ABSTRACT
Fish consumption in antiquity, particularly of fresh fish, varied greatly according to geographic locations, epochs, and social strata, but certain kinds of fish certainly appeared regularly in the diet of ordinary people. In wanting to assess the role fish and seafood had in the diet of ordinary people in antiquity, the literary record, written by the educated upper class for their peers, is of limited use. Iconographic evidence – the mosaics and wall paintings that decorated fine villas and urban houses – also give an idea of the types of seafood that were appreciated. The species that are depicted most often, either as still life or in marine scenes, are bass, red mullet, moray eel, lobster, and octopus. As the Roman Empire encompassed a vast geographic area, not only were there differences in diet among the social classes, but there were also regional differences based on culinary traditions and what fish and other seafood were naturally available in the area.
