The taste of religion in the Roman world
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1558/bar.36483Keywords:
taste, roman religion, Mercury, Mithraisim, roman archaeologyAbstract
As well as providing an overview of taste and mainstream Roman religion through sacrifice and feasting, this article highlights some of the specific tastes, and possible menus, of Roman religion. I explore how archaeologists can use the evidence from plant remains, animal bones and objects, such as ceramics, to explore taste. I look at what evidence we have for the main taste groups: sweet, salty, bitter and sour. Case studies are drawn from the northwestern provinces and the Middle East with a focus on Mithraism and the worship of Mercury. I draw out how religious tastes differed from everyday life, and how these differed from god to god and from god to human in an effort to answer the question: what did Roman religion taste like?
References
Adam, A., Czeika, S. and Fladerer, F. A. (1996) Römerzeitliche Tierknochenfunde aus zwei Höhlen am Kugelstein bei Deutschfeistritz, Steiermark – Hinweise auf den Mithraskult? Mitteilungen Anthropologische Gesellschaft Wien 125–6: 279–89.
Bartoshuk, L. M. and Duffy, V. B. (2007) Chemical senses: taste and smell. In C. Korsmeyer (ed.) The Taste Culture Reader: Experiencing Food and Drink 25–33. Oxford and New York: Berg.
Beard, M., North, J. and Price, S. (1998) Religions of Rome (2 vols). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Betts, E. (ed.) (2017) Senses of the Empire: Multisensory Approaches to Roman Culture. London and New York: Routledge.
Brothwell, D. (1986) The Bogman and the Archaeology of People. London: British Museum Publications.
Cool, H. E. M. (2006) Eating and Drinking in Roman Britain. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511489570
Curtis, R. I. (1991) Garum and Salsamenta. Leiden: Brill.
Day, J. (ed.) (2013) Making Senses of the Past: Toward a Sensory Archaeology. Carbondale: South Illinois University Press.
Gaidon-Bunuel, M.-A. (2002) La cuisine du mithraeum de Septeuil. In S. Lepetz, S. and W. van Andringa (eds) Archéologie du sacrifice animal en Gaule romaine: Rituels et pratiques alimentaires, Volume des pré-actes 70–83. Paris: Editions Monique Mergoil.
Girling, M. and Straker, V. (1993) Plant macrofossils, arthropods and charcoal. In A. Woodward and P. Leach (eds) The Uley Shrines: Excavation of a Ritual Complex on West Hill, Uley, Gloucestershire: 1977–9 250–3. London: English Heritage.
Grocock, C. and Grainger, S. (2006) Apicius: A Critical Edition with an Introduction and English Translation. Totnes: Prospect Books.
Hamilakis, Y. (ed.) (2013) Archaeology and the Senses: Human Experience, Memory and Affect. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781139024655
James, A. (2007) Identity and the global stew. In C. Korsmeyer The Taste Culture Reader: Experiencing Food and Drink 372–84. Oxford and New York: Berg.
Jones, E. (1923) The symbolic significance of salt in folklore and superstition. In E. Jones (ed.) Essays in Applied Psycho-Analysis 112–203. London: The International Psycho-Analytical Press.
Kamash, Z. (2010) Archaeologies of Water in the Roman Near East. New York: Gorgias Press.
King, A. (2005) .Animal remains from temples in Roman Britain. Britannia 36: 329–69. https://doi.org/10.3815/000000005784016964
Korsmeyer, C. (2007a). Introduction: perspectives on taste. In C. Korsmeyer (ed.) The Taste Culture Reader: Experiencing Food and Drink 1–9. Oxford and New York: Berg.
Korsmeyer, C. (ed.) (2007b) The Taste Culture Reader: Experiencing Food and Drink. Oxford and New York: Berg.
Lentacker, A., Ervynck, A. and Van Neer, W. (2004) The symbolic meaning of the cock: the animal remains from the Mithraeum at Tienen, Belgium. In M. Martens and G. De Boe (eds) Roman Mithraism: The Evidence of the Small Finds 57–80. Brussels: Institute for the Archaeological Heritage of the Flemish Community (IAP).
Levitan, B. (1993) Vertebrate remains. In A. Woodward and P. Leach (eds) The Uley Shrines: Excavation of a Ritual Complex on West Hill, Uley, Gloucestershire: 1977–9 257–301. London: English Heritage.
Lightfoot, J. (ed.) (2003) Lucian: On the Syrian Goddess. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Lightfoot, J. (2007) The apology of Pseudo-Meliton. Studi Epigrafici e Linguistiti 24: 59–110.
Macready, S. and Sidell, J. (1998) The animal bones. In J.D. Shepherd (ed.) The Temple of Mithras 208–15. London: English Heritage.
Martens, M. and De Boe, G. (eds) (2004) Roman Mithraism: The Evidence of the Small Finds. Brussels: Institute for the Archaeological Heritage of the Flemish Community (IAP).
Martens, M., with Cooremans, B. and Deforce, K. (2004) The Mithraeum at Tienen (Belgium): small finds and what they can tell us. In M. Martens and G. De Boe (eds) Roman Mithraism: The Evidence of the Small Finds 25–56. Brussels: Institute for the Archaeological Heritage of the Flemish Community (IAP).
Mazzorin, J. D. G. (2004) I resti animali del mitreo della Crypta Balbi: testimonianze di pratiche cultuali. In M. Martens and G. De Boe (eds) Roman Mithraism: The Evidence of the Small Finds 179–82. Brussels: Institute for the Archaeological Heritage of the Flemish Community (IAP).
Meyer-Rochow, V. B. (2009) Food taboos: their origins and purposes. Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine 5. https://doi.org/10.1186/1746-4269-5-18
Norman, C. E. (2012) Food and religion. In J. M. Pilcher (ed.) The Oxford Handbook of Food History 409–23. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Olive, C. (2004) La faune exhumée des mithraea de Martigny (Valais) et d’Orbe-Boscéaz (Vaud) en Suisse. In M. Martens and G. De Boe (eds) Roman Mithraism: The Evidence of the Small Finds 147–56. Brussels: Institute for the Archaeological Heritage of the Flemish Community (IAP).
Richmond, I. A. and Gillam, J. P. (1951) The Temple of Mithras at Carrawburgh. Archaeologia Aeliana 29: 1–92.
Rozin, E. and Rozin, P. (2007) Culinary themes and variations. In C. Korsmeyer (ed.) The Taste Culture Reader: Experiencing Food and Drink 34–41. Oxford and New York: Berg.
Scheid, J. (2007) Sacrifices for gods and ancestors. In J. Rüpke (ed.) A Companion to Roman Religion. Malden, MA: Blackwell. https://doi.org/10.1002/9780470690970.ch19
Sutton, D. E. (2007) Synesthesia, memory and the taste of home. In C. Korsmeyer (ed.) The Taste Culture Reader: Experiencing Food and Drink 304–16. Oxford and New York: Berg.
Trakadas, A. (2005) The archaeological evidence for fish processing in the western Mediterranean. In T. Bekker-Nielsen (ed.), Ancient Fishing and Fish Processing in the Black Sea Region 47–82. Aarhus: Aarhus University Press.
Veyne, P. (2000) Inviter les dieux, sacrifier, banqueter: quelques nuances de la religiosité romaine. Annales Économie, Sociétés, Civilisations 55: 3–42.
Visser, M. (1986) Much Depends on Dinner. New York: HarperCollins.
von den Driesch, A. and Pöllath, N. (2000) Tierknochen aus dem Mithrastempel von Künzing, Lkr. Deggendorf. In K. Schmotz (ed.) Vorträge des 18. Niederbayerischen Archäologentages 145–62. CHKRahden/Westfalen.
Vörös, I. (1991) Das Haus des Tribuni Laticlavii aus dem Legionslager vom 2–3 Jh in Aquincum. Das Tierknochenmaterial des Mithräums. Budapest Régiségei 28: 155.
Weddle, C. (2013) The sensory experience of blood sacrifice in the Roman imperial cult. In J. Day (ed.) Making Senses of the Past: Toward a Sensory Archaeology 137–59. Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press.
Weddle, C. (2017) Blood, fire and feasting: the role of touch and taste in Graeco-Roman animal sacrifice. In E. Betts (ed.) Senses of the Empire: Multisensory Approaches to Roman Culture 338–92. London and New York: Routledge.
Wilson, A. (2006) Fishy business: Roman exploitation of marine resources. Journal of Roman Archaeology 19: 525–37. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1047759400006760
Woodward, A. and Leach, P. (1993) The Uley Shrines: Excavation of a Ritual Complex on West Hill, Uley, Gloucestershire: 1977–9. London: English Heritage.
