Roman Gladiators were vegetarians? Yes, and they drank ash tonics as well.

Source: Spartaco - Sins of Rome peplumtv.com
 
Roman gladiators ate a mostly vegetarian diet and drank ashes as a tonic
after training according to anthropological investigations carried out on
bones of warriors found during excavations in the ancient city of Ephesos.
Roman Gladiators ate a mostly vegetarian diet and drank a tonic of ashes after training?  That goes against every image I've ever held dear. When you picture a gladiator eating, don't you picture him with a goblet of mead in one hand and a joint of meat in the other, tearing off big chunks of meat like a carnivore on the Serengeti?  I do.

The conclusions of this research destroys this view. The thought of big, hulking brutes nibbling from a pile of asparagus and cauliflower is dissonant in the extreme, especially veggies without ranch dressing. Where's the blood and grease dripping off their chins?  Where's the gnawed bone thrown into the corners for slaves or starving lions to finish off?  Next, they'll tell me gladiators didn't feast with one arm wrapped around a buxom serving wench in a revealing toga. I'm sorry, but this does not compute.

Ah, but it's science, and the basic rule of science is that whether you like a result or not, it's true.  Sigh.  There go more cherished images of my childhood.

Here's the report:

Anthropology unlocks clues about
Roman gladiators' eating habits.

Historic sources report that gladiators had their own diet comprised of beans and grains.   In fact, contemporary reports referred to them as "hordearii" ("barley eaters").

In a study by the Department of Forensic Medicine at the MedUni Vienna in cooperation with the Department of Anthropology at the Institute of Forensic Medicine at the University of Bern, bones were examined from a gladiator cemetery uncovered in 1993 which dates back to the 2nd or 3rd century BC in the then Roman city of Ephesos (now in modern-day Turkey). At the time, Ephesos was the capital of the Roman province of Asia and had over 200,000 inhabitants.

Using spectroscopy, stable isotope ratios (carbon, nitrogen and sulphur) were investigated in the collagen of the bones, along with the ratio of strontium to calcium in the bone mineral.

The result shows that gladiators mostly ate a vegetarian diet. There is virtually no difference in terms of nutrition from the local "normal population." Meals consisted primarily of grain and meat-free meals. The word "barley eater" relates in this case to the fact that gladiators were probably given grain of an inferior quality.

Build-up drink following physical exertion
The difference between gladiators and the normal population is highly significant in terms of the amount of strontium measured in their bones. This leads to the conclusion that the gladiators had a higher intake of minerals from a strontium-rich source of calcium. The ash drink quoted in literature probably really did exist. "Plant ashes were evidently consumed to fortify the body after physical exertion and to promote better bone healing," explains study leader Fabian Kanz from the Department of Forensic Medicine at the MedUni Vienna. "Things were similar then to what we do today -- we take magnesium and calcium (in the form of effervescent tablets, for example) following physical exertion." Calcium is essential for bone building and usually occurs primarily in milk products.

A further research project is looking at the migration of gladiators, who often came from different parts of the Roman Empire to Ephesos. The researchers are hoping that comparison of the bone data from gladiators with that of the local fauna will yield a number of differences.

Related stories:
  • A Step Toward Understanding Arabic Language and Culture
  • Ayla and Jondular had blue eyes, but were black
  • Greek Bronze Age ended 100 years earlier than thought
  • How Our Stone Age Ancestors Lived & Hid
  • The Killing Advantage of Stone Tipped Spears
  • Oldest fortified settlement ever found in North America
  • The Quest for Fire, Revisited
  • Two thousand years of intellectual freedom mapped
  • The Unknown Volcanic Eruption of 1808 & Mary Shelley's Frankenstein
  • Who Died in 1930's Blazing Car Murder?
    •  
     *  *  *  *  *
    Story Source:  Materials provided by Medical University of Vienna. Journandra Lösch, Negahnaz Moghaddam, Karl Grossschmidt, Daniele U. Risser, Fabian Kanz. Stable Isotope and Trace Element Studies on Gladiators and Contemporary Romans from Ephesus (Turkey, 2nd and 3rd Ct. AD) - Implications for Differences in Diet. PLoS One, October 15, 2014

    Comments

    Post a Comment

    Popular posts from this blog

    Children's drawings during abuse investigations

    Image
    Source:  rutherfordcountytn.gov I llustrations by children can be a critical tool in forensic investigations of child abuse. A recent study compared the results when child abuse victims were offered the opportunity to draw during questioning with results when victims were not offered this opportunity. "The act of drawing was not only an empowering experience for these children," said Dr. Katz. "We also found it to be forensically more effective in eliciting richer testimonies in child abuse cases. We had no idea the gap would be so great between those who drew and those who weren't given this option." A chance to express themselves Some 125 alleged child victims of sexual abuse were randomly selected for the field study. The children, aged 5-14, were questioned by nine well-trained forensic interviewers about a single occurrence of alleged sexual abuse. The children were divided into two sets -- a control group, questioned and allowed to rest during t...
    Read more

    How laughter leads to love.

    Image
    James Cagney rubs a grapefruit half in the face of Mae Clarke  in the classic flick, Public Enemy (1931), written by Kubec Glasmon and John Bright, adaptation for the screen by Harvey Thew.  Funny? Yes.  A rom-com?  Not really.  Great scene, though. Between romance novels and rom-com movies and television, there is a never ending, ever growing market for romance.  So what leads to romance?  Of everything, it is laughter.  Not at, but with.  So here's how it works:  Boy meets girl.  Boy gets the girl to laugh.  (Add a few tasty comedic or dramatic interludes), and viola, girl catches boy (after boy makes a complete horse's ass of himself,) and the happy couple goes giggling into the sunset.   Formulaic?  Very much so.   Greatly entertaining?  Very much so. Until kids, mortgage and divorce. . . but that's a story for later. Here's a report on laughter in romance, with a link ...
    Read more

    Workout supplements: An emerging eating disorder in men?

    Image
    therewontbeanydoves.wordpress.com When developing a fictional character, you may not think about the character using large amounts of over-the-counter dietary supplements.  Especially a man who uses large amounts of workout supplements. While there has been widespread publicity on the dangers of the non-prescribed use of anabolic steroids, not much is said about legal, over-the-counter supplements.  Are there risks?  And if so, what are they?  There are several things the writer should consider. Supplement use is becoming an eating disorder with many men who use them to prepare for and recover from a workout. There is growing evidence of a link between muscle-building supplements and testicular cancer. There is evidence that over-the counter medications and supplements are the most common causes of drug-induced liver failure (a rare event, but still a risk.)  There is even evidence that, “certain popular herbal and dietary supplements can also ...
    Read more

    We're running out of water - and global warming IS NOT the major cause.

    Image
    livetoday.online How to sound the alarm about a possible future crisis without being a Jeremiah?  Stand up and rant and rave and most people tune you out. Future problems are something that the writers of fiction and non-fiction can address without being totally off-putting.  We all know that, so the trick for a working writer is to stay current on possible issues and weave these possibilities into your stories.  Besides, some of these potential crises offer some pretty cool possibilities. What's interesting in this study is that global warming isn't blamed, though it certainly is playing a part.  For example, rather than having snow in the mountains of California, they're getting rain.  Snow provides water through the dry season; rain runs off into the ocean creating a water shortage despite the total precipitation level remaining constant. A link to the full study is found in the story source. *  *  *  *  * Affordable wate...
    Read more

    Character Development: Simpler, Four-part Personality Model Introduced

    Image
    Credit: Northwestern University   The four newly determined personality types are based on five widely-recognized character traits. While the authors suggest that this study will be of most interest to hiring managers and mental health professionals, I feel it will be a major help to authors and screenwriters.  A four personality type model makes it easier to develop consistent characters, sort of a checklist of how people's personalities fall into groups. Here's the report: *  *  *  *  * Scientists determine four personality types based on new data Comprehensive data analysis dispels established paradigms in psychology Researchers have sifted through data from more than 1.5 million questionnaire respondents and found at least four distinct clusters of personality types exist: average, reserved, self-centered and role model. They are based on the five widely accepted basic personality traits: neuroticism, extraversion, openness, agre...
    Read more