Caracalla at the table

The main Roman meal, the cena, was served in three courses: the gustatio (appetizers of eggs, vegetables, and olives drizzled with garum), the primae mensae (the main course of meats, legumes, and bread), and the secundae mensae (honey sweets and fruits). But Caracalla especially championed the soldier's ordinary: the ration distributed at the castrum (camp)—marching bread, dried legumes, and sour drink—eaten standing or squatting by the guard fire, far from the luxury of the triclinium.

A fermented fish sauce, liquid amber and salty, that perfumes almost everything in Roman cuisine, from the legionary's bowl to the palace banquet. It is Rome's umami: a few drops replace salt and give every dish its depth. Caracalla, who played at being the soldier-emperor, poured it over his lentils just like the lowliest of his men.