Ancient Rome

===Cuisine===
{{Main|Ancient Roman cuisine|Ancient Rome and wine|Food and dining in the Roman Empire}}
[[File:Mosaico di un giovane come mese di giugno, III secolo dc..JPG|thumb|A boy with a platter of fruits and what may be a bucket of crabs, in a kitchen with fish and [[squid]], on the June panel from a 3rd-century mosaic depicting the months, in the [[Hermitage Museum]] in [[St Petersburg]], [[Russia]]<ref>J. Carson Webster, ''The Labors of the Months in Antique and Mediaeval Art to the End of the Twelfth Century,'' Studies in the Humanities 4 (Northwestern University Press, 1938), p. 128. In the collections of the [[Hermitage Museum]].</ref>]]
Ancient Roman cuisine changed over the long duration of this ancient civilisation. Dietary habits were affected by the influence of Greek culture, the political changes from [[Roman Kingdom|Kingdom]] to [[Roman Republic|Republic]] to [[Roman Empire|Empire]], and the Empire's enormous expansion, which exposed Romans to many new, provincial culinary habits and cooking techniques. In the beginning the differences between social classes were relatively small, but disparities evolved with the Empire's growth. Men and women drank wine with their meals.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Civitello |first=Linda |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uaRl9ZUtBYkC&q=cuisine%20of%20ancient%20rome&pg=PR8 |title=Cuisine and Culture: A History of Food and People |date=2011 |publisher=John Wiley & Sons |isbn=978-0470403716 |language=en}}</ref>

The ancient Roman diet included many items that are staples of [[Italian cuisine|modern Italian cooking]]. [[Pliny the Elder]] discussed more than 30 varieties of [[olive]], 40 kinds of pear, [[Ficus|figs]] (native and imported from Africa and the eastern provinces), and a wide variety of vegetables, including carrots (of different colours, but not orange<ref>Phyllis Pray Bober, ''Art, Culture, and Cuisine: Ancient and Medieval Gastronomy'', University of Chicago Press (2001), p. 188.</ref>) as well as [[celery]], garlic, some [[flower bulb]]s, [[cabbage]] and other [[brassica]]s (such as [[kale]] and [[broccoli]]), lettuce, [[endive]], onion, [[leek]], [[asparagus]], [[radish]]es, [[turnip]]s, [[parsnip]]s, [[beet]]s, [[green peas]], [[chard]], [[cardoon]]s, olives, and [[cucumber]].<ref name="PatrickFaas">Patrick Faas, ''Around the Roman Table: Food and Feasting in Ancient Rome'', University of Chicago Press (2005), p. 209.</ref>

However, some foods now considered characteristic of modern Italian cuisine were not used.<ref name="PhyllisPray">Phyllis Pray Bober, ''Art, Culture, and Cuisine: Ancient and Medieval Gastronomy'', University of Chicago Press (2001), p. 187.</ref> In particular, [[spinach]] and [[eggplant]] (aubergine) were introduced later from the [[Arab world]], and tomatoes, potatoes, [[capsicum]] peppers, and maize (the modern source of [[polenta]])<ref name="PatrickFaas"/> only appeared in Europe following the discovery of the [[New World]] and the [[Columbian Exchange]].<ref name="PhyllisPray"/> The Romans knew of rice, but it was very rarely available to them. There were also few [[citrus]] fruits.<ref name="PhyllisPray"/>

Butcher's meat such as beef was an uncommon luxury. The most popular meat was pork, especially [[sausage]]s.<ref name="MaguelonneToussaintSamat">Maguelonne Toussaint-Samat, ''A History of Food'', John Wiley & Sons (2009), p. 93.</ref> Fish was more common than meat, with a sophisticated [[aquaculture]] and large-scale industries devoted to [[oyster farming]]. The Romans also engaged in [[Heliciculture|snail farming]] and oak grub farming. Some fish were greatly esteemed and fetched high prices, such as [[mullet (fish)|mullet]] raised in the fishery at [[Cosa]], and "elaborate means were invented to assure its freshness".<ref name="John">John E. Stambaugh, ''The Ancient Roman City'', JHU Press (1988), p. 148.</ref>

Traditionally, a breakfast called ''ientaculum''<ref name="ArtmanJohnAncient">Artman, John:"Ancient Rome- Independent Learning Unit", page 26, Good Apple, 1991.</ref> was served at dawn. At mid-day to early afternoon, Romans ate ''[[cena]]'',<ref name="ArtmanJohnAncient"/> the main meal of the day, and at nightfall a light supper called ''vesperna''.<ref name="Artman, John page 26">Artman, John::"Ancient Rome- Independent Learning Unit", p. 26, Good Apple,1991.</ref> With the increased importation of foreign foods, the ''cena'' grew larger in size and included a wider range of foods. Thus, it gradually shifted to the evening, while the ''vesperna''<ref name="Artman, John page 26"/> was abandoned completely over the course of the years. The mid-day meal ''prandium'' became a light meal to hold one over until ''cena''.<ref name="ArtmanJohnAncient"/>