Abstract
This paper aims to provide a broad diet reconstruction for people buried in archaeologically defined contexts in Rome (first to third centuries CE), in order to combine archaeological and biological evidence focusing on dietary preferences in Imperial Rome. A sample of 214 human bones recovered from 6 funerary contexts was selected for carbon and nitrogen stable isotope analysis. The baseline for the terrestrial protein component of the diet was set using 17 coeval faunal remains recovered from excavations at Rome supplemented by previously published data for the same geographic and chronological frames. δ13C ranges from − 19.9 to − 14.8‰, whereas δ15N values are between 7.2 and 10.0‰. The values are consistent with an overall diet mainly based on terrestrial resources. All the human samples rely on a higher trophic level than the primary consumer faunal samples. Certainly, C3 plants played a pivotal role in the dietary habits. However, C4 plants also seem to have been consumed, albeit they were not as widespread and were not always used for human consumption. The environment played a critical role also for Romans of lower social classes. The topographical location determined the preferential consumption of food that people could obtain from their neighborhood.
Highlights
Imperial Rome was one of the largest cities of Europe (Scheidel 2007; Lo Cascio 1994), and feeding its population was a severe concern for political authorities
This paper aims to provide a broad diet reconstruction for people buried in Imperial Rome, to combine archaeological and biological evidence from recent excavation results focusing on commoners living in the Imperial Rome
The faunal remains of 48 animals from several species (Supplementary Table 2) made up the whole sample to support this data set as local ecological reference data for Imperial Rome
Summary
Imperial Rome was one of the largest cities of Europe (Scheidel 2007; Lo Cascio 1994), and feeding its population was a severe concern for political authorities. Roman authorities began to step in the food supply of the city in the mid-Republican period. Sempronius Gracchus in 123 BCE is considered the first legal provision for supplying the citizens of Rome. According to this rule, each legal resident was entitled to receive a monthly allotment of essential foods at a discounted price or even for free. Because wheat supplied most of the calories citizens consumed, the government focused its interventions in the wheat market, especially for the poor, meat and oil were distributed in later years. Eligibility for the provision could be acquired by donation or by the purchase of the frumentaria card, the tablet on which the eligible citizen’s name was engraved
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