Introduction

This chapter begins with a brief overview of the past perspectives and debates in the literature on food in classical antiquity. It discusses the need for multidisciplinarity due to the limitations of the various kinds of sources and related disciplines. The history of food is a flourishing subject. Numerous journals are devoted to food and foodways in historical perspective. Equally complex is the correlation between nutrition and economy. Nobel Prize winner Robert Fogel argued that most people in premodern societies were simply not adequately fed and healthy enough to be very productive and that progress in productivity in modern society was made possible by developments in health and nutrition. Stature is used as a proxy for health and nutrition in past populations and even as an indicator of economic performance. The chapter also presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in this book.