What did the Romans eat for lunch? To follow our discussion of Romanum Ientaculum, we introduced students to common lunch-related vocabulary and taught about the Romanum Prandium. We aren’t teaching synchronous classes to our students, so we created videos and short readings for our students to allow for repetition of the vocabulary. There are four of us in our upper schools, so we each had a hand in creating the reading and listening materials.
We introduced the lesson with a video aimed at our novice students, which included the food labeled with post-its. If you’re looking for a harder video, there’s also a Coquamus video with some of this same vocabulary. In addition to the reading below about a Roman lunch, my colleague created a video about his lunch… in meter! He also included his story (which has some enrichment extras on poetry). My husband and I shared our story and our video this week (and one of my cats made a guest appearance).
Next up? Well, of course, we have dinner!
Romanum Prandium: Vocabulary
We introduced this vocabulary for our students so they could talk about lunch. We didn’t end up hitting soup or celery very often, so if you wanted to trim the vocabulary list, that could be a place to trim it. Four of the words are related, so that hopefully makes it a little less cumbersome. Of course, several of the vocabulary words are rather long too, so trimming back anything you may not use is an excellent idea.
- Prandium, prandiī, n. – Lunch
- Pānis fartus, pānis fartī, m. – Sandwich
- Būtȳrum arachidis, būtȳrī arachidis, n. – Peanut Butter
- Pōma conditīva, pōmōrum conditīvōrum, n.pl. – Jam
- Pānis fartus cum būtȳrō arachidis et pōmīs conditīvīs – Peanut Butter and Jam Sandwich
- Acētāria, acētāriōrum, n.pl. – Salad
- Iusculum, iusculī, n. – Soup
- Carōta, carōtae, f. – Carrot
- Āpium, apiī, n. – Celery
- Cucumis, cucumeris, m. – Cucumber
- Lactūca, lactūcae, f. – Lettūce
- Lycopersicum, lycopersīcī, n. – Tomātō
- Assulae, assulārum, f.pl. Chips
- Pōtiō spūmāns, pōtiōnis spūmantis, f. – Soda
Some of the glossed vocabulary in the story about what Romans ate for lunch anticipate our list of vocabulary for dinner, like noodles and meat.
Romanum Prandium
Prandium Rōmānōrum Antīquōrum erat parvum, sīcut ientāculum. Pānis erat magnī mōmentī Rōmānīs antīquīs, et comēdērunt pānem prandiō.
Pānisne tē dēlectat? Pānis Rōmānōs antīquōs dēlectāvērunt. Imperātōrēs et cōnsulēs dedērunt pānem omnibus Rōmānīs quī nōn habēbant pecūniam. Erant multī Rōmānī quī nōn habēbant pecūniam. Aliī Rōmānī quī nōn habēbant pecūniam comēdērunt pultem prandiō, fortasse pultem avēnāceam quia Rōmānī habēbant avēnās. Vīsne comedere pultem avēnāceum prandiō?
Aliī Rōmānī comēdērunt pānem cum frīgidā carne, sīcut pānis fartus. Rōmānī comēdērunt cāseum et pōma cum pāne prāndiō. Rōmānī quī habēbant multam pecūniam etiam comēdērunt piscēs, carnem, pōma, cāseum, olīvās, et acētāria.
Rōmānī, autem, nōn habēbant lysopersica in acētāriīs quia lysopersica erant in Americā, nōn in Eurōpā. Ita! Rōmānī nōn poterant comedere collyrās quia lysopersica in Ītaliā nōn erant! Rōmānus cibus certē nōn est Ītalus cibus!
