny the Elder noted that many Romans believed in eating sparingly during the first meal to reserve energy for work and digestion throughout the day (Pliny the Elder, Natural History, Book XXVIII).

Roman meals also mirrored societal class distinctions. The wealthy could indulge in better food that reflected their social status, while the poor relied on more modest and accessible fare. The limited time allocated for breakfast suggests it was practical rather than ceremonial in nature, catering to the working population and slaves whose duties began at sunrise.

Grains were the backbone of the Roman diet, and breakfast was no exception. Bread ("panis") made from coarse wheat or barley was a primary staple, consumed either fresh or rehydrated after staling. According to Cato the Elder in De Agricultura, bread served as a convenient and filling option for many, especially farmers and laborers.

Another popular breakfast food was puls, a type of porridge made from emmer wheat or barley. The humble puls could be enhanced with milk, cheese, honey, or herbs for a more satisfying meal. Archaeological evidence, such as charred grains recovered from Roman kitchens in Pompeii, supports the prevalence of such cereal-based foods (Rathje et al., 2017). Cato gives us a recipe for a type of puls he calls 'Carthaginian Porridge':

" Soak a pound of groats in water until it is quite soft. Pour it into a clean bowl, add 3 pounds of fresh cheese, ½ pound of honey, and 1 egg, and mix the whole thoroughly; turn into a new pot."

(De Agricultura, 85)

The 'fresh cheese' he describes would be a soft cheese, probably made each morning and the equivalent of something like feta or mozzarella.

Fresh or fermented milk, along with cheese, was a typical accompaniment to the morning meal. Roman texts frequently reference the use of cheese, both as a topping for bread and as an ingredient in other breakfast dishes (Columella's De Re Rustica). Eggs, while more commonly associated with ceremonial or festive occasions, are occasionally featured in the breakfasts of wealthier Romans.

Fruits were cherished for their sweetness and were often eaten fresh in season or dried as a staple for colder months. Apples, figs, dates, and grapes were commonly consumed, and their frequent depiction in mosaics and frescoes reflects their importance in Roman cuisine (Andrews, 1990). Nuts such as almonds and walnuts also served as portable and energy-rich additions to the morning meal.

While bread and porridge were widely accessible, class played a significant role in shaping the nature of breakfast. For the wealthy elite, breakfast included exotic and imported ingredients, such as fruits from Egypt and spices from the East. They might accompany their meal with mulsum (honeyed wine) or even incorporate cured meats and delicacies into the morning routine.

In contrast, the urban middle-class plebs often depended on state-supplied grain distributed through the annona system and had fewer opportunities for dietary diversity (Garnsey, 1999). The very poor, who, incongruously, were deemed too poor to deserve a handout, just made do as the poor have always had to.

Household roles also influenced breakfast habits. Women's ientaculum was often intertwined with morning domestic duties, while enslaved people ate simpler meals suited to their labour-intensive lives. Military breakfasts, as detailed by Vegetius in De Re Militari, consisted of compact and nutrient-dense rations such as dry bread or porridge enhanced with olive oil.

Breakfast in ancient Rome was not entirely divorced from spiritual considerations. Certain foods held religious or symbolic significance, and festivals might influence breakfast offerings. For instance, honey and milk were commonly associated with offerings to household gods during morning rituals (Dunbabin, 2003). Specific foods, such as certain fruits or baked goods, were sometimes offered at altars before consumption.

By Late Antiquity, changing economic conditions and shifting culinary practices began to alter breakfast traditions. As bread-making techniques advanced and Christianity replaced polytheism, Roman breakfasts grew increasingly influenced by monastic fasting rules and Byzantine culinary trends (Brown, 1984). By this time, the morning meal began to more closely resemble the breakfast customs of medieval Europe.

The modesty of a Roman breakfast stands out as clearer way of defining the practical culinary habits of all strata of society. Just as King Charles doesn't spend all day, every day, eating poached mermaid's tongues seared in a rhino jus and served on a bed of couscous, so even the most elite of Romans did spend all day in the orgiastic excess of a Satyricon style banquet. If you were the emperor and fresh up with the sparrows (which you might have eaten at some point if you could catch them), a simple breakfast was the normal start to the day, even if it might have been washed down with a glass or two of correctly watered-down wine. Only the coarsest of individuals didn't water down their wine, the uncouth slobs.

References

1. Andrews, T. (1990). Food and Society in Ancient Rome. Oxford University Press.

2. Brown, P. (1984). The Making of Late Antiquity. Harvard University Press.

3. Cato the Elder. De Agricultura.

4. Columella. De Re Rustica.

5. Dunbabin, K. (2003). Mosaics of the Greek and Roman World. Cambridge University Press.

6. Garnsey, P. (1999). Food and Society in Classical Antiquity. Cambridge University Press.

7. Pliny the Elder. Natural History.

8. Rathje, W. L., et al. (2017). Archaeological Foodways in Ancient Italy. Journal of Roman Archaeology.

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