What Were the First Units of Measurement?

Old rulers and measuring tools

The use of measurements has become such an indispensable part of everyday existence that it’s virtually invisible. We check the clock to determine how much time we have before running out the door. We put on clothes that are generally tailored to our bodily dimensions. We measure out a cup for our favorite recipe, run a mile for our daily exercise, or tell the barber to take an inch off the top. And these basic actions don’t even touch on the immense calculations behind the machinery that powers our phones, computers, homes, and vehicles.

It’s difficult to imagine life without these widely accepted designations to provide order to our actions. Indeed, it was in large part the consolidation of disparate measurements within the earliest human communities and villages that enabled the world’s first great cities and nations to take shape. From Babylonian minas to Egyptian cubits, here are some of those earliest known units of measurements.

Prehistoric People Formed Primitive Measuring Devices

There’s evidence that our prehistoric ancestors used tools to fashion rudimentary measurement systems. The 40,000-year-old Lebombo bone and the 20,000-year-old Ishango bone are two such examples. Unearthed in Africa, both are notched at regular intervals to indicate functionality as a ruler, and the latter bone was possibly also used to track lunar cycles.

Some of the earliest measurement systems began to coagulate around the Neolithic people who settled in Mesopotamia. Clay tokens used to mark possessions and transactions appeared as far back as 7500 BCE, and these eventually morphed into the cuneiform indentations that appeared around 3500 BCE and were largely used for accounting purposes. While the Sumerians of this era developed a complex counting system, by around 3100 BCE it had been simplified into the base-60 sexagesimal system (60 seconds in a minute, 60 minutes in an hour, 360 degrees in a circle, and so on) that went on to enable developments in timekeeping and astronomy.

Egyptians Introduced the Wide-Ranging Cubit

As described in James Vincent's book Beyond Measure: The Hidden History of Measurement From Cubits to Quantum Constants, some of the earliest unifying forms of measurement involve those inspired by body parts. Such systems have been adopted by cultures around the world: The Aztecs of Mesoamerica had measurements that included the tip of the fingers to the armpit and shoulder, while the Indigenous Māori of New Zealand had sizes that ranged from a finger joint to the length of a person's body with arms raised above the head.

The Egyptians are credited with developing perhaps the earliest and best known of the body measurements: the cubit. Created around 3000 BCE, this basic unit derived from the length of the arm from the elbow to the tip of the middle finger. The primary subunit was the digit, with 4 of those making up 1 palm, 5 becoming a hand, 12 comprising a small span, 14 a large span, 16 named a t’ser, 24 equal to a small cubit, and 28 serving as the amount for a royal cubit. The cubit was used to measure the Nile's floodwaters, from which estimates of crop production could be determined, and provided for symmetrical construction of the Great Pyramid of Giza.

The Egyptian system of weights was based on the kite, which varied from 4.5 grams to nearly 30 grams throughout its history. Building from this basic unit, 10 kites equaled 1 deben, and 10 deben marked 1 sep. Liquid measurements were based around the unit of the hin, which was about 0.48 liters; 10 hin equaled 1 heqat, with 10 of those adding up to 1 khar.

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Civilizations in Asia Devised Their Own Measurements

Around the same time the Egyptians were thriving, the Harappans leveraged a standard system of measurements to raise their own civilizations in the Indus Valley of Central Asia. Although much remains to be learned about their methods, discoveries have revealed a system of weights that increase by consistent ratios, as well as length markers that roughly correspond to those of the modern foot and Egyptian digit.

Additionally, the Chinese independently formulated a system of body-based measurements similar to those in Egypt, with a noticeable difference in the form of an acoustic element. Following the establishment of the 12 fundamental pitches of the octave, known as the lü, in the third millennium BCE, measuring containers were required to produce a specific sound when struck, as evidence of conformity to a standard size.

Babylonians Made Their Mark With the Mina and Shekel

Emerging as the dominant culture of Mesopotamia following the Sumerians, the Babylonians developed a calendar with the familiar components of 12 months at 30 days each by 2000 BCE, and contributed other forms of measurement that became widely recognized throughout the region.

Chief among these was the mina, a unit of weight with known variances between 640 grams and 978 grams. Sixty minas were the equivalent of 1 talent, while 1 mina was the same as 60 shekels. All the way at the lightest end of the scale was the grain, of which 180 equaled 1 shekel.

The smallest unit of length was the barleycorn or she, equivalent to about one-tenth of an inch. Six she made 1 shu-si (or finger), while 30 fingers equaled the standard unit of the kush, similar to the cubit. Larger sizes included the 12-cubit nindan (approximately 20 feet), the 120-cubit cord or rope (roughly 200 feet), and the 180-cord league (roughly 7 miles).

The Babylonians also possessed a system of liquid measurements featuring the qa, which held approximately 100 milliliters. Three hundred qa was equivalent to 60 gin or 1 gur, a volume of approximately 80 gallons.

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The Greeks and Romans Built on Earlier Systems

Influenced by their Mediterranean predecessors, the Greeks incorporated many of the same units, if not the same exact sizes, into their collection of measurements. These included the lengths for small distances including the cubit, finger, and palm. The Greeks also created larger units that could be applied to longer distances covered by sailing, such as the stadium, equivalent to around 600 feet.

The Greek system then passed to the Romans, who put their own mark on this process of categorization with names and values that are familiar to modern eyes. The Roman foot, for example, measured about 11.65 inches, with 5,000 feet equal to 1 mile.

By this point, of course, humanity had reached a point where tens of millions of people of different nationalities and faiths could coexist under a system of numerical standards applied by a ruling entity. Although distinct regional forms of measurement endured for centuries in less populated areas and among Indigenous cultures, there was no turning back from the push for inclusive systems that helped unite large swaths of the globe.

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Which Came First: Wine or Beer?

Glasses of beer and red wine

Whether you’re enjoying a glass of cabernet with a meal or downing IPAs with friends, you’re taking part in the multifaceted, multicultural act of alcohol consumption that dates back many thousands of years.

Indeed, although the dangers of excessive drinking are well known, and even small amounts of alcohol are now believed to come with health risks, imbibing has been part of the fabric of human existence since the dawn of recorded time. Some anthropologists argue that alcohol featured prominently in social customs that facilitated the rise and progression of civilizations. Others suggest that civilization itself was formed as a result of people settling in one area to domesticate crops for the production of alcohol.

Because spirits such as whiskey or vodka involve a more complex distillation process, beer and wine (and wine’s less-prominent cousin, mead) are the earliest forms of alcohol, left over from a time before any of humanity’s famous names, wars, or inventions etched themselves into history. Which sets up the ultimate bar debate: Which of these two ancient libations is older?

Early Humans Likely Discovered Alcohol by Accident

To let some of the air out of the suspense, we’ll note that it’s difficult to pinpoint when people first began drinking wine or beer, since proto-versions of both drinks can be formed with little to no human intervention.

Ethanol, or drinking alcohol, is created through the fermentation process that takes place when sugar meets yeast. In the case of beer, that occurs when a grain such as barley is exposed to moisture and its starches are converted into sugar, priming this component for catalyzation by deliberately introduced or naturally appearing yeast. Similarly, crushed or even overripe fruits with high sugar content including grapes or figs will naturally begin to ferment, creating the basis for wine.

It’s likely that early humans (or even animals) stumbled upon the intoxicating effects of fermented grains and fruits, and maybe even figured out how to replicate the experience by leaving their collected wares out in the elements for too long. We can only speculate on the concoctions that may have been experimentally produced by pre-Neolithic people, although they were almost certainly different from the beers and wines that emerged under more controlled conditions in later epochs.

Mesopotamians and Egyptians Enjoyed Beer and Wine

Unsurprisingly, such conditions were well established by the civilizations that introduced writing and other major advancements in math and science: the ancient Mesopotamians and Egyptians.

Along with the 5,000-year-old remnants of barley beer discovered at the Godin Tepe ruins in modern-day Iran, evidence of a Sumerian drinking culture has surfaced in the cuneiform receipts of beer sales as well as in the “Hymn to Ninkasi,” an ode to the Sumerian beer goddess, which includes a recipe for brewing. Grain-rich beer provided nutritional benefits for Bronze Age drinkers, and may have been safer to consume than the water from rivers, which could be contaminated with animal waste.

Beer also figured prominently into the lives of Egyptians around the same time; it’s believed that workers on the pyramid of Giza received more than 10 pints per day in rations, while even children consumed low-alcohol varieties.

Meanwhile, non-native wine grapes were grown in both areas, although wine was typically reserved for the palates of royalty and priests. The Egyptians were the first known culture to document their winemaking, and left behind records of the process to go with jars of their handiwork in the burial chambers of rulers and other prominent figures.

A 9,000-Year-Old Wine-Beer Hybrid Was Found in China

Of course, humans lived in settlements for thousands of years before these celebrated civilizations emerged, and alcohol played a part in many such early cultures.

Thanks to the discovery of drinking vessels in prehistoric Andean sites, archaeologists believe that the popular South American maize-based beer known as chicha may have been around since 5000 BCE. Going back even further, the detection of wine residue in jars and grape pollen in the soil around two sites near Tbilisi, Georgia, dating to around 6000 BCE showed that the residents of these former villages were among the earliest known wine producers.

To date, the earliest confirmed chemical evidence of an alcoholic concoction is neither specifically beer or wine, but something of a combination of the two: As detailed in a 2004 paper, an examination of 9,000-year-old pottery jars from the Jiahu Neolithic site in northern China revealed the residue of a fermented beverage of rice, honey, and fruit.

New Evidence Continues To Emerge

Meanwhile, ongoing discoveries continue to push the beginnings of boozy beverages even further and further into the past.

While it was once thought that humans domesticated grapevines no earlier than 8,000 years ago, a 2023 study of the DNA of more than 3,500 vine samples showed that wine grapes were domesticated in the Caucasus region of Western Asia and Eastern Europe as far back as 11,000 years ago. Table grapes were also domesticated in the Middle East around that same time, and it was these crops that were crossbred with wild versions to launch the wine varieties that became popular throughout the continent.

The idea of an 11,000-year-old wine is certainly impressive, but the archaeological record suggests the possibility of an even older brew: In 2018, a Stanford University research team found the 13,000-year-old remains of starch and plant particles called phytolith, which result from wheat and barley beer production, at a Natufian gravesite near modern-day Haifa, Israel. Although critics believe the evidence points to breadmaking, the Stanford team contends that both bread and a thick, grog-type beer were created at this site.

For now, we’ll give the edge in this battle of seniority bragging rights to beer. But with more discoveries sure to pop up in the coming years, it's likely this debate will be revived — and continue past many a closing hour.

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What Is the World’s Oldest Story?

Inscribed “Epic of Gilgamesh” tablet

Whether relayed by way of a novel, poem, movie, or word of mouth, stories have served as a means of connecting people through shared experiences and emotions since we first learned to communicate with one another.

Some of the most famous stories have endured for hundreds or thousands of years. William Shakespeare penned his celebrated plays in the 16th and 17th centuries. Beowulf was written several hundred years before that, while the Iliad and Odyssey epics push back even further into the first millennium BCE.

And yet there are even older and far more obscure examples of storytelling that won’t turn up in a college literature course. Which inspires the question: How far back do we need to travel to find the world’s oldest story?

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The “Epic of Gilgamesh” Is the Oldest Surviving Written Tale

The ancient Sumerian Epic of Gilgamesh is often cited as the oldest known surviving story. This epic poem tells the tale of King Gilgamesh, the part-divine ruler of the ancient city of Urek, who battles terrible monsters sent forth by spiteful gods and seeks out a plant that brings eternal youth. Derived from sources that date back to approximately 2100 BCE, the first full version of Gilgamesh appeared on cuneiform tablets early the following millennium.

But while this would be an early example of a story that could be held and read, it’s more accurate to refer to Gilgamesh as the oldest known work of narrative literature. If you consider visual art capable of telling a story, then there are plenty of surviving creations that predate the written word.

Neolithic Carvings Have Been Shown To Portray Narratives

One such creation is the collection of carvings at the ruins of an 11,000-year-old settlement in modern-day Turkey. Found on a limestone bench in a communal building, the carvings show ferocious animals surrounding a male figure who conspicuously holds his genitalia.

According to archaeologists, the carvings represent separate scenes meant to be read together, rendering this display the oldest narrative sequence on record. However, while some believe the carvings are meant to convey a show of masculinity, the exact story being communicated is a mystery.

If a single image can tell a story, then a recently discovered cave painting on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi is the oldest physical example of a story. Depicting three humanlike figures with sticks alongside what appears to be a giant pig, the painting is believed to be more than 50,000 years old.

This scene may be the abstract representation of a hunt, but again, we can only guess at the narrative being depicted in this ancient painting.

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Aboriginal Dreamtime Myths May Be Even Older

Given the absence of a concrete narrative in prehistoric art, better candidates for the world's oldest story are found among the Dreamtime creation myths of the First Nations (Aboriginal) people of Australia. Shared by way of song, dance, and body painting, these stories describe the world's spiritual beginnings in the foundational period of the Dreamtime, also known as the Dreaming, the mythology of the Aboriginal culture.

Because the First Nations people lived on the continent for more than 60,000 years before Europeans arrived in the late 18th century, they were able to pass along their oral stories without outside influence for hundreds of generations. What’s more, the events depicted in creation myths have been shown to coincide with geologic and cosmic events that allow experts to deduce when the stories may have been spawned.

For example, the Palawa of Tasmania have a story about when the strip of land connecting the island to Australia was submerged in a flood. By examining the terrain and deposits around the Bass Strait, which now separates Tasmania from the rest of the continent, a research team found that the land bridge was swallowed by a rising ocean around 12,000 years ago, making that time period the likely origin point of the story.

The Palawa also tell of a "Great South Star" named Moinee, which never budged from its position in the night sky. Determining this to be the star now commonly known as Sirius, the team analyzed astronomical data to find an epoch when the celestial marker seemingly never moved, a period between 12,000 and 14,000 years in the past — likely around the same time the story was first told.

The Budj Bim Creation Story May Be More Than 30,000 Years Old

Which brings us to the creation story of Budj Bim. According to the Gunditjmara people of Southwest Australia, a god named Budj Bim emerged from the earth in the form of a volcano, his head becoming the rocky protuberance, his teeth forming the basalt deposits, and his blood spilling over the land as lava. The volcano still exists, albeit in dormant mode as a feature of the Gunditjmara ancestral lands, now known as the Budj Bim Cultural Landscape.

In the 1940s, an artifact known as the "Bushfield axe" was found beneath a layer of ash from the Tower Hill volcano complex, located about 25 miles from the Budj Bim complex. More recently, thanks to advancements in radiocarbon dating, scientists were able to determine that both Budj Bim and Tower Hill last erupted more than 30,000 years ago.

Since the axe was found beneath the ash, it stands to reason that people inhabited the region at the time the volcano erupted. As such, the local Dreamtime myth about the lava-spewing god that changed the landscape may also be more than 30,000 years old.

Constellations May Have Inspired an Even Older Story

Is there an older story still? According to a pair of astronomers, the answer can be found by again turning to the stars.

The Pleiades are a cluster of stars commonly known as the "seven sisters," although only six are visible to the naked eye since two of them are close enough to appear as one. As described in a 2021 paper by researchers Ray Norris and Barnaby Norris, stories about the missing sister can be found among European, African, Asian, Native American, and South Pacific cultures. Specifically, the Greeks of antiquity and First Nations people of Australia share similar tales about the sisters escaping the lustful yearnings of the nearby constellation Orion, despite there being no contact between the two cultures.

They did have a common ancestor, however, as humans are believed to have begun migrating out of Africa approximately 100,000 years ago. At that time, the seven sisters were more visibly distinct, providing reason to think that the original Pleiades-Orion story crystallized in Africa in this mind-bogglingly distant era.

There are reasons to be skeptical, however. One critic cautions that many cultures ascribe male and female identities to constellations, so this alone is not strong evidence that the stories came from a common source. Also, a period of 100,000 years is far longer than most oral traditions are thought to survive.

Which isn’t to say the Pleiades-Orion story is not the world’s oldest story, only that we don’t know for sure. After all, one can easily envision this tale being dreamed up by stargazers in the plains of Africa, using the same power of imagination that has spurred the creation of the greatest stories known to humanity.

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How Were the Egyptian Pyramids Built?

Engraving of the Pyramids of Giza

Ancient Egypt was home to more than 100 pyramids, many of which still stand today. One of the oldest monumental pyramids in Egypt, the Step Pyramid of Djoser, was built sometime between 2667 BCE and 2648 BCE and began a period of pyramid construction lasting more than a thousand years. The most famous monuments are found at the Giza complex, home to the Great Pyramid, the Pyramid of Khafre, and the Pyramid of Menkaure, all built during the Fourth Dynasty around 2600 to 2500 BCE — the golden age of ancient Egypt.

The Egyptian pyramids stand as one of humanity’s most remarkable architectural achievements, and their incredible precision and massive scale have confounded researchers for centuries. Despite numerous theories and extensive archaeological research, the exact methods of their construction remain a subject of scholarly debate. How did ancient Egyptians erect pyramids using millions of massive blocks weighing as much as 2.5 tons each? And how, more specifically, did they move those blocks up the superstructure?

To this day, there is no known historical or archaeological evidence that resolves the question definitively. While popular speculation often veers into fantastical explanations — yes, including aliens — serious historians and archaeologists have given much thought as to how these monumental structures might have been erected using the technological capabilities of the time. Here are three of the most likely construction theories.

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The Herodotus Machine

The first historical account of the construction of the pyramids came from the ancient Greek historian Herodotus in the fifth century BCE. In his Histories, he wrote that the Great Pyramid took 20 years to build and demanded the labor of 100,000 people. Herodotus also wrote that after laying the stones for the base, workers “raised the remaining stones to their places by means of machines formed of short wooden planks. The first machine raised them from the ground to the top of the first step. On this there was another machine, which received the stone upon its arrival and conveyed it to the second step,” and so on.

These “Herodotus Machines,” as they later became known, are speculated to have used a system of levers or ropes (or both) to lift blocks incrementally between levels of the pyramid. Egyptian priests told Herodotus about this system — but it’s important to note that this was a long time after the construction of the Great Pyramid, so neither the priests nor Herodotus were actual eyewitnesses to its construction. It is certainly feasible, however, that the machines he described may have been used, either by themselves or, more likely, in conjunction with other methods.

The External Ramp Theory

Archaeologists generally agree that a system of ramps must have been used, in some form or another, to drag the millions of blocks into their positions in the various pyramids. While there’s no remaining physical evidence of external ramps at the Great Pyramid, traces can be seen around some of the other Old Kingdom structures. One initial theory posited the use of a single, linear ramp built on one side of the pyramid, which would have been gradually raised as the pyramid progressed. But, considering that an 8% slope is about the maximum possible slope for moving such heavy blocks, a ramp such as this would have needed to be about a mile long to reach the top of the pyramid. That would mean constructing the ramp would have been as much of a task as building the pyramid itself, making the theory unlikely, especially for larger structures such as the Great Pyramid.

There are a few other ramp theories, however. One proposes that a series of switchback, or staircase, ramps could have been built, zigzagging up just one face of the pyramid. Traces of these have been found at the Sinki, Meidum, Giza, Abu Ghurob, and Lisht pyramids. Other archaeologists have speculated that a spiraling ramp could have been used, which would have wrapped around the entire pyramid. This is a popular theory, although it does have its problems. As with the straight or linear ramp, this ramp would potentially have been a mile long if it was used to build the Great Pyramid, making it in itself a massive construction project. It’s also not clear how workers could have maneuvered 2.5-ton blocks around the corners of the ramp. Archaeologist Mark Lehner did make a practical demonstration of how this could be done, but it was on a far, far smaller pyramid.

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The Internal Ramp Theory

In 2007, the French architect Jean-Pierre Houdin offered a new theory to solve the mystery of how Egypt’s Great Pyramid was built. Using archaeological research combined with 3D computer modeling, he argued that the Egyptians used an internal — rather than external — system of ramps to build the pyramid. Workers, he theorized, used an outer ramp to build the first 141 feet, then constructed a spiraling inner ramp to carry stones to the apex of the 482-foot-tall pyramid. Using this technique, Houdin argued, the pyramid could have been built by around 4,000 people instead of 100,000, as other theories suggest.

The internal ramp theory was met with much intrigue, with some archaeologists skeptical and others arguing that it’s as valid as any other concept. Interestingly, Houdin’s proposal would explain why no evidence of ramps has been found at the Great Pyramid: They could be still there, hidden inside the structure. He and his team continue to work on the hypothesis, in search of definitive evidence of internal ramp structures with the help of 3D scanning technology.

Whether concrete proof will ever be found to support one particular theory is yet to be seen. It’s entirely possible, of course, that the Egyptians utilized various construction techniques when building the pyramids, combining levers and both external and internal ramps — as well as other possible methods — to overcome whatever challenges came their way.

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What Were the Earliest Hotels Like?

Maids Head Hotel in Norwich

Whether we’re checking into a five-star resort or a shack with a roof and cable TV off the interstate, we all expect a base level of service for a stay at a hotel. Of course, this is a luxury that comes with 21st-century lodging. Amenities such as running water, clean sheets, and free coffee are taken for granted nowadays, but they certainly weren’t the industry standard in the early days of hospitality.

Given that it’s easier to enjoy the view from our comfy modern chairs, let’s take a look at the rise of this form of transitory housing in various parts of the world, and revisit what it was like for guests to experience the earliest hotels.

Caravanserai of the Middle East

As ancient civilizations flourished in the modern-day Middle East, it ignited the spread of trade routes into Asia and Europe, and with that development came the need for lodging to shelter travelers who were on the road for weeks to months at a time.

As described in Elaine Denby’s Grand Hotels: Reality and Illusion, these early shelters populated the regular paths at frequent enough intervals to accommodate travelers, who often covered 15 to 20 miles in a single day. Known by such names as caravanserai, khan, or han, these mud-brick buildings typically provided guests with beds, stables, and a well or cistern for drinking water, although food was not necessarily part of the arrangement.

A more elaborate and still-standing example of caravanserai is the Ribat-i Sharaf in modern-day Iran. Built in the 12th century, this fortified complex boasted an inner and outer courtyard, a mosque, and detailed stucco decoration, rendering it suitable for royals and government officials.

Roman Mansiones and Tabernae

With their extensive network of roads that blanketed much of Europe, the ancient Romans also produced a system of lodging at regular intervals for travelers. High-ranking officials and well-connected merchants with official government documentation could enjoy a comfortable night's sleep, a full meal, and fresh horses to take for the next leg of the journey at a stone-built inn known as a mansio.

Those who were less fortunate often had to take their chances with the lower-scale tabernae, which presented an array of hazards that included uncomfortable reed-stuffed mattresses, unsanitary kitchens, poor drinking water, and vermin.

Travelers in rural areas, meanwhile, often found themselves bedding down in what were essentially glorified stables. Such remote lodging, with its poorly fastened doors, could leave customers at the mercy of other ill-intentioned guests or an unscrupulous innkeeper.

Asian Post Houses and Ryokan

The caravanserai that dotted the western sections of the Silk Road took on similar forms in the lodgings found nearer to the east end of the trade route, in China. Those in the employ of the Mongol Emperor Kublai Khan enjoyed what tended to be luxurious stays in these dwellings, as documented by Venetian explorer Marco Polo: "Every 25 miles there is a beautiful, palatial post house where the messengers can stay in magnificent beds with silk sheets and every other luxury suitable for a king," he wrote. "There are always 400 well-kept horses ready, which are supplied and fed by nearby towns. There are more than 10,000 such palaces, all beautifully furnished, and more than 200,000 horses in all."

Elsewhere in Asia, a different form of lodging took root. When pilgrimages to Buddhist temples in Japan became popular among the eighth-century aristocracy, the temples were arranged to accommodate guests; this hospitality was said to mark the beginnings of the ryokan, a traditional Japanese inn often built in the vicinity of natural hot spring baths.

Some of the ryokan that emerged from this early period remain popular with modern travelers seeking a respite from their busy urban lives. Dating back to 705 CE, Nishiyama Onsen Keiunkan has been recognized by Guinness World Records as the oldest continuously running hotel in the world. The second-oldest, Houshi Ryokan, has been operated by the same family since opening in 718 CE.

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Inns of Medieval Europe

Along with the traffic of traveling tradesmen, the paths carved out by religious pilgrims prompted the need for places of shelter in medieval Europe. Although many of the hostels and hospices were overseen by benevolent monks, lodgers still had to deal with such discomforts as flea-infested floors and a log in lieu of a pillow.

Other long-standing inns of the region offered accommodations that were literally fit for a king. The Angel and Royal in Grantham, England, was said to have hosted King John in 1213, while its current restaurant was the site of Richard III receiving the Great Seal in 1483. Similarly, the historic Maids Head Hotel in Norwich provided lodging for Cardinal Wolsey in 1519 and for members of Queen Elizabeth I's entourage in 1587.

By the Late Middle Ages, England's larger cities had somewhere in the neighborhood of 10 to 20 inns. A typical inn featured a kitchen, stable, storage rooms, and varying degrees of private and communal sleeping quarters. Their proprietors stood out as prominent figures about town, with many innkeepers also serving in local government posts and as banking agents.

As it became increasingly common for vacationers to travel for pleasure, many older European coaching inns, so named for the coach travelers they received, began adding private sitting rooms and entertainment venues geared toward the longer-staying guests. One such example is the U.K.'s Lion Hotel Shrewsbury, which unveiled an elegant ballroom in the late 18th century.

United States: From Taverns to Modern Luxury

Spawned from the inns that populated Britain, the taverns of North American metropolitan centers took on their own distinct character by the early years of the new republic. Typically featuring six to 10 rooms in nondistinct buildings, these taverns were notorious for filthy conditions and indifferent service, with lodgers often forced to share rooms and even beds with strangers.

However, it wasn't long before the modern hotel emerged from these settings. From its opening in 1794, the City Hotel in New York came equipped with a ballroom, a bar, public parlors, and the largest circulating library in the country. Most important, the 137-room hotel offered its guests a luxury that was largely nonexistent in the downscale taverns: private sleeping rooms.

Boston's Exchange Coffee House upped the ante for extravagance: A seven-story behemoth with more than 200 rooms, the hotel featured a glass-paneled atrium, a ballroom, retail stores, a coffee house, and an exchange floor. Its mammoth dimensions led to its downfall, though, as firemen were unable to reach the 1818 blaze that began on its top floors and spread until the structure was incinerated less than 10 years after it was completed.

The quest to further refine the guest experience continued with the 1829 debut of Boston's 170-room Tremont House, which offered such amenities as indoor plumbing, individually keyed locks, and a bell communication system. While this sort of luxury accommodation was the exception instead of the norm, the widespread acceptance of the term “hotel” over “tavern” by this time demonstrated that there was no going back to the lax standards of the previous century.

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5 Gladiators Who Deserve Their Own Movie

Commodus at the Colosseum

The first known gladiator competition in ancient Rome occurred in 264 BCE at the funeral of Brutus Pera, where three sets of combatants fought to the death. Before long, gladiator fights became extremely popular among the Roman public and were treated as entertaining spectacles despite the brutal violence displayed.

As the sport gained popularity, the number of gladiators grew, peaking in the year 107 CE when the Roman Emperor Trajan welcomed around 5,000 pairs of gladiators to perform during a 123-day series of celebrations throughout the city of Rome. Many of these battles took place at the Colosseum, which was built between 70 and 72 CE, and served as the site for the grandest gladiatorial contests. But there were also various smaller arenas and amphitheaters throughout the Roman Empire that played host to these competitions.

The gladiators of ancient Rome came from all kinds of backgrounds; some participated for the thrill of the sport and to earn the adoration of their fellow Romans, though most were enslaved people or prisoners fighting for their freedom. But regardless of social standing, successful fighters were often considered heroes throughout Roman society. While most of these gladiators have been forgotten to the annals of history, a few warriors are still known by name and discussed today. In honor of the 2024 release of Ridley Scott’s Gladiator II, the sequel to his Oscar-winning 2000 film Gladiator, here are five famous real-life Roman fighters who deserve their own movies.

Spartacus

Spartacus is the one gladiator on this list who already has his own movie, the eponymous 1960 film starring Kirk Douglas. That’s in part because Spartucus’ fame came not from his success in the arena, but from leading a major revolt of enslaved people against the Roman Republic from 73 to 71 BCE.

The details of Spartacus’ early life are murky. Some historians suspect he served as a soldier before abandoning the Roman army, and was later caught, sold into slavery, and sent to a Capuan gladiatorial training school. Spartacus never fought gladiatorial fights in the Colosseum, which wasn’t built until nearly 150 years after his death. Instead, he fought most of his battles with fellow trainees — that is, until he and around 70 fellow students escaped gladiatorial school and fled to take refuge on nearby Mount Vesuvius.

As leader of this new rebel alliance, Spartacus led raids against his former oppressors, pillaging various locations throughout the Roman countryside. His exploits attracted the attention of other escaped enslaved people, who went to Mount Vesuvius to join the rebellion, and in time, the group eclipsed 90,000 members. The guerrilla attacks continued, and the conflict became known as the Third Servile War, or Gladiatorial War. Spartacus and his men traveled across the Roman Empire amassing victory after victory, fighting against the oppressive rule that had forced them into slavery. These revolts came to an end in 71 BCE at a battle roughly 35 miles southeast of Naples, Italy, the likely location of Spartacus’ death.

Crixus

Crixus was a contemporary of Spartacus and was among the enslaved gladiator trainees who fled Capua for refuge on Mount Vesuvius. After their unlikely escape, Crixus, Spartacus, and a gladiator named Oenomaus were chosen as leaders of the rebellion. As a trusted ally of Spartacus, Crixus played an important role in the Third Servile War.

In his book The Spartacus War, author Barry Strauss wrote that Crixus was far more popular than Spartacus, who “had only a small number of supporters.” Crixus was a cunning tactician who earned the trust of his fellow rebels, and, Strauss wrote, “had behind him the majority of his fellow Celts as well as the majority of the Germans.” Due to strategic disagreements, Crixus and his followers splintered off from the group led by Spartacus, which the Greek philosopher Plutarch claimed was because of Crixus’ “arrogance and presumption.” Shortly after this schism, Crixus fell in battle in the year 72 BCE, one year before Spartacus.

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Marcus Attilius

Unlike many enslaved people who were forced into becoming gladiators, Marcus Attilius was born free and willingly chose to fight. Attilius’ gladiatorial career is believed to have taken place around 70 to 79 CE, and his first fight was against a storied veteran named Hilarus at an amphitheater in Pompeii. This was unusual, given that gladiators of equal skill sets were often pitted against each other. But Attilius shocked the masses by handedly defeating Hilarus, and that feat was followed by the defeat of yet another veteran in his next match.

Attilius’ wins were so notable, they inspired contemporary artists to draw graffiti-like sketches of his triumphs. Today, these sketches can be found within the Nuceria Gate necropolis at Pompeii, as they were well preserved by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 CE. The drawings feature the triumphant Attilius with a “V” — meaning “victory” — next to his likeness, while his two veteran opponents are depicted as the losers.

Flamma

Flamma was a gladiator of Syrian origin who thrived as a professional combatant during the reign of Roman Emperor Hadrian (117 to 138 CE). There are no reliable records of Flamma’s early life, or how he ended up in gladiatorial school. But what we do know is that Flamma was highly revered among spectators of the sport, and he relished in the adoration.

According to Rachael Hanel’s book Gladiators, Flamma “exhibited the most well-known case of this love of attention.” Despite being awarded the rudis — a ceremonial baton that was granted to enslaved gladiators to grant them their freedom — on four separate occasions, Flamma refused to accept it and opted to return to the arena. He inspired a cult following among fans, before being struck down in gladiatorial battle at the age of 30. According to his gravestone in Sicily — where many of his gladiator fights took place — Flamma fought 34 times, winning 21 contests and tying nine.

Commodus

Commodus is best known for being the emperor of Rome from 177 to 192 CE, and you may remember the villainous fictionalized version of him portrayed by actor Joaquin Phoenix in the 2000 film Gladiator. But unlike other emperors, Commodus was known to take up arms and enter the gladiator arena himself, largely to stoke his own ego. In fact, he was considered to be among the most volatile, selfish, and unsuccessful emperors in Roman history, and he even attempted to rename Rome “Colonia Commodiana” after himself. Commodus also believed that he was the god Hercules, which likely added to his delusions about his skills as a gladiator.

According to the fourth-century CE text Historia Augusta — a series of biographies about Roman emperors — Commodus was “born a gladiator, not really a prince.” It’s said he fought in hundreds of gladiatorial bouts, though these contests were often heavily skewed in his favor. No opponent wanted to harm the emperor of Rome, giving Commodus an unfair advantage. He was known for being ruthlessly violent in his quest for glory. According to legend, he once killed 100 bears from up in his imperial balcony, and he was also known to shoot a bow and arrow at lions from a safe distance.

Many of Commodus’ contemporaries viewed his gladiatorial obsession as unbecoming of an emperor, given that many gladiators were from lower social classes. These tensions finally came to a head in 192 CE, when Commodus was assassinated by a wrestling partner.

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How Did the Romans Represent Zero?

The number zero

The origins of zero as a mathematical symbol — and concept — are fascinating. As early as 5,000 years ago in ancient Mesopotamia, Sumerian scribes used a slanted double wedge between cuneiform symbols to denote the absence of a number. In the third century BCE, the Babylonians developed a numerical system based on values of 60 and used a symbol of two small wedges to differentiate between tenths, hundredths, and thousandths. Around the fourth century CE, the Maya independently developed their own symbol to represent zero on their calendar. But each of these early systems only recognized the symbolic zero as a placeholder, not as a unique number with its own properties and value.

It was around the fifth century CE that mathematicians in India first formalized the use of zero as both a placeholder and a number with intrinsic value, using a small dot to signify zero. This innovation spread through Islamic scholars, who refined the concept and integrated it into advanced calculations and algebra. It wasn’t until the 12th century that this zero reached Europe, transforming mathematics by making complex calculations possible. Given this was several decades after the fall of the Roman Empire, it begs the question: What did the Romans do without zero?

The Roman Numeral System Didn’t Have Zero

In contrast to other ancient cultures, the Romans — whose numerical system was constructed quite differently — had no mathematical symbol for zero. Roman numerals relied on seven specific symbols for values: I (1), V (5), X (10), L (50), C (100), D (500), and M (1,000), which were stacked next to each other to represent all other numbers, usually through addition. For example, XII represents 12 (10 + 1 + 1). Subtraction was used as well, though it wasn’t common until the Middle Ages. This was done by placing a smaller numeral before a larger one; for example, IX represents 9 (10 – 1). Simple arithmetic such as addition and subtraction was done on a counting board known as an abacus, and the value of “none” could be represented on the tool by an empty row.

The Romans did not have a symbol for zero in mathematical computations because they didn’t need it — but they did need a way to denote the absence of a quantity, such as in record-keeping. In these cases, the Latin words nulla or nihil, meaning “none” or “nothing,” served as linguistic placeholders and were abbreviated using N. These words, however, had no mathematical function; they were simply an expression of emptiness rather than part of the formal numerical system. This convention shows that Romans recognized the practical need to denote “nothing” even while they lacked the abstract mathematical understanding of zero as its own number.

The Romans Were Resistant to Zero

The Roman numeral system, though effective for basic counting and trade, became cumbersome as calculations grew more complex. Without a zero symbol, Roman mathematicians and merchants struggled with place values, making arithmetic operations such as multiplication or division challenging. This absence of zero also meant the system was unsuited to large-scale mathematics or scientific calculation, though that didn’t seem to significantly impact the Romans’ impressive engineering designs.

When the Hindu-Arabic numeral system, which included zero, arrived in Europe through Islamic scholars in the Middle Ages, the Romans initially resisted using it. Zero was not just a foreign concept but was also seen as a potential philosophical threat, symbolizing “nothingness” in a way that seemed unsettling to those accustomed to tangible numbers and symbols. Aristotle believed that “nature abhors a vacuum” and asserted there was no such thing as nothing. The Catholic Church also rejected the numerical concept of zero due to its association with the infinite, an idea that conflicted with religious teachings at the time.

An Italian Mathematician Helped Bring the Zero to Europe

Italian mathematician Leonardo Pisano, better known as Fibonacci, introduced the Hindu-Arabic numeral system to Europe through his groundbreaking book Liber Abaci (The Book of Numbers) in 1202. He referred to zero as zephirum, a term derived from the Arabic word ṣifr, meaning "empty" or "nothing." This Arabic term, in turn, originated from the Sanskrit word śūnya, which also means "empty." Over time, zephirum evolved linguistically, becoming zefiro in Italian and "zero" in modern English.

By the late Middle Ages, zero and the Hindu-Arabic numeral system were being used throughout Europe, especially in fields such as commerce, astronomy, and engineering. Accountants and merchants had discovered the usefulness of zero in bookkeeping and calculations, while scholars used it to advance mathematical theories. Though Roman numerals retained ceremonial use, the acceptance of zero signaled an important mathematical and philosophical shift, making it possible to conceive of innovations in science and technology that required a more comprehensive numerical framework.

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The Story of Alexander the Great, in 6 Facts

Mosaic of Alexander the Great

In 356 BCE, in the city of Pella, the ancient capital of Macedonia, a baby boy was born to the king of Macedon, Philip II, and his fourth wife, Olympias. Philip celebrated the arrival of his first son and future heir, but not even the proud king could have imagined how far the boy, Alexander, would go.

King Philip II had already overseen the reformation of the Macedonian army, with the establishment of the phalanx infantry formation (a dense line of soldiers standing shoulder to shoulder) and the brutally effective use of long sarissa pikes and siege engines. But it was Alexander, who succeeded to the throne at just 20 years old following his father’s assassination, who took this fearsome force to a whole new level. He engaged in military campaigns against the Greeks and then the Persians, and in little over a decade had conquered most of the known world — all before his sudden death at age 32.

Here are six facts about Alexander III of Macedon, more commonly known as Alexander the Great, a man widely considered the greatest and most successful military commander in history.

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Aristotle Was Alexander’s Teacher

As the son of royalty and heir to the throne, Alexander was expected to receive a fine and princely education. But Alexander’s schooling went above and beyond: His teacher was none other than Aristotle, one of the greatest philosophers who ever lived. The famed scholar was summoned by King Philip II around 343 BCE, when Alexander was 13 years old. Aristotle tutored Alexander on a wide range of subjects, including philosophy, ethics, science, and the arts, in an attempt to create an enlightened monarch who would rule in a fair and just manner — something arguably lost on Alexander in later years, as his military leadership increasingly veered toward megalomania.

Alexander Was Never Defeated in Battle

Alexander succeeded to the throne in 336 BCE, and soon went to war, spending most of his reign engaged in lengthy military campaigns throughout Western Asia, Central Asia, parts of South Asia, and Egypt. Incredibly, Alexander was never defeated in battle, despite often being outnumbered. He won at least 20 major battles against significant military powers, including the Greek city-states, Egypt, and Persia. Not only was Alexander a masterful tactician and general, but he also inspired extreme loyalty among his soldiers, who refused his orders only once during the so-called Hyphasis Mutiny, when his exhausted men refused to march further into the Indian subcontinent.

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Alexander Founded Many Cities

During his reign, Alexander the Great conquered the Greek city-states and the mighty Persian Empire. In doing so, he created an empire that spanned three continents and covered about 2 million square miles. According to the ancient Greek philosopher Plutarch, Alexander also founded more than 70 cities, though modern historians place the number between 10 and 20. Many of these he named after himself, including Alexandria Troas in Turkey, Alexandria Arachosia and Alexandria Ariana in what is now Afghanistan, and, most notably, Alexandria, which is the second largest city in Egypt today.

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Bucephalus Was Alexander’s Faithful Warhorse

Bucephalus is one of the most famous horses from classical antiquity. According to Plutarch, the horse was given as a gift to Alexander's father, Philip II. But the animal was aggressive and unmanageable, and wouldn’t allow anyone to mount him. Seeing this, Alexander, just a boy at the time, asked permission to tame the horse, saying, “What an excellent horse do they lose, for want of address and boldness to manage him!” His elders laughed at him, but Alexander proved them wrong, managing to ride and ultimately tame the wild creature. Bucephalus became Alexander’s mount of choice and was with him throughout his campaigns. He held the horse in such high regard that he even named a city — Bucephala in modern-day Pakistan — in honor of his faithful steed.

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Alexander Took Huge Risks With His Own Life

One of the reasons Alexander inspired such devotion and sacrifice in his soldiers was his willingness to charge into battle on the front lines beside them. This, however, was a huge risk, and Alexander came close to death more than once. At the Battle of Granicus in 334 BCE, for example, Alexander was seconds away from receiving a fatal blow from a Persian soldier, only to be saved in the last moment by one of his companions, Cleitus the Black. Later, during the Indian campaign, Alexander received his most severe wound when an enemy arrow pierced his lung. Word soon spread that he had died, but Alexander survived. When he had fully recovered, he presented himself to his awaiting troops, to the cheers and even tears of his soldiers.

Alexander’s Death Is Shrouded in Mystery

The death of Alexander the Great remains one of history’s greatest mysteries. We know that Alexander, at the age of 32, fell ill during a days-long period of festivities, collapsing and complaining of a searing pain in his back. An intense fever followed, and he died 12 days later. From that moment up until the present day, the exact cause of his death has been a topic of much debate. Numerous theories have been proposed, including alcoholic liver disease, malaria, typhoid fever, and assassination by strychnine poisoning. While we might never know the truth about Alexander’s death, we could one day solve one of archaeology’s other great mysteries: the location of his tomb. Numerous theories exist regarding the tomb’s location, placing it anywhere from Egypt to Greece. It’s possible it was destroyed and will never be found — but that won’t stop archaeologists from searching for the final resting place of history’s greatest general.

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7 Roman Emperors Everyone Should Know

Bust of Augustus

Although Rome reached the pinnacle of its power and influence during the imperial era, which stretched from approximately 27 BCE to 476 CE, it wasn’t always easy for emperors during this period to run a tight ship. Not only did these imperial rulers endure threats from both hostile invaders and supposed allies who secretly plotted to gain power for themselves, but they also faced the myriad challenges of maintaining order among the disparate cultures of an empire that touched three continents and encompassed nearly 1.7 million square miles at its peak.

While some emperors succumbed to the pressures of the job and the temptation of corruption, others proved to have the vision and mettle to adjust as needed and propel the empire forward for the next generation. Here are seven Roman emperors who excelled in the role, helping ensure that the memory of Rome would endure for posterity.

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Augustus (27 BCE-14 CE)

Although Julius Caesar proclaimed himself supreme leader in the dying days of the Roman Republic, it was his grandnephew and adopted son Augustus who marked a new era as Rome’s first emperor. Rich from the spoils of victory over Cleopatra’s Egypt, Augustus embarked on a building program that included necessary projects such as new roads and aqueducts, as well as awe-inspiring marvels including the Temple of Apollo Palatinus and the Theater of Marcellus. He also founded a postal system, installed a police and firefighting force, and secured the ever-expanding empire’s borders by establishing a standing army. While his boast of having transformed Rome from a city of clay to one of marble was hyperbole, it’s no exaggeration to say that Augustus’ impressive 40-year rule kick-started the two-century period of prosperity known as the Pax Romana, or “Roman Peace.”

Vespasian (69-79 CE)

The end of Emperor Nero's controversial reign in 68 CE threatened to plunge the Roman Empire into further chaos, as a string of successors failed to establish stability in what became known as the "Year of the Four Emperors." Into that turbulence stepped Vespasian, who quelled the bloody uprisings that had accompanied him to the top and established the Flavian dynasty that endured for the next three decades. Known for his frugal ways — he once was allegedly pelted with turnips for his stinginess as proconsul of Africa — Vespasian unapologetically raised taxes to replenish the coffers that had been drained during Nero's rule. And while he used the cash to fund massive construction projects such as the Colosseum, the emperor also drew praise for showing restraint when it came to indulging in personal luxuries. Although his reign wasn't a particularly long one, Vespasian left enough of an impression that the Roman senator and historian Tacitus noted he was "the only emperor who had changed for the better."

Trajan (98-117 CE)

The second of the "Five Good Emperors" (along with Nerva, Hadrian, Antoninus Pius, and Marcus Aurelius) that comprised the Nerva-Antonine dynasty that ruled from 96-180 CE, Trajan stakes a legitimate claim to being the greatest ruler of Rome's heyday. With his treasury bolstered by the conquest of Dacia (modern-day Romania), Trajan funneled the bounty toward the building of new roads, bridges, and aqueducts, as well as a magnificent forum with its towering Trajan's Column in the city of Rome. He also had the common sense to share the wealth with the people, and he was widely beloved for reducing taxes and expanding social welfare programs that included the "alimenta" for poor and orphaned children. Trajan continued his military campaigns through his final years, and by the end of his rule, Rome had expanded to the largest territory the empire ever saw. His accomplishments were of such magnitude that future emperors were inaugurated with the words, "Sis felicior Augusto, melior Traiano," meaning "May you be more fortunate than Augustus, and better than Trajan."

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Hadrian (117-138 CE)

It's tough to follow in the military footsteps of a warrior-king like Trajan, and to his credit, Hadrian didn't make much of an effort to do so. He instead focused on consolidating and strengthening the empire's borders, a strategy underscored by the construction of the 73-mile Hadrian's Wall across modern-day England, which is still standing today. Hadrian also commissioned major structures such as the Pantheon, codified Roman law with the creation of the Perpetual Edict, and was a devoted patron of the arts. Although he rankled some by embracing Greek culture and flouting his companionship with a Greek youth named Antinous, Hadrian's policies unquestionably kept the empire running at full throttle through the glory days of the second century CE.

Marcus Aurelius (161-180 CE)

A devotee of Stoicism, a Hellenistic school of philosophy emphasizing the pursuit of virtue, Marcus Aurelius is best remembered for the collection of self-reflections that comprise his famed work Meditations. Ironically, Rome's philosopher-king had little time to enjoy the inner peace he sought; his two-decade reign was marked by armed conflict with Parthians to the east and invading Germanic tribes from the north, as well as a devastating plague that wiped out millions of Roman citizens. Despite the hardships, Marcus Aurelius was largely successful at maintaining the prosperity forged by his predecessors. However, he also garners criticism from historians for passing the empire to his son Commodus, whose inept reign is considered to have brought an end to the Pax Romana.

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Diocletian (284-305 CE)

How does a floundering empire overcome the half-century of infighting and territorial loss that would later be coined the "Crisis of the Third Century"? By installing an emperor with the confidence to distribute power across its far-flung boundaries. Known as the tetrarchy, this system featured two senior leaders known as augusti and a pair of junior leaders called caesars who ostensibly ruled their respective jurisdictions, though Diocletian clearly held sway above the others. More of an administrative than a battlefield genius, Diocletian increased the size of Rome's army, doubled the number of provinces, separated the powers of civic and military personnel, and established a state budget based on tax revenue. Although the tetrarchy fizzled after his reign ended, the emperor's success at forging two decades of stability was exemplified by his peaceful retirement instead of a forced abdication or murderous coup.

Constantine (306-337 CE)

Amid the jousting for power that resumed with Diocletian's departure, Constantine the Great emerged to become one of the most transformative figures of the empire's lengthy history. Unlike his predecessors, who either barely tolerated Christians or outright persecuted them, Constantine wholeheartedly embraced the growing religion. He claimed to have seen the sign of the cross in the sky before the Battle of Milvian Bridge in 312 CE, and the following year, he officially granted tolerance to Christians by issuing the Edict of Milan. After claiming sole control of the empire in 324 CE, Constantine moved his capital 850 miles east to the rebuilt city of Constantinople (formerly named Byzantium), and lured new residents with promises of free bread and citizenship. While Rome succumbed to invaders in 476 CE, the city built by its namesake continued to flourish as the Christian-populated seat of the Eastern Roman Empire for another millennium.

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What Did Ancient Romans Eat?

Ancient Roman feast

The mere mention of ancient Rome conjures up a multitude of powerful images: the assassination of Julius Caesar, legionaries marching in perfect unison, the alliance of Mark Antony and Cleopatra, gladiators fighting in the Colosseum. It was a time of power and conquest, of low scheming and high culture. It was also a time of feasting — something the Romans were known for, especially during Bacchanalia festivals, in which food and wine would flow with fervor. But what exactly did the Romans eat? Here are some of the most common foodstuffs that fed the hungry denizens of the Roman Empire.

Bread and Porridge

Cereal grains, particularly wheat and oatmeal, were part of almost every meal in ancient Rome. These grains were typically used to make bread, biscuits, or porridge, and were eaten by the common folk, the upper crust, and soldiers in the Roman army. Roman porridge recipes survive to this day, including one in Cato the Elder’s De Agri Cultura, a treatise on agriculture written around 160 BCE, which happens to be the oldest remaining complete work of prose in Latin. The simple recipe, which isn’t dissimilar to modern counterparts, suggests soaking wheat in boiling water before adding milk to create a thick gruel — a staple dish that anyone in Rome could have prepared.

Vegetables and Beans

Seasonally available and locally sourced vegetables and beans were often served as accompaniments to Roman meals. Common vegetables included lettuce, cabbage, turnips, and leeks, while wealthier Romans could afford asparagus, mushrooms, and artichokes. Legumes such as broad beans, chickpeas, and lentils also played an important role in the Roman diet, providing substantial amounts of calories, protein, calcium, and iron to a diet that wasn’t nearly as meat-heavy as our diets today. A recent study found that Roman gladiators were mostly vegetarian, eating primarily wheat, barley, and beans.

Fruits and Nuts

As the empire expanded, the Romans discovered and embraced many varieties of fruits and nuts. The humble apple tree, for example, was introduced to many parts of the world after the Romans found it growing in Syria. They also cultivated pears, plums, apricots, and figs, as well as nuts — which were considered expensive treats — including chestnuts, walnuts, almonds, pistachios, and hazelnuts. Then, of course, there were grapes, which were eaten fresh, or — more importantly — turned into wine. The Romans loved to drink wine, which they diluted with a little water. Drinking wine neat was considered uncivilized, but not as uncouth as drinking beer, which was seen as simply barbaric.

Milk and Cheese

The Romans did not typically drink milk, and doing so was largely frowned upon. They saw excessive milk drinking as evidence of barbarism, and even considered butter fit only for treating burns. (The Romans believed their ubiquitous olive oil to be far superior for cooking purposes.) They did, however, use goat and sheep milk to make cheese. Many farms produced cheese, and some wealthier homes had dedicated cheese kitchens. Roman soldiers were also familiar with the cheese-making process, including the use of rennet, and could produce the food while deployed abroad. The Roman author Pliny the Elder was indignant when considering the lack of cheese-making in what he saw as lesser civilizations, writing, “It is a remarkable circumstance, that the barbarous nations which subsist on milk have been for so many ages either ignorant of the merits of cheese, or else have totally disregarded it.”

Meat and Fish

Meat and fish were both considered luxuries in ancient Rome, and were primarily reserved for wealthier citizens. Pork was the most common meat, either cooked fresh (stewed or roasted) or turned into bacon. Fresh fish and seafood included tuna, eels, sea urchins, and other shellfish. During feasts, wealthy Romans sometimes ramped up their culinary creations to a whole different level. Dishes served at these extravagant events included pickled sow’s udders, stuffed dormice, bull’s testicles, and hares decorated with wings to resemble Pegasus.

Garum

Special mention has to go to one standout ingredient of ancient Roman cuisine: a fermented fish sauce called garum. Pliny the Elder described garum as “a choice liquor consisting of the guts of fish and the other parts that would otherwise be considered refuse.” Despite this unappetizing appraisal, he nonetheless called it an “exquisite liquid.” The Romans mass-produced garum in dedicated factories. Three common varieties were manufactured: a dark-colored condiment that was high in protein, a cooking sauce similar to Vietnamese fish sauces, and a milder version called muria. Roman diners sprinkled garum on all manner of savory dishes, providing a pungent umami to even the blandest of meals.

Roman Desserts

Sweet-toothed Romans, especially those with money to spend, could indulge in a variety of desserts. Baked goods such as honey cakes and fruit tarts were common, as were homemade sweets known as dulcia domestica, which included stuffed dates. One common dessert eaten throughout Roman society was libum, a type of honey cheesecake. Libum wasn’t only a tasty treat; it was traditionally made as an offering to the household gods, after which it could be enjoyed by all the family.

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