You thought modern retail therapy is tough, with black Friday and unscrupulous deals. Though if you thought the December shopping season is bad now, try doing it in ancient Rome. December markets were a tradition in Rome too as they celebrated the festival of Saturnalia, where togas were exchanged for more comfortable clothes. The gifts back then were small clay figurines called sigilla.
Buying Food
Buying food would be an integral aspect for any Roman. Vendors knew this and some stalls had monkeys that would apparently entertain customers. To attract customers each stall had a distinctive cry, and it would result in a cacophony of noise. One had to be careful though because there were unscrupulous retailers. Some sellers displayed onions and eggs in glass bowls, for example, so that they appeared larger than they actually were. The macellum in Rome was a luxury food market, where the wealthy went if they wanted to impress. During the reign of Tiberius three mullets went for 30 000 sesterces (more than 30 times the annual wage of a soldier at the time). Dormice were considered a delicacy. A very popular Roman ingredient was Garum, a fish sauce that was a pleasant combination of fish intestines, blood, salt and herbs that were left in the sun for months. It was added to practically everything-from meat to dessert. One recipe mentions a pear dessert married with the fish sauce.
Fast Food
If one didn’t have time or the facilities to make food at home there was always the fast food restaurants, the so-called thermopolium. Roman fast food restaurants were something of a cross between a pub and an eatery, with alcohol and food being sold. Remains of these places have been found in cities dotted right across the former Roman Empire. The menu was on the back of the counter (like in modern times); everything could be ordered as takeaways or eaten at the small tables of the thermopolium. The meals that could usually be encountered at these establishments differed from place to place, with each having about 3-4 specified meals. Fried fish, sausages (with cheese), boiled vegetables, bread, pickles, pork bits (with fish sauce of course) were some of the food on offer. Copious wine was to be had too, but it spoiled quickly and there were a lot of unpleasant additives put in an effort to make it last longer and taste differently, like the addition of seawater and chalk. Rich people sneered at these establishments; they had big kitchens with staffed by slaves, and must have felt that fast food restaurants were beneath them. Apparently the food was too delicious to resist though, as some high class people like Mark Anthony did frequently visit these fast food eateries.
Gifts Bankrupting You
One had to be ready to be visited by retailers at your home at random. These retailers were called institores, and most of them appear to have been slaves, sent to make sales. According to Ovid these salesmen were very irritating, and pressured you to shower your romantic partner with gifts and not be a cheapskate. Not having money with you wasn’t even a defence because the travelling retailers took credit too. Apparently these retailers made sexual advances to some of the elite women. High quality luxury goods also were also sold that catered to those with discerning tastes. The Basilicas were buildings several stories high and contained a large number of offices, lawyers, accountants and rows of shops. As such it was similar to modern malls. Luxury goods were imported from Egypt, India and Arabia, as silk, perfumes and purple fabrics were popular expensive products. The urge to be seen as keeping up was ever present too, as the satirist Juvenal notes that elite women were anxious to keep up with their neighbours, and they demanded crystal vases and diamond rings from the stalls. There were fashionable perfume and cosmetic makers but one could get knock-off versions too.
Thanks for reading!
Buying Food
 |
| Funerary Relief of a Vegetable Vendor, from Ostia, Italy, circa 150-200 CE. |
Buying food would be an integral aspect for any Roman. Vendors knew this and some stalls had monkeys that would apparently entertain customers. To attract customers each stall had a distinctive cry, and it would result in a cacophony of noise. One had to be careful though because there were unscrupulous retailers. Some sellers displayed onions and eggs in glass bowls, for example, so that they appeared larger than they actually were. The macellum in Rome was a luxury food market, where the wealthy went if they wanted to impress. During the reign of Tiberius three mullets went for 30 000 sesterces (more than 30 times the annual wage of a soldier at the time). Dormice were considered a delicacy. A very popular Roman ingredient was Garum, a fish sauce that was a pleasant combination of fish intestines, blood, salt and herbs that were left in the sun for months. It was added to practically everything-from meat to dessert. One recipe mentions a pear dessert married with the fish sauce.
Fast Food
 |
| Ancient Roman fresco of woman carrying a tray from the Villa San Marco in Stabiae. |
If one didn’t have time or the facilities to make food at home there was always the fast food restaurants, the so-called thermopolium. Roman fast food restaurants were something of a cross between a pub and an eatery, with alcohol and food being sold. Remains of these places have been found in cities dotted right across the former Roman Empire. The menu was on the back of the counter (like in modern times); everything could be ordered as takeaways or eaten at the small tables of the thermopolium. The meals that could usually be encountered at these establishments differed from place to place, with each having about 3-4 specified meals. Fried fish, sausages (with cheese), boiled vegetables, bread, pickles, pork bits (with fish sauce of course) were some of the food on offer. Copious wine was to be had too, but it spoiled quickly and there were a lot of unpleasant additives put in an effort to make it last longer and taste differently, like the addition of seawater and chalk. Rich people sneered at these establishments; they had big kitchens with staffed by slaves, and must have felt that fast food restaurants were beneath them. Apparently the food was too delicious to resist though, as some high class people like Mark Anthony did frequently visit these fast food eateries.
Gifts Bankrupting You
 |
| Rug Merchant in Ancient Rome by Ettore Forti. |
One had to be ready to be visited by retailers at your home at random. These retailers were called institores, and most of them appear to have been slaves, sent to make sales. According to Ovid these salesmen were very irritating, and pressured you to shower your romantic partner with gifts and not be a cheapskate. Not having money with you wasn’t even a defence because the travelling retailers took credit too. Apparently these retailers made sexual advances to some of the elite women. High quality luxury goods also were also sold that catered to those with discerning tastes. The Basilicas were buildings several stories high and contained a large number of offices, lawyers, accountants and rows of shops. As such it was similar to modern malls. Luxury goods were imported from Egypt, India and Arabia, as silk, perfumes and purple fabrics were popular expensive products. The urge to be seen as keeping up was ever present too, as the satirist Juvenal notes that elite women were anxious to keep up with their neighbours, and they demanded crystal vases and diamond rings from the stalls. There were fashionable perfume and cosmetic makers but one could get knock-off versions too.
Thanks for reading!
Comments
Post a Comment