The wealthy section of the Roman population generally drank water for breakfast that was either warm or cooled with snow.
Wine was served at the main meal (convium) at 4.00 in the afternoon, possibly mulsum, which was wine sweetened with honey or various types of red or white wine or even a mixture of both diluted in water.
In Britain, where the native nobles had began to drink wine, there were a few vineyards but mainly it was imported from Italy, France or Spain.
Beer was popular in the northern provinces among the native inhabitants but the sophisticated Romans drank water rather than beer with meals as they considered the native beer a barbarian's drink.
After a century of vineyard expansion, wine became readily available to the average Roman citizen by about 30BC.
After fermentation, Roman wine was stored in amphoras to be used for serving or further aging.
The wine merchants of Gaul succeeded in invading the markets of the Roman Empire to the detriment of the Roman wines, after the Gauls discovered that wine could be kept longer if it is stored in casks. Such was the threat of the competition that the emperor Domitian (AD 81–96), on the pretext of encouraging wheat growing, ordered half the Gallic vines should be pulled up.
The Romans started planting grapes in the Rhine valley not later than the 2nd century AD.
In Rome, wealthy Romans always drank from goblets made from clear rock crystal. They believed the transparent mineral was a safeguard against their enemies, because legend had it that a cup carved from the transparent mineral would not hold poison.
The Roman writer Pliny was amazed that his fellow citizens were willing to pay huge prices for this real crystal, when there was readily available cheaper glass that looked very similar. In other parts of the empire nobles drank from silver cups or bronze jugs.
Banquets for the Roman gentry could be bloody affairs. A cup-bearer who broke a crystal goblet often ended up having his hands cut off and hung round his neck.
Wine was served at the main meal (convium) at 4.00 in the afternoon, possibly mulsum, which was wine sweetened with honey or various types of red or white wine or even a mixture of both diluted in water.
In Britain, where the native nobles had began to drink wine, there were a few vineyards but mainly it was imported from Italy, France or Spain.
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| Drinking in Roman Britain |
Beer was popular in the northern provinces among the native inhabitants but the sophisticated Romans drank water rather than beer with meals as they considered the native beer a barbarian's drink.
After a century of vineyard expansion, wine became readily available to the average Roman citizen by about 30BC.
After fermentation, Roman wine was stored in amphoras to be used for serving or further aging.
The wine merchants of Gaul succeeded in invading the markets of the Roman Empire to the detriment of the Roman wines, after the Gauls discovered that wine could be kept longer if it is stored in casks. Such was the threat of the competition that the emperor Domitian (AD 81–96), on the pretext of encouraging wheat growing, ordered half the Gallic vines should be pulled up.
The Romans started planting grapes in the Rhine valley not later than the 2nd century AD.
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| Amphoras |
In Rome, wealthy Romans always drank from goblets made from clear rock crystal. They believed the transparent mineral was a safeguard against their enemies, because legend had it that a cup carved from the transparent mineral would not hold poison.
The Roman writer Pliny was amazed that his fellow citizens were willing to pay huge prices for this real crystal, when there was readily available cheaper glass that looked very similar. In other parts of the empire nobles drank from silver cups or bronze jugs.
Banquets for the Roman gentry could be bloody affairs. A cup-bearer who broke a crystal goblet often ended up having his hands cut off and hung round his neck.
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