Red cheese and olives – or possibly nuts – depicted in an ancient Roman fast food bar, a pictorial taster of healthy menu options at the Thermopolium di Via di Diana, a 200s AD snack bar, café or tavern selling hot food and drinks in Ostia, the seaport of ancient Rome, in Lazio, Italy. The rest of the framed wall-painting shows other natural produce such as soft fruit and a carrot. Thermopolia offered ready-to-eat food, often to people living in insulae tenements without private kitchens.
Ostia Antica, Lazio, Italy: a block of red cheese with a glass of olives – or possibly nuts – depicted in an ancient Roman fast food bar, the Thermopolium di Via di Diana, a 3rd century AD snack bar, café or tavern selling hot food and drinks. The rest of the framed wall-painting, a pictorial taster of the bar’s healthy menu options, shows other natural produce such as soft fruit and a carrot. The restaurant occupied a prime position on the Via di Diana near the Forum at Ostia, the seaport of Rome. Thermopolia have been found throughout the ancient Roman world, with other well-preserved examples at Pompeii and Herculaneum. They sold ready-to-eat food, often to people without private kitchens, such as those living in insulae tenements. This thermopolium features a marble food preparation counter with a basin in its base, flanked by brick benches. Water would have been mixed in the basin with wine and used for cleaning crockery. The adjoining kitchen has a built-in cooking stove and a large half-buried pottery jar for storing oil or wine. A small courtyard at the rear boasted a fountain and benches for al fresco dining. Ostia lies about 15 miles (24 km) southwest of Rome. It was founded on the Tiber estuary in the 7th century BC, but silting made the river change course and it is now about miles inland. It became a prosperous city of about 50,000 people, in which several emperors built palaces, monuments and public buildings. Although large ships were forced to moor at sea as the harbour silted, Ostia continued to supply Rome with provisions and treasures from around the Empire, reaching peak prosperity in the 2nd century AD. The site was abandoned in the 9th century, but the extensive remains survive in good condition and the excavated site is now an archaeological park.
Size: 1973px × 2959px
Location: Ostia Antica, Lazio, Italy
Photo credit: © Terence Kerr / Alamy / Afripics
License: Royalty Free
Model Released: No
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