Christians in Ancient Rome Ate LOTS of Fish; It's the Kind of Fish they Ate that Surprised Scientists

Teresa Neumann : Apr 19, 2009
Norman Hammond - The Times U.K.

"While distancing themselves from Jewish food taboos and generally avoiding meat derived from pagan sacrifices, the early Christians are normally hypothesised to have eaten the same food as their non-Christian Roman contemporaries," the team wrote. "Within the larger context of what is currently known about Roman dietary habits, the inclusion of freshwater fish therefore comes as unexpected."

(Rome, Italy)—The Journal of Archaeological Science recently reported that researchers have verified the diet of early Christians in ancient Rome was high in freshwater fish, probably taken from the Tiber River.

"The eating habits of Rome's early Christians are more complex than has traditionally been assumed," wrote Leonard Rutgers and his colleagues, whose work was reportedly based on analysis of 22 skeletons found in the Catacombs of St Callixtus on the Appian Way.

As reported in The Times U.K., comparing the catacomb results with those from other sites in Italy and in the western Mediterranean, the higher nitrogen and lower carbon figures indicate the consumption of freshwater fish. Although this is surprisingly high, notes the report, "fish were still a supplement to an otherwise terrestrial diet, likely to have included sheep, goat and cow meat as well as cereals, fruit and vegetables."

"While distancing themselves from Jewish food taboos and generally avoiding meat derived from pagan sacrifices, the early Christians are normally hypothesized to have eaten the same food as their non-Christian Roman contemporaries," the team wrote. "Within the larger context of what is currently known about Roman dietary habits, the inclusion of freshwater fish therefore comes as unexpected...When Romans ate fish at all, they are normally believed to have consumed sea fish. Freshwater fish has not been considered as an essential ingredient in the classical Roman diet."

According to the report, in 301 A.D., the Emperor Diocletian's Edict on Prices tried to fix the cost of freshwater fish at around a half to a third of its marine equivalent, so that even the poor could eat it.