ABSTRACT
The study of (mal)nutrition in the ancient world long was, as Peter Garnsey called it, an ‘undernourished plant’, but since the turn of the millennium there has been a proliferation of studies discussing the quality of Roman food regimes. While Roman diets are being approached from a variety of angles and by a range of specialists, it is the study of skeletal remains that has had the most impact on the terms of the debate. As happens more often in the study of issues related to ancient economic history, there is a more optimistic camp, and a more pessimistic camp – the former highlighting Roman dietary achievement, the latter highlighting Roman dietary shortcomings. Two of the most thorough and detailed general explorations of the relation between malnutrition and skeletal evidence come from scholars that have a less optimistic take on Roman food regimes.
