What is pizza? And what is in that picture from Pompeii?

https://www.twopeasandtheirpod.com/best-veggie-pizza/

What is pizza? I know that is a silly question, but there are so many varieties and toppings that settling on one definition, so dependent on personal preference, is next to impossible. The Romans got it right with the Latin phrases, quot homines tot sententiae and, of course, nil disputandum de gustibus.

The quintessential pizza, as if described by the philosopher Plato, to which all other pizzas aspire, is obviously a crust, sauce, cheese, and perhaps a variety of toppings. It bakes until the crust is done and the cheese is melted. This is the simplistic recipe for pizzaness or a pizza-like object. All pies are, indeed, a variation on a theme.

https://www.pizzanapoletana.org/en/ricetta_pizza_napoletana

In an attempt to protect their heritage and define more clearly this culinary gift to the world, Italy has an official and legal definition of pizza, which sets the requirements for crust, sauce, cheese, toppings, and baking. Pizzaioli who follow these directives even display a sign or a sticker (pictured above) on the front door of their shop, advertising the authenticity of their product so that patrons know they are getting the real thing. (On a side note: While searching for this information on the official rules, I came across a great article from Pizza Bien which tells us where to buy real pizza in Italy. It is well worth a read.)

Although this gastronomic delight is now a staple around the world, pizza may have its origins in the ancient Roman world. For those who argue that this delicacy did not originate in ancient Rome, a pizza of sorts is mentioned in two passages of Vergil's Aeneid as a part of the same story arc.

https://greekgodsandgoddesses.net/goddesses/celaeno/

In their journey to found a new Troy somewhere in the west, the beleaguered Trojans attack the Harpies and kill some of their cattle. The harpy Celaeno (pictured above) then curses these wandering warriors to endure so much hunger that they cannot reach their promised land until they have eaten their very tables:

una in praecelsa consedit rupe Celaeno,                            245

infelix vates, rumpitque hanc pectore vocem:

'bellum etiam pro caede boum stratisque iuvencis,

Laomedontiadae, bellumne inferre paratis

et patrio Harpyias insontis pellere regno?

Accipite ergo animis atque haec mea figite dicta,              250

quae Phoebo pater omnipotens, mihi Phoebus Apollo

praedixit, vobis Furiarum ego maxima pando.

Italiam cursu petitis ventisque vocatis:

ibitis Italiam portusque intrare licebit.

Sed non nate datam cingetis moenibus urbem                   255

quam vos dira fames nostraeque iniuria caedis

ambesas subigat malis absumere mensas.'

Aeneid III.245-257

And my translation:

Celaeno alone settles on a very high rock,

an unhappy prophetess, and calls out this voice from her heart:

'Is it war actually for the slaughter of our herds and cattle laid low,

sons of Laomedon, war you intend to bring in

and drive the innocent Harpies from their native kingdom?

Therefore receive and fix in your mind these words of mine,

which the all-powerful father foretold to Phoebus, then Phoebus Apollo to me,

then to you I, the greatest of the Furies, reveal.

Italy in your course you seek and you call upon it with the winds:

You will go to Italy and you will be permitted to enter its ports,

but you will not surround your owed city with walls

before cruel hunger and the wrongdoing of our slaughter

forces you to eat your tables gnawed by your jaws.'

https://dcc.dickinson.edu/cultural-context/german?page=15

Further on, Aeneas' son Ascanius jests that the Trojans are eating their tables:

Aeneas primique duces et pulcher Iulus

corpora sub ramis deponunt arboris altae,

instituuntque dapes et adorea liba per herbam

subiciunt epulis (sic Iupitter ipse monebat)                            110

et Cereale solum pomis agrestibus augent.

Consumptis hic forte aliis, ut vertere morsus

exiguam in Cererem penuria adegit edendi,

et violare manu malisque audacibus orbem

fatalis crusti patulis nec parcere quadris:                              115

'heus, etiam mensas consumimus?' inquit Iulus,

nec plura, adludens, ea vox audita laborum

prima tulit finem, primamque loquentis ab ore

eripuit pater ac stupefactus numine pressit.

Continuo 'Salve fatis mihi debita tellus                                  120

vosque' ait 'o fidi Troiae salvete penates:

hic domus, haec patria est. Genitor mihi talia namque

(nunc repeto) Anchises fatorum arcana reliquit:

"Cum te, nate, fames ignota ad litora vectum

accisis coget dapibus consumere mensas,                              125

tum sperare domos defessus, ibique memento

prima locare manu molirique aggere tecta."'

Aeneid VII.107-127

And this is:

Aeneas and the first leaders and handsome Iulus

lay down their bodies beneath the branches of a tall tree,

and they set up their meals and they spread out their spelt cakes

through the grass for their dishes of food (thus Jupiter himself advised)

and they pile Ceres' plate with wild fruits.

With other things here eaten by chance, as their lack of eating

drove them to turn their bites onto their scanty Ceres/grain/cakes,

and to break the plate with their hand and bod jaws

and not to spare the spread out tables of fated baked item:

'Hey! Are we eating our tables too?' says Iulus, joking,

and there were no more. This statement having been heard

first brought an end of their labors, the first from the mouth of the speaker

the father snatched and stunned by the divine will he pressed.

Immediately he says 'Greetings, land owed to me by the fates

and greetings, i you faithful gods of Troy:

here is our home, this is our country. For my father Anchises

(I recall now) left behind such secret things of the fates:

"Son, when hunger will compel you, carried to unknown shores,

to eat your tables at a hewn feast,

then weary hope for homes, and there remember

to place with your first hand and to build houses with a wall."'

In these passages we clearly see that the Trojans are using their bread as plates to hold other food (VII.111: Cereale solum pomis agrestibus augent). The reference to gnawing or tough chewing (III.256-7: vos dira fames nostraeque iniuria caedis / ambesas subigat malis absumere mensas) indicates that these could very well be a form of hardtack (survival bread) typically used by sailors and other wandering groups for millennia.

https://secretsofsurvival.com/how-to-make-hardtack/

It makes perfect sense that pizza, as we know it, would have its roots in vegetables, fruits, meats, mushrooms, seafood, etc. placed upon various types of flatbread (leavened or unleavened). These foods add flavor, convenience, neatness, or even assist in the ability to eat the hard, dried-out wafer. Even though many will call this the ancestor of pizza, in reality there are many examples of this type of food from around the world: think about a tostada from Mexico, a gyro from Greece, a sandwich from Britain, and even that cheese on a cracker you constructed and ate yesterday.

The earliest mention in writing of the actual word "pizza" dates to AD 997 in the Codex Diplomaticus Cajenatus, a collection of documents pertaining to the governance of Gaeta in central Italy. The passage in medieval Latin records an annual requirement of payment to the house of the bishop:

Tantummoduo persolvere debeatis omni anno salutes in dies natali domini sive vos sive vestris heredes in suprascripto episcopio tam nobis quam a nostris posteris successores duodecim pizze et una spatula de porco; et unum lumbulum; simul et in die sanctum pascha resurrectionis domini annualiter duodecim pizze et unum parium de pulli.

And my translation:

You merely must pay in every year of salvation on the birthday of the Lord either you or your heirs in the aforementioned bishop's house either to us or to our following successors twelve pizzas and one leg of pork, and one loin; and likewise on the holy day Easter of the resurrection of the Lord annually twelve pizzas and one pair of chickens.

There is no description of what form this pizza takes, but the word is there. A search of the origin of this term reveals, in a variety of online dictionary sites, that pitta may be a variation in Italian (and, yes, pita should come to mind), maybe coming from the Vulgar Latin picea, and related to the Greek petea, or possibly even the Old High German bizzo or pizzo. What this tells me is that the origin of the name is unknown and most likely impossible to prove.

The impetus for this discussion of the definition and origin of pizza comes from the 2023 discovery of a fresco in Pompeii which seems to show a pizza with abundant toppings. Take a look at the entree on the left:

https://www.popsci.com/science/pompeii-ancient-pizza-fresco/

The item certainly looks like a pizza, and it surely looks appetizing! Both the daily British paper The Guardian and the American Smithsonian Magazine (along with numerous other news sources) ran articles announcing to the world that a snapshot of the ancestor of the pizza had been discovered.

The question remains, though, is it really a pizza? If we go by the official definition provided by the Associazione Verace Pizza Napoletana listed above, we have to say no. Why does the dish in the fresco not make the cut? The main reason is that tomatoes were not introduced to Europe by the Spanish exploring South America until the 16th century. There is also some discussion that true mozzarella cheese may not have been available until the 12th century, but variations of this necessary topping may have been around since the 1st century AD.

So what mouth-watering dish do we see in this fresco? Publications which did not jump on the pizza bandwagon (including the New York Times, National Public Radio, and even Popular Science) claim that this is merely an ancestor of our modern staple, a sort of proto-pizza, or maybe even a tasty focaccia.

So, what does it all mean? My thoughts are that the entree represented in the fresco is not a pizza, but a disk of bread providing a base for other items, most likely a mix of fruit and vegetables. This does reflect the historical use of hardtack I described above, and continues a tradition of providing a platform for foods even exiled Trojans would recognize and enjoy.

Down the Roman Road: Part IV

Question #4: Why are the sidewalks in Pompeiian streets so high?

Stepping stones crossing a street in Pompeii from elevated sidewalks.
Photograph taken by Emily Gilmore, June 2011.

Again, I have read conflicting reports. Most say that the streets are deep in order to contain the mud, muck, and sewage. Others report that the deep streets are for directing and tracking wheeled traffic and keeping it safely away from pedestrians. Concerning the latter there are suggestions that the stepping stones and even the ruts for the wheels are all part of the effort to contain traffic. I have even read that the stepping stones were meant to be speed-bumps, slowing down traffic as it has to negotiate the obstacles.

I believe (like in an earlier post) that some combination of the two suggestions makes sense. I do lean, though, toward the notion that the street itself was an open ditch and that the raised sidewalks and stepping stones are for the convenience of pedestrians.

Bonus question: Are the stepping stones across the streets in Pompeii unique? I wouldn't think that they would be, but I haven't been able to find evidence to the contrary.

Down the Roman Road: Part III

Question #3: How in the world did traffic navigate those stepping stones in Pompeii?

In my last posting I considered the ruts between those stepping stones in Pompeii and pretty much came to the conclusion that they were deliberately carved in order to direct the carts and wagons between the stones and elsewhere along the route. My question above is directed not at the vehicles themselves but to the mules, donkeys, horses, oxen, and humans that propelled them. Yes, the wheels slip nicely into the ruts but how did one donkey (let's say), bound to the front of a wagon, avoid the stones? He couldn't step around them with the wagon "in the groove" nor could he step over them. Even if he were to step around the stone, how did he not damage his hooves, feet, or legs walking in or over the groove itself? This question tends to give my notion some credence that the grooves were filled with sand or other substance. The same question becomes even more interesting if the wagon was pulled by two oxen. They must have walked been trained to walk between the stones AND avoid the ruts. Furthermore, a cart pulled or pushed by a human would have the same difficulties. Any enlightenment anyone could give me would be greatly appreciated.

Down the Roman Road: Part II

Question #2: Why are there obvious ruts in Roman roads?

Ruts between the stepping stones in Pompeii

The quick answer is that these ruts are obvious signs of wear and tear. Not so fast, though. Often the quick answer is not the correct one. I have come across conflicting information about those ruts found in the ancient roads in Rome and Pompeii. Some sources do say that they were worn by the continuous passage of wheeled traffic. Even the more sensational sources like to say that they were left by chariots! (Chariots? Hah! That will have to be another post.) These sources claim that the ruts became prominent particularly as traffic edged between those large stepping stones which allowed pedestrians to cross from one side of the street to the other without stepping in something unpleasant. Other sources say that the ruts were carved deliberately in order to guide the traffic more easily between the stones or around certain curves or other obstacles.

Which answer is true? Probably some combination of the two. The problem is that I can't seem to find a definitive source for any of the claims. I would appreciate anyone who can point me in the right direction on this issue.

Something else to consider is that the ruts can be found elsewhere in the roads than between the stepping stones. I believe that they are intentional and that they helped to guide the carts and wagons along the road without incident. While the ruts, or let's call them "tracks" (like a railroad), are useful for wheeled traffic, they do make the road more difficult and dangerous for the humans and animals which pulled/pushed these carts and wagons.

Down the Roman Road: Part I

I have been thinking about those ancient roads that run through parts of the Roman Forum, the Appian Way, and Pompeii, and have come up with a few questions. I have often walked along or across these roads, paying particular attention not to turn an ankle or fall on my face. All the while I think that the roads must certainly have been more pedestrian-friendly in the ancient world. I have searched for answers by wandering through the tangle of information that is the internet, and I have also been so bold as to post my queries and thoughts on the LatinTeach list and the budding Google+ network. Either it is summer and many who would contribute or comment are lounging at the beach, or more likely my questions interest only me. In any case, I have decided to place my efforts for storage and future consideration.

The Via Sacra in Rome

Question #1: Why are these roads so rough?

While some weathering has certainly occurred over the centuries to round off these stones, I doubt that they could have changed all that much. The roads paved over in large blocks of basalt in the city of Rome are very similar, if not identical, to those which have been unearhted in Pompeii over the past few centuries. I think that it is possible or even probable that sand, gravel, concrete, or other aggregate was certainly added to fill in the gaps betrween the stones, level off the surface, and create a smooth pavement. This filler would certainly have been weathered away on the exposed, paved roads of Rome and the Appian Way. Also, any loose surface material could have been innocently swept away when the streets of Pompeii were being excavated. As archaeologists in Pompeii continue to make their way down a buried street, perhaps they should pause as they get down to the paving stones and see whether something besides ash or volcanic debris can be found on the surface.

My only concern with the use of sand or dirt as a "smoothing agent" is that they would be easily washed away by the rain or waste water which would flow through the thoroughfares.

Into the Field!

I took some of my students on a real fieldtrip to the National Gallery of Art. We took a day over Winter Break, boarded the Virginia Railway Express (local commuter rail), and made our journey into Washington, DC to take a look at their exhibition titled "Pompeii and the Roman Villa: Art and Culture around the Bay of Naples". This exhibit was quite good and featured several quality items we had seen only in books or other sources. Favorites included the busts of Julius Caesar, Augustus, Caligula, and Nero, and there was also an awesome, ornate gladiator's helmet. My students and I heartily recommend it if you find yourself in DC between now and March. Afterwards, the exhibition will travel to Los Angeles for you guys on the West Coast. A must-see for all Latin students!

Making Connections I

I know that I have posted an image of an umbrella pine tree before... but today I have a reason!

My students and I recently returned from a trip to Italy and Greece and I have a proud-teacher moment I have to share. We had just passed through the Porta Marina and into Pompeii when our local guide herded us into the shade and began his spiel about the city and the eruption of Mount Vesuvius which buried the site in AD 79. The guide went into great detail to describe the eruption and likened the cloud which rose from the mountain to a mushroom or a nuclear blast. One of my students bravely raised her hand and commented, "Pliny the Younger described the cloud as an umbrella pine tree." The guide paused a moment and replied, "Yes! Yes, indeed! You are quite correct!" and, with no umbrella pines in sight, described the tree for the rest of our group. Seemingly impressed that there were students who knew who Pliny the Younger was and had even translated the letter from Latin, he continued to make reference to the letter as our tour continued.

For the rest of the tour that afternoon, I was the one who was beaming with pride that my student had referenced material we had covered in the classroom and used it to make a visit to Pompeii more meaningful.

• Footnote 1: When you take a group to Pompeii, ask for Eugenio/Eugene or Mimo. Both of these local guides are outstanding and will try to accomodate requests.
• Footnote 2: If you have extra time in the schedule and the weather is cooperating, ask for more time after the organized tour to allow students to take more pictures or visit sites not normally on the tour, e.g., the amphitheater, gladiators' barracks, palaestra, etc.

History Repeats Itself

In the "The more things change, the more they stay the same" department, we have news out of Italy which reminds us (sadly) of an incident from the ancient Roman world.

CNN reports that a riot between the fans supporting the rival soccer teams from Catania and Palermo has resulted in the death of a police officer and the arrest of 29 brawlers outside the stadium. The officials in the Italian soccer federation have canceled all soccer games for the weekend (Feb. 3-4, 2007) and may consider longer suspension of Italy's most popular sport.

How different is this news from the scene illustrated on the picture above? This fresco shows the fighting between the inhabitants of Pompeii and the nearby town of Nuceria in AD 59. This conflict resulted in the suspension of gladiatorial contests in the town for ten years.

O TEMPORA, O MORES...