Ancient fast-food bar reveals Pompeii eating habits

A 2,000-year- old fast- food stall unearthed from the ash of Pompeii has given researchers new clues about the snacking habits of the ancient Romans.

The ornate snack bar counter, decorated with polychrome patterns and frozen by volcanic ash, was partially exhumed in 2019 but archeologists extended work on the site to reveal it in its full glory.

Pompeii was buried in a sea of boiling lava when the volcano on nearby Mount Vesuvius erupted in AD 79, killing between 2,000 and 15,000 people.

Archeologists continue to make discoveries there.

The thermopolium — from the Greek “thermos” for hot and “poleo” to sell — at what was a busy intersection of Silver

Wedding Street and Alley of Balconies, was the Roman era equivalent of a fastfood snack stall.

The team found duck bone fragments as well as the remains of pigs, goats, fish and snails in earthenware pots. Some of the ingredients had been cooked together like a Roman-era paella.

Crushed fava beans, used to modify the taste of wine, were found at the bottom of one jar.

The counter appears to have been closed in a hurry and abandoned by its owners — perhaps as the first rumblings of the eruption were felt — said Massimo Osanna, director general at the Archaeological Park of Pompeii.

Amphorae, a water tower and a fountain were found alongside human remains, including those of a man believed to have been aged around 50 and discovered near a children’s bed.

“It is possible that someone, perhaps the oldest man, stayed behind and perished during the first phase of the eruption,” Osanna said.

The remains of another person were also found and could be an opportunist thief or someone fleeing the eruption who was “surprised by the burning vapors just as he had his hand on the lid of the pot that he had just opened,” added Osanna.

In the latest stage of their work, archeologists have uncovered a number of still life scenes, including depictions of animals believed to have been on the menu, notably mallard ducks and a rooster, for serving up with wine or hot beverages.

Previously unearthed was a fresco bearing an image of a Nereid nymph riding a seahorse and gladiators in combat.

“As well as bearing witness to daily life in Pompeii, the possibilities to analyze afforded by this thermopolium are exceptional because for the first time we have excavated a site in its entirety,” said Massimo Osanna, director general at the Archaeological Park of Pompeii.

The thermopolium was very popular in the Roman world. Pompeii alone had around 80.

The massive site that spreads over 44 hectares is what remains of one of the richest cities in the Roman Empire. Layers of ash buried many buildings and objects in a nearly pristine state, including curled-up corpses of victims.

Pompeii is Italy’s second most visited site after the Colisseum in Rome and attracted around 4 million tourists in 2019.