Level 3 - Life in Roman Sussex

Food & Drink

For much of the native population in Sussex, eating habits would not have changed a great deal immediately following the Roman conquest. Local seasonal produce continued to be the mainstay of the diet, while preserving, cooking and eating methods would remain essentially unaltered. However, the presence of Dressel 1b amphorae fragments in West Sussex does imply that Roman eating and drinking tastes had begun to influence the native elite in the late Iron Age.

After the invasion, their apparent eagerness to adopt Roman life-styles would have ensured that their culinary habits were likewise altered. During the later 1st to 4th centuries, certain Roman cooking methods and produce seem to have spread amongst a wider variety of people, so that samian tableware for example has been found at sites such as the small settlement at Thornwick, near Storrington. Of course, this does not mean these lower classes were becoming more 'Romanized' in their beliefs and outlooks - just that they were occasionally using traditional Roman cooking and eating products.

• Food & Drink types

• Preparation

• Consumption

Typical Romanized eating habits involved taking three meals a day, with the main meal being in the late afternoon/early evening (cena). Within villas, such as Bignor and Angmering, this may have taken place in a specific dining room, either reclining on lounges in the Greek style or possibly seated around a table as seen on Gallic sculptures.