Food In The Ancient World

by Wilkins, John; Hill, Shaun

• ISBN13: 9780631235514
• ISBN10: 0631235515
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2006-02-03
• Publisher: Wiley

Summary

In Food in the Ancient World, a respected classicist and a practising world-class chef explore a millennium of eating and drinking. The book focuses on ancient Greece and Rome, but also looks at Persian, Egyptian, Celtic and other cultures. It embraces people from all walks of life, from impoverished citizens subsisting on cereals, chickpeas and even locusts, to the meat-eating elites whose demands drove advances in gastronomy. The authors reveal how food used to uphold the social system and linked by philosophers to moral character played a pivotal role in the ancient world. They describe religious sacrifices, ancient dinner parties and drinking bouts, as well as exotic foods and recipes. Extending from Syria to Spain, and from the steppes of Russia to the deserts of North Africa, this evocative account gives readers a taste of the ancient world.

Author Biography

John M. Wilkins is Professor of Greek Culture at the University of Exeter. He is the author of Euripides: Heraclidae (1993) and The Boastful Chef: The Discourse of Food in Ancient Greek Comedy (2000) and has edited several books on Greek literature and food in the ancient world.

Shaun Hill is Honorary Research Fellow at the University of Exeter. He is chef and former owner of the Michelin-starred Merchant House and works as an independent food writer. His books include Cooking at the Merchant House (2000), How to Cook Better (2004), and Cook (with others, 2005).

John Wilkins and Shaun Hill have co-written several books and articles including Archestratus: The Life of Luxury (1994)

Table of Contents

Figures	vii
Preface	ix
Timeline	xii
Map of the Mediterranean	xiv
Introduction	1	(3)
1 An Overview of Food in Antiquity	4	(35)
Introduction	39	(2)
2 The Social Context of Eating	41	(38)
Introduction	79	(2)
3 Food and Ancient Religion	81	(29)
Introduction	110	(2)
4 Staple Foods: Cereals and Pulses	112	(28)
Introduction	140	(2)
5 Meat and Fish	142	(22)
Introduction	164	(2)
6 Wine and Drinking	166	(19)
Introduction	185	(2)
7 Food in Ancient Thought	187	(24)
Introduction	211	(2)
8 Medical Approaches to Food	213	(32)
Introduction	245	(2)
9 Food in Literature	247	(30)
Recipes	277	(4)
Bibliography	281	(9)
Index	290