A Few Remarks on the Diet in the Light of the Texts of Latin Patristic Authors and its Importance for the Image of the Economic Condition of Western Roman Society in the Late Antiquity
Abstract
This article analyses the diet of late antique Western Roman society in the light of the texts of Latin patristic authors. The aim of this analysis was to demonstrate that the texts discussed diet data that can be used to reconstruct the image of the economic condition of society in the western part of the Roman Empire in the 4th and 5th centuries. There have been no attempts to study the works of Christian authors writing in the west of the Empire in this way. The biggest disadvantage of the used sources is that the analyzed authors created primarily didactic-pastoral literature, full of rhetorical figures and topos. They didn't mention pricing details, mostly just saying that the meal/ingredient was expensive/cheap. Nevertheless, if properly criticized, these texts are of great importance to the historian of late antiquity. Apart from the introduction and summary, the article is divided into three main parts: the diet of the upper classes of society, the diet of the lower classes of society, and the fasting diet. The main result of the conducted research is that, based on the diet of Western Roman society, we can cautiously state that the economic condition of the inhabitants of the western part of the Empire was neither dramatically bad nor exceptionally good, allowing people to live slightly above the minimum necessary for existence. The second conclusion is that, on the basis of the used sources, we can try to examine the economic condition of Western Roman society.
Keywords:
late antiquity, diet, economic conditio, Western Roman society, Latin patristic authorsReferences
Ambrosius, Epistolae, PL 16, 875-1286.
Ambrosius, De Elia et ieiunio, PL 14, 697-728.
Ambrosius, De Tobia, PL 14, 731-759.
Ambrosius, De Nabuthae, PL 14, 759-794.
Ambrosius, Expositio Evangelii Secundum Lucam, PL 15, 1527-1850.
Anonymus, Vita Sanctae Genovefae 15, MGH SRM 3, 204-238.
Athanasius, Canones 92-98, tł. J. Szymańczyk, Kanony Atanazego (tekst arabski), w: Kanony Ojców Greckich (tekst grecki i polski), Atanazego i Hipolita (tekst arabski i polski), ŹMT 49, Kraków 2009, s. 165/165*-169/169*.
Augustinus, De magistro, PL 32, 1193-1220.
Augustinus, De moribus Ecclesiae Catholicae et de moribus Manichaeorum, PL 32, 1300-1377.
Augustyn, Porządek klasztoru, w: Św. Augustyn, Pisma monastyczne, tł. M. Starowieyski, ŹM 27, Kraków-Tyniec 2002, s. 151-153.
Augustinus, Praeceptum, w: Św. Augustyn, Pisma monastyczne, tł. M. Starowieyski, ŹM 27, Tyniec 2002, s. 155-168.
Augustinus, Enarrationes in Psalmos, PL 36, 67-1028; PL 37, 1033-1968.
Augustinus, Sermones, PL 38, 23-1484.
Augustinus, De opere monachorum, PL 40, 547-558.
Aurelius Prudentius Clemens, Cathemerinon, CSEL 61, Vienna 1926.
Aureliusz Prudencjusz Klemens, Poezje, tł. M. Brożek, PSP 43, Warszawa 1987.
Benedictus Nursinus, Regula, PL 66, 215-930.
Caesarius Arelatensis, Regula ad monachos, PL 67, 1097-1120, 1128-1138.
Cassianus, Collationes Patrum, PL 49, 477-1328.
Cassianus, De institutis coenobiorum et De octo principalium vitiorum remediis libri XII, ed. J.C. Guy, SCh 109, Paris 2011.
Columbanus, Regula coenobialis, PL 80, 209-223.
Eugipius, Vita Sancti Severini, PL 62, 561-1167.
Eugipius, Regula, CSEL 87, Vienna 1976.
Reguła Eugipiusza, w: Zachodnie reguły monastyczne, tł. K. Obrycki, ŹM 50, Tyniec 2013, s. 799-899.
Flavius Vegetius Renatus, Epitoma rei militaris, w: http://www.thelatinlibrary.com/vegetius.html (dostęp 21.04.2024).
Hieronymus, Epistolae, PL 22, 525-1182.
Hieronymus, Libri duo adversus Jovinianum, PL 23, 211-338.
Hieronymus, Commentarii in Jonas, PL 25, 1117-1152B.
Hydatius, Continuatio chronicorum Hieronymorum, MGH AA XI, Berlin 1894.
Julian Pomerius, De vita contemplativa, PL 59, 415-520.
Paulinus Nolanus, Epistolae, PL 61, 153-437.
Petrus Chrysologus, Sermones, PL 52, 183-690. (Crossref)
Possidius, Vita Sancti Augustini, PL 32, 33-578.
Regula Magistri, PL 88, 943-1052.
Rufinus, Historia monachorum sive de Vita Sanctorum Patrum, PL 21, 387-460.
Vita Patrum Jurensium, SCh 142, Paris 1968.
Żywoty Ojców Jurajskich, tł. J. Wojtczak et al., ŹM 1, Kraków-Tyniec 1993, s. 35-120.
Alföldi G., Historia społeczna starożytnego Rzymu, tł. A. Gierlińska, Poznań 2011.
André J., L’alimentation et la cuisine à Rome, Paris 1981. (Crossref)
Bralewski S., Praktykowanie postu w świetle historiografii kościelnej IV-V wieku, „Vox Patrum” 33 (2013) s. 359-378. (Crossref)
Dalby A. – Grainger S., Küchengeheimnisse der Antike, Würzburg 1996.
Dalby A., Empire of Pleasures. Luxury and Indulgence in the Roman World, London – New York 2000.
Dalby A., Food in the Ancient World from A to Z, London 2003.
Dietetyka i sztuka kulinarna antyku i wczesnego Bizancjum (II-VII w.), cz. 2: Pokarm dla ciała i ducha, red. M. Kokoszko, Łódź 2014.
Dodd E.K., Roman and Late Antique Wine Production in the Eastern Mediterranean. A Comparative Archaeological Study at Antiochia ad Cragum (Turkey) and Delos (Greece), Oxford 2020. (Crossref)
Faas P. – Whiteside S., Around the Roman Table. Food and Feasting in Ancient Rome, Chicago 2005.
Fellmeth U., Brot und Politik. Ernährung, Tafelluxus und Hunger im antiken Rom, Stuttgart 2001. (Crossref)
Filipowski M., Dieta w życiu ascetycznym Ojców Pustyni¸ „Studia Theologica Varsaviensis” 1 (2017) s. 201-216. (Crossref)
Garnsey P., Famine and Food Supply in the Graeco-Roman World. Responses to Risk and Crisis, Cambridge 1988. (Crossref)
Garnsey P., Food and Society in Classical Antiquity, Cambridge 2002.
Gerlach G., Zu Tisch bei den alten Römern, Stuttgart 2001.
Grocock C. – Grainger S., Apicius. A critical edition with an introduction and an English translation, Totnes 2006.
Growers E., The Loaded Table: Representations of Food in Roman Literature, Oxford 1993. (Crossref)
Heurgon J., L’alimentation et la cuisine à Rome, „Journal des Savants” 1/1 (1963) s. 31-37.
King A.C., The Romanization of diet in the western empire: comparative archaeozoological studies, w: Italy and the West. Comparative issues in Romanization, red. S. Keay – N. Terrenato, Oxford 2001, s. 210-222.
Kokoszko M., Ryby i ich znaczenie w życiu codziennym ludzi późnego antyku i wczesnego Bizancjum (III-VII w.), Łódź 2005.
Kokoszko M. – Jagusiak K. – Rzeźnicka Z., Dietetyka i sztuka kulinarna antyku i wczesnego Bizancjum (II-VII w.), cz. 1: Zboża i produkty zbożowe w źródłach medycznych antyku i wczesnego Bizancjum (II-VII w.), Łódź 2014.
Kolb F., Das antike Rom. Geschichte und Archäologie, München 2010.
Kołosowski T., Życie gospodarczo-społeczne w klasztorach północnoafrykańskich w świetle wybranych pism św. Augustyna, „Vox Patrum” 71 (2019) s. 327-350. (Crossref)
Kuhn M., Der Geschmack des Weltreichs – Einführung in die römische Küche, Aachen 2018.
McGowan A., Ascetic Eucharists. Food and Drink in Early Christian Ritual Meals, New York – Oxford 1999. (Crossref)
Milewski I., Dieta człowieka późnego antyku w relacjach łacińskich i greckich autorów chrześcijańskich epoki, „Vox Patrum” 33 (2013) s. 379-386. (Crossref)
Nieścior L., Post w czasach ojców Kościoła, w: Post jako praktyka duchowa. Ojcowie Kościoła o poście, red. L. Nieścior, Kraków 2019, s. 11-52.
Peschke H.P. von – Feldmann W., Kochbuch der Römer, Düsseldorf 2003.
Purcell N., Wine and Wealth in Ancient Italy, „Journal of Roman Studies” 75 (1985) s. 2-11. (Crossref)
Ricotti E.S.P., Dining as a Roman emperor. How to cook ancient Roman recipes today, Rome 1995.
Roman Dining: A Special Issue of American Journal of Philology, red. B.K. Gold – J.F. Donahue, Baltimore 2005.
Soren D. – Soren N., A Roman Villa and a Late Roman Infant Cemetery: Excavation at Poggio Gramignano Lugnano in Teverina, Roma 1999.
Stein-Hölkeskamp E., Das römische Gastmahl, München 2005.
Tchernia A., Le convivium romain et la distinction sociale, w: Pratiques et discours alimentaires en Méditerranée de l’Antiquité à la Renaissance. Actes du 18ème colloque de la Villa Kérylos à Beaulieu-sur-Mer les 4, 5 et 6 octobre 2007, Paris 2008, s. 147-156.
Villegas Becerril A., Culinary Aspects of Ancient Rome. Ars Cibaria, Newcastle upon Tyne 2001.
Vössing K., Les banquets dans le monde romain: alimentation et communication, „Dialogues d’histoire ancienne, Supplément” 7 (2012) s. 117-131. (Crossref)
Weeber K.W., Alltag im Alten Rom, Düsseldorf – Zürich 2000.
Widok N., Warunki dobrego postu według wybranych pisarzy greckich IV-VI wieku, „Vox Patrum” 74 (2020) s. 119-143. (Crossref)
University of Gdańsk https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8150-9751
License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
Papers published in Vox Patrum are covered by the Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-ND 4.0) licence. Authors and users can use published works licensed under the CC-BY-ND since 2018. For earlier publications, copyrights are available under fair use rights in accordance with the Act of February 4, 1994 on copyrights and related rights.
