Skip to main content
Mental Floss

What Breakfast Really Looked Like in Ancient Rome

Bread was the foundation, but cheese, olives, and even wine could also find their way onto a Roman breakfast table.
ByChris Wheatley|
Share on FacebookShare on XShare on Reddit
Google Discover
A Roman mosaic from Pompeii depicting an enslaved boy in a kitchen with fruit and fish.
A Roman mosaic from Pompeii depicting an enslaved boy in a kitchen with fruit and fish. | CM Dixon/Print Collector/Getty Images

What's your Roman Empire? That social media trend, which started back on TikTok in 2023, has come to mean, “what do you think about all the time?” Well, ancient Rome is a fascinating topic, and little wonder we're so obsessed with it.

The Roman Empire did, after all, conquer immense swaths of the world, covering approximately 2 million square miles at its height. Ancient Rome existed from the 8th century BC to the 5th century AD, and historians usually split this into three segments—the Roman Kingdom (753–509 BC), the Roman Republic (509‍–‍27 BC), and the Roman Empire (27 BC – 476 AD).

With all the epic historical movies, battles, and mad emperors, it's easy to forget that the vast majority of Roman citizens were ordinary people, just like us. One thing that links humanity together is our need for, and enjoyment of, food. Mealtimes might vary, but breakfast remains one of the most vital meals of the day.

The Typical Ancient Roman Breakfast

Fresco with distribution of bread from Tablinum at Pompeii
Fresco depicting the distribution of bread, from the tablinum of a house in Pompeii. | DEA / L. PEDICINI/GettyImages

So what did a typical Roman citizen start his day with? Well, breakfasts might have varied across ages, but probably not by much. For your average Roman, a morning meal would have consisted of bread, with possibly cheese and olives. Other fruits might also be consumed, likely pears, dates, or plums, but bread was the essential staple of any Roman diet.

Bread would have been dipped into wine to soften and was so important to the Romans that it would be given away free to citizens in need.

Breakfast on the Go

Just like today, a Roman worker might well have been in a hurry in the morning, and breakfast could be eaten on the go, either stuffed into the folds of a tunic or toga or placed inside a leather satchel.

Fast food, although not nearly as wide-ranging in options as in modern times, did exist of a sort. Romans in a hurry could stop at a cheesemonger or a baker to snap up some breakfast on the way. These shops were plentiful in number and easy to access.

What Rich Romans Ate for Breakfast

Banquet scene with musicians and servants
Mosaic depicting a Roman banquet scene with musicians and servants. | DEA / G. DAGLI ORTI/GettyImages

Richer Romans dined on slightly different fare. Bread would certainly be present, but so too would be a wide range of fresh vegetables and fruits, as well as fish or other meat. In place of sugar, honey was used to sweeten the meal.

Breakfast would be eaten whilst reclining on a sofa, and it would be the job of slaves to cut up the food. Towels would have been available with which to wipe one's hands and mouth.

More Like This:

Home/HISTORY