ABSTRACT
Asking about women, children and food in the Roman world means tackling an enormous research question. Indeed in most cultures, age and gender seem to have been key concepts to understand quite diverse issues concerning eating and drinking. Food entitlement and deprivation are much more determined by sociocultural factors than by mere economic categories. The chapter highlights the material conditions that made food a major concern for most of the population – a worry of the longue duree. The circumstances causing at least a part of the male adult population to be unfit for working and the ever-impending danger of shortage of food are basic facts to be taken into account when dealing with the ancient world. Theoretical works by Roman authors on the management of large country estates and legal sources testify to a role pattern that ascribes the tasks of preparing and administering food to women and children.
