Julius Caesar at the table

The main Roman meal was organized in three courses: the gustatio (appetizers of eggs, vegetables, salted fish and garum, accompanied by honeyed wine), the mensa prima (main dishes — meats, fish, grain porridges), and the mensa secunda (dessert — fruits, dates, honey cakes). On a daily basis, commoners and soldiers alike made do with puls, a grain porridge. On the fringes of this system: the legionary's camp bread and posca, a marching drink.

A fermented fish sauce, ubiquitous on Roman tables: it was used to season nearly everything, from eggs to meats. It was the umami of Rome, the ancient equivalent of our soy sauce, and the pride of merchants from Pompeii to Gades.