An Archaeogastric Study on the Basic Food Sources and Their Values Consumed in the Roman Army

Year 2024, Volume: 11 Issue: 2, 337 - 350, 26.12.2024

Kadir Çetin , Salih Soslu

Abstract

In order to understand how important the nutrition of military personnel was in the Roman Period, it is necessary to examine the military power of the Roman army and the nutritional culture that maintained this power. When soldiers do not have access to adequate and balanced nutrition during campaigns and wars, their combat abilities, strength and influence can be seriously affected. For this reason, it is very important for military managers to take into account the nutritional needs of soldiers when making strategic planning, to choose products with high nutritional value, and to provide adequate supply and logistics support. The aim of this study is to determine the main food sources consumed by the army in the Roman Period and to examine their nutritional values. In order to be suitable for the purpose of the thematic topic, systematic literature review and content analysis methods were adopted in order to obtain a wide data set on the basic food sources consumed by the army and to examine these data within a certain framework. Accordingly, the army’s grain (wheat, barley, oats); vegetables and fruits (beans, peas, lentils, apples, apricots, pomegranates, dates, peaches, pears, plums, grapes, cherries, mulberries, walnuts, hazelnuts, olives, chestnuts); meat, dairy and seafood, poultry and animal foods (beef, pork, lamb, sheep, kid, goat, deer, rabbit, goose, duck, chicken, fish, periwinkle, snails, oysters, mussels, It was determined that he consumed products such as cheese) and olive oil, wine, beer, honey, fish sauce and salt. According to these findings, a Roman soldier consuming approximately 830 grams of wheat daily provides approximately 1675 calories of energy. This provides 57.26% of a soldier’s total daily calorie needs. A soldier’s daily consumption of smoked meats, cheeses, boiled or fried pork, beans and lentils is estimated to be approximately 212.2 grams of protein. This is proof that the diet of Roman soldiers was very rich in protein and met their daily needs.

Keywords

Archaeogastromics, Roman army, nutrition culture, nutritional values

Ethical Statement

Bu araştırma etik kurul onayı gerektirmeyen araştırmalar arasındadır.

Supporting Institution

Bu çalışmanın hazırlanması süresince herhangi bir bireyden ya da kurumdan ayni ya da nakdi bir yardım/destek alınmamıştır.

Roma Ordusunda Tüketilen Temel Besin Kaynakları ve Değerleri Üzerine Arkeogastrik Bir Çalışma

Abstract

Roma Dönemi’nde askeri personelin beslenmesinin ne kadar önemli olduğunu anlayabilmek için Roma ordusunun askeri gücünü ve bu gücü koruyan beslenme kültürünü incelemek gerekir. Sefer ve savaşlarda askerlerin yeterli ve dengeli beslenmeye erişimi olmadığında, savaş yetenekleri, gücü ve nüfuzu ciddi bir şekilde etkilenebilmektedir. Bu sebeple askeri yöneticilerin stratejik planlama yaparken askerlerin beslenme ihtiyaçlarını dikkate almaları, besin değeri yüksek ürünleri seçmeleri, yeterli ikmal ve lojistik desteği sağlamaları oldukça önemlidir. Bu çalışmanın amacı Roma Dönemi’nde ordunun tükettiği başlıca besin kaynaklarını belirlemek ve besin değerlerini incelemektir. Tematik konunun amacına uygun olması açısından, ordunun tükettiği temel besin kaynaklarına ilişkin geniş bir veri seti elde etmek ve bu verileri belirli bir çerçevede incelemek amacıyla sistematik literatür taraması ve içerik analizi yöntemleri benimsenmiştir. Buna göre ordunun tahıl (buğday, arpa, yulaf); sebze ve meyveler (fasulye, bezelye, mercimek, elma, kayısı, nar, hurma, şeftali, armut, erik, üzüm, kiraz, dut, ceviz, fındık, zeytin, kestane); et, süt ürünleri ve deniz ürünleri, kümes hayvanları ve hayvansal gıdalar (sığır eti, domuz eti, kuzu eti, koyun, oğlak, keçi, geyik, tavşan, kaz, ördek, tavuk, balık, deniz salyangozu, salyangoz, istiridye, midye, peynir) ve zeytinyağı şarap, bira, bal, balık sosu ve tuz gibi ürünleri tükettiği belirlenmiştir. Bu bulgulara göre günlük yaklaşık 830 gram buğday erzak tüketen Romalı bir asker yaklaşık 1675 kalori enerji sağlamaktadır. Bu bir askerin toplam günlük kalori ihtiyacının %57.26’sını karşılamaktadır. Bir askerin günlük olarak tütsülenmiş et, peynir, haşlanmış ya da kızarmış domuz eti, fasulye ve mercimek tüketmesi ise yaklaşık 212.2 gram protein olarak hesaplanmıştır. Bu, Romalı askerlerin beslenmelerinin protein açısından çok zengin olduğunun ve günlük ihtiyaçlarını karşıladığının kanıtıdır.

Keywords

Arkeogastromik, Roma ordusu, beslenme kültürü, besin değerleri

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