"Thermapolium" Top 5 Page for this destination Herculaneum Things to Do Tip by toonsarah

As well as the private dwellings and large public buildings, you can see several smaller ones that help convey a good sense of everyday life here. These include a number of thermapolia or taverns. The custom was to have two meals, as we would recognise them, at home. The main meal was dinner, eaten at about 4.00 PM, which consisted of starters based on eggs and olives, then going on to meat and stuffed fish and finally a sweet and fruit. At dawn a breakfast of bread and cheese or vegetables was consumed, or simply whatever was left over from dinner. During the day people would not have lunch, as we would, but instead would rely on snacks bought from the numerous taverns. These could include flat bread, fried fish, eggs, olives, sausages and also sweetmeats and fruit.

My photo shows a large thermapolium situated in the far left of the complex, near the Hall of the Augustals. It has the typical structure of all these eating places: a front room opening onto the road, with a brick counter decorated with marble or terracotta slabs, into which were sunk the dolia (jars) containing the goods, and behind this a back room where you could sit to eat the simple meal you’d purchased. So you can understand how this was the “fast food joint” of its day!

Directions: Near the Hall of the Augustals