The main Roman meal, cena, took place in the late afternoon and was structured in three courses: gustatio (light starters: eggs, olives, seasoned vegetables), prima mensa (the main course: porridges, legumes, or fish), and secunda mensa (sweets, fruits, and honey). For a Stoic like Seneca, this framework was retained but stripped down: few dishes, no lavish banquet, water instead of heavy wines, the table as an exercise in temperance rather than pleasure.

Two pillars of Roman cuisine run through these recipes: garum, a fermented fish sauce that provides salt and umami, and honey, the only sweetener of the Mediterranean antiquity. For Seneca, the signature is less a rare ingredient than a mindset: season with measure, refuse excess, make a simple dish an act of wisdom.