Further information

Wealthy families in Roman Britain

In wealthy families, the women stayed at home to look after the house and organise the slaves. They were expected to marry early. Roman boys and girls had their marriages arranged by their parents. Girls could marry when they were thirteen.

Meals

From Roman writers like Apicius, it is known that for breakfast most Romans ate bread or wheat biscuits with honey, dates or olives. They drank water or wine.

Lunch ('prandium') was either leftovers from the previous day's dinner, or the same kind of meal as breakfast. The main meal for a Roman was at 4pm. This was called 'cena'.

In the dining room

For the first time in Britain, dining room furniture was used. The Britons copied the Roman custom of lying on couches around a low table. Food was eaten mostly with the fingers, or with spoons. Slaves would serve those eating the meal. If guests were invited the cena might go on into the night. There was usually some entertainment, musicians, jugglers, dancers or acrobats.

Exotic foods

The Romans introduced more unusual foods than those the Britains had been used to in the past. For the first time they tasted peaches, figs, peas and lentils. A menu may have looked something like this:

First Course: Salad, radishes, mushrooms, oysters, eggs and sardines. They drank 'mulsum' (wine sweetened with honey).

Second Course: This might have included as many as seven dishes including fish, meat, and poultry, served with vegetables and sauces. One of the most popular sauces was liquamen (or garum) made from fish, salt and herbs. Another was defrutum (boiled fruit juice).

Slaves would move away the table and bring in another one, laid with the third course of fruit, cakes, honey and nuts. The meal was served with plenty of wine: the Romans had more than two hundred types.

In the kitchen

The Romans brought new ways of preparing food into Britain. The Celts began to use a mortarium to grind up ingredients - you can see a mortarium in the Boudica exhibition at Norwich Castle.

Food was cooked over a barbecue-type oven. Bread and other foods were made in an oven heated by charcoal. Plain clay pots and jugs were used in the kitchen; the expensive Samian ware was used to serve food to diners.

Related pages on this website

• Caistor Roman Town educational resources
• Life under the Romans

External links

Norwich Castle Museum, Norfolk Museums & Archaeology Service
Includes information on the various collections, exhibits and events at the Castle Museum.

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