Guides

The Villa of the Mysteries stands just outside Pompeii’s city walls, where cultivated land, elite leisure, religious imagery, and agricultural production met…

Pepper was one of the most visible products moving between the Indian Ocean and the Roman Mediterranean. In Roman kitchens, it appeared in sauces, wine…

A Roman omelette made with eggs, olive oil, and garum is a simple dish with a surprisingly vivid flavor. The combination is salty, savory, and aromatic, with…

Cheese was probably one of the most practical dairy foods in Bronze Age Crete. Fresh milk spoils quickly, while a drained, salted, or dried curd can survive…

Silphium was one of the ancient Mediterranean’s most prized flavorings: a fragrant plant resin from Cyrene, in modern Libya, that seasoned food, perfumed…

Long before grain became the unquestioned foundation of Mediterranean cuisine, oak trees supplied people with a dependable store of calories. Their fruits…

Along the eastern Mediterranean coast, the sea supplied far more than food. It provided salt, fish, shells, transport routes, and one of antiquity’s most…

A Roman kitchen garden was a productive space where vegetables, herbs, legumes, fruit, and medicinal plants could be cultivated close to the house. In Latin,…

Among the wines praised by ancient Greek and Roman writers, Chian wine occupies a particularly intriguing place. It was associated with wealth, long-distance…

In ancient Greek religion, the first fruits were more than an early harvest brought to a temple. They represented a deliberate act of exchange: human…