Baking Roman Bread

Learn about Roman bread with Laura!

“Two things only the people desire: bread, and the circus games.” Juvenal

Have you ever baked your own bread? Maybe. Ground your own flour by hand? Less likely. Why not use the current situation and improve your skills, learn something new and connect to the past. Bread has been a staple food in many parts around the globe for thousands of years. The same goes for the Romans who indeed seem to have been quite fond of bread, but how do we actually know this?

Not only do we have recipe books and letters about diets but also architectural remains of granaries and baker shops as well as environmental samples from archaeological excavations that can be analysed. 

While milling became more industrial when the Romans arrived in Britain – a large army and urban population needs to be fed – many households would grind their own flour to make their daily bread. Around Bath, we have found rotary hand querns that were used for that task. 

A Roman rotary quern

While this was more effective than pestle and mortar, it was still a strenuous hours-long task. No milling means no flour. No flour means no bread. And no bread could mean starvation.

Bread has been staple food for so long because it is a sufficient source of energy. Flour contains starch which is broken down by enzymes into glucose. During digestions this ultimately results in our bodies being fuelled up to do what we love to do. 

Baking Roman bread

Have you ever wondered what makes bread rise though? Essentially, glucose is transformed into carbon dioxide (gas) which, trapped in the gluten network, expands and causes the dough to rise. If you feel like experimenting a bit, fill a glass half full with some warm water, add a spoon of caster sugar and a spoon of yeast. Stir, wait and watch what happens in the next hour.

The Romans in fact made many different kinds of bread, leavened and unleavened. They seemed to have been very fond of spices as well. Coriander or poppy seeds were particularly popular with bread. A commonly used grain was spelt. 

Why not have a go with this recipe?

Make your own Roman bread at home

Spelt Bread Recipe

Ingredients

500g of spelt flour
300ml of warm water
7-10g of salt
~7g of quick action yeast

Method

1. Mix the dry ingredients in a mixing bowl, then add the water and knead the dough well for at least 5 minutes.
2. Cover the bowl and leave to rise in a warm place for 1-2 hours, until the dough has doubled in size.
3. Knead the dough thoroughly until smooth and leave to rise again.
4. Preheat the oven to 220°C (200°C Fan), flour a casserole or loaf pan (make sure it is fit for oven use!) and put the dough into it.
5. Bake in the oven for 40 – 50 minutes. (If baking in dish with a lid, leave the lid on for the first half, then remove for the second half).
6. The bread is ready when it sounds hollow. Leave to cool down before removing it from the dish.

You can vary this recipe by mixing in honey, olive oil, herbs, seeds, dried fruits or chopped nuts.

Bon Appetit!          

Laura Opel

Learning & Programmes Placement

Words on Wednesdays: Home

"Home is where one starts from"

T.S. Elliot

My name is Qin Li and I am on a work placement with the Learning and Participation team as part of my MA study. During my placement, the most appealing and the most difficult work for me was my ‘Words on Wednesday’ handing table. For my table, I chose the topic of  'at home with a Roman Family', which is mainly about the day to day activities of the Romans at home. There were three themes on my table, women’s work at home - textile working, leisure activities - gaming (board games) and dinner.

My handling table

During my display, I used the timeline of the day to join these different themes. When Roman women were at home during the daytime, one of their main tasks was textile working. They were spinning and weaving yarn and making clothes for their families. Due to demand for clothing, the family workshop gradually developed into an industry and played an important role in the Roman economic system. In the Roman Baths collection, I found spindle whorls of various shapes and colours, they are my main objects in this section. Some loom weights and needles were also displayed on the table.

Spindle whorls made of pottery and shale

The second part of my display was about Roman leisure activities after work. When they were at home or in the bath house, they enjoyed some leisure time. Gaming is one of the things they did. They used counters, dice and other things to play the board games. In this section, I showed counters of different materials. The Romans used counters of different materials such as ceramic, shale, glass and bone. Visitors seemed to be attracted by the beautiful glass counters.

Gaming counters made of black and white glass and worked bone

After the end of work and leisure time, they had dinner time. I chose to show the pots and dishes which were used to serve on the table in this section. Ceramic pots of different colours and textures were chosen. One of my favourite objects is a piece of Samian ware pottery. The mould-made decoration on the Samian is very beautiful, which also attracted visitors’ attention. This piece of Samian is in a good condition and visitors were able to touch it.

Samian bowl rim

At my table there were some activities to engage with visitors. In the working section, a replica of the spindle was provided. I tried to learn the Roman spinning technique when I was researching my table. Visitors were very happy to see me show it! In the gaming part, a Roman board game was there for visitors to play. Merels, the Roman three-in-a-row game, attracted many people. Most of them chose to take a board game home with them when they left the table. I hope this little game will give all the visitors good memories of this handling table.

Visitors enjoying a game of Merels

Qin Li
Placement Student

Words on Wednesdays: Delicious Cakes

“Food is our common ground, a universal experience”

James Beard

In last week's blog I described cooking in the Roman period, but to provide the full experience at my handling table, I also did some Roman cooking!

Putting the finishing touches on my Roman cakes; a sprinkle of nuts and a drizzle of honey

From the bookshelf I pulled ‘The Roman Cookery of Apicius’ (De Re Coquinaria), translated by John Edwards.

Apicius was a Roman man who wrote a recipe book during the first century BC. It is not what we would call a recipe book today, with his recipes giving little to no indication of quantities or cooking time. We can assume his book was meant for the experienced cook who could use their own judgement.

Flicking through the book, many of the recipes didn’t seem so bad, pleasant even; pears cooked with cinnamon and wine, lentil soup, marinated pork chops. But there were some recipes that I wasn’t too keen to try; apples and calf’s brain casserole, liver, chicken and onion hors d’oeuvres.

I settled on the recipe for aliter dulcia (sweets), a rich sweet honey cake topped with nuts. YUM! John Edwards’ book provided a modern adapted recipe which I used to make the cakes. Wine and honey replace the sugars we use to sweeten our cakes and cinnamon and rosemary fill the cake with a burst of flavour.

Rich sweet Roman cakes, fresh from the oven!

Apicius recipe:

Mix pepper, nuts, honey, rue and raisin wine. Cook in milk and pastry. Thicken with a little egg and bake. Pour honey on top, sprinkle with nuts and serve.

Adapted Recipe: 

Rich Sweet Cakes

Ingredients:

2 tsp cinnamon

½ cup almonds (chopped)

½ tsp ground rosemary (rue)

2 cups pastry flour

2 tsp baking powder

¼ cup sweet raisin wine

1 egg

4 Tbsp honey or brown sugar

¾ cup milk

Method:

In a mixing bowl, put cinnamon, chopped almonds and rosemary (rue). Add flour, baking powder and mix. Next, combine sweet wine, well beaten egg, honey and milk. Blend and stir into the dry ingredients. Bake in 375°F (190°C) oven in a greased 9 inch round pan, for 30 minutes. Pour a little honey on top of the finished cake, garnish with nuts and serve.

From De Re Coquinaria (Roman Cookery of Apicius), translated by John Edwards.

Why not have a go at making them yourself?

Imogen Westcott

Collections Placement

Words on Wednesdays: Delicious

“Food is our common ground, a universal experience” 

James Beard

Food is part of our everyday life, sometimes we even plan our days around food, eating it or cooking it! It’s not a surprise that the Romans did too.

My own love of food and cooking was the inspiration for my handling table. I wanted to learn about Roman cooking tools and methods, maybe even try a bit of cooking myself. When I began looking at the objects within the museum’s collection, I was stunned to find that much of the methods and utensils of cooking weren’t too dissimilar to those used today.

Getting up close and personal with the collection, visitors are encouraged to hold objects

The Romans increased the availability and variety of food in Britain, introducing new and exotic ingredients, especially for the wealthier classes. Food scraps found by archaeologists today, such as bones and shells, are evidence of food eaten by the Romans. Fish varieties were eaten widely and used to make garum, a fermented fish sauce used as a salty seasoning in cooking.

Butchery marks on animal bone tell us that people were eating and probably selling meat. The scratches and cuts in the bone require a closer look. A bone will splinter or shatter if broken; we know these marks are butchers marks because of the clean cuts into the bone, which can only be caused by a sharp blade.

Handling animal bone with obvious signs of butchery

Pottery was used throughout the kitchen for cooking, storage and serving. Large ceramic pots were used to cook stews and soups and could also be used to store food. Lighter, smaller cooking vessels, such as pewter or bronze pans were popular with soldiers but could also be used in the home.

Bronze patera found during excavations of the Sacred Spring, on display at the Roman Baths

My favourite object was the mortarium, a bowl-shaped vessel with grit embedded surface used as a grinding and mixing bowl. This ancient mortar and pestle was one of the most important tools in the Roman kitchen. The Romans liked food that was heavily spiced, possibly to hide the taste of old meat, and needed a tool to grind all these spices to a useable powder or paste.

Left: North Gaulish mortarium rim, Right: close up of maker's stamp

This particular mortarium is special because of the maker’s stamp near the spout (see image above). This stamp belongs to Quintus Valerius Veranius, with a date range of 65-100 A.D. His stamps have been found on mortaria in Northern France, western Belgium and Britain. This helps us trace the movement of the maker and their wares from workshop to country, which in turn helps us create a bigger picture of Roman life in Britain.

Imogen Westcott

Collections Placement

The Games of Sulis

Nowadays, visitors to the Baths enjoy their chance to walk upon the stone trodden by Roman feet two thousand years ago; but did you know that, in the 1960s & ‘70s, there were regular events which gave people an even more intimate taste of ancient culture, allowing them to dine at a full Roman banquet around the baths themselves? 

An invitation to the very first of these, in the shape of a scroll with a wax seal and ribbon and entitled LUDI SULIS I JUNIUS MCMLXI (The Games of Sulis, 1^st June 1961), has recently been acquired by the Roman Baths:

The invitation to the Roman banquet

The invitation sets out full details of the ‘orgy’, from clothing and music to décor and food, interspersed with quotes from poets such as Tibullus and Propertius, and even begins with a specially-composed, three-verse Latin poem, inviting the guests to the feast:

The invitation’s heading, including the Latin invitatory poem

The first two verses imagine the invitee as a weary ploughman or shepherd, enticed to take rest under a tree, sate their thirst and be lulled to sleep. The final verse invites the guest to a rather less tranquil affair, as can be seen by a possible translation:

But if you prefer a ladle of Falernian wine with water, or an beautiful girl to a disgusting sheep, seize the lavish joys of the night with the orgies of Sulis.

Every invitee was required to attend in full Roman attire to make the atmosphere more authentic, the men therefore being given a purple toga on arrival, the women a stola (a long, sleeveless dress). Together with the invitation was a photograph (see below) showing some guests in their outfits. The women’s hair is arranged in Roman style, in accordance with the invitation’s suggestion that they ‘imitated Cypassis’, an ‘expert in ornamenting hair in a thousand fashions’ (ponendis in mille modos perfecta capillis, Ovid Amores II.8).

Guests to Ludi Sulis in their Roman attire of toga or stola

Each item of food in the gustatio (hors d’oeuvres), fercula (roast) and mensa secunda (dessert) was an authentic Roman delicacy. These ranged from tunny fish, snails, honey cakes and stuffed pastry birds to a complete roast pig, which greeted the guests as they arrived to sit on cushions around the Great Bath.

Organisers even took inspiration from Cena Trimalchionis (Trimalchio’s Feast), part of Petronius’ Satyricon (often considered one of the earliest ‘novels’, written in the 1^st century AD), in setting up a ‘table of delicacies’. Guests were advised to decline these, seeing as they included things like nightingales’ tongues, flamingos’ brains and sows’ udders!

The feast was accompanied by music adapted from surviving Greek fragments and performed on lyres and recorders (the double flute or tibia being deemed too unwieldy to play). The after-dinner entertainment was decidedly more modern: guests were serenaded on the terrace by Nero and the Gladiators, a 1960s rock band!

According to a newspaper article from 1990 written about it, the event was organised by Mrs B. Robertson and Mrs V. Crallan to raise money for the Bath Festival. Tickets cost four guineas, and a film crew was even paid to record the event, on the condition that the cameramen must enter into the spirit of things by donning togas too! The event quickly morphed into ‘Roman Rendezvous’ nights, and many people remember being allowed to swim in the Great Bath before dancing in the Pump Room.

Acquisitions come from many different sources, such as donations, purchases or transfers - but it’s always fascinating to receive evidence of the colourful history of the Baths’ use through time.

Jack

Collections Volunteer 

Way Back Wednesday: the Science of Skeletons

As well as organising the Science Week events at the Roman Baths, I was able to design a handling table. My topic of choice was human remains, as I have an interest in them and there is a lot they can tell you. One issue with this is the ethics of choosing to have human remains in public areas of the site as visitors may not wish to see human remains outside a case. This was overcome by producing a sign to warn visitors about the remains on show and to only have skeletal elements not whole skeletons out.

My research for the table was into how you could age and sex a skeleton from different elements. It was hard to condense the information down into language that the everyday reader would understand as there are lots of technical words such as diaphysis and epiphysis for the shaft and ends of long bones respectively.  This could have be why information sheets explaining how to do this have not been produced before.

Skull of a Roman Male

One common comment made about the table was about the condition of the teeth.  Teeth are the most common skeletal element found as they are resistant to chemical and physical destruction. The teeth which attracted the most attention belonged to a 25 year old Roman male, and the condition divided opinion. Some said they were well looked after and in better condition than the modern equivalent, while others said they were worn. The teeth could be in better condition due to the fact the Romans didn’t consume as much sugar as the modern population, as sugar wasn't available in Europe at this time. Instead, they were worn due to milling methods used to make flour leaving sand which in turn wore down the teeth.

The assessment of skeletal remains is very subjective, as this comment on the teeth wear shows, so even if you know the correct methods you might still be wrong, and if sexing you only have a 50/50 chance of getting it right!

Katharine Foxton

Bradford University Placement Student

Roman Food

Everyone loves to know what the Romans ate, but do people really know where the Romans’ food came from?  For my Tuesday Times Table, I decided to focus on Roman butchery and hunting practices therefore many of my handling objects were in fact the excess or ‘off cuts’ of Roman food products.

The table layout itself followed the basic process of Roman food production, from hunting depictions on samian pottery, through butchered bone and marine products and then concluded with Roman cookware.

The three pieces of samian were excavated during the Spa excavations (1998) and on all of them are images of hunting. The first dates to AD 80-110 and originates from Southern Gaul (modern day France), and features the rear of a boar. The second piece is from Central Gaul, and dates to AD 125-150, and depicts an image of a panther being attacked by a hunter. The third piece is also from Central Gaul and dates to AD 160-190, and has two deer running towards the right. The interesting thing about these pieces of samian is that two of them (the boar and the deer) depict images of species eaten by the Romans, but the panther sherd shows an animal not indigenous to the UK, especially Aquae Sulis (Roman Bath) and therefore shows  that hunting was a recreational sport, rather than a necessity to produce food.

The butchered animal bone was next on the table. It featured bone from cow (Bos), pig (Sus), sheep (Ovis) and rabbit (Lepus). The majority of the bone shown was from the Spa excavations, and then I also chose three cow bones, a cervical vertebra, a knuckle bone and a long bone, from the Hat and Feather site excavation Bath, of 1992. Almost all of the bone showed evidence of ‘chop’ marks on the distal and proximal ends of the bone, which take the form of a deep ‘V’ shape, suggesting that the bone was cut for butchery purposes with a cleaver or large knife, due to the location of the cut. However one piece of cow long bone and been ‘carved’ parallel to the bone, and this would suggest evidence for the consumption of bone marrow in Aquae Sulis.

The evidence of seafood at the Spa site was extremely high. A multitude of mussel and oyster shells were found, probably originating from the South-East coast of England, along with 257 remains of fish bone, both freshwater and marine. This interestingly suggests the evidence for trade, not only across England, but also across the Mediterranean. It is likely that these marine fish (mainly sea bass) were transported in large amphorae (a large jar with handles) from different areas of the Roman Empire.  Snail shells were also found in abundance from the site, and the combination of all of these food types suggests that Roman delicacies were not too different to those we eat today.

I also wanted to display evidence for Roman cookware to allow the public to gain a concept of the process of Roman food products. From the Spa site was found a white flagon sherd with a rimmed neck, that would have held wine; a strainer spout, that would have been used to strain either food or infused drinks and a sherd of mortarium (used for grinding and mixing herbs) in which all of its stone inclusions had been worn down, creating a smooth surface, clearly showing evidence of high usage in the period. I thought that it was also useful to display a replica samian ware bowl and replica mortarium in which people could try grinding and crushing rosemary and black pepper corns in the same way that it was required to for nearly every Roman meal.

This Tuesday Times Table allowed me to research a topic that I had not encountered previously, and also meant that I was able to give a flavour of Roman lifestyle and food preparation that is not commonly thought about by many.

Ellen Wood

Roman Society Placement and student at the University of Reading studying Archaeology and Ancient  History.

Fancy a Hot Date?!

You have Julius Caesar to thank for those New Year’s Day hangovers, after a night of ringing in the New Year! In 45 BC he revamped the Roman calendar and pronounced January as the first month of the year.

Coin of Janus from the reign of Antoninus Pius AD 138-161

January was named after the Roman god Janus, the god of beginnings, doors and gates – a very appropriate choice with the start of the New Year being a time for new starts and opening the proverbial doors to a new future and a new you (or at least the intention for a new you! Personally, my resolution to eat and drink less is turning into an annual habit!)

Janus was often depicted with two faces. I’m sure it wasn’t a slur on his character but, to represent looking both to the past and the future.

On the 28th December, the Roman Baths hosted a "make an oscilla of a two faced Janus" event! The day was a success, with many families trying their hand at a bit of crafts!

New Year’s Day was called Kalendae Januariae and, just like today, was a day of celebration that they dedicated to Janus. On this day you could only say good things (not something I could promise!)

Cakes and sweets were eaten and presents were exchanged between family and friends. A popular gift was an oil lamp as the light of the lamp shining in the darkness symbolized looking into the unknown future that the New Year brings.

Some dates!

A sweet treat, that would have been devoured, was Hot Dates, hence the title! This comes from the recipe book of the Roman cook Apicius who lived during the 1^st century AD!

To truly celebrate New Year's Day Roman style, on 1st January, we served Hot Dates to visitors and it was safe to say they went down well! 

To have a go at making the dish yourself, here's the recipe! If you do make any at home you could put your creation up on The Roman Baths Facebook page! I'd love to see them!

Dates Alexandrine

Ingredients:

20 (whole) dates 
20 blanched almonds
1 tsp cinnamon
Butter
Salt
Liquid honey

Remove stones from dates. Roll almonds in cinnamon and stuff one in each date. Place dates on greased pan. Lightly sprinkle salt over the dates. Then coat each one with honey. Glaze in an oven then serve and enjoy!

Emma

Sweet Cheese Cake but not as we know it....

You will need:

130 grams plain flour

250 grams ricotta cheese

1 egg

4 bay leaves

4 tablespoons of clear honey

Serves 4

Libum to be made as follows: 2 lb cheese well crushed in a mortar; when it is well crushed, add 1lb bread-wheat flour or, if you want it to be lighter, just half a pound, to be mixed well with the cheese. Add one egg and mix all together well. Make a loaf of this with leaves under it, and cook slowly in a hot fire under a brick

Cato on Agriculture 75

Cheese was generally salty in Roman times and while the recipe above does not state it, other sources for libum contain honey. The combination of a salty cheese and a honey finish would not go down too well; as such, a soft-cheese substitute has been chosen to make a ‘sweet’ cheese cake based on the recipe above.

Instructions

• Sift the flour into a bowl. Beat the cheese until smooth.

• Combine the flour, cheese and egg into a soft dough. It will be quite sticky.

• Split the dough into 4 and place on a grease-proof papered baking tray with a bay leaf pressed to the underside of each ball.

• Place them in the oven for 30 minutes, oven setting 220 degrees Celsius, until golden brown on top.

• Score and pour warmed honey over them.

• Leave to cool for 10 minutes and serve.

Recipe formed part of Bel's Tuesday Timetable event - What did they eat?