Food consumed in the Vesuvius area came mostly from the surrounding region. The sea of the Bay of Naples supplied fish, crustaceans, shellfish, also reared in banks and ponds. In the mountains game was hunted while the countryside provided vegetables, fruit and food from the breeding of cattle and poultry rearing.
Some products needed to be processed and arranged for their preservation and consumption. This is the case for wine, oil, bread, cheese, garum (a special type of fish sauce which was very popular in the Roman age). So farmhouses were widely scattered throughout the area where these "industrial" activities could be performed.
Wine was produced in the various farms (villae rusticae) of the Vesuvius area where famous vines would produce equally famous wines. Grapes were pressed by means of specially built presses (torcularia) placed in the farms and in some cases even in Pompeii city itself. Must was kept in special clay containers (dolia) placed underground in outdoor yards (cellae vinariae) till the wine was ready to be poured into amphorae so that it could be easily transported and marketed. Olive oil too was produced in some farms of the Vesuvius and Stabia territory. Olives were first ground in olive-mills (trapeta), then pressed in torcularia. The oil thus produced was then left to clear and finally kept in large clay jars. The oil produced in the Vesuvius area was destined to be marketed locally but was not sufficient to meet the requirements of the local market and in fact it was necessary to import oil from the Iberian peninsula as shown by some clay amphorae found in the Vesuvius area. Bread was cooked in numerous bakeries of Pompeii and Herculaneum while country houses were provided with their own baking equipment
including an oven and a millstone.
Cheese was produced in farms as testified by the only example of a dairy farm found in the Vesuvius area, a villa
paesant discovered in Valle del Sarno, where a large bronze boiler for processing milk was discovered.
Garum was a sauce obtained from fish soaking produced in Clazomene in Ionia, in Leptis Magna in Africa, in Iberian peninsula as well as in Pompeii. The garum produced by Aulus Umbricus Scaurus - a name which repeatedly appears on clay vessels destined for market - was particularly renowned. An establishment for the production of garum was discovered in a building in Pompeii located in Regio I, insula 12 at number 8 where clay jars (dolia) were found together with dry left-overs of fish sauce and a large amount of amphorae.
Shops
Food was sold in the city in specially designated areas and shops. The main area for selling food was the market (Macellum) for the sale of meat and fish. There were also retail shops for selling dry fruit, fresh fruit and legumes. Bakeries were often fitted with a room for selling bread.
There were also street vendors of edible products such as flat loaves (libarii), pies (clibanarii), fish (piscicapi) and poultry (gallinari).
Public houses
Food was consumed in various public houses. There were restaurants and in ns known as cauponae, for the consumption of food, and bars known as thermopolia or popinae intended exclusively for the consumption of drinks. Pompeii was full of these public places which generally consisted of a room overlooking a busy road and fitted with a counter for the pouring out of drinks where clay jars were set for keeping food warm or cool. Shelves and racks were also provided for glasses and bottles as well as a stove for the preparation of dishes. Sometimes tables were provided and even couch-beds for a more comfortable meal in a more private atmosphere or under the pergola of a garden.
Source
Soprintendenza
Archeologica di Pompei |
