Food and the meat supply chain in ancient Rome

In ancient Rome the consumption of meat represented a significant event for various aspects: from social, cultural, religious, political, and also legal points of view. Legal and literary sources claim several episodes and notable aspects of Roman society about meat: from animal sacrifices in order to seek divine presence and cultivating good relations between men and gods, to banquets with an abundance of pork as moments of ostentation and social prestige. Over time, especially from the republican period, viscerationes were added, i.e. free distributions, public or even private, of meat to the people, basically aimed at increasing the political consensus of those in power. A distinctive proof is represented by Diocletians’s edict “De pretiis rerum venalium”, which provides indications on the maximum sale prices of carnes, including carnis porcina (priced at 12 denarii per pound), and offers a reflection on the different valuation of types of meat between the value of the product, the role of the market and access to food.