Davies (1971) The Roman Military Diet

The Roman Military Diet
Author(s): R. W. Davies
Source: Britannia, Vol. 2 (1971), pp. 122-142
Published by: Society for the Promotion of Roman Studies
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The Roman Military Diet*
By R. W. DAVIES
T HE axiom 'an army marches on its stomach' applies to all armies of all
times. The task of providing a constant and sufficient supply of food was
by no means the least important part of the work involved in the day to
day running of the Roman army.' In time of war the troops would forage from
enemy countryside, requisition supplies from defeated tribes or towns, and
receive them from allies.2 According to Josephus the legionaries carried with
them as part of their equipment sickles to reap the crops and also rations for
three days.3 A scene on Trajan's Column depicts the legionaries carrying their
kit on a stake; this consisted in part of a string-bag for forage, a metal cooking-
pot and a mess-tin, examples of which have been discovered in most parts of the
Empire.4 When an army was not on active service, the arrangements to supply
food for men and animals were extensive and complex.
The magnitude of the food requirements of the Roman army has generally
not been realized. According to Tacitus every Roman fort in Britain, when
* The evidence collected in this paper is not meant to be exhaustive, but is a representative selection.
The period under study is that of the Principate. The evidence for the consumption of meat in the armies
of the Later Republic, Caesar, and Early Principate is studied in detail in an appendix. The evidence
for items provided mainly or exclusively for fodder is not here studied, but may on occasion be mentioned
in passing. Some of the analyses were made fifty or even one hundred years ago; consequently, more
modern methods and further excavation provide a better picture. Some of the analyses were restricted;
thus oyster and mussel shells and chicken bones are often not mentioned, because the analysis was con-
cerned exclusively with animal bones, but they are frequently found, as, for example, at Corbridge.
Part I of the analysis of the Corbridge bones by Meek and Gray was published in I9I I1; Part II has never
been published. Some earlier studies will be found in: J. Lesquier, L'armle romained'Agypted'Augustea
Diocldtien(1918) 347-68; R. Cagnat, L'armie romained'Afriqueet l'occupationmilitaire de l'Afrique sous les
empereurs(second edition, 1913) 311-26; both authors at times use passages of the SHA, for which nowa-
days more care is required. For the Later Roman Empire, see: D. van Berchem, L'annonemilitairedans
l'empireromainau IIIhme sizcle (0937); A. H. M. Jones, Later RomanEmpire (1964) 628-9, and note 44.
This is the only period for which regulation amounts are known; presumably those of A.D. 360 are not
dissimilar in quantity from those of the Principate: 3 pounds of bread, 2 pounds of meat, 2 pints of wine,
I/8 of a pint of oil per man per day.
To save endless repetition of the sources in the footnotes, a bibliography of the thirty-three sites in
Table I is given instead (p. 141). From Table I the bones of horses, dogs, and cats have been excluded.
Other military sites, from which there is evidence for food but which are not used here, include: Baginton
(The Lunt), Balmuildy, Canstatt, Carrawburgh, Castledykes, Chesterholm.
I have used, wherever they were available, the improved readings and interpretations of the papyri
contained in CLA (A. Bruckner and R. Marichal, ChartaeLatinaeAntiquiores Many of the papyri
1954-).
quoted in this paper will be found in Sergio Daris, Documentiper la storiadell'esercitoromanoin Egitto (I964).
For a list of the abbreviations of these sources, see p. 142.
I am indebted to George Hodgson, M.Sc., for the results of some unpublished analyses of bones.
For list of abbreviations used in footnotes, see p. 142.
E.g. Caesar, BG iv, 32; v, I7; Josephus, BJ ii, 528. Cf. C. Cichorius, Die Reliefs des Traianssdule
(1896-1900oo) taf. cx. The pridianumof cohorsI Hispanorumveteranashows men employed
on this task in
Trajan's Second Dacian War, CLA 219, col. ii, lines 19 and 31-33 = P. Lond. 2851.
3BJ iii, 95.
4 Cichorius, op. cit. taf. iv; cf. PBSR xiii, 1935, 6-9.
122

THE ROMAN MILITARY DIET 123
Agricola was governor in A.D. 78-84, was provided with sufficient supplies to
last for a year.5 Calculations show that each Roman soldier would eat approxi-
mately one-third of a ton of corn each year, and that this amount of grain would
occupy half a cubic yard of space in the granary.6 Examination of the horreain
legionary and auxiliary forts has shown that that they were capable of containing
sufficient grain to last for one year.7 According to a papyrus from Egypt, 20,000
artabs of barley, or 1,400,000 pints, which weigh 625 tons, were needed each
year for the requirements of an ala.8 If each soldier received three pounds of
corn per day and the frontier forces of Britain in the third century numbered
25,000 men, then the daily consumption of corn would have been 332 tons.9
In peace-time the army used various sources from which to obtain its food
supplies. One major source was from the civilians of the provinces; this could
take the form of requisitions or compulsory purchase at a fixed price;,o food
supplies in this way could come to the army directly or via the procurator,"
the official responsible, as Strabo notes:
'There are also Imperial procurators, men of Equestrian rank, who distribute to
the soldiers all the necessities of life.'
Another important source was food produced on military land (territoriumor
prata), which extended for a considerable distance round each fort; this was
sometimes grown by the military themselves, at other times by civilians to whom
the land was leased.I2 Contracts for supplies in bulk were also used.13 A soldier
could augment his supply of food from other sources: by extortion,14 by private
5 Agricola 22, 2-3. Cf. Polybius vi, 39, 12-15 for the system of the Republic. For the later Roman
Empire, see first note. For the army of Caesar, see the appendix.
6 F. Haverfield, 'The Provisioning of Roman Forts', CW2 xx, 1920, This paper is reproduced
127-42.
more or less as Appendix III in Furneaux and Anderson's second edition of Tacitus, Agricola (Oxford,
I922). For delivery of supplies in bulk of lentils, vin ordinaire, wheat, and bread see P. Beatty Panop. I;
of 2,841 + 300 loaves and 6oo00camp sextarii of wine, see SB 7181.
7 Ibid. Further examples (e.g. Fendoch, Chester, Inchtuthil, Hod Hill) may now be added; cf.
Graham Webster, The RomanImperialArmy(1969) 197-8, 216. It should be noted that Haverfield made no
allowance for a central gangway; consequently his figures give too large a capacity, which has led to the
interpretation of annuiscopiisas meaning supplies to last in effect for two years, a desperate but unnecessary
view. For a better interpretation of the evidence and the mechanics of the horrea,see William Bulmer,
'The Provisioning of Roman Forts: a Reappraisal of Ration Storage', AA4 xlvii, 1969, 7-13. See also
G. E. Rickman, RomanGranariesand StoreBuildings (1971).
8 P. Amh. 107. One pint of barley weighs one pound
avoirdupois exactly. This figure agrees well
with those given by Polybius 1.c. The barley was for the horses; normally it was given to men only as a
punishment; examples are cited in G. R. Watson, The RomanSoldier(1969) 126.
9 Haverfield, 1.c. E. Birley, Researchon Hadrian's Wall (1961) 272.
1oTacitus, Agric. 19, 4; 32, 4; Dio, lxii, 3. P. Amh. o107 and other contemporary examples; P. Grenf.
48; SB 7181; O. Tait 1689; cf. SB 9202; BGU 81; BGU 2024; SB 10497; P. Mich. 450 + 455, with AJP
71, I950, 432-8.
" Strabo iii 4, 20. SB 9248; CLA 275 = P. Oxy. 735, with Etud. Pap. VIII, 1957, 51, n. i; P. Dura
64A; the cibariatorwas probably on his staff, see below, note 98.
12For evidence and discussion, see H. von Petrikovits, Das r6mischeRheinland,Archdologische
Forschungen
seit 1945 (1960) 63-72; RE VIIIA 1824-31; A. M6csy, 'Zu den "prata legionis" ', Studien zu den Militargrenzen
Roms (1967) 211-4. There might also be a vivarium, CIL xiii 8174 = ILS 3265, CIL vi 130 = ILS 2091.
13 E.g. Aurelius Lunaris and Verecundius Diogenes seem to have been merchants
shipping wine
from Aquitania to the army of Lower Britain; Antiq. Journ., xxvi, 1946, 9-1o; I. A. Richmond, Roman
Britain (2nd edition, 1963), 172. Others sent barrels of wine to Aquincum; see below, note 89; others
supplied the British troops with olive-oil from Spain. The negotiatoressalsari leguminariprobably supplied
the troops at Vindonissa with vegetables; CIL xiii 5221.
'4 As is clear from the edicts of governors banning such action. For 'text-book'
examples, see SHA,
Avidius iv 2; Pescennius x, 5. Cf. also New Testament, Luke iii, 12-14; Rev. Phil. xvii, 1943, 111-19.

124 R. W. DAVIES
purchases from the inns or shops in the settlements which grew up outside each
fort (canabaeor vicus),15by hunting,16 or from his family.'7
Several sources speak of the iron rations a soldier carried when on active
service; these would, of course, form the basic part of a soldier's diet in peace-
time. This seems to be illustrated by Hadrian, whose policy of keeping the troops
fully-trained but engaged on no actual warfare is well known :s18
'Hadrian himself also used to live a soldier's life among the other ranks, and,
following the example of Scipio Aemilianus, Metellus, and Trajan, cheerfully
ate in the open such camp food as bacon, cheese, and sour wine.'
Iron rations on active service are mentioned in connection with generals of
the second century A.D.:19
'Avidius Cassius forbade the soldiers when on expedition to carry anything except
bacon, hard tack, and sour wine.'
'Pescennius Niger gave orders that no one was to drink [vintage] wine on
expedition, but that they should all be content with sour wine. He also forebade
pastry-cooks to follow the expedition, and ordered the soldiers to be content with
hard tack.'
It is claimed that Severus improved the quality of the military diet.2o The bacon-
fat (laridum) or lard was used as a substitute for oil, which could not easily be
transported at times. The hard tack (bucellatum)is part of the corn ration which
could be cooked in this form.2, Acetum (&os-) was low quality wine, at times
mixed with water to form a drink called posca in contrast to the vintage wine
(vinum); even today the Italians, among others, continue to add water to their
cheaper wines to drink with meals.22 Other sources provide more information
about the basic food of the army. Vegetius devotes a whole chapter to the care
that must be given by a commander to provide sufficient supplies :23
'Shortages of wood and food must be avoided in winter, of water in summer.
Indeed, the need for corn, sour wine, [vintage] wine, and also salt must at all
times be kept at a reasonable level.'
Appian, describing a besieging Roman army which was suffering as much as
the besieged, gives the normal diet, which is almost the same as that mentioned
by Vegetius, and also the siege diet:24
15E. Birley, RomanBritain and the RomanArmy (1953) 69-86; P. Salway, The FrontierPeopleof Roman
Britain (1965) passim; Petrikovits, o.c. 55-63. Cf. Caesar, BG vi 5; Tacitus, Hist. iv 22; Arrian, Periplous
9; SHA, Hadrianusx, 4; Fronto, ad VerumImp. ii i, 19; PrincipiaHistoriae 12. A painting in a thermopolium
at Pompeii depicts a soldier holding in an outstretched hand a very tall glass; he says to the innkeeper,
who is just about to pour something into this, 'Just a dash of water!' (da fridam pusillum); P. Gusman,
Pompeii, the City, its Life and Art (1903) 220, pl. Im.
16Provided that he did so only in his off duty; cf. Dig. xlix 16, 12, 1; O. Gudraud14 (and below, note
44). For hunting as an official way of supplementing the diet, see below, note 43-
17 See below, notes 90-93.
18SHA, Hadrianusx, 2; cf. SeverusAlexanderli, 5 and lxi, 2; Herodian n xi 2 (Severus); IV xii 2
(Caracalla). This ciba castrensiawas carried by the troops on manoeuvres; CIL viii 18042 Bb = ILS 2487.
19 SHA, Avidiusv, 3; Pescenniusx, 3-4-
2oE. Birley, 'Septimius Severus and the Roman Army', Epigr. Stud. 8, 1969, 63-82, especially 63-4,
citing Herodian III,viii 5, and the writer's thesis. Cf. vi, viii 8, where Maximinus is credited with a further
increase.
2zCf. Ammianus xviI, viii 2. Even so, it was at times issued as grain; Suetonius, Galba 7.
2* have adopted the translation 'sour wine' rather than 'vinegar', which gives a false impression in
I1
English. This is the drink of the ordinary soldier, as proffered to Christ on the Cross.
23Ii 3- 24Iberica54; cf. Frontinus, Strat.1n, xvi 3 for the lack of salt.

'The soldiers were worn out by the continuous watch, lack of sleep, and the
unaccustomed food of the country. They had no [vintage] wine, salt, sour wine or
oil, but fed on wheat and barley, and large quantities of meat and hare boiled
without salt, which upset their digestion.'
In 38 B.c. Herod procured large-scale supplies for the Roman army:25
'Immediately on hearing the request Herod set off into the country and left Silo
no excuse for departing, because he brought an unexpectedly large quantity of
provisions and gave instructions to the Samaritans to bring down corn, wine, oil,
livestock, and all the other provisions to Jericho, that there might be a plentiful
supply for the troops for the time being.'
Vegetius says that at the slightest suspicion of an enemy invasion, provisions
should be taken inside forts: fodder for the horses, [vintage] wine, sour wine,
cereals, and fruit for the men, while pigs are to be killed and turned into bacon,
and also other animals that cannot be kept alive are to be slaughtered and
preserved.26
The basic diet, then, in peace-time will have consisted of corn, bacon,
cheese, and probably vegetables to eat and sour wine to drink; the soldier would
also have access to salt and olive-oil. This must have been the standard food
towards the cost of which a fixed amount was deducted from each pay instalment
(ad victum).27 The consistent uniformity of this deduction suggests that the same
amount was always deducted for the basic diet as provided by the army; anything
extra would be bought by the soldier out of his spending money and this would
not be shown on the list of compulsory stoppages. However, a greater variety
of food was available and would be distributed on the special days of celebration
in the military calendar; an extra deduction was made to cover the cost of the
special camp dinners during the Saturnalia (saturnaliciumk(astrense)).28 Some
indication of the wide variety of foods that a military unit would use in a year
is given in a very fragmentary papyrus dated to late in A.D. 199. It is part of a
survey undertaken to report on the various foods given as payment in kind
towards the maintenance of the army of Egypt; among the items 'for supplying
our most noble soldiers with necessities' that can be read, are wheat, lentils,
hams, cattle, calves, goats, and pigs as well as wine, to feed the men, and hay
and other fodder crops for the animals, and oil of radishes which was used for
cooking like olive-oil.29
Corn, the basic item in the diet, could be turned into various dishes; the
most obvious is bread, but it could also form the basis of soup, porridge, or various
types of pasta as discovered at Pompeii.3o Into whatever type of food the grain
SJosephus, Ant. xiv, 408; cf. BJ i, 299-
26 iv, 7. Cf. P. BeattyPanop. 2, lines 246-9 and 285-9, where one measure each of salt and oil per man
per month 'on account of pickling material' is given.
27 CLA 7, col. I a, lines 6, 17, and 27 = P. Gen. lat. i; CLA
7, col. I b, lines 6, 17, and 27. Cf., how-
ever, Marichal's restored entries in CLA 9, lines 6, 15, and 24 = P. Gen. lat. 4.
28 CLA 7, col. I a, line 8; CLA 7, col. I b, line 8. In Marichal's restoration of CLA line
9, 6, the amount
spent on food is 128 drachmas,whereas in the other two stipendiait is only Ioo; presumably here there is a
change in book-keeping and the cost of the saturnaliciumwas now included in an increased food entry.
29 PSI 683. PSI 797 is a similar document but more fragmentary for the year A.D. 232. AE 1921, I
records a man in a town in Macedonia providing for the army at his own expense 400 medimniof corn,
I oo of barley, 6o of beans, and Io00 measures of wine.
30 The remains of pasta are preserved in the museums at Pompeii and
Naples; cf. M. Brion, Pompeii
and Herculaneum:the Gloryand the Grief (1I960) pl. 126.

126 R. W. DAVIES
was to be turned, it first had to be ground to form flour. Herodian records that
the Emperor Caracalla led the life of an ordinary soldier, which included baking
his own bread:31
'He set a frugal table, even going so far as to use wooden vessels for eating and
drinking. He ate the bread that was available; with his own hand he would grind
his personal ration of corn, make it into a loaf, bake it in the ashes and eat it.'
From the Elder Pliny it is known that panis militaris was wholemeal bread.32
Authorities both ancient and modern have shown that wholemeal bread is more
palatable than white bread and has greater nutritional value, as it is richer in
vitamins, especially B.. At Trimalchio's banquet Habinnas said he preferred
brown bread to white, because it was nourishing and prevented constipation.33
Vopiscus states that there were two sorts of army bread, the normal standard
(panes militarescastrenses)and one of higher quality (panes militaresmundos),perhaps
for officers.34 Normally in peace-time the troops would eat fresh bread; it was
only a martinet, such as Ulpius Marcellus, when governor of Britain in c. A.D.
180-4, who would deliberately choose stale bread.3s5Julian, who reverted to the
practices of the Imperial army, ate porridge with the other ranks.36
Contrary to popular belief the Roman army in the Empire ate meat at all
times as part of its diet. This could come from various sources: the provincials,37
purchase,38 hunting, the prata or vivariumof the units,39 the regular sacrifices.4o
An excellent picture of the meat the soldiers ate can be seen from an analysis
of the bones that have been excavated at Roman forts. Table I gives a list of
thirty-three military sites from the provinces of Britain and Germany. All grades
of troops (legionaries, auxiliary alae and cohortes, and numeri, including those
manning the turrets of Hadrian's Wall) are represented from the time of Augustus
to the third century. On the whole the largest percentage of the bones of any
one animal is that of the domesticated ox; sheep-and to a lesser extent goats-
were also eaten in large quantities, while pork was popular. Detailed analysis
31Iv, vii 5; the ashes are those in the camp ovens, 42 examples of which are known at Saalburg.
From Mainz has come an implement used to stamp the bread (CIL xiii 6935), from Zugmantel a wooden
long-handled shovel for putting loaves into and out of the oven (in the Saalburg Museum). Experiments
with handmills from Saalburg have shown that they would take four to six men to grind 22o pounds of
grain into flour per hour; Saalburg-jahrb.iii, 1912, 75-95. Remembering the needs of the frontier troops
of Britain (see above, note 9), it is not surprising to find at least three water-mills along the line of Hadrian's
Wall; J. Collingwood Bruce, Handbookto the Roman Wall (12th edition, revised by Sir Ian Richmond,
I966) 80-3, I43, I60-2; Richmond, op cit., I70-I.
32 NH xviii, 67. L. A. Moritz, Grain-MillsandFlour in ClassicalAntiquity(1958) 195ff. Cato, Res Rustica
lxx gives a recipe using only flour and water. For the supply of baked loaves to soldiers, see notes 34, 35,
90, 93.
33 Petronius, Satyriconlxvi, 2; both qualities are obviously highly desirable.
34 SHA, Aurelianusix, 6. This source also claims to quote amounts for other foodstuffs.
35sDio lxxiii, 8.
36 Ammianus xxv, ii 2. For a recipe, R. Cagnat, op. cit., 312.
37 See above, notes 25 and 29. Livestock were often exacted in war-time, e.g. Josephus, BJ iv, 436;
Dio lxxii, I I; lxxvii, 13; Herodian mi, ix io0.
38 E.g. FIRA iii, 137-
39 For hunting, see notes I6, 43-6. For the prata and vivarium,see note 12. The best illustration is
Tacitus, Ann. xiii, 54-5; cf. E. Birley (ed)., The Congressof RomanFrontierStudies,1949 (1952), 49ff; cf.
also Dio lxxii, 2o. The pecuariilooked after such animals; perhaps in Scotland the annexes were used as a
vivarium,and also the space between the Vallum and Hadrian's Wall. Cf. P. Dura 66 QQ, line Io0.
4oE.g. Josephus, BJ vii, I6. For a possible example of such a sacrificial animal, see W. T. Watkin,
RomanRibchester(1911) I I. The fragmentaryferiale Duranum(YCS vii, 1940; P. Dura 54) lists at leasts 23
oxen, 12 cows, and 7 bulls that were to be sacrificed annually.

TABLE I: ANIMALS
Fort to a Miscellaneous
Unit o t
Uni Frt 0
,
0 .• • Ij •
pq
A Altenstadt X x x X X x Wild ox
A Bar Hill X X X X x Fox
A Benwell x x x x
A Binchester X X X X X X
A Brecon X X X X x
A Butzbach X x x X X x x Elk, fox, wolf
L Caerleon x x x x x x x x Fox, wolf
A Caernarvon x x X X X Wolf
L Chester X X X X X X X
A Chesters X X X X X X
A/L Corbridge X X x X X x X Fox, badger, beaver, vole, wild ox,
mole
A Elslack x x x x x
A High Rochester X X X X x Fox, badger
A/L Hod Hill x x x x x
A Hofheim x x x x x Bear, wild ox
L Holt x x x x x
A Housesteads x x x x
A Mumrills x x x x Wolf
A/L Newstead X x x x x x x Elk, fox, badger, vole
N Niederbieber x x x x x
A RedHouse x x X x xx
AIN Ribchester x x x x x x
A R6dgen x x x x x x
A Rudchester x x x x
A Saalburg X X X X X X X X Fox, wolf, beaver, bear, wild ox
A South Shields x x x x x x Elk
A Stockstadt x x x x x Wild ox
N Turrets of H. W. x x x
A Valkenburg X X x x x x x x Elk, fox, beaver, bear, otter
L Vindonissa x x x x x x x x Elk, ibex
A Waddon Hill x X x x x Fox
A Wiesbaden x X x x x x x
A/N Zugmantel X X X X X X X
Totals 33 30 o31 31 17 14 14
L = legion; A auxiliary unit; N = numerus; / = mixed garrison or successive types of unit in
occupation. -
of the bones of various domesticated animals gives information on the joints of

meat eaten; many of the animals were immature, showing that the troops ate
beef and veal, mutton and lamb, pork and sucking-pig. Appian states that the
two standard ways of cooking were roasting and boiling, and two of the three
standard-issue cooking-utensils were a spit and a boiling-pan.41 Often large
quantities of beef bones had been deliberately broken or split to obtain the marrow
to form a rich stew. At most of the sites bones from all parts of the various animals
were discovered, showing that whole carcases were consumed. The various
livestock kept by the different units could also provide them with milk and thus
with cheese, which is stated to have been one of the principal items of food
eaten by the troops. Cheese-squeezers have been found at various military sites,
4' Appian, Iberica85; cf. Frontinus, Strat. Iv, i I; Polyaenus, Strat. vin, xvi 2.

128 R. W. DAVIES
showing that the troops manufactured their own cheeses.42 Hunting was clearly
a common way of adding fresh meat to the diet;43 this is well illustrated by a
letter from an auxiliary soldier stationed at Wadi Fawakhir in the later first
or second century A.D.:44
'Antonius Proculus to Valerianus. Write the note to say that from the month of
Agrippina until now we have been hunting all species of wild animals and birds
for a year under the orders of the prefects. We have given what we caught to
Cerealis and he sent them and all the equipment to you [.. .'
The second part of Table I gives the archaeological evidence for hunting. Clearly
venison, particularly the red and roe deer and to a lesser extent elk, was a com-
mon delicacy. Another animal frequently hunted was the wild boar, although
in this instance sport may have been combined with the business of hunting for
food; thus Minicianus, prefect of the ala Sebosiana, set up an altar in Weardale
to
Silvanus":45
'In fulfilment of his vow for capturing a boar of outstanding fineness, which many
of his predecessors had been unable to bag.'
The hare too may have been hunted for sport rather than food; large quantities
were eaten by the garrison of the Claudian fort at Waddon Hill. Presumably the
instances of the remains of fox (9), wolf (5), wild ox (5), badger (3), beaver (3),
bear (3), and otter (i), represent hunting for sport rather than food, although
several at least are edible.46
The Roman soldiers were partial to sea food, especially shell fish. Of the
sites in Table I sixteen have produced oysters and mussels, while oyster shells
have been found at a further nine.47 Other molluscs that were eaten include
limpets, whelks, cockles, and edible snails. A detailed account of these is given
for fifteen sites in Table II. It seems clear that units stationed near the sea, e.g.
at Maryport and South Shields, would have a greater variety of shell fish, because
the opportunities to obtain them were better. However, efforts were made to
42 E.g. Corbridge and Holt. Varro, Res Rustica

ni, xi 3 gives recipes for making cheese; the best came
from the milk of cows, then of sheep, then of goats. For cheese as part of the basic diet, see above, note
I8; for delivery of cheese to the troops, see notes 65, 92, 93-
43For hunters, see Dig. 1, 6, 7 (which also lists lani and victimarii);Vegetius, i, 7 recommends that
macellarioset cervorumaprorumque venatoresbe recruited; CIL vi 130 = ILS 2091 mentions a custosvivariand
two venatoresimmun(es);for another vivariumcf. CIL xiii 8174 = ILS 3265; Dr. W. Schleiermacher kindly
informs me that possible examples of such structures have been identified at Dambach and Zugmantel.
RIB 1905 = ILS 3548; CIL iii 7449. SB 9272 mentions a vestigator, perhaps a tracker.
44 0. Gudraud 14. He asks for an official note (rT and stresses that they were acting
X'o*XXov)
on the orders of the local auxiliary commanding officers. Soldiers were forbidden by military law from
unofficial hunting trips (see above, note 16, and Suetonius, Tiberius 19 for an offence punished).
45RIB 104I = ILS 3562. It seems preferable to the writer to believe that there is only one inscription
on this stone, and that the commanders came in the second century from Binchester, some 15 miles away.
Cf. RIB 1042; 1091I-2; 732-3.
46Nemesianus, in his poem on hunting, mentions hares, does, wolf, fox, ichneumon, polecat, and
hedgehog. For soldiers eating hares, see note 24. The centurion Severus had captured fifty bears in six
months (CIL xiii 81 74 = ILS 3265). Dr. Sch6nberger kindly informs me that a bear-trap has been discovered
at Zugmantel.
47Apart from those mentioned in Table II, oysters and mussels are attested at: Bar Hill, Caernarvon,
Corbridge, Hofheim, Newstead, Ribchester, Saalburg, Turrets; oysters at Binchester and High Rochester.
Some of the sites from Table I, for which there is here no mention of molluscs, have in fact produced them;
they are not mentioned in the analyses, because these were devoted to bones. Oysters were stored in a
wine-cellar at Richborough; J. P. Bushe-Fox, FourthReporton theExcavationsof the RomanFort at Richborough,
Kent (1949) 6, 50. Sallust, Jugurtha3 confirms the popularity of shell fish among the Roman soldiers.

TABLE II: MOLLUSCS
• t • -• •
Unit For
Unit Fort Miscellaneous
>1 0
A Benwell x x x Fresh-water mussel

A Brecon x x x Second variety of edible snail
L Caerleon x x x x
L Chester x x
A Chesters x x x x
AlL Hod Hill x x
L Holt x x X Swan mussel
A Maryport x x x
A Mumrills x x
A Rudchester x x
A South Shields x x x x Winkle
A Valkenburg x x Fresh-water mussel
L Vindonissa x x
A WaddonHill x x x Venerupis
A Wiesbaden x mussel
Fresh-water
send them considerable distances inland, as in the case of Brecon and Chesters.
It is thought that the oysters discovered at Vindonissa (Windisch in Switzerland)
came from Portugal or the English Channel, those at Benwell on Hadrian's
Wall from southern England. Examination of the shells from Waddon Hill
suggested that some of the oysters were natural and others cultivated; the site
also produced cockles and an example of the species venerupis,which the French
today still esteem as the delicacy palourde. Edible snails have been discovered at
several sites; indeed the suggestion has been made that the Roman garrison at
Papcastle introduced a delicious species into Britain.48 Clearly shell fish were a
popular delicacy frequently eaten, and the large number of sites in Britain that
have produced evidence for them suggests that Juvenal, who almost certainly
commanded a unit later stationed at Maryport, may have eaten them himself.49
Fish was also eaten, although excavators have not always noted the remains.
Pike was eaten at Butzbach, perch at Chester, sturgeon at Saalburg, and cod at
Hod Hill; unidentified species are attested at Brecon, Caerleon, and Corbridge.
At the legionary fortress of Vindonissa fish bones were discovered and also a
fishing-hook, with which to catch the fish in the nearby River Aare; there is
also epigraphic evidence for the troops here eating tunny fish. A strong fishing-
hook, clearly for sea-fishing, was found at Richborough.5o Fish bones identified
at Waddon Hill included the cod family and the Giant Wrasse; the latter is
rather bony, but was presumably sought because it closely resembled the Parrot
Wrasse, a much esteemed ancient Roman delicacy. At Valkenburg, an auxiliary
fort near the mouth of the Rhine, numerous fish-bones were discovered belonging
to sturgeon, pike and unidentified varieties; this site also produced evidence for
48 CWz xlviii, I948, 204; cf. lxiii, I963, 107.
49 For the shell fish at Maryport, see Birley op. cit. (note 9) 219. For Juvenal, M. G. Jarrett and B.
Dobson, Britain and Rome (1966) 36; Juvenal, Saturae iv, 141-2.
50 Bushe-Fox, op. cit. (note 47), 348. The same legal restrictions on private hunting expeditions applied
to fishing trips too; see above notes 16 and 44. For a soldier involved in a case of stolen fish worth a silver
talent, P. Oxy. 2234.

130 R. W. DAVIES
TABLE III: FOWLS
Unit Fort Miscellaneous

•0
L Chester x x x Pheasant, swan

A/L Hod Hill x Mallard, woodcock, woodpigeon, coot, unidentified
game
A Hofheim x x Heron
A/L Newstead x x Crane, raven
A/N Ribchester x x Swan
A Saalburg x x Guinea-fowl
A Valkenburg x x x Petrel, cormorant, heron, great white heron,
spoonbill, mallard, teal, grey lag-goose, white-
fronted goose, brent goose, barnacle goose, white-
tailed eagle, crane, crow
A Waddon Hill x x Mallard, wader, rock dove or domestic pigeon,
redwing, bantam, raven
the common porpoise and whale, and also the cuttlefish, a great delicacy. When
discovered, inscribed amphoras in a pantry used by the Roman troops in garrison
at Masada still contained the remains of some fish.5' A papyrus throws interesting
light on the military diet. In the early second century Terentianus, a legionary
stationed at Alexandria, wrote to apologize to his father for not meeting him
and explained why:52
'For it was at that time that so violent and dreadful an attack of fish poisoning
made me ill, and for five days I was unable to drop you a line, not to speak of
going to meet you. Not one of us was even able to leave the camp gate.'
He said that he had now recovered from his illness, although in an earlier letter
he wrote that he had had to be fed by others. The fish (maeotes)is described by
Athenaeus, however, as being delicious.
Vegetius recommended that, in the likelihood of a siege, poultry should be
kept because it was both inexpensive to maintain and was beneficial for the sick.53
However, it is highly probable that it was eaten as part of the regular military
diet. The remains of chicken have been discovered at twenty-three of the military
sites listed in Table 1.54 Duck and goose were also quite popular, and a large
number of other birds were eaten, as can be seen from Table III, which lists the
fowls discovered at eight sites. The auxiliary troops in Germany, whose com-
manders had frequently sent them out to capture white geese, whose feathers
fetched a good price, will have eaten more than their share of goose.55 Another
51 IEJ xv, 1965, 76.
52 P. Mich. 478, lines 8-13; cf. 477, lines 35-9; Athenaeus, vii, 309-12. For soldiers at Kiinzing
eating contaminated pork, see Saalburg-Jahrb. 2I, I963/64, 90-4.
53 iv, 7.
54Apart from those in Table III, chicken is attested at: Altenstadt, Butzbach, Caerleon (where there
was also unidentified game bird), Caernarvon, Holt, Housesteads, Mumrills, Niederbieber, Red House,
R6dgen, Rudchester, South Shields, Vindonissa, Wiesbaden, Zugmantel. Duck was eaten made at Benwell.
Some of the other ten sites from Table I will have produced chicken, but no record has been in the
analyses, which were devoted to animal bones.
55Pliny, NH x, 54. Goose represented one quarter of the birds eaten at Valkenburg. For fowling, see
above, note 44.

reason for keeping poultry was to provide eggs; egg shells have been discovered
at Hofheim (in large numbers in the barracks) and at Vindonissa.
A further indication of the food and drink consumed by Roman soldiers
can be seen from the graffiti and tituli picti on amphoras found on military sites.
The best collection comes from the first-century legionary fortress at Vindonissa.56
Here examples have been discovered mentioning very mature wine from Surren-
tum in southern Italy (Surre(ntinum)perv(etus)), wine from Messina in Sicily
(Mes(sanium) [(amphora)] XIII), and a third old wine is also attested, perhaps a
form of fruit cocktail of wine infused on fruit (cond(itum)tinc(tum) [vinum] vet(us)).
Wine was also imported from southern Gaul and Spain. Black olives preserved
in wine-must (oliva nigra ex defr(uto)) were also eaten by the legionaries. Another
titulus mentions thamni,which probably refers to tunny fish rather than an unidenti-
fied herb. Another vessel definitely carried beans, for its titulus records that it
contained eleven amphoraeof them (fab(ae) [amphora]XI). To sweeten their food,
the Roman legionaries used honey, and a tituluspictus found at the fortress records
the contents and weight of an amphora of honey (mel[. .] p(ondo) CLXXVI[ ).
All Romans were fond of fish-sauces, especially garum, to put on their food;
garum, however, was very expensive, and the legionaries used a cheaper but
inferior variety called muria, although they chose the best of this type; a titulus
mentions first-rate top-quality fish-sauce that was specially piquant (mur(ia)
arg(uta) ex(cellens) flo(s)), as well as a variety whose quality was not stressed
(m(uria) a(rguta) LXIIII). It seems, however, that they sometimes ate garum that
had been watered down; Elagabalus is alleged to have been the first Roman
emperor to serve hydrogarumat public banquets, which hitherto had been militaris
mensa.57
Further information is provided by graffiti on amphoras discovered in
Britain. One written in ink on the neck of an amphora discovered in the wine-
cellar of the military stores-depot at Richborough mentions LYMP[A; this wine
came from Mount Vesuvius and presumably was produced before A.D. 79.58
On one of the handles of an amphora at Newstead was scratched VIN(UM),59
while at Mumrills a vessel had contained sweet wine (GLVK[VS (OINOS)),6o
and another at Caerleon Aminean wine (AMINE), a high-quality white wine.6'
An amphora discovered at Carpow contained a wine flavoured with horehound
HIPAZI[ON).62 Another discovered in Tower 16b on the Cumberland Coast
had come from Esuris in Lusitania, and had contained something unsalted,
probably olives (INSULSAI[I).63 One from Brough-on-Noe had perhaps con-
tained plums (PR VN[A).64
56 ASA I926, I97ff; M. H. Callender, RomanAmphorae(I965) 37-41, to which add ASA I929, 184,
no. 6.
57 SHA, Elagabalusxxix, 5-
58 Bushe-Fox, op. cit. (note 47), 253-4; cf. ibid. pp. 6 and 50.
59J. Curle, A Roman Frontier Post and its People; the Fort of Newstead in the Parish of Melrose (1911), 268.
6oJRS liv, 1964, 184, no. 40.
61 JRS lvi, no. 51.
1966, 224,
62JRS liii, I963, I66, no. 5I.
63 JRS xlv, I955, I48, no. 25.
64 JRS liii, I963, I66, no. 50, as read by Prof. E. Birley and myself.
10

132 R. W. DAVIES
Excavation at Dura-Europos, where the cohorsXX Palmyrenorum was stationed,
has produced similar evidence for the food. A dipinto on one jar and a graffito
on another seem to indicate the name of a soldier and the number of measures
of white grain he had received for his rations. A dipinto on a sherd found in the
palace of the dux shows that this vessel had been sent from the village of Banapel
and had probably contained wine sent as part of the annona. Graffiti scratched
on the walls round the pantry there mention hay and a list of dates in inverse
order; another is a receipt for two different amounts of barley and also corn and
contained at least thirty-seven tallies below it; another receipt records payment
for new cheeses and another type of cheese.65
The diet of the Roman troops also included fruit and nuts. Among the few
items that on campaign they were allowed to carry off, as mentioned in a military
oath, were poma pabulum.66Vegetius advised that if there were any prospect of
a siege, large quantities of fruit of various sorts should be collected and stored
for food.67 This is perhaps best illustrated in peace-time at Vindonissa, where
the legionaries ate apples, pears, plums, cherries, peaches, grapes, and elder-
berries, as well as the sweet chestnut, walnut, hazelnut, and beechnut. The site
also produced a vine stem and beeswax, perhaps indicating local supplies of
honey. At Saalburg, where the garrison from the reign of Hadrian onwards was
the cohorsII Raetorumc R the troops ate plums, damsons, wild cherries, peaches,
walnuts, and hazelnuts, all of which could have been grown locally.68 At Masada
some of the olives, pomegranates, grapes, dates, plums, and apricots discovered
there will have been for eating by the Roman troops.69 In Britain an amphora of
plums was probably sent from Spain to Brough-on-Noe.7o The troops at Newstead
ate hazelnuts, and as it is known that the hazel was indigenous there in Roman
times the nuts were presumably acquired locally; it is also known that brambles
and wild strawberries grew near Newstead and the remains have been found in
the fort. The troops at Bar Hill ate walnuts (probably grown locally because
they were stunted) and hazelnuts. The legionaries at Holt ate hazelnuts and
sloes, both of which were probably picked locally; the troops at Slack ate hazelnuts,
those at Castleshaw hazelnuts and sloes.7' The auxiliary troops manning the fort
at Caersws ate cherries and blackberries.72
The Roman army also ate vegetables of several varieties, but by far the
most common were beans and lentils. They are mentioned in the list of food
65 rCSxiv, 1955, 189-90, no. 200; 193, no. 214. The Excavationsat Dura-Europos,PreliminaryReport
ix, Part 3, 1952, 56-7, no. 963; 50-I, no. 956; 52-5, no. 958; 53-5, no. 959. For delivery of wine as
part of the annona,see SB 2074.
66 Cincius, De Re Militari v, quoted by Aulus Gellius xvi, 4, 2. Cf. Herodian viii, v 3-
67 iv 7.
68J. Baas, 'Die Obstarten aus der Zeit des r6merkastells Saalburg vdH', Saalburg-Jahrb.x, 1951,
14-28, correcting the identifications of Will in L. Jacobi, Das RdmerkastellSaalburgbei Homburgv.d. Hdhe
(1897), 539-48.
69 IEJ xv, 1965, 16 and 64. I owe confirmation of this to Prof. Y. Yadin.
70 See note 64.
71 I. A. Richmond, Huddersfield in Roman Times (1925) 66.
72V. E. Nash-Williams, The RomanFrontierin Wales (1954) cherries were eaten at Chester-
55. Possibly
holm, AA4 xlviii, 1970, 145. Frontinus, Strat. in xiv 2 records that a besieged town was supplied with nuts
floated down stream. For other instances of soldiers and fruit, see notes 26, 85, 86, 90, 92.

provided by villages of Egypt for the Roman army in A.D. 199,73 and a receipt
on an ostracon, probably of the second half of the second century, records that
they were supplied to the ala Heracliana,74 while sixty medimni of beans were
provided by a man in a Macedonian town for the army.75 The legionaries at
Vindonissa had beans,76 and Caesar is known to have given his men vegetables.77
Archaeology has yielded evidence to confirm the written sources for the supply of
vegetables and cereals. Caersws has produced unidentified vegetable remains,78
Hofheim a vegetable that was probably peas as well as large quantities of wheat,
Vindonissa peas, lentils and carrots, and Chesterholm cabbage.79 Cereals have
been frequently found, often in large quantities: wheat at Saalburg, Castlecary,
Westerwood, Ambleside, and Papcastle,8so barley at Ribchester, and both at
Newstead. Burginatium (Altkalkar), an auxiliary fort of the late first century,
produced a substantial quantity of wheat and smaller amounts of oats, rye,
barley, spelt, and various grasses.8'
Two sites, Neuss and Caerleon, have produced notable vegetable remains.
In a store-hut in the military annexe, dated to the Flavian era and lying south
of the fortress of Caerleon,82 the carbonized remains of various grains and other
vegetable matter were discovered: cultivated barley and also a little wild barley,
spelt, rye and wheat, while both cultivated and wild oats were found, apparently
as weeds rather than food, and also lentils, horsebeans and various weeds. Most
of these weeds were not indigenous to Britain, and so must have been imported
with the cereals. Dr. Helbaek has concluded that the Romans probably intended
to sow the lentils and rye, but that the grain was to be malted to make beer
(cervesa).83Clearly beer must have been a popular drink for the Roman troops;
a discharged miles of the classis Germanicaset himself up to supply beer to the
military market towards the end of the first century.84 Recent analysis of vege-
table matter recovered from the legionary fortress of Neuss, which is mostly
dated to the first century and often to before A.D. 69, has revealed a clear picture
of the military diet. Quantities of wheat, barley, wild oats (probably used as
fodder, as was hay and some other crops) were found, as well as broad beans,
beans, lentils, garlic, and various salt plants (sorrel, nipplewort), plus grapes
and elderberries and hazelnuts. Particularly noteworthy were four plants that
had been deliberately introduced into Germany by the Romans: rice, chick-pea,
73 PSI 683; see above, note 29.

74 WO
O1013.
75 See above, note 29.
76 See above, notes 13 and 56.
77BC iii 47.
79 Information from Prof. E. Birley; cf. AA4 xlviii, 1970, 145.
8o Castlecary,one hundred quarters: Sir George Macdonald, Roman Wall in Scotland (2nd edition,
1934) 453; Westerwood, a large quantity: ibid. 256; Ambleside, three inches deep in an area 25 ft. by
6 ft.: CWZxxi, 1921, 3-4; Papcastle, up to 2 ft. deep in an area 36 ft. by 6 ft.: CW2 xxiv, 1924, 371-3.
81 Bonner Jahrb. I63, 1963, 416-20.
82JRS xlix, 1959, 103.
83 H. Helbaek, 'The Isca Grain, a Roman Plant Introduction in Britain', New Phytologist63, 1964,
158-64.
84 AE 1928, 183. Cf. ILS 2238 for the popularity of drink among the soldiery.

134 R. W. DAVIES
olive, and fig.85 However, perhaps the most interesting finds came from the
camp hospital (valetudinarium).In addition to five medicinal plants, the remains
of lentils, garden peas, and figs were discovered, all prescribed by medical
authorities for a diet for invalids.86 Earlier excavation in the hospital had revealed
evidence for a sick diet of meat, eggs, and oysters.87This confirms the statements
of Vegetius that not only was poultry to be kept for the benefit of the sick but
that they were to be brought back to health by means of an appropriate diet.88
This included wine; not a few barrels of special wine were imported from outside
the local customs zone to the legionary fortress at Aquincum.89
A common way in which some soldiers supplemented the diet provided by
the army was by asking for additional food from their relatives. Such letters
reveal both what the soldier ate and what he wanted to eat. Perhaps the best
instance is Claudius Terentianus,9o whose bout of fish-poisoning has already
been mentioned. In the early second century he wrote to his father acknowledging
receipt of two large loaves and some dates. A little later he wrote to his sister:
'Take every step to provide me with two ceramons-of the biggest size-of olyra
and an artab of radish-oil. I sent you the marjoram with the oil.'
Olyra is a type of grain and oil of radishes was used as a substitute for olive-oil.
He also asked for some fresh asparagus to be sent to him. Earlier he had sent
his father 'two amphoras of olives, one in brine and one black', which were
the same as others he had sent, twenty Alexandrian loaves, and apples. Although
several soldiers asked for monthly allowances as well as food, in most cases the
money was not really needed to provide enought to eat, but only because the
pay had been squandered on extravagances.91
On the road from Coptos to the Red Sea some three score of letters written
on ostraca by soldiers have been found at Wadi Fawakhir.92 The letters of these
auxiliary soldiers are almost without exception concerned with food. Valerius
wrote to Julius about the purchase of barley; Lupercus had sent straw to Licinius
and hoped to receive oil in return, and had also sent a salad plant called purslane;
Rufus had sent Silvanus oil; someone said that he had received eight slices of
salted fish but that Clemens had not received one artab of barley, a jar of mustard,
or three matia of onions, but that the writer had in fact received a bundle of
85 Pflanzenfundeaus Neuss (Limesforschungen 1o, 1970). Cf. id. in Bonner
K.-H. Kn6rzer, Rdmerzeitliche
Jahrb. 162, 1962, 260-5; 164, 1964, 202-14; 166, 1966, 433-43.
Ibid. Cf. id., 'R6merzeitliche Heilkrdiuter aus Novaesium (Neuss/Rh.)', SudhoffsArchivfir Gesch.
86
derMedizin undderNaturwiss.47, 1963, 311-6.
87 BonnerJahrb. 111/2 1904, 182.
oportuniscibis reficiantur.
88siv, 7 (and above, note 53); iii, 2 aegri contubernales
89 Bayerische Vorgeschichtsblatter 24, 1959, 6-29, especially 23-4 and 29; AE 1933, 12o. The wines from
Caerleon and Carpow (see above, notes 6I and 62) had special medicinal properties; see R. W. Davies,
'Some Roman Medicine', Medical History xiv, no. I, January 1970, ioi-6; id., 'The Roman Military
Medical Service', Saalburg-Jahrb. xxvii, 1970, 84-o104, especially 92-3.
90 P. Mich. 478, lines 8-13 (and above, note 52); 476, line 7; 481, lines 15-20 and 32; 467, lines 27-8;
468, line 20; 470, line 3. For other private letters mentioning food for soldiers: P. Mich. 483, olive-oil;
P. Mich. 206, bread; P. Mich. 203, olives; BGU 814, oil and meat.
91P. Mich. 474, but Terentianus is able to spend lavishly on presents for his parents; BGU 814, but
he spent money in buying a mule-cart; cf. P. Mich. 203.
92 O. Gudraud, 'Ostraca grecs et latins de l'Wadi Fawfkhir', BIFAO xli, 1942, 141-96. SB 9017.
Cf. Chroniqued'Egypte22, 1947, 152ff. Some of the readings are the writer's own, based on a study of the
originals and the Greek Lexicon.

cabbages; another anonymous person wrote to Terentius and Atticus that he
had received a bunch of radishes (a type used as a purge or emetic) and was
sending gourds and citron. Antonius Proculus wrote to Valerianus to say that
he had been hunting all species of wild animals and birds and had sent his catches
to him via Cerealis; on the back of this letter gardening is mentioned. Someone
and Apollinarius wrote to Priscus to acknowledge receipt of a bundle of cabbage
(a different type) and a bunch of eating-grapes. Someone sent an empty bag
with apologies for not having found anything to put in it, while someone else
asked for fodder to feed his horse, plus half an artab of something and condiments.
Thermouthis asked Orion to draw the other half artab of corn from the granary,
add half a mation to it, and send it to Menandros. Longinus had received several
matia of mustard, and asked a friend to buy him half a congius of radish-oil and
the same amount of something else. Castor Chesthotes asked his friend to give
the soldier Papirius, who delivered the letter, as much wine as he wanted, and
also some little sacks, presumably with food inside them. Harbekis had received
kidney-beans and probably other vegetables; Capito was sending Silurius
Priscus five artabs of something; Parabolos asked Zosimes and Schyras to send
an artab of barley. Papirius sent six obols to Demetrous in payment for vegetables
that had been sent. Turanis asked his father Antonius to get him an artab of
barley; reference is also apparently made to tunny fish (small ones) and the
herb all-heal. Someone wrote to Niger mentioning a wine-measure and a sucking-
pig, Valerius mentioned an artab of barley and coconuts, an anonymous person
cabbage and perhaps flat fish, while Germanus is apparently mentioned in
connection with vegetables, and someone else in connection with cooked fish.
The most interesting of the letters are a set of five from Rustius Barbarus
to his friend Pompeius.93 In a fragmentary one he mentions bread and a basket,
in another bread and salt. However, the other three are better preserved:
'Rustius Barbarus to Pompeius, greetings. Why on earth haven't you written
back to me, if you received the loaves? I sent you 15 loaves by Popilius and Dutu-
poris and also 15 loaves-and a jar-by Draco, the carter. You used up four
matia! I sent you 6 loaves by Thiadices, the trooper, who said he could take them.
Please get some weights-as beautiful as possible-made for my personal use and
write to me so that in payment for them I can make you some bread or send you
the money, whichever you prefer. I want you to know that I'm getting married.
As soon as I am, I'll write to you straight away to come.'
'Rustius Barbarus to Pompeius, greetings. First of all I pray that you are
in good health. Why do you write me such a nasty letter? Why do you think I
am so thoughtless? If you did not send me the green vegetables so quickly, must
I immediately forget your friendship? I'm not like that, or thoughtless either. I
think of you, not as a pal, but as a twin brother, the same flesh and blood. It's a
term I give you quite often in my letters, but you think of me in a different light.
I have received bunches of cabbage and one cheese. I have sent you by Arrianus,
the trooper, a box, inside which is one cake and a denarius(?)wrapped in a small
cloth. Please buy me a matiumof salt and send it to me without delay, because I
want to bake some bread.'
93 Ibid. nos. = CPL

1-5 303-7.

136 R. W. DAVIES
.. for I will give for him to bring . . . I have received I bunch of beetroot
and you write to me about [ ] and salt, if I need any. . . Because I need it on a
holiday and I have sent you an oil jar to send me 6 cotyliof oil, either castor-oil
or radish-oil. Take care to write and tell me the cost to you, so that I can pay
you like a pal. Tell Serapias that if she wants to receive 15 denarii,I'll bring them
to her. Regards to Sertorius.'
Apparently Rustius was preparing some special fare for a meal to be eaten quia
in die festo. Special deductions were made from the pay of the legionaries for
saturnaliciumk(astrense)94and from auxiliary cavalrymen for epulum.95In the case
of the legionaries the cost for the food for the seven-day festival of twenty drachmas
was exactly one quarter of the total deduction for food for a period of four months;
clearly the food consumed at such feasts must have been of high quality and in
abundance.
It is clear that a large number of men in each unit of the Roman army would
be concerned, permanently or temporarily, in some way with the collection or
distribution of food for the troops or with making the necessary charges, payments,
and records.96 Perhaps this is best seen at Dura-Europos; here the files of cohors
XX Palmyrenorumrecord men employed on the tasks of collecting, purchasing,
conveying or escorting supplies of corn, food, barley and banqueting food.97
Special arrangements had to be made at times; thus at Pselcis an optio issued the
monthly allowance of corn and commissariat officials issued wine or the money
for it to auxiliary troops on outpost duty here; as the cost of the wine varies
considerably, it seems clear that different types and qualities of wine were being
sold.98 The evidence for the military diet, including meat and cereals, shows that
the food the soldier ate was remarkably similar to that of civilians. There is no
difference, for example, between the meat from domesticated and wild animals,
poultry, oysters, edible snails and fish eaten by the legionaries at Vindonissa
in the first century A.D. and that eaten by the civilians at Augusta Raurica,
while the evidence of tituli picti for various other items of food is remarkably
similar.99 Detailed analysis of the bones discovered at the legionary fortress at

95P. Hamb. 39 (three examples); P. Dura 66 11,line 3, and P. Dura 105, frag. b, col. i, line 9, as restored
by the writer in BASP v, no. i, March 1968, 32-3.
96 The commanding officer had overall responsibility: Vegetius ii, 9; iii, 3; Dig. xlix, 16, I2; cf.
P. Dura 6i and below, note io6. There were legionary quartermasters: mensorfrumenti(CIL v 936 = ILS
2423; AE 1917-18, 29) and mensor tritici (ILS 9091). For the acquisition of grain: the frumentarii in their
(CLA 7, col. IV b, line 5; CLA 203 = P. Lond.
original capacity, cf. [Caesar], BG viii, 35; the conductores
482). For the acquisition and supervision of supplies of meat, see above, notes 37-46.
For records and receipts: clerks of the granaries, horreorumlibrarii (Dig. 1, 6, 7); clerks, librarii (SB
6971 = O. Tait 2017); accountants, curatores (SB 9204; SB 6968; O. Tait 20o16; P. Hamb. 39; P. Wisconsin
14; P. Dura 82, col. i, line 7; CIL viii 2094 = ILS 2518); chief accountant, summuscurator(P. Hamb. 39)-
For soldiers detached in connection with supplies, see CLA 7, passim; PSI 1307, col. ii, line 23; P.
Mich. 478, line 8; Pliny, Epistulaex 27; and examples cited above, notes io and i i, below, notes 97 and 98.
Daris, op. cit., nos. 38-65, contains a useful collection of these documents.
97 C. Bradford Welles, Robert O. Fink, and J. Frank Gilliam, The Excavationsat Dura-Europos,Final
Reportv, Part i: The Parchmentsand Papyri (1959), index, s.v. Cf. also the writer's restorations. 1.c., note 95-
98 Claire Pr6aux, 'Ostraca de Pselkis de la Bibliotheque Bodleenne', Chroniqued'Egypte 26, I951,
121-55. The ostraca are published in various places: WO zz128-46, 1265; SB 6953-76; Tait 2003-41
O.
cf. Classical Review 33, 1919, 49ff; Chronique d'Lgypte 28, 1953, 144-6; Etudes de Papyrologie viii, 1957,
5 1. The exception among these ostraca is SB 6967, a receipt for the cost of lentils, salt, and vin ordinaire.
For the same rate of one artab of cereal per man per month, see CLA 275 (note I).
99Jahresberichtder StiftungPro AugustaRaurica, I1964,vi-vii. Callender, o.c. (note 56).

Lauriacum of the second and third centuries reveals the same preference for
beef in particular, and also pork, lamb, and goat as the civilians in the nearby
town had at the same time.Ioo In many parts of the Empire the soldiers must
have been better fed than the local civilians; thus the diet revealed by archaeology
of the British forts is on a par with that eaten in the towns, villas and Romano-
British settlements, and often superior.ioI The food was adequate in quantity
and quality: the soldier hero of the tale related by Eumolpus had enough food
and drink for his cenulato feed two starving women also ;Io2 scurvy is attested only
once in the Roman army, and that in most exceptional circumstances, where
even so the medical service had a cure for it.Io3 The scale of the logistics and the
efficiency of the organization is most impressive: the diverse countries of origin
of the wine supplied to Vindonissa and Britain; supplies sent to Neuss from the
far end of the Empire; the territoriumat Vetera could produce 1,500 tons of corn
in one year, or two pounds per day for a year for 6,ooo men;1o4 the men collecting
the 20,ooo artabs of barley for one unit's annual needs would on average have
issued 104 receipts, each one in quadruplicate.1o5 A military legal writer lists
among the duties of any commanding officer:Io6
'to be present at the meal times of the soldiers, to test the quality of the food, to
keep the quartermasters from cheating.'
Perhaps the best tribute to the army of the Principate, on campaign or in peace-
Helga Baas, Die Tierknochenfunde
00oo aus den spdtrdmischen von Lauriacum,i. Die Rinder-
Siedlungsschichten
knochen(1966) passim, especially 3, 64-9. This is a doctoral dissertion at Munich University, knowledge
of which I owe to Prof. Dr. J. Boessneck. For analyses from civilian sites on the Continent, see: S. E.
Kuss, 'Tierreste aus r6mischen Brunnen von Pforzheim', Beitrdge zur Naturkundlichen Forschungin Sid-
westdeutschlandI17, 1958, 166-73. K. Waldmann, Die Knochenfunde aus der Colonia Ulpia Traiana (1967);
BonnerJahrb. 163, I963, 420-3 (Altkalkar and Colonia Ulpia Traiana); 167, I967, 338-46 (Colonia Ulpia
Traiana). F. Stachelin, Die Schweiz in Zeit (third edition, 1948) 439-40 (various). A. T. Clason,
Animal and Man in Holland's Past (1967) r'mischer
22-3 (Vlaardingen).
1o0For analyses and references, see AA4 xlvi, 1968, 137-8, and 156-60. To these may be added:
Arch. Camb. cii, 1953, 160-3 (Llantwit Major); G. C. Boon, Roman Silchester (1957) 163-73; G. W. Meates,
LullingstoneRoman Villa (1955) 121-4; id., LullingstoneRoman Villa (1963) 44; A. T. Morley Hewitt, Roman
Villa, West Park, Rockbourne(1969) 21i; M. R. Hull, RomanColchester(1958) 145, 189; A. C. C. Brodribb,
A. R. Hands, and D. R. Walker, Excavationsat Shakenoaki (1968); J. S. Wacher, Excavationsat Brough-on-
Humber, 1958-61 (1969) 221-4, 231-3.
It will be interesting to see the analyses that Mr. G. Hodgson will publish on the bones from the
Flavian-Trajanic, Antonine, third and fourth century forts and civilian settlement (vicus) at Chesterholm;
cf. AA4, xlviii, I970, I47-55.
Petronius, Satyricon cxi-cxii.
o102
Davies, Saalburg-Jahrb. xxvii,
o103 1970, 92 cites the evidence.
Petrikovits,
o104 o.c. 65-6, for an estimated length of not less than 7 miles and width of not less than
2 miles; the military units in Lower Germany also had the use of a large part of the North Eifel and the
land on the right bank of the Rhine for a considerable distance. Calculations on the yield per acre of
the native farms in pre-Roman Britain show that the 5oo bushels of corn that a legion would need in a
week could not be grown on an area less than 70 acres; I. A. Richmond (ed.), Romanand Native in North
Britain (1961) 23. Recent calculations have given the figure of 530,000ooo bushels of corn as the annual
requirements of the military forces of Britain, the total produce of an area of Io6,ooo acres; A. L. F.
Rivet (ed.), The RomanVilla in Britain (1969) 195-7. It seems probable that the Fens were drained, perhaps
in the time of Hadrian, to become an important source of corn for the military North; cf. Sheppard Frere,
Britannia (1967) 275-7.
See notes 8 and io. The eight examples where the amount has survived give an average of 192
o105
artabs per receipt. SB 10497 has an equesissuing a receipt in triplicate to the village authorities and in
duplicate to the strategos.
io6 Dig. xlix, 16, 12. P. Dura 61 is a fragmentary letter from the governor to the commander of cohors
XX Palmyrenorum giving instructions concerning the prescribed regulations that were to be observed over
the unit'sfrumentatio;it appears to conclude with references to supplying, utensils, a measure of five.., corn,
sickles, and sieves.

138 R. W. DAVIES
time or even during the rare mutinies, is that there is no recorded complaint
about the Roman military diet.
APPENDIX
It has frequently been stated that the armies of Julius Caesar and the early
Principate lived exclusively on corn, and never ate meat unless forced to by
starvation, and even then with the greatest reluctance.1o7 This view is far from
the truth; there are numerous literary references to Roman armies before and
after that period eating other grains, vegetables, and meat, and this evidence is
supported by that of archaeology, epigraphy, and the papyri. It was the difficul-
ties that faced a large, mobile army in arranging vast quantities of fresh meat
and vegetables, not inborn vegetarianism or religious convictions, that explain
why Caesar's army ate corn. Corn was easily obtained almost everywhere,
could be stored in bulk, would keep in different climates, and could be made into
a variety of dishes. Apicius in his cookery book notes that in summer meat could
be kept without salting only for a few days.o8s When Scipio reintroduced military
discipline to the army at Numantia in 134 B.C., he ordered that the only way
the troops could eat their meat was by roasting or boiling it; for this purpose
he reduced the number of cooking utensils to the standard three: a spit, a
boiling-pan, and a cup. The evening meal was always either roast or boiled
meat.'o9 Similarly, Q. Caecilius Metellus Numidicus ruled in 109 B.c. that the
only way the soldiers could eat their meat was either roasted or boiled.I1o In
both cases it should be noted that the troops ate meat as part of their normal
diet, and both generals were used as models by Hadrian, when he would eat
camp fare with his men."' Sallust notes that in III B.c. Roman forces received
cattle, and four years later they still had large numbers of cattle, on which they
lived exclusively for a week without any trouble.112 Polybius notes that the
acorns of Italy were used to feed a large number of pigs, which were slaughtered
specifically for the army."3 In his description of the camp of the Roman army
there was a place specifically reserved for cattle."4 Varro records that the
army of the Republic gave names to two types of haggis, which were found in
different parts of Italy."5
The only 'evidence' from the early Principate for a distaste by the soldiers
for meat is a description of the army under Corbulo in A.D. 59; this passage has
o107E.g. H. M. D. Parker, The Roman Legions (1928) 220: 'Meat was not often found on the menu,
and Tacitus represents the soldiers at the siege of Tigranocerta as only resorting to the flesh of animals
when compelled by absolute starvation.' The passages quoted below, notes 116, 119-22, are usually cited
to support this view.
0o8I, vii I.
o109Appian, Iberica 85. Cf. Frontinus, Strat. iv, i I; Polyaenus, Strat. vmIII,xvi 2.
1Io Frontinus, Strat. IV, i 2.
III SHA, Hadrianusx, 2; see above, note 18.
112Jugurtha 29 and 90-I.
'x3 ii, 15.
114 vi, 31.
"15 de Lingua Latina v, Iii.

been taken out of its context, and even so, it is almost certain that Tacitus is
here imitating the language of Caesar: 6
'Corbulo and his army, although they had suffered no losses in battle, were worn
out by shortages and exertion and were driven to ward off hunger by eating the
flesh of animals. Moreover, water was short, the summer was long . . . Finally,
they reached cultivated land and harvested the crops.'
Under such appalling conditions and in the middle of the desert, when they almost
certainly had no salt to season the meat or wood to cook it, it is hardly surprising
that the soldiers were not exactly one hundred per cent enthusiastic at eating
carnepecudum (probably sheep which they would first have to catch); any food-
infection would destroy the army in a matter of hours. In 151 B.c. Roman troops,
physically exhausted, had fed on foreign food and excessive quantities of meat
cooked without salt, and had consequently become ill."7 The troops of Germani-
cus, shipwrecked on inhospitable shores in A.D. I6, ate horsemeat because there
was no other supply of food.ns
It is also necessary to examine the instances, where the army of Caesar is
supposed to have been very reluctant to eat meat. In 52 B.c. Vercingetorix
adopted a scorched earth policy against Caesar; the crops were not ripe, all
stores and granaries were burnt down, the scattered Roman foraging parties
were successfully cut down, and the nearest tribes gave Caesar no grain::9
'Because of the poverty of the Boii, the slackness of the Aedui, and the burning of
the barns, the army was in great difficulties over the supply of grain, to such an
extent that for several days the soldiers were without grain and drove cattle in
from the more distant villages and so held out against great hunger. However,
there was no outcry at all from the men.'
Caesar simply states the obvious fact that the only food that the army could get
for a considerable distance from where they were was cattle, and so the soldiers
were forced to have an all-meat diet for several days. Later that year the rebel
Aedui captured Noviodunum, where Caesar had stored all his grain and equip-
ment; the grain was taken away or destroyed by the rebels. However, by means
of forced marches the Romans reached the swollen Loire, which they managed to
cross safely. The enemy had thought the river impassable and so had not bothered
to remove the frumentumquein agris et pecoriscopiam: 2zo
'The army obtained a supply of grain in the fields and large quantities of cattle,
with which it restocked itself.'
Caesar's men did not have second thoughts about taking both cattle-in large
quantities-and corn. At Dyrrachium Caesar's men ran out of supplies offrumen-
turn and the corn was not yet ripe; accordingly he offered his men other forms
of food :121
'The men did not object when they were issued with barley or vegetables. Indeed
meat, of which there was a plentiful supply from Epirus, they held in great esteem.
116Ann. xiv, 24. Parker, o.c. incorrectly states that this took place at the siege of the town.
x8sTacitus, Ann. ii, 24.
19 BG vii,
17.
1, BG vii, 56.
2I BC iii, 47-8.

140 R. W. DAVIES
The men who had been with Valerius discovered a type of root called chara
which, when mixed with milk, greatly eased the shortage of supplies. There was
plenty of this and they made a sort of bread out of it.'
Although barley was normally given to soldiers as a punishment, vegetables
were certainly not issued for this purpose. Of a vegetarian army it could never
be said pecus . . magno in honorehabebant.The use of large numbers of cattle to
supply meat and milk caused little comment. Similarly, in the campaigns at
Lerida, when the stock of corn from the previous year had been exhausted, the
present crop was not yet ripe, and heavy rains had cut off supplies from all other
sources, Caesar had no qualms at all in considering using meat to feed his army.22Z
To increase his popularity, when he was Dictator, Caesar distributed meat
to the people of Rome, as well as grain and oil.' 23 As the people in the city and
the soldiers in his army were of the same social background it is very unlikely
that Caesar would have made such a gift and thus jeopardized his popularity,
if there had been such a universal distaste for meat among the Italians at that time.
Within a few months of Caesar's death a Roman general slaughtered and salted
all the cattle he could find in anticipation of a siege.124 Similarly, Hirtius in 43
B.c. supplied a besieged
force with food by floating the carcases of pecora down
stream and also salt packed in jars to preserve the meat.125 Herod had provided
livestock among supplies for Roman troops in 38 B.C.; his actions were designed
to gain the support of Silo and his men, and he was too astute a person to have
provided Roman soldiers with a food which was repulsive to them.126 At the
fort at Rbdgen, which was occupied in the last decade of the first century B.c.,
bones from pits which contained only Augustan material consisted of thirty-eight
examples of oxen, thirty of pig, twenty-two of sheep and goats, eight of red deer,
two of roe deer, and one of chicken.,27 The picture is similar at other early
forts.128 Theferiale Duranumhas its origins in the feriale instituted by Augustus;129
although the number of oxen and cows that had to be slaughtered at the various
sacrifices increased in the course of the Principate, there can be little doubt that
once the ceremony was over, the troops would eat the carcases as beef. Indeed,
Josephus records that at the celebrations after the capture of Jerusalem in A.D.
70:13o
'When all had been rewarded as he thought each had deserved, Titus offered
prayers for the whole army. He then stood down to thunderous applause and
turned his attention to the sacrifices in honour of his victory. A large herd of oxen
were assembled at the altars and he sacrificed all of them and distributed the meat
to the army for a banquet.'
22 BC i, 48 and 52.
123 Suetonius, Julius 38.
124 Appian, BC iii, 49. See above, note 26.
25 Frontinus, Strat. iii, xiv 3-4.
127 Only groups 6I/19, 6I/55a, 6I/4I are used as evidence here.
,28 Hod Hill and Waddon Hill are both Claudian, Hofheim is pre-Flavian, Vindonissa and Valken-
burg first-century; many of the British examples were first occupied in Flavian times; Red House was
occupied only for a short time towards the end of the first century.
,29 See above, note 40.
130Ibid. Watkin, o.c. records: 'Tradition also records a singular discovery at Ribchester, viz., the
skull of an ox, covered with some remains of leather and studded with gold. It is very possible that such a
preparation might have been used for some sacrificial purpose.'

The Roman authorities went to some lengths to ensure an adequate supply of
meat for the troops. At the first-century fort of Asciburgium (Moers-Asberg)
the soldiers fed on meat that was domesticated (oxen, sheep, and pigs only),
including one breed that had been specially imported.13I At Valkenburg the
troops ate a native breed of pig and another that they had bred themselves at
the site. A waxed tablet dated to 9 September, A.D. 29, refers to the purchase of
a cow by a party of soldiers for I15 pieces, but unfortunately the details are not
clear. 132
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Altenstadt Saalburg-Jahrb.xxix, 1967, 79-8 I.
Bar Hill G. Macdonald and A. Park, The RomanForts on the Bar Hill (1906) 126-9.
Benwell AA4 v, 1928, 74; vii, 1930, 130.
Binchester NewcastleCourantfor 28 Feb., 1879, 15.
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Butzbach Saalburg-Jahrb.xviii, 1959/60, 67-108.
Caerleon Arch. Camb. lxxxiv, I929, 304-5 (Jenkin's Field); lxxxv, 1930, 195 (eastern
corner); lxxxvii, 1932, 341-9 (Prysg Field); xcv, 1940, 151 (Myrtle Cottage);
Archaeologialxxviii, 1928, 214-5 (amphitheatre).
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no. 3-4, I46-7 (Deanery Field); CAJ xxvii, 1928, 79 (Hunter Street); xxxviii,
1950, 37-8 (Goss Street).
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131 Zeitschr.fiir Tierziichtungund Ziichtungsbiologie

77, 1961, 62-73.

142 R. W. DAVIES
ABBREVIATIONS
AA2-4 ArchaeologiaAeliana (second to fourth series)
AAA LiverpoolAnnals of Archaeology and Anthropology
AE AnndeEpigraphique
AJP AmericanJournal of Philology
Antiq. Journ. AntiquariesJournal
Arch.Camb. ArchaeologiaCambrensis
ASA Anzeigerfir SchweizerischeAltertumskunde
BASP Bulletin of the AmericanSocietyof Papyrologists
BGU BerlinergriechischeUrkunden(AegyptischeUrkundenaus denkoeniglichen(staatlichen)
Museenzu Berlin) 1895-
BIFAO Bulletinde l'Institutfranfais d'archiologieorientale
BonnerJahrb. BonnerJahrbiicher
CAJ Journal of ChesterArchitecturaland ArchaeologicalSociety
CIL CorpusInscriptionum Latinarumx863-
CLA A. Bruckner and R. Marichal, ChartaeLatinae Antiquiores(Basle, St. Gally)
I954-
CPL R. Cavenaille, CorpusPapyrorumLatinarum(Wiesbaden, 1958)
CW2 Transactionsof Cumberlandand WestmorlandAntiquarianand ArchaeologicalSociety
(new series)
Dig. Digesta
Epigr. Stud. EpigraphischeStudien
Atud. Pap. Atudesde Papyrologie
FIRA Fontes luris Romani Antejustiniani(second edition) 1940-43
IEJ Israel ExplorationJournal
ILS H. Dessau, InscriptionesLatinaeSelectaex892-1916
JRS Journal of RomanStudies
O. Gue'raud O. Gu6raud 'Ostraca grecs et latins de l'widi Fawakhir', BIFAO xli, I942,
141-96
ORL Limes des Rimer-
0O.von Sarwey, F. Hettner, et al., Der obergermanisch-raetische
reiches1894-
O. Tait J. G. Tait and C. Pr6aux, GreekOstracain theBodleianLibraryat Oxford(London)
1930-
P. Amh. B. P. Grenfell and A. S. Hunt, The AmherstPapyri (London, x900-01)
P. BeattyPanop. T. C. Skeat, The BeattyPanopolisPapyri (London, 1970)
PBSR Papersof the British Schoolat Rome
P. Dura C. B. Welles, R. O. Fink, J. F. Gilliam, The Excavationsat Dura-Europos,Final
Report V, Part I: The Parchmentsand Papyri (New Haven, x959)
P. Gen. lat. J. Nicole and C. Morel, Archivesmilitairesdu ler sidcle (Geneva, I9oo)
P. Grenf. B. P. Grenfell and A. S. Hunt, New Classical Fragmentsand Other Greek and
Latin Papyri (GreekPapyri, seriesII) (Oxford, 1897)
P. Hamb. P. M. Meyer et al., GriechischePapyrusurkunden der HamburgerStaats- und
(Leipzig-Berlin, 1911-24)
Universitditsbibliothek
P. Lond. F. G. Kenyon and H. I. Bell, GreekPapyri in the British Museum: Catalogue
with Texts (London, x893-1917)
P. Mich. C. C. Edgar, A. E. R. Boak, J. G. Winter, et al., Papyri in the Universityof
MichiganCollection(Ann Arbor, 1931- )
P. Oxy. B. P. Grenfell, A. S. Hunt, H. I. Bell, et al., The Oxyrhynchus
Papyri (London,
x898- )
PSAS Proceedingsof the Societyof Antiquariesof Scotland
PSI G. Vitelli, M. Norsa, et al., Papiri greci e latini (Publicazioni della Societa
Italianaper la ricercadei papiri greci e latini in Egitto (Florence, 19 12- )
P. Wisconsin P. J. Sijpesteijn, Papyriin the Universityof WisconsinCollection(Wisconsin, 1967)
RE A. Pauly, G. Wissova, et al., Real-Encyclopdidie der klassischenAltertumswissen-
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Rev. Phil. Revuede Philologie
RIB R. G. Collingwood and R. P. Wright, The RomanInscriptionsof Britain, vol. I :
Inscriptionson Stone (Oxford, 1965)
Saalburg-Jahrb. Saalburg-Jahrbuch
SB F. Preisigke, F. Bilabel, et al., SammelbuchgriechischerUrkundenaus Agypten,
1913-
WO U. Wilcken, GriechischeOstrakaaus Aegyptenund Nubien (Leipzig-Berlin, 1899)
rAJ YorkshireArchaeological
Journal
rCS Yale ClassicalStudies
Collegeof Education,Sunderland


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The Roman Military Diet

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of the bones of various domesticated animals gives information on the joints of

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42 E.g. Corbridge and Holt. Varro, Res Rustica

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A Benwell x x x Fresh-water mussel

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Unit Fort Miscellaneous

L Chester x x x Pheasant, swan

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73 PSI 683; see above, note 29.

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93 Ibid. nos. = CPL

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94 See above, note 28.

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131 Zeitschr.fiir Tierziichtungund Ziichtungsbiologie

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