The purpose of education is to free students from the slavery of reality, and today's young people are trying to do the opposite, to change themselves in order to adapt to reality.

- Marcus Tulius Cicero (Roman statesman, orator, orator, jurist, and philosopher)

It turned out that a considerable part of the Romans were very fond of reading; However, instead of bothering to read the readings themselves, they mostly appointed a slave to read them to them. There are also quite a few people who are keen to think independently through writing. As a result, Rome was rich in literature, although the fame of some authors in other areas overshadowed their talent for writing, such as Cicero and others. But in fact, they all have a large amount of poetry and prose that has survived to this day.

Writing also contributed to the formation of a novelty: public recitals. Some wealthy aristocrats thought that the poets they sponsored would sing praises to them, and the poets saw the recitals as a good opportunity to become famous and attract patrons. The consul Claudius wrote several historical masterpieces, which were often read in the Senate.

Pliny, who was born as a lawyer, is said to have read articles to a respected audience before he became an archon; According to his letters, he seemed to be more nervous when he read it than he was in court. Eventually, Pliny became a fan of recitation, and he used to attend readings every other day for weeks on end, and enjoyed them. Although his listeners never tired of listening, he sometimes complained that his listeners behaved indecently or were not concentrating.

In this way, a group of impoverished but ambitious poets, coupled with the enthusiasm of the upper class, made the trend of recitation prevail, and it has developed to this day, which has become the most fashionable public event. So much so that in the present day, if anyone succeeds in holding a public reading, he is as proud as if he had made a great achievement in society; As a result, many people have set aside a room in their homes for readings.

Of course, these were recitation entertainment for the upper classes; For the ordinary Roman people. It is already an elegant pleasure to be able to hear some destitute poets reciting poems in public places. The poor poets were willing to earn money and the attention of the aristocracy by reciting poetry in public places; Therefore, many people learn poetry recitation in order to make money and become famous, and it has nothing to do with Roman culture.

Hadrian as consul at the beginning of the Republic. One of the original intentions of ordering the construction of a literary lecture hall in the city of Rome was to host such gatherings. The Roman style of recitation also enriched the ordinary cultural life of the Roman people to a certain extent, and even played a decisive role in promoting the development of literature. After all, in this era, culture still belongs to the nobility. Moreover, the Romans were not satisfied with high cultural recitation, and also arranged for themselves extremely rich food gatherings.

In order to experience the life of ordinary Roman citizens, Oscar and Quintus randomly chose a small restaurant on the street and walked in; Because the costumes of the two of them are very ordinary civilian clothes, no one cares much about them. After the two sat down, each of them ordered a piece of bread and pomace wine that everyone was eating; The bread tasted slightly bitter, and the pomace was so hard to swallow that Oscar almost threw it up. Quintus, however, ate the stuff unhurriedly, and explained to Oscar as follows:

In the Roman Republic, each worker could receive 4 units of wheat from the government each month during the winter months. About 35 liters each, 40 liters in summer. Men who were not engaged in rough and heavy work, such as overseers and shepherds, were generally given only three units of wheat. Then, we can imagine; If each worker needs about 220 litres of grain per year to fill his stomach, the single workers will not only always be fed, but will even have surplus grain to exchange for other needed supplies.

But if this distribution also includes food to feed their families, then families who can survive hunger may be rare or even exceptional. This annual quota of about 450 liters is barely enough for a couple, or an additional child. But if there are more people, it will be difficult to eat. And when shepherds and overseers have families and more than two children, they often suffer from food shortages. Food scarcity was also an indirect cause of the extremely high mortality rate among children in ancient Rome.

The Roman Republic's crop harvest was extremely unstable, with an average of two failed harvests every seven years, and the basic pattern of this vicious circle was not only that dominated the development of Greek culture. It also had a significant impact on the construction of Roman food culture. Cereals, olive oil, wine, and vegetables produced everywhere formed the basis of the Roman diet; And these foods may cover more than 90% of food needs.

Cereals are the backbone of the diet; In the Roman Republic, the contrast between bread and porridge also reflected the opposition between rich and poor and between urban and rural areas. Wheat is used to bake bread or a special wheat variety rich in fat and protein, "Spirt wheat", and barley is used as the main ingredient for wheat porridge. It was only about twenty years ago that large bakeries first appeared in the city of Rome. began to supply wheat bread to the vast number of urban people, and later other cities also opened bakeries; At the same time, wheat porridge was still the most important in rural areas.

It is only in this context that the slogans shouted by the hedonists (bread and drama) have a concrete meaning; This is not to encourage extravagance. Instead, he just wants to save his life. Within the Republic, the city of Rome alone had more than two million inhabitants, and it was impossible to feed them without a strong logistical supply. The failure to properly address the material needs of this huge group of people has also led to instability in the situation. And this livelihood project has not been completely solved until today; The Senate could only barely solve the problems of the year by purchasing grain from the Kingdom of Egypt at great expense every year.

For the Roman diet, rationing of cereals and bread was already widespread. Men and women in Rome were accustomed to eating three meals a day, and people would wake up and eat breakfast; Breakfast was a trifle for the Romans, bread, cheese or leftovers from the previous day were enough. Of course, people with good incomes also eat cold fish and fruit, and the drink is slightly diluted wine.

The real main meal, the dinner, was the most important meal of the day for the Romans. In the farm, the three meals a day are mostly cereals, olive oil, vegetables, and at most a little inferior wine. Fish took a back seat, and in fact many Romans rarely or never ate fish in their meals. On the dinner table is replaced by fish sauce, which is made from salted fish offal or mackerel offal.

Fish sauce was already the most important source of food in the diet of people in the Hellenistic period, and it was widely used in the Roman Republic, along with cheese and salted fish. In the Roman diet, the Romans adopted almost all the Greek dietary customs. Much about Roman food is now known in the cities than in the countryside. And the clearest is the capital city of Rome. Because the citizens of Rome lived a more standardized diet, while the rural diet was more disorderly; There are even many places where the eating habits of hundreds of years ago are still preserved.

During Tiberius' reign, the Romans became more interested in food. But at that time, the diet was very simple, cereals and vegetables were the main foods. And no special processing is required. Wine, vegetables, onions, garlic, cheese and fruit are often served on the basis of the main meal, and meat is not common. If there is meat, it is generally boiled, and few people smoke or roast it.

Soups made from beans, lentils, chickpeas, or greens such as lettuce or cabbage were often found on the Romans' tables. The life of a slave was much simpler. The slaves, who were handcuffed and chained, were given not grain raw materials, but ready-made bread; In winter, a total of 2 catties are obtained every day. In the spring, when the vineyard opens, each person gets 3 catties of bread per day. Non-staple foods are poor-quality olives or vinegar-pickled vegetables.

Because most of the slaves had no home or property, the homeless lived in the barracks and were centrally managed, so meals were also carried out in groups. The typical drink of the common people of Rome was grapefruit pomace, which was made by soaking pomace in fruit that had been pressed once. The wine is consumed within 3 months of the grape harvest and is not rationed. The drink they drink is called grape pomace wine, but in fact it is just a waste of aquatic products. The alcohol content is very small, and if you drink too much, you will not get drunk.

The reason why low-alcohol beverages are made is mainly to replace low-quality drinking water, and people usually use the so-called wine to carry out basic sterilization. Then drink again. Unlike grapefruit pomace, which was not rationed, wine was distributed according to the four seasons, and this sequence of seasons was of great significance to the diet of the Roman populace. Since December, each worker has been given a quarter of a litre of pomace per day, half a litre in the spring, and even three-quarters of a litre in the summer.

During a series of festivals in the city of Rome, the most important ones such as Saturnalia and Street God Festival, special rations were also given to the common people. This also somewhat eased the materialistic mentality, and many of Rome's public eating establishments sold sausages, fish, lentils, fruit, bagels, cakes, and alcohol.

The Romans used to sit around a table with three meals a day, with a housewife or slave serving her husband or family. Grain in Rome was rationed. After receiving the grain, the workers grind it into a mask themselves, and the cooking of porridge and baking bread is also carried out at home. It can be seen that it is very rare for workers to concentrate on their work. As a result, it is necessary to eat with the family frequently, at least most often. At noon, I probably solved it easily with a group of colleagues. This meal may be eaten with bread or olives brought from home.

In terms of the composition of the family at the dinner party, Rome and Greece were undoubtedly a step closer to humanity in the composition of the members who ate at the same table: Greek women were not allowed to eat at the table, while Roman women and children were allowed to eat together with the men of the family on an equal footing. This difference can be described as a great leap forward in the essential development of society at that time.

We can imagine that in the leisure time of the ancient Romans, men were cooking at home or teasing children, while women were processing the ration materials that had been allocated. When the hostess brings a steaming meal to the table. The family sat together and enjoyed a not sumptuous but happy dinner. However, the elements of other dietary systems are similar to those of ancient Greece, such as the Romans, who only ate with their right hands. Other similarities are also evident in the use of cutlery: knives and spoons are used as aids, while forks are rare.

After listening to Quintus's explanation, Oscar also let out a long sigh; In this era of low productivity, even the Romans, who were known for their wealth and civilization, were no more than that, let alone the even less productive barbarians? No wonder the people of Rome were so excited when he generously gave away wine; It turned out that they drank the so-called grape pomace wine, and they had never drunk real wine at all!

At this moment, Oscar suddenly felt that he was in the original world and did not know the blessing; In such an era, having enough food and warm clothes is already the greatest luxury of ordinary people. Since I have come here, why can't I let everyone in this world be fed and clothed? An unpalatable meal of bread and pomace changed Oscar's worldview dramatically.

The Oscar, which was once bent on waging war and fighting for hegemony, has gradually begun to become an Oscar that focuses on people's livelihood and the lives of ordinary people. (To be continued.) )