January 1, Pompeii Discovery Shows Slaves Ate Surprisingly Well

Wyatt’s Take

• Food remains found in slave quarters show rich diets
• Slaves ate fruit and beans, more nutritious than some “free” folks
• Grain, legumes, and fruit stored upstairs for rationing and pest control

Archaeologists digging in Pompeii made a surprising find: leftover food in the slave quarters of an ancient villa. They discovered baskets filled with fruit—like pears and apples—and jars of fava beans beneath a modern road.

These foods added nutrition for the enslaved men, women, and children living in cramped rooms with up to three beds each.

“These foods served as nutritional supplements for the enslaved men, women and children who lived in 16-square-meter cells, each containing up to three beds,” the park said in a translated statement.

The villa’s slave quarters were the biggest in the area, packed with about 50 workers. Experts say their diet, boosted by beans and fruit, may have been healthier than what some free Romans got.

“To prevent malnutrition-related illnesses and ensure maximum productivity, dietary supplements were essential,” the study noted.

Sometimes, the slaves even ate better than free citizens who couldn’t afford decent meals and needed charity handouts.

Archaeologists think food was kept upstairs to keep rats away and allow trusted slaves to handle rationing based on tasks or age.

Park director Gabriel Zuchtriegel said these discoveries show how “human beings were treated like tools, like machines, but humanity isn’t so easily erased.” He added, “The boundary between slave and free constantly blurred. We breathe the same air, eat the same food — and sometimes the enslaved were better fed than the so-called free.”

Researchers keep finding new secrets about Roman food, including studies of luxury meats eaten by regular folks at ancient fast-food spots.

Want to read more details on this story? Read the full report here

Wyatt Matters

Findings like these remind us how people adapt and survive, even when conditions are stacked against them. It takes grit to make do, and that’s something Middle America knows well.