Ancient Comestibles and Numismatics

Well, with a title like this, I'll bet the more inquisitive posters have opened this one. I got the idea for this topic from a custom at our house, which is that whenever things in the media seem bleak or unsettling, we head for the fridge and larder in search of comfort foods. Somehow, when the news hits us with all sorts of unsettling or just uncomfortable stories, packing on the three most essential food groups (salt, fat and sugar), seem to ameliorate everything, (except maybe for dreadnaught sized asteroids) and my bathroom scale proves it.

Well I don't know if the Ancients thought that way (except for followers of Epicurus who saw everything as an opportunity for doing that), but I thought it might be instructive for us to take a look at foods from the Classical Period and see what the numismatic evidence might be out there to illustrate this slice of life.

First, what is the evidence for what was on the crater or in the amphora of the average inhabitant of polis or colony or hovel. We have a good deal of gustatory evidence from the literature of the period where it seems that a lot of folks ate with Neronic or Vitellian simplicity, with nearby vomitoria for the sated. Well, maybe not, as the reality was more like stoic stone soup garnished with garum. The archaeological record, actually even much of the literary evidence, supports a Spartan diet for everyone, even those living in Attica or Elysia. No ambrosia for them. Grains formed the basis of everyone's diet, whether in the form of porridge or bread, mostly the various varieties of wheat or for bad little boys (and fractious legionaries) it was barley, while for equines and Caledonians it might be oats. Despite the writings of authors like Tacitus, though, the archaeological evidence shows that the consumption of meat for both the military and civilian population was fairly high and that they consumed a good deal of animal protein, including sea food (shells), chicken, beef, sheep and goat bones being fairly common. This is especially noted in the middens of ancient fortification sites. Perhaps the only vegans of the Classical World were the truly poor and Pythagoreans. Residue from amphorae and records of trade show that olive oil, wine and beer also enlightened dinner conversation.

So what do our coins reveal about plant and animal protein from that period? Take a look at some of your coins and you may see that food appears, in some way or other, on them. Perhaps a deity associated with crop fertility or abundance, an actual food or an animal that was a common part of an Ancient diet. Maybe a beverage from a grain or fruit? Below I have a few of my own. From left to right, how about some turtle soup from this stater of Aigina? Or next to it some kernels of grain from this tetradrachma of Leontini? The third coin shows a stater of Metapontum with both a stalk of grain on one side and Demeter, a fertility deity on the other side. The fourth coin, a hemi drachma of Sicyon shows a rock dove, perfect for a stew (or your pet falcon). The fifth illustrates a goat that was not only a good roast but the source of the milk for feta cheese. Next is a denarius of Vespasian with a modius of grain having overflowing sheaves on it. And lastly for those with a hearty yen for a good rack of roast beef is an Apsis bull from a bronze of Julian the Apostate. Now let's see what you have as your food coins. But the rules require that it be an edible creature or plant. No chimaeras, papyrus, silphium, pegasoi or dragons as all of these had become extinct (excpet for the latter in the East Indies) by Classical times.

 

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Plenty of seafood on this coin:

 

You know, I don't think I have ever seen a crustacean imaged so accurately on any coin, ever. By the way, thanks for the response. I was starting to get worried that no one was hungry today.

 

I hope no-one here is in a low-carb diet...

 

TIL: comestible(s) is an English word...

 

Interesting thread topic! This little AE from Elaia shows a grain of wheat as the central reverse motif:


Aeolis, Elaia, AE10, 350–300 BC. Obv: helmeted head of Athena l. Rev: grain of wheat in olive wreath; ethnic E-Λ. 10mm, 1.08g. Ref: SNG Copenhagen 169; Sear 4204; BMC 11–14.

 

Here's a coin buffet with pork, fish, venison, beef, barley, and grapes.

 

A little pork steak can't hurt anyone.
T CAESAR VESPASIANVS
Head of Titus, laureate, right
Portrait: Titus


IMP XIII
Sow left, with three piglets

RIC II Vespasian 986

 

Chicken and waffles anyone?


TROAS, Dardanos
AR Obol. 0.66g, 10mm. TROAS, Dardanos, circa 500-400 BC. Klein 303; SNG Ashmolean 1119. O: Rooster standing left. R: Cross-hatch pattern.

This one shows the setting for a banquet, or maybe specifically a symposium, where food, drink, conversation and entertainment would have been the order of the day.


MARCUS AURELIUS
AE24. 8.3g, 23.7mm. THRACE, Bizya, circa AD 147-161. Jurukova, Bizye 19; RPC IV.1 Online temp #3903. O: Μ ΑYΡΗΛΙΟϹ ΟYΗΡΟϹ ΚΑΙϹΑΡ, bare head right. R: BIZY-HNΩN, Banquet scene: A male reclining left on couch, extending his right hand to a female sitting before him; small table before couch; to left, small male figure standing right, placing his right hand in an amphora.

 

Forgot that I have some venison too... With honey!

 

Aren't those Metapontum coins lovely?

 

Is that an olive branch wreathe around it?

 

Yes indeed, even Marcus Aurelius liked venison from Ephesos.

 

Do I detect a resemblance between the two?

First time I have ever seen a table setting and meal on an ancient coin.

 

I don't think Stoics minded eating meat as long as it did not taste TOO good.

 

The metal work of that celator is worthy of an insect textbook.

 

We are what we eat!
I intended to start collecting ancient coins for a while but the pork steak was the catalyst. Saw it in an auction and decided I NEED to have it. Perhaps overpaid a little, but I regret nothing.

And after a large amount of proteins, we need an apple.
Julia Domna AR Denarius. Rome Mint 196-211 AD.
Obverse: IVLIA AVGVSTA, draped bust right.
Reverse: VENVS FELIX, Venus standing facing, head left, holding apple in right hand and drawing drapery from shoulder.

 

Thanks and today I learned what TIL stands for.

 

Is that the "apple of discord", the one that started the Trojan War?

 

I think so, since the apple is with Venus, who won it in mythology.
Never made this connection until now.