A serving of giraffe legs with a side order of spicy sea urchin: The diet of 'chav' Romans in Pompeii revealed

  • Archeologists led by the University of Cincinnati said the discoveries of exotic meats prove the richness, variety and range of a non-elite diet
  • The international team of researchers spent more than a decade analysing the homes, shops and businesses of a non-elite district in Pompeii
  • Inexpensive food, such as grains, fruits, nuts, olives, local fish, small cuts of meat and eggs were also found in latrines and drains in the area

By Sarah Griffiths

PUBLISHED: 09:04 EST, 3 January 2014 | UPDATED: 10:06 EST, 3 January 2014

Lower and middle class Romans living in Pompeii feasted on exotic meats and spicy seafood in times before the city was struck by a devastating volcanic eruption in 79AD.

Archaeologists have disproved popular preconceptions that the rich dined on imported delicacies including flamingo, while the poor survived on gruel, by revealing that all classes of people enjoyed a rich and varied diet.

The researchers discovered sea urchin and the butchered leg of a giraffe among less exotic foods like grain and eggs, in a poorer area of the ruined city.

Steven Ellis, an associate professor of classics at the University of Cincinnati led the search through drains and latrines of a non-elite area of Pompeii
A rare kiln in the district in Pompeii

Steven Ellis, an associate professor of classics at the University of Cincinnati led the search through drains and latrines of a non-elite area of Pompeii (pictured left) to find bones and food deposits, to build up a picture of lower and middle class Romans' eating habits. A rare kiln is pictured right

WHAT DID POMPEIANS EAT?

Inexpensive and widely available food, such as grains, fruits, nuts, olives, lentils, local fish and chicken eggs were found, as well as minimal cuts of meat and salted fish from Spain, were found in drains and latrines in a relatively poor area of Pompeii.

A drain from a central property in the district revealed a rich variety of foods as well as imports from outside Italy, such as shellfish, sea urchin and even delicacies including the butchered leg joint of a giraffe.

Archaeologists said their finds prove the richness, variety and range of a non-elite diet as well as the long-distance trade in exotic and wild animals at the time.

The international team of researchers spent more than a decade analysing the homes, shops and businesses of a lower to middle class district in the Roman city, where earlier buildings date back to the 6th Century.

The area covers 10 separate building plots and a total of 20 shop fronts, most of which served food and drink.

 

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Archaeologists examined waste in drains as well as 10 accident latrines and cesspits to discover charred food waste from kitchens, including fully-process foods like grain, as well as human waste.

Steven Ellis, an associate professor of classics at the University of Cincinnati, said: ‘The material from the drains revealed a range and quantity of materials to suggest a rather clear socio-economic distinction between the activities and consumption habits of each property, which were otherwise indistinguishable hospitality businesses.’

Inexpensive and widely available food, such as grains, fruits, nuts, olives, lentils, local fish and chicken eggs were found, as well as minimal cuts of meat and salted fish from Spain.

Archaeologists have disproved views that rich Romans dined on exported delicacies, while the poor survived on gruel, by revealing that all classes of Pompeians had a rich and varied diet. An inn with holes that held food and wine - the thermopolium of Lucius Vetutius Placidus in the city - in another area of the city is pictured

Archaeologists have disproved views that rich Romans dined on exported delicacies, while the poor survived on gruel, by revealing that all classes of Pompeians had a rich and varied diet. An inn with holes that held food and wine - the thermopolium of Lucius Vetutius Placidus in the city - in another area of the city is pictured

A drain from a central property revealed a rich variety of foods as well as imports from outside Italy, such as shellfish, sea urchin and even delicacies including the butchered leg joint of a giraffe.

‘That the bone represents the height of exotic food is underscored by the fact that this is thought to be the only giraffe bone ever recorded from an archaeological excavation in Roman Italy,’ Professor Ellis said.

‘How part of the animal, butchered, came to be a kitchen scrap in a seemingly standard Pompeian restaurant not only speaks to long-distance trade in exotic and wild animals, but also something of the richness, variety and range of a non-elite diet.’

Deposits discovered also included imported spices from as far away as Indonesia, highlight the incredible reach of the Romans.

‘The traditional vision of some mass of hapless lemmings – scrounging for whatever they can pinch from the side of a street, or huddled around a bowl of gruel – needs to be replaced by a higher fare and standard of living, at least for the urbanites in Pompeii,’ Professor Ellis said.

Poorer Romans ate sea urchin
Rich and poor Romans ate giraffe

Exotic delicacies discovered: While inexpensive food such as grains, fruit, nuts and eggs were found, the archaeologists also found rich foods including sea urchin (illustrated left) and the leg of a giraffe in the drain of a property in a relatively poor part of the Roman city

One of the deposits dates to the 4th Century and is rare since few other deposits survived the early stage in the development of Pompeii.

Professor Ellis and his international team aim to reveal the structural and social relationships over time between working-class Pompeian households, as well as to work out the role that the middle classes played in shaping the city.

‘However, one of the larger datasets and themes of our research has been diet and the infrastructure of food consumption and food ways,’ he added.

The research will be presented at the joint annual meeting of the Archaeological Institute of America (AIA) and American Philological Association (APA) in Chicago this weekend.

Professor Ellis, who led the research, believes it disproves traditional views that the poor and middle classes living in Pompeii (pictured) were 'hapless lemmings' who scrounged for scraps of food or survived on gruel

Professor Ellis, who led the research, believes it disproves traditional views that the poor and middle classes living in Pompeii (pictured) were 'hapless lemmings' who scrounged for scraps of food or survived on gruel

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Pompeii was destroyed in 79AD, how the hell could anything date from the 4th or 6th centuries?

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Sea urchin tastes good - I'd love to try giraffe / wildebeest / horse / cat / dog etc.

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Sea Urchins are still eaten in Italy & are a real treat. They don't eat Giraffes but there are Equine butchers everywhere, a fillet of horse on the grill in very good to eat.

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True¿sea urchins are absolutely delicious and it is not considered an exotic food as it is widely eaten in most area in Italy. I have grown up eating them. Giraffe¿never heard we ate them

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Agree that sea urchins are delicious. I would imagine that giraffe would be a bit coarse in texture though

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'I had a toga accident on the way to the forum' , Stinkus Bottikus , 150 bc

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I thought this had been determined years ago. When in Italy I read of a discovery of a sort of street of stalls and shops. Among the discoveries was a small woven basket with bread and chicken preserved in the volcanic ash. In other words, a take out meal. Another was noodles.

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Makes sence. What else would they do with the 'exotic' animals slaughtered in the Arena and some species of sea urchins are still eaten today..

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¿The traditional vision of some mass of hapless lemmings ¿ scrounging for whatever they can pinch from the side of a street, or huddled around a bowl of gruel ¿ needs to be replaced by a higher fare and standard of living, at least for the urbanites in Pompeii,¿ <><>Or in other words, the Marxist view of history is now and has forever been nothing but a cynical lie.

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Any chance that we can substitute horse meat for giraffe?

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Don't titter Frankie Howard would turn in his grave at the thought of eating sea urchins and giraffe

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So Ancient Roman Plebs ate far better than Modern British Plebs... Post War USA reminds me of Rome under NERO... many parallels... Fast Growth, Fast Loss, Many Fast Rebellions...

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You should really read a history book.

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