Pompeii had an incredibly vibrant hospitality scene before she met her end with the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in AD 79. The word "hospitality" comes from the Latin word "hospitium".

Hospitality Means Hospitium

Not far from the forum is the sign of a shop belonging to a local baker Podiscus Pricus, in whose building historians say was a wood-fired oven. There were likely other ovens across Pompeii, too similar to a small one found in the Greco-Roman market area of Naples. Some 4 feet in diameter, these ovens would not have been a good shape for bread, but you could bake smaller rounds: in other words, pizza -- that classic Italian street food staple.

We know which buildings were bakeries, because the vicious discharge of Vesuvius covered, concealed and preserved not just the mills, ovens and loaves, but also the unground wheat kernels. In the olive oil shops, there are traces of oil in the jugs; amphoras are still stacked in the wine shops. In fact, archaeologists claim to have even found evidence of rosemary, garlic, olive oil, cheese and anchovies in the fossilized flatbreads in some of the bakeries.

As with most Roman provincial towns, several inns and taverns can be found at the entrance to Pompeii, having provided handy shelter to visiting merchants. Then there are other establishments spread across the town. In total, archaeologists have identified some 160 properties that seem to have been bars and restaurants, in addition to a great many hotels. This relatively large number owed to the fact that many people would not have had access in their homes to the utilities required to prepare food -- from ovens to sinks.

Then there were: coaching inns (stabula), which were simple bars, sometimes located just outside the metropolis; restaurants known as popina; and the inevitable lupanar (brothels).Of those eating and drinking establishments, the Inn of Primus was doubtless very popular. Situated on the main drag of Via dell'Abbondanza, it would have attracted a wide clientele from the local businesses and residences that existed at the heart of Pompeii.

The spirit of some of the Pompeiians who chomped on these pizzas can be seen in the graffiti across town.On the wall of a bar owned by one Athictus are the words: 'I screwed the barmaid.' A little more poetic and found at the bar of Astylus and Pardalus is: 'Lovers are like bees in that they live a honeyed life.' And at the bar of Innulus and Papilio -- most likely also a brothel -- an individual recorded the occasion of his coming out: 'Weep you girls. My penis has given you up. Now it penetrates men's behind's. Goodby, wondrous femininity!

It's not dissimilar to the circumstances that the dwellers of modern-day Manhattan find themselves in. ... Many of Pompeii's establishments are what we would today call a restaurant with rooms, which the Romans called a hospitium. In various shapes and sizes, there were modest establishments in poorer parts of town that probably had long-term residents who couldn't afford to rent a home, some of which appear to have had enough bedrooms for up to fifty people.

Along that street were found shops and workshops offering anything and everything one could imagine. There were builders' merchants, blacksmiths, iron and bronze dealers, arts and crafts stores, shops selling cloth, olive oil, hardware and tools. There was a wine store, a bakery, a barber shop, as well as a grocer, a fruit store, a bank, several brothels, a laundry and the local public baths. The latter advertised itself as 'elegant baths for the best people,'. ...

AS READ ON BBC RADIO 4 BOOK OF THE WEEK. The fascinating story of how we have gone out to eat, from the ancient Romans in Pompeii to the luxurious Michelin-starred restaurants of today. Tracing its earliest incarnations in the city of Pompeii, where Sitwell is stunned by the sophistication of the dining scene, this is a romp through history as we meet the characters and discover the events that shape the way we eat today. Sitwell, restaurant critic for the Daily Telegraph and famous for his acerbic criticisms on the hit BBC show MasterChef, tackles this enormous subject with his typical wit and precision. He spies influences from an ancient traveller of the Muslim world, revels in the unintended consequences for nascent fine dining of the French Revolution, reveals in full hideous glory the post-Second World War dining scene in the UK and fathoms the birth of sensitive gastronomy in the US counterculture of the 1960s. This is a story of the ingenuity of the human race as individuals endeavour to do that most fundamental of things: to feed people. It is a story of art, politics, revolution, desperate need and decadent pleasure. Sitwell, a familiar face in the UK and a figure known for the controversy he attracts, provides anyone who loves to dine out, or who loves history, or who simply loves a good read with an accessible and humorous history. The Restaurant is jam-packed with extraordinary facts; a book to read eagerly from start to finish or to spend glorious moments dipping in to. It may be William Sitwell’s History of Eating Out, but it’s also the definitive story of one of the cornerstones of our culture.

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Books

AS READ ON BBC RADIO 4 BOOK OF THE WEEK. The fascinating story of how we have gone out to eat, from the ancient Romans in Pompeii to the luxurious Michelin-starred restaurants of today. Tracing its earliest incarnations in the city of Pompeii, where Sitwell is stunned by the sophistication of the dining scene, this is a romp through history as we meet the characters and discover the events that shape the way we eat today. Sitwell, restaurant critic for the Daily Telegraph and famous for his acerbic criticisms on the hit BBC show MasterChef, tackles this enormous subject with his typical wit and precision. He spies influences from an ancient traveller of the Muslim world, revels in the unintended consequences for nascent fine dining of the French Revolution, reveals in full hideous glory the post-Second World War dining scene in the UK and fathoms the birth of sensitive gastronomy in the US counterculture of the 1960s. This is a story of the ingenuity of the human race as individuals endeavour to do that most fundamental of things: to feed people. It is a story of art, politics, revolution, desperate need and decadent pleasure. Sitwell, a familiar face in the UK and a figure known for the controversy he attracts, provides anyone who loves to dine out, or who loves history, or who simply loves a good read with an accessible and humorous history. The Restaurant is jam-packed with extraordinary facts; a book to read eagerly from start to finish or to spend glorious moments dipping in to.   It may be William Sitwell’s History of Eating Out, but it’s also the definitive story of one of the cornerstones of our culture.

Hospitality Means Hospitium

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