Culinary World of Juvenal

This dissertation examines Roman history during the first centuries BCE and CE through the lens of food. Starting at the end with an exegesis of Juvenal’s Satires, I focus on his main gastronomic stereotypes, foods that distinguish people by class. First, I evaluate the bread, the boar, and the turbot as part of Roman culture in order to determine their veracity as stereotypes. Then, by tracing the changing role of these foods from the late Republic through the early Empire, I consider Juvenal’s underlying message in their use. This method has produced some rather compelling conclusions. The successes of the plebs in acquiring and protecting the frumentatio (free grain distribution) define the history of republican politics and imperial administration. Rather than reading panem et circenses (bread and circuses) as a derogatory statement about the lack of political will among the people, I argue that Juvenal is sarcastically acknowledging the people’s victories and their prudence in avoiding frivolous aspirations. Also, the boar was the quintessential meat of Rome, largely thanks to the market subsidy of the frumentatio. Men like Juvenal’s Virro who wish to emulate the extravagant dinners of Roman cuisine but lack the will or ability to treat their guests equally find the monetization of client services a convenient excuse to practice disparity at the cena recta (formal dinner), a trend which reflects the mounting inadequacies of the institution of patronage and the increasing reliance upon currency and markets. Finally, fish metaphors in literature almost always represent excess, and Juvenal’s specific use of the turbot exemplifies the importance of size to Domitian’s, and his court’s, concept of empire. Likewise, the cenatio (dining-hall) at the Domus Flavia reflects the emperor’s appropriation of absolute authority and jurisdiction. This exploration of gastronomic stereotypes in Juvenal validates and encourages the use of food as a historical lens for detecting fundamental changes in politics, economy, society, and empire.