ARCHEOTRAVELERS

   

Travel the world with ArcheoTravelers to

learn about the world of Archeology, with
its archaeological sites, curiosities and
new discoveries.

HOME ABOUT ARCHAEOLOGY ARCHEOTOUR CURIOSITY COLLABORATIONS AMAZON

COOKIE STOREFRONT
POLICY $

ARCHE
TRAVELERS

(ARCHEC
TRAVELER:
ArcheoTravelers•

0000809906906845,Co0040@4mon

ClickHere,

VISITTHEARCHEOTRAVELERS
AMaZONsTOREFRONT
INSIDEYOUWILLFINDMANYPRODUCTS
RECOMMENDEDFORYOU!

NEWSLETTER

First Name

Your Name

CURIOSITY
Last Name

Thermopolium, the fast food of the Cognome

ancient Romans E-Mail

8 May 2020 Your email

T
he thermopolium was a place of refreshment in ancient Rome, a sort of snack bar Iscrivendoti alla newsletter
where drinks and hot food were served. At that time, in fact, like today, it was not acconsenti al trattamento dei dati
unusual to have lunch outside the house. personali ai sensi della legge n.
196/2003. Per ulteriori informazioni,
The name has a Greek origine and thermopolium literally means “hot shop” (or “hot clicca qui [Privacy Policy]
things”). Since, the term appears very rarely, in fact the word of Osco-Umbrian origin
popina was used more commonly (whence popinarius and popinaria for the managers), Submit
widely attested by Latin literature and epigraphy. Another term associated with it was that
of caupona, which however indicated more the inn, where, in addition to eating and
drinking, you could also sleep and to shelter your horse.
CONTACTS

PARTNERSHIP

To propose any type of collaboration

click here and send your request.

INSTAGRAM

Exterior of the thermopolium of Lucius Vetutius Placidus, Pompeii, ©Mentnafunangann

(This Mle is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported)

Its structure of the thermopolium was very simple, it included a small room open on the
street equipped with a masonry counter, decorated with marble slabs, in which large
terracotta amphorae (dolia) were encased, suitable for containing food. Sometimes there
were areas behind where you could sit and have your meal, just like in modern fast food
restaurants.
Follow
The food that were served inside were often depicted in wall paintings, inside and also
outside the room. These were legumes, vegetables, eggs, olives, onions, skewers of meat,
sausages, game, Msh, cheeses, dried or seasonal fruit, focaccia and sweets.
RECENT POSTS

Coronation of Charles III of England.

New scientific investigations reveal

interesting details about the

mysterious Stone of Scone

Bet Giorgis, the mythical rock church

Indian stepwells, between mysticism

and engineering prowess

Earthquake in Syria and Turkey:

cultural heritage updates

Earthquake in Turkey: Gaziantep

Castle destroyed, a UNESCO heritage

site
Interior of the thermopolium of Lucius Vetutius Placidus, Pompeii, ©Miguel Hermoso
Cuesta (This Mle is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0
International)
IMAGES ON THE SITE

Several thermopolias have been found in Pompeii, where Triclinium Please note that the images in the
there are 89 of them, in Herculaneum and ancient Ostia. articles expressly report the source
The triclinium was the place where
One of the most famous and well preserved is that of and / or the author and are used
lunch was served in the houses of
Vetutius Placidus (I, 8,8), characterized by a stucco the ancient Romans. The _oor of the exclusively for illustrative and popular
lararium (sacred shrine), decorated with a fresco: on the room had an inclination of about 10 ° purposes. If they infringe any
sides of the master’s Genius there are the Lares on three sides of the room, towards
Copyright rights, please communicate
the low table in the center. Only one
(protectors of the house) and then Mercury (god of it to the following email address for
side had a _at _oor, used by servants
commerce) and Dionysus (god of wine). Acting as a cash, to bring food to the table. removal:
one of the doli still contained 1385 coins at the time of the info.archeotravelers@gmail.com
discovery, today exhibited in the numismatic section in the
Archaeological Museum of Naples, while in the house
annexed to the shop, the discovery of a decorated
CC LICENSE
triclinium was signiMcant.

Except where otherwise noted, the

content on this site is licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribution-
NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0
International License.

GREEN WEB FOUNDATION

Interior of the thermopolium of Lucius Vetutius Placidus, Pompeii, ©Juan F. Ortega

(This Mle is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0
International)

Interior of the thermopolium of Lucius Vetutius Placidus, Pompeii - The fresco

represents the genius of the house, _anked by the Lares and the Penates with Mercury
on the far left and Bacchus on the far right. © Daniele Florio (This Mle is licensed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic)

A lso in Pompeii, on Via dell’Abbondanza, the thermopolium of Asellina was found,

where in addition to the mix of hot and cold drinks, cooked foods, some rooms
upstairs were used as meeting places. During the excavation operations, all the
furnishings were found in their place: there were amphorae for wine, a funnel, a phallic-
shaped lamp that illuminated the counter and kept the evil eye away and even a pot still
on the stove.

Some graeti found on the walls suggest that Asellina, in addition to refreshment for
guests, also provided girls who offered them company, since people from all over the
Mediterranean basin arrived in Pompeii. The astute owner of the thermpolium had
probably procured foreign girls, as the other names Aegle, Maria and Zmyrina mentioned
in the inscriptions painted on the facade suggest, so that foreign customers would be at
ease with beautiful fellow countrymen.

Thermopolium of Asellina

The thermopolias of Ostia Antica were also famous, such as the one called “della via
Diana”, with large rooms and internal rooms, with a small adjoining courtyard where
customers could entertain themselves in various activities including gambling with dice.

‹ ›

Thermopolium in the excavations of Herculaneum, large taberna ©Aldo Ardetti

(Creative Commons Attribuzione-Condividi allo stesso modo 2.5 Generico)

Thermopolium of ancient Ostia, ©Marie-Lan Nguyen

Graphic reconstruction of a Roman thermopolium (by Sebastià Giralt)

Pompeii: Larario termopoly

Archeolibri.com | Pompei: Termopolio del Larario

Copy link

Watch on

The isicia omentata

Among the best-selling foods in thermopolias there is the isicia omentata, what we can
consider as the ancestor of the hamburger.

His recipe included:

“Take minced meat with breadcrumbs soaked in wine. Crush together

pepper, liquamen (replace it with nuoc guam and, failing that, with
anchovy sauce) and, if you want, myrtle berries from which you will have
removed the core. Shape the meatballs in which you will put
peppercorns and pine nuts. Wrap them in the net and brown them in the
caroenum (sweet red wine).”

Here is a recipe for a closer version of the isicia omentata…

Ingredients:
1 dry bun, In a bowl, soften the dry bread in the wine. Mix the meat
500 g minced veal, with the pine nuts, add the squeezed bread, the anchovy
70 g of chopped pine sauce and season with salt. Strain the remaining wine
nuts, after wringing the bread and put it on the Mre. Let it reduce
1 glass of Primitivo di until it becomes a liquid with a syrupy consistency. Form
Manduria wine 10 small _at meatballs, spread a little wine syrup on them
2 cucchiai di colatura and cook them in the oven for about 8 minutes, until they
di alici, are cooked. Remove from the oven and cover them with
a pinch of salt. grape syrup.

If you try it, let us know!

On the discovery of the thermopolium of the Regio V found in 2019 in Pompeii, see the
following article [Link].

Reading tips

For further reading tips relating to the history and archeology of the Ancient Rome, I refer
you to the Amazon storefront that I have assigned to this topic.

As an Amazon A:liate, I will receive a small percentage of revenue from eligible

purchases. Buying the products through the previous links is a way to support the
ArcheoTravelers project, so as to be able to implement more and more of its contents. I
sincerely thank anyone who decides to support me through this initiative.

 About the author

Lorena Cannizzaro
Trained at the University of Turin, where she obtained her three-year degree in
Cultural Heritage Sciences and her master's degree in History of Archaeological and
Historical-Artistic Heritage, she specialized at the University of Milan, graduating in
Archaeological Heritage. Freelancer, she deals with computer archeology and virtual
heritage, museum displays, 2D graphics and multimedia products applied to cultural
heritage. Collaborates with various public and private bodies in the field of projects
related to the research, enhancement, communication and promotion of cultural
heritage. She deals with the creation of cultural itineraries relating to the entire Italian
Peninsula and the development of content (creation of texts and photographic
production) for paper and virtual publications. Her study interests include the
development of new techniques and means of communication for the enhancement
of cultural heritage and the evolution of the symbolism of power between the Late
Antiquity and the early Middle Ages.

- Share this Article -

Ancient Ostia Ancient Rome Archaeology Campania Curiosity Ercolano Italy Lazio Pompeii

termopoli thermopolia thermopolium

4 Comments

YOU MAY ALSO LIKE

Lycanthropy between myth Tutankhamun – Journey to Khutulun, the Mongolian

and archaeology Eternity warrior princess
31 October 2022 25 June 2022 11 September 2020

4 COMMENTS

PINGBACK:
27 DECEMBER 2020 AT 15:49

A new thermopolium resurfaces entirely in Pompeii - Archeotravelers.com

PINGBACK:
18 AUGUST 2021 AT 18:21

New discovery in Pompeii - The tomb of Marcus Venerius Secundio - Archeotravelers.com

PINGBACK:
10 NOVEMBER 2021 AT 18:00

The parade chariot of Civita Giuliana - The latest discovery of Pompeii - Archeotravelers.com

PINGBACK:
2 AUGUST 2022 AT 19:24

Pompeii, the extraordinary frescoed thermopolium can be visited - Archeotravelers.com

LEAVE A REPLY

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Name *

Email *

Website

Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.

Comment

Notify me of follow-up comments by email.

Notify me of new posts by email.

POST COMMENT

::: Cookie Consent :::

⌃
We use cookies
Ashe onWP
Theme by ourRoyal.
website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your Cookie Settings Accept Reject- All Privacy e Cookie Policy
2020 - ©ArcheoTravelers -
preferences and repeat visits. By clicking “Accept”, you consent to the use of ALL the cookies.