Ptolemy at the table

In Alexandria, the Greek scholar's day is structured around three meals: akratisma, a light breakfast of bread dipped in diluted wine; ariston at midday, a frugal meal (lentils, olives, cheese) to keep the mind clear; and deipnon in the evening, the real meal where opson (the 'dish' — fish, vegetables with garum) is served with sitos (the staple of bread or barley), followed by the symposion, a drinking session where wine is diluted and tragēmata (dates, figs, nuts) are nibbled. Meals are eaten seated or reclining, without the modern starter-main-dessert grid: everything revolves around the opson and what is drunk afterward.

Fermented fish sauce, the king condiment of the Greco-Roman world. A few drops add salt, flavor, and umami to almost everything: lentils, fish, vegetables. In Alexandria, a major fishing port, it was ubiquitous on tables from the humblest to the most refined.