Roman Park Bergkamen

The legionary rations

The supply of the troops presented the Romans with a logistical challenge, which they solved excellently. The supplies were organized by water, on flat-bottomed boats (prahme). They transported mainly spices and grain as basic foodstuffs. The ships also brought barrels of sour wine and wine vinegar. The Romans diluted their drinking water with wine (lora) or wine vinegar (posca). The bacteria in the water were killed in the process.

Meals were cooked by the soldiers themselves. Each tent community (contubernium) took over this task for itself. A contubernium consisted of eight legionaries. This small community lived together in a wooden barrack and shared a tent on the march. Together they did all the tasks that had to be done. In addition, each contubernium had its own cooking place and a grain mill. The grain was ground together. The bread was baked by the baker in a clay oven at a central place in the camp.

Besides bread, the main food was a porridge made of barley and wheat (puls). This was refined with various vegetables, such as carrots or leeks. Pepper, coriander and caraway were the preferred spices. Depending on the season, there were different types of fruit, nuts and legumes. Meat was eaten only very rarely.

Roman Park Bergkamen

Roman oven

Roman camp Oberaden

Roman oven