Talk:Food in ancient Rome

Name of the article
Was wondering about the naming of this article. Others in the same vein typically are named "X in ancient Rome" as opposed to "X in the Roman Empire". Is there a reason this article is named differently? Would like to see it moved if there is no particular reason for the current name vs. the other version.--MainlyTwelve (talk) 16:53, 5 February 2016 (UTC)


 * I also was wondering about the name. I have heard from other editors that Wikipedia does not prefer the article "and" in the title of a page, and wondered if the page might be better suited by titles like "Dining customs in the Roman Empire" or "Dining culture in the Roman Empire" since Ancient Roman Cuisine already encompasses a lot of the discussion on foodstuffs. Wuchrist (talk) 04:23, 6 September 2019 (UTC)
 * I updated the wikidata item for this article, notably with a french Wikipedia end Commons interwiki. I propose Food in ancient Rome as a new name, after the commons category. Astirmays (talk) 17:49, 15 April 2023 (UTC)
 * That sounds good to me! — Mainly 23:53, 15 April 2023 (UTC)
 * Then I guess we have to ask for it on Requested moves, since Food in ancient Rome now redirect to Ancient Roman cuisine... Astirmays (talk) 07:17, 18 April 2023 (UTC)
 * I missed to ping you ;-) Astirmays (talk) 07:20, 18 April 2023 (UTC)

Article Structure
I was wondering why the food section was so short since it is the same level of header as a lot of other intricate subsections. I also think the 12 header layout is a bit confusing- I would propose grouping the topics into

1. Food a. Grains and Legumes b. Other produce c. Meat and dairy d. Oils and fats e. Seasonings and sweeteners

2. Food distribution a. Agriculture and markets b. Annona c. Feeding the military

3. Dining culture a. Commercial food preparation b. Dietary theories c. Menus and recipes d. Wine and fermented beverages e. Dining at home f. Cultural values

Wuchrist (talk) 04:33, 6 September 2019 (UTC)

Dining at Home
Section currently ends, 'Vomiting, belching and spitting during meals were approved of in Roman manners.[83] Seneca the Younger said that Romans engaged in"eating till they vomited and of vomiting in order to eat more."[84] Also translated as "The Romans vomit that they may eat, and eat that they may vomit."' The first sentence is untrue, and is not backed up in the source (a children's book, by the way). The quote from Seneca should be put in context; eating to excess and vomiting was not traditional Roman behavior, but a sign of social decay that Romans themselves recognized. Seneca, for example, was decrying the practice, which was by no means widespread- in fact, modern consensus tends toward the idea that this never was a 'custom' at all. Nominate these sentences for deletion.

One week later-- Came back and removed the above from the article even though I don't have time to rework the section (my apologies)- having the wrong information up is worse than having none at all.2601:241:300:479E:8909:3A91:7D7F:3D34 (talk) 15:06, 6 August 2017 (UTC)

References and Footnotes
I propose to clean up the References section by converting it to two sections, namely Footnotes and References, using shortened footnotes. I am inspired by the article Help:Shortened_footnotes, since a number of sources are listed severally with page numbers in this article. Let me know what you think. Matuko (talk) 17:40, 18 September 2018 (UTC)

Distinguishing from Ancient Roman cuisine
Currently, Food and dining in the Roman Empire is distinguished from Ancient Roman Cuisine via some broader discussions on dining and how food was distributed, which is sufficient to warrant a separate article. However, I think this page can be improved by adding onto the current cultural section in a way that further integrates cultural norms of dining and elaborating on the differences between consumption (both in terms of meals, food availability, food distribution, etc) between different social markers of Roman society from lower to upper classes, as well as some discussion on how food was a social identifier (e.g. the type of puls one had for breakfast) and form of spreading Roman culture throughout the empire. I believe this would make the distinction between the two a lot clearer and give the article more of a distinct purpose than outlining pure foodstuffs. Wuchrist (talk) 04:25, 6 September 2019 (UTC)

Requested move 20 April 2023

 * The following is a closed discussion of a requested move. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on the talk page. Editors desiring to contest the closing decision should consider a move review after discussing it on the closer's talk page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.

The result of the move request was: moved. Unopposed for 7 days. (closed by non-admin page mover) – Material  Works  15:32, 27 April 2023 (UTC)

Food and dining in the Roman Empire → Food in ancient Rome – avoid the "and", and enlarge Roman Empire to ancient Rome => better defined subject yet fitting the present content. See also the discussion just above. Astirmays (talk) 08:18, 20 April 2023 (UTC) The discussion above is closed. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.