04-29-2011, 10:03 AM
Quote:In Roman times I wonder if they would serve mainly finger foods, so no dishes were required. But I could swear I've seen pictures of large stacks of bowls excavated, though. I can't find it now.
There's probably a good reason for all those bowls. The typical layout was designed to serve quick hot food to a standing clientel, aka a "thermospodium.";-) When the lava hit, Pompei had 18 of them operating. Here's a pic of one of them:
[attachment=693]thermospodium002.JPG[/attachment]
The round "wells" held pots, heated from charcoal burning below them.
Most pots contained soups or stews, cheap and fast food already heated. Fish were an economical mainstay of the populace. Here is a mosaic from the site, now housed in the National Museum at Naples:
[attachment=694]thermospodium004.JPG[/attachment]
And here is a redition of how a fish-stew serving thermospodium might have looked just before Pliny the Volcano Gawker lost his bowls and bowels:
[attachment=695]thermospodium007.JPG[/attachment]
Hmmm. Looks fishy to me!:lol:
Alan J. Campbell
member of Legio III Cyrenaica and the Uncouth Barbarians
Author of:
The Demon's Door Bolt (2011)
Forging the Blade (2012)
"It's good to be king. Even when you're dead!"
Old Yuezhi/Pazyrk proverb
member of Legio III Cyrenaica and the Uncouth Barbarians
Author of:
The Demon's Door Bolt (2011)
Forging the Blade (2012)
"It's good to be king. Even when you're dead!"
Old Yuezhi/Pazyrk proverb
