Feeding a Roman Legion | Posca & Laridum
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#tastinghistory #ancientrome #posca
Who out there played the original Rome: Total War? I played it all through college and can't wait for the remastered version.
I was NOT expecting them as a sponsor; but this game was my jam as a kid (and as a teenager, and as an adult). I'm glad I saw this ad!
Total War Rome got me interested in history. I hope we'll see some strange Roman recipes on here like roast peacock and stuffed dormice.
I did, but I could never consolidate my hold on transalpine Gaul :(
I only recently got into the total war series. As a kid I was too busy playing settlers and age of empires... Also there was this game called Cossacs which was really great and had some funny cheats
I should, but I'm stuck on the other side of the planet trying to remove Dong Zhou in Three Kingdoms. XD
“Oh my god men that can cook~”
VINEGAR AND LARD
@@Vessel49171 well they were used to running 20 miles a day, in full armor, carrying about 60 pounds of kit so I'm pretty sure they got their cardio in.
Missing beans, bacon and whiskey, but not a bad start to a balanced diet.
Hey I resemble that remark!
@@Vessel49171 well it wasn't the macro nutrients. It's the micro. Fat is just fat. There's no vitamins in it. Meat has some vitamins if you also eat the organs but they likely were careful of disease so maybe not. Remember that they didn't have dental insurance as well so a lot of the men likely couldn't chew much regardless.
@@morganrobinson8042 Mmmm, Bacon........ Ugghhhh..🤤🤤🤤
"Posca and Laridum" sounds like an awesome Roman era cop show with an 80's soundtrack.
Posca's a jaded guerilla paranormal investigator moving from town to town, helping folk in trouble. Laridum's a green-fingered motormouth nun living on borrowed time. They fight crime!
Dammit Posca and Lardium I’m tired of your renegade antics...*puffs cigar* but you get results....get the hell outta my office before I bust you down to beat patrol !!!!
@@vickiekostecki Hah! I got like 5 words into that and immediately thought "They fight crime!"
@@crktritual superb!
I imagine them jump down a red and white stripe chariot with slings in their hand.
"I GOT YOUR 4 FOOD GROUPS RIGHT HERE, BEANS,BACON,WHISKY AND LARD!"
My guy with the Atlantis reference.
Best Disney movie
@LegoGuy87 the Emperor’s New Groove/Atlantis era was my favorite Disney era, and I was born in the 90’s and got to witness it’s Renaissance.
@@emberducati9237 The animation and writing at that time was really world-class. Today it's just mass-produced "quirky" CGI vomited onto a screen for the lowest common denominator.
That may seem harsh but the new Disney movies make me physically ill.
Lettuce?
LETTUCE?!?!!?11?
These rations were considered iron rations.
Actually the legions had a very healthy diet normally and excellent, for the time, medical attention.
It was considered at the time, an excellent carreer.
Long career...you signed up for 25 years.When time -up, you could settle in the region or you could walk back to wherever.No repatriation guaranteed.
well it had its ups and downs.
You received a good salary, but you never received the pay on time or in full; you had excellent medical care, but because you literally threw yourself in harm's way, and there was no support for wounded/crippled veterans; in theory you had a healthy filling diet, but in practice it depended on what the supply lines managed to bring and/or what you managed to forage; once you retired you were given all your backpay plus medal bonuses (which was a pretty hefty amount), and a decent-sized plot of land to cultivate, but your retirement date is 25 years after you enlist...
Not exactly a cushy job, but then again no jobs were cushy at the time, and if you lucked out on your assignment station and were put in a pacified province, it could have been pretty close to being cushy
Cry then
An excellent career until you have to fight a tiny guy and a fat guy from Gaul.
@@dragodx8238 and their tiny dog
Reminds me of that classic old ditty:
"Hey, can I have a sip of your water?"
"I'm not drinking water."
"Vodka? My kind of man-"
"It's vinegar."
"What?"
"I said it's vinegar, pussy."
Aah, a Tyrant of culture!
i havent seen this vine in so long
Plot twist: he was actually possessed by a roman soldier who misunderstood his hosts want of a energy drink
you are a true scholar!
*snicker* Ok, now that was funny, I don't care who y'are...
Huh. Growing up Catholic, I remember hearing about the centurions soaking a sponge in water and vinegar for Jesus to drink on the cross. I never connected that they were giving him their posca rations to drink, probably from their own canteens. That's actually pretty kind. Except for the whole part where they're still... letting him be crucified.
Tbh if a legionnaire had tried to remove a guy, condemned by Roman law, from a cross, they might have joined him swiftly.
It's a lot less savory when you think about what other uses sponges had among the Roman military.
@@ThunderLord1 exactly
@@Navili502 I'd say it would be more savory.
It wasn’t really that nice... if you were ‘lucky’, you’d get dehydrated and slip into unconsciousness more quickly. Otherwise it’s a long and agonizing death.
I felt the need to go to my kitchen and prepare a posca. Wow, the shot of flavour was unexpected. I asked my mother about and she said that my grandfather used to drink water with vinegar, herbs and salt as he worked in the field. It was called «gazpachuelo», archaic diminutive for «gazpacho», spanish cold tomato drink. Greetings from Spain!
En verdad el vinagre, la sal y las hierbas le dan al gazpachuelo la acidez y la salinidad correctas para calmar efectivamente la sed...
In the US South and parts of Appalachia people drink switchel, it's a water (various flavors from herbs or ginger) and apple cider vinegar drink sweetened with honey or molasses.
I still drink water and vinegar, it's a common thing on Adriatic coast in Croatia.
Do you think that the name gazpacho might be derived from posca?
All the herbs in the first recipe for Posca and the Dill for the Laridum probably served medicinal purposes more than flavoring purposes. Dill, for example, is a stomachic herb: meaning that it helps with digestion (which I would want if I were eating Laridum on the regular). There are plenty of other herbs that will do that as well, but if dill was readily available then it would make sense why it was used. Medicinal vinegars have long been used as a way of making medicine last for travel and be readily available. So, the list in the recipe would have given medicinal qualities to the vinegar of; anti-inflammatory, digestive, high vitamin C content, stimulant (aids in circulation), anti-microbial, hepatoprotective (aids the liver), and many other qualities in addition to flavour. Fun stuff!
Also, E Lucevan le Stelle has my all time favourite clarinet moment in opera. Simply stunning.
I'm sure he misused dill. There must have been dill seeds, just as in Russia when crayfish are boiled, dill seeds and salt are added to the water.
When you’ve been marching with 40 lbs every day for most of the day, fat with extra fat and salt sounds a lot more appealing
@@hahmann Sauce might as well be flavored lard for the amount of calories it yields.
@@hahmann forget about 3-4 hours, if I get off my chair then I'll eat a foot!
Isn't 40lbs a little light? That's under 20 kg. When I was in the military we had at least double that.
@@hahmann Even Marius's? Food weighs a lot.
Let's not forget that after marching for 8 hrs, you and your fellow legionaries gotta dig defenses and palisades for your night camp. Every day.
From boiled lard at the Rubicon to deep-fried sticks of butter at the Iowa State Fair, some things will just never change.
Fun fact: Mountain climbers will often pack sticks of butter as rations. Pound for pound, butter is one of the most energy/fat rich foods you can eat.
@@cygnata
Gram for gram, fat is more than twice as energy dense as proteins and carbohydrates (38 kJ/g for fat versus 17 kJ/g for both proteins and carbohydrates).
@@cygnata Paula Dean must be a professional mountain climber, apparently.
@@DH-xw6jp 😆😆😆
@@cygnata It reminds me a bit of my hometown in northern Scandinavia. Traditionally the farmers of the region would make, and even pack with them, a sort of pork filled potato dumpling that you'd eat with an obscene amount of butter. It's an extremely dense and efficient meal, definitely a must have if you're herding cattle in the frigid lowlands of Northern Sweden (for some inexplicable reason).
This dude should open his own restaurant. Having you eat nothing but historical meals.
That would be a neat trend. If there was ever a Roman/Greek style restaurant with historic dishes and the waiters and waitresses donned togas and tunics, then TAKE MY DENARII!
If he did open up a restaurant, my first meal would be Melas Zomos, Spartan Black Broth.
@Dick Izzinya why do philipinos get the need to state that they're phillipino fucking everywhere i swear to god if i see it one more time
It would be disgusting. Good money tho ig lol
I'm curious to know if there's at least a single restaurant somewhere in the world that's already doing that specifically. Just serving historical accurate meals of ages past (or as accurate as modern cuisine and ingredients can make it).
Properly prepared lard with salt is great on bread :)
Polish people call it słonina, it's pretty great, we also leave it on birdhouses in winter to help birds survive :')
Yeah, I suspect they would smear the lard onto the flat breads he mentioned at the beginning.
Yeah, Romania too (slănină/slană)
Slanina here means bacon but we do have a lard based spread called zaseka
Same here in Slovakia. Flat-/Ryebread with lard, spring onions, salt, and a dusting of paprika is delicious.
@@arandombard1197 no, hard tack was so hard it breaks teeth. Watch his video on it. They usually throw it in soups and stews to rehydrate it.
Old school Gatorade and bacon. Sounds like how my teenage sons eat breakfast. 😂
🤣 send him to invade Gaul
@@TastingHistory funny
I am confident bread was also consumed
@@intractablemaskvpmGy Hardtack was the bread. So, you're not wrong.
Vinegar and salt are great sources of electrolytes. The sour wine may have also been preferred to fresh wine since...well...it won't go sour on the march?
Also, I believe Farro was one.of the grains the Legion brought with them, which provided carbs and bulk to the diet, as well as fiber and vitamins.
I would love a series called "Who wants to feed a Legionaire" Just imagine a chef serving watercress
sandwiches to a legionary. "Legionary Pullo how was your meal" spits out his sandwich...."How am I to kill gauls on such little food."
I’d watch it
You are just 15 meals away from absolute nourishment...
@@TastingHistory watch it? You'd be hosting it!
Across the room, the chef for a national athletic team is getting the top score for their far less fancy but very filling and nutritious meal.
@Lassi Kinnunen 81 Asterix!!
The "decimatio" is even worse than we could imagine. A tenth of each cohort would be randomly selected and beaten to death by their own comrades, the soldiers of their own cohort, with who they fought and survived battles. So I'd go for the barley rations too
Came here to point this out. Decimation was a super fucked up way to discipline an army.
@@nickritchie2154 but also super effective, so I guess they got what they wanted
It wasn't unique to just Roman's either. The Mongolians organized their ranks similar to how Marius would have and practiced decimation as well.
@@nickritchie2154 It was the punishment for losing a battle so it helped make sure that didn't happen as much.
It's super fucked up by modern standards when soldiers can get shot or blown up at any moment even after doing everything right.
@@MK_ULTRA420 not for losing a battle in general, decimatio was imposed onto a unit whose actions and behaviours during the course of battle were deemed to be the main responsibility and reason for the loss.
Cohorts didn't get decimated just because the enemy overwhelming force managed to route you, or because the enemy landed a successful ambush, but if your unit had all the papers to win a battle (numbers, positioning etc.) and the lack of motivation or the incompetence of troops and officers caused the defeat (a badly timed charge that scatters your force, an unwarranted retreat that opens up a flank, an encircling maneuver badly performed etc.), then the commander had the authority to inflict decimatio.
Now of course it's a nebulous situation at best, but it's not like it was standard to have a situation like "Oh your 80-men light infantry unit faced 300 catafracti horsemen in open terrain and chose to retreat instead of dying to the last man? Too bad, seems like you're gonna beat your friends to death as punishment"
The hardtack cutaways will never cease to make me laugh XD
They're amazing!
*CLACK CLACK*
That hard tack *TAP TAP* is becoming my favourite running joke.
It's the facial expression that sells it.
🤣
That stuff is better used as building materials
Saltine crackers are basically super thin hard tack.
@@danielyoung7534 Worst case scenario, your wall can also be used as an emergency food source in that scenario
Medieval historians depicting Romans in medieval garb is equivalent to modern fanfic writers putting historical figures in a modern AU
Sooo, Fate Grand Order lol
I think it's kind of interesting because it shows that before the advent of modernity people didn't look at history as something that progressed in any direction. Their lives where the same lives as their parents, and as their grandparent and also would be the same as their descendents. They probably thought that Roman times were not that different to their own.
Four words, Abraham Lincoln vampire Hunter, enough said.
Machiavelli wit da drip 😳
CofcofHamiltonCof
Posca is basically haymaker's switchel without the sugar or ginger. It was used to avoid stomach cramp from drinking plain water when one is overheated. (If you've ever had that happen, it's pretty intense)
Can confirm, drinking too much water and exercising is an intense event. Did this on a (small) mountain. Had to crawl the rest of the way up. Did not know that adding anything would have avoided it. I think I'd added some tea? Was years ago.
@@tamlandipper29how could I avoid those cramps? Planning to scale mount jasper soon
Switchel was my dad's version of kool-aid when he was a kid lol
@@FauxReal. switchel
@@FauxReal.don’t chug cold water on an empty stomach after exerting yourself. Make sure you’ve eaten something beforehand and sip your water. It’s not that hard to avoid
Gall was often used to make ink, and was possible to do at the spot with some iron dust (which was easily obtainable from grindstones and such). Romans in the military wrote a lot in their service, and were required to do so at all times, so they carried with them a small bottle of gall in case they needed ink to write with.
That’s a different kind of gall. Oak galls are small growths that form in trees as a result of parasites like wasps. The growths are high in tannins and when combined with iron salts they make a dark brownish black ink. In a medical sense gall is a fluid produced by the liver and stored in the gallbladder which aids in digestion by breaking down fats and in a colloquial sense gall is often used in reference to something bitter or unpleasant (hence the word “galling”). The Greek word used by Matthew was kholé which can be translated as bile or gall but could also refer to some kind of bitter or poisonous plant. In Mark’s gospel he specifically mentions myrrh which would have acted as a mild painkiller (the name myrrh comes from an Arabic word that translates as ‘bitter’ so that fits)
"Don't pay people in salt"
Why? Will they get inSALTed?
10/10 best comedian since Aristofanis.
What? No salary?
🤣
I'd be pretty salty with my employer...
They get very salty
talk about rubbing salt in the wounds.
or adding in salt to injury, whatever floats your boat
In the ruins of Pompeii they recently found a tablet that was advertising an ancient roman charity food drive. The motto of which read "Pliny the elder and Pliny the younger getting together to wipe out hunger"
Looks like it was an absolute success.
NO WAY 😂
Well I guess they did wipe out. Hunger.
Mount Vesuvius: "and I took that personally."
@@MrKago1 Vulkan*
I just made the Laridum now, holy moly is this stuff SO GOOD! I never thought pig fat would be so tasty boiled, basically how you described it. The texture wasn't that bad and the olive oil made it addictive, I did get a slight hint of the dill too, very subtle, boiling the dill was nice to smell. Definitely wish this was served at restaurants, it's honestly as great as bacon.
Ideal with fresh bread, onions and garlic can also be added, but the best lard is smoked lard with some meat on the bottom, that's the best.
The secret to any good flavored meat is the fat. Ever had a great pork sausage? They used a good amount of real pork fat for that. Ever had a terrible hotdog? They skimped on the actual pork fat and instead made up the difference with margarine, potato flour, and water.
@@0neDoomedSpaceMarine Yeah sausage without enough real fat is almost inedible.
I love how Falinks is just sitting in the background like, “Yep. Sounds like my diet.”
"We're all family here! We treat you like you're one of the family! Here, family comes first!"
Please, god no. This is the exact kind of thing you hear just before they let you know you're going to be working a lot of weekends "for the family."
The 111th Rule of Aquisition: Treat people in your debt like family -- exploit them.
@@dalesnell6286 ah, a man of culture.
@@EresirThe1st The world would be a better place if companies treated their customers like their neighbor rather than something to exploit, corporations HAVE kept their distance that's why they're full of arrogant sheltered elitists who are out of touch with their consumers.
The Roman Soldier that just carries gaul is like the people who have bottles of hot sauce with them.
🤣 I put that sh*t in everything
What is gaul? My google-fu is only giving me "the Gauls".
@@ZYR47 I think it's supposed to be garum, roman fish sauce
@@buckstop Ah, yeah I could see that being the "pocket hot sauce" of Rome.
@@ZYR47 I believe he means gall. Like, the stuff from your gallbladder.
Vinegar is the "sour wine" the Roman soldiers tried to give Jesus as he died.
I have wondered my whole life why the heck they had canteens of vinegar. I always wondered if there was a misunderstanding about what they offered him to drink.
This is so cool Max!
(Edit: you included the verse right after i posted this. Sir this channel is 10/10 😍)
Yep; for a long time it was assumed that the legionaries were mocking or adding to his torture, when in actual fact they were more than likely just trying to give him some small relief.
Yeah it's venerated in the Catholic Church as the Holy Sponge
As a person that has english as a second language, I find really funny the "There was no palce where they did not serve on the same table, lamb, KID, pork, veal, poultry,..." part
Haha yeah, a young or baby goat is called a kid
Max talking about his old boss is the most relatable thing ever 😅 I, too, remember someone who was always talking about the “Team” and then turning around and acting like an emperor.
Yeah, I’ve always hated that fake “team” stuff.
Ah , the Roman Emperors , original masters of the away day and team building exercises 😵 I think I've been to a few of those where Nero would have felt right at home (apart from the sarnies 🤢)
My bf's job has even worse corporate BS. They're a "family." 🤮 Like, yeah, if you're a family why don't all your employees get benefits and a living wage? At least he's salaried
Companies really think that working class people are too stupid to realize that being called a family/team/community is going to extract more labor for the same pay. Smh
@@msjkramey oooh the temptation to go to the boss and say if we're family.....will you be my mummy pweeeeaaaaassseee.🤣🤣🤣🤣
Worst part is, they're always the kind that would smile to your face and proceed to stab you in the back. I'd honestly take an in-your-face douchebag of a boss over one of those backstabbing, duplicitous bungholes any day of the week. At least you know where you stand with the former; at least they're feckin' honest.
in the Italian countryside, especially in the Lazio region, posca is still used today with the name of acqua acetosa or acitéllo and is prepared with a liter of fresh water, two tablespoons of honey or sugar and one of wine vinegar are added. (this is the basic recipe that my grandfather taught me but the quantities may vary according to personal taste)
The mixture is stirred well, so that the honey melts, and is immediately ready to be drunk.
This drink was used in summer while working in the fields, it was refreshing and restores fatigue, providing easily assimilated sugars.
laridum (lardo in Italian) is also widely used, my grandfather together with acqua acetosa used to eat a sandwich of homemade bread with lard spread on top ( even guanciale or panecetta), pecorino romano and honey (sometimes with an addition of rosemary)
A tablespoon of vinegar?
yes a tablespoon of wine vinegar is usually enough, it must be said that the type of vinegar affects the quantity, here in Italy the vinegars are strong especially the homemade ones so we do not exaggerate the quantity, for the rest it goes to personal taste
The sandwich sounds delicious tbh
That sounds very much like the Caribbean & North American beverage switchel, with cider vinegar, molasses, and often ginger as the additives, and used exactly the same way as a thirst-quencher in the fields on a hot day.
In America during the early part of the Temperance movement, they used to make drinks from water, sugar and fruit vinegar (like raspberry), which were served at parties, presumably instead of lemonade.
Fun fact: a roman legion was divided in groups of 8-10 people who shared the same tent, ate together etc. in order to promote teamwork and kinship amongst peers.
HOWEVER, when decimatio had to happen, the unlucky fellas who had to be immolated were beaten to death by their same friends with whom they had shared their entire legionary days since training
Yep, the contubernium! The bond that it fostered actually gave rise to a term in Latin: "contubernalis", analogous to something like "brotherhood" or "comradeship". By the days of the early empire, it was 8 men, as you say. 10 contubernia per century.
To quote Fallout: New Vegas, "It instills a certain... robust obedience."
name a reason why decimatio would occur
@@MarcDufresneosorusrex it was meant to be an exemplar punishment to instill fear and serve as a deterrent.
It could happen for a number of reasons, namely insubordination or cowardice
Decimation happened like 4 times in the entire history of Rome. Anyone who thinks killing 10% of your military force, even semi consistently, is a good idea, is a fool.
Walk 50 kilometers in the Italian sun and languish in the heat. Bring your 25kg backpack.
Try again. Add toasted bread.
It's actually a pretty elaborate recipe. You have high-calorie and light fat, you have salted water and wine to restore electrolytes.
Even if it doesn't taste good, it's something you just have to eat to replenish your energy on a hike.
Never thought I'd see Rome Total War and Max in the same video. It's like a reese's peanut butter cup of TH-cam.
"You got my Total War in my Tasting History! You got Tasting History in my Total War!"
It was one of my favorite college pastimes 😁
Peanut butter cup analogy 👩🍳💋
The hardtack *tap tap* is damn near iconic at this point
1:44, there's your timestamp!
It cracks me up every time 🤣
@@ashleythibault5434 yeah
I love the Falinks plushie in the background, they’re like a little legion of Roman kirbys
About gall in drinks: in northern Sweden people actually mixed bear gall in their homemade vodka back in the 1960s and earlier. It was especially the case for the Sami people, who aren't ethnic Swedes but somewhat similar to the native Americans.
As an archaeologist I've tried a very similar drink - essentially the same type of origin, roman legionnaires - that one of my teachers took to one of our Byzantine classes. She called it "Phouska", and the recipe we used was 1.5 cups of vinegar, 0.5 cup of honey, 1 tablespoon of crushed coriander seed, and 4 cups of water, then boiling it until the honey is dissolved and then straining the coriander seeds. It's actually one of my favorite archaeological/historical dishes (closely tied with Babylonian date-and-nut bars, which I would eat daily if I wasn't allergic to nuts XD), and one Christmas I actually drank a few liters of Phouska across a couple of days.
Experimental archaeology can be tasty sometimes.
@@JustSpectre oh absolutely! We did this as a whole project of comparing ancient tastes compared to modern ones, so phouska was an interesting addition
The honey is an interesting ingredient that absolutely would have made the concoction taste worlds better. And there are plenty of sources that speak of honey being added to wine in both Classical and Medieval cultures so it isn't hard to believe that, if legionaries had access to honey (which, as any beekeeper/homeopathic practitioner knows, keeps ridiculously well in storage and even has medicinal/anti-bacterial properties), they absolutely would have incorporated it into their daily rations.
@@stridertex absolutely - it gave the whole drink a really good balance of sweet and sour, and it's actually one of the most refreshing things I've ever tried. (and it was ridiculously easy to make)
@@SvdB1992 Sadly I think this is more romanticism on our part and the fact that most surviving recipes are from upper class writers. Sure honey was abundant, but abundant enough for everyday use by thousands of common soldiers?
Not so much they may have gotten it before or after a battle or during a celebration. If it was an everyday commodity I don't think the Persians would have been able to use it to incapacitate pompey troops who gouged themselves on it.
Looking at the numbers alone and any travelling army would quickly exhaust the local supply of honey from the areas they passed through.
We also need to consider that roman taste may not have been as rich as ours iam sure any sweet drink today would taste absolutely horrible to them. A few drops might have been enough for the common fokes.
Knowing that Max basically spends his Tuesdays responding to comments because he cares so much about his community is amazing. Come for the Roman Lard and Vinegar, stay for Max's personality.
Like comparing Alex Trabek grammar and spelling to Max. It's probably more correct than what I would say or pronounce.
My mother is Slovenian and her mother was born and raised in Slovenia. She used to make their version of laridum which they called squarkie. It was cooked a bit different though the same thing. She would take raw bacon or pork fat, toss it into a frying pan with some olive oil, pepper, and salt. Cook that stuff up well done and take off and let cool. You would think it would taste like poo but it is actually really good.
In Russia and Ukraine it's calling "shkvarki"
The Biblical reference for wine mixed with gall, or in another Gospel, wine mixed with myrrh is that before the Roman soldiers crucify criminals, they gave them this wine mixed either with gall or myrrh.
This serves as a form of analgesic or anesthetic to lessen the pain of the crucifixion.
So in a way, it was an act of mercy.
But in the case of Jesus Christ, after He tasted the aforementioned wine, He refused to drink it - thereby suffering the horrific pain of getting nailed to the cross.
The reference for Posca however was when Jesus was already close to death, He uttered "I thirst" and the soldiers offered Him wine with vinegar on a sponge on a stick.
Sorry, that was a mouthful...
Anyway, I am a relatively new subscriber here and I have been watching since the Garum episode and following the Rome Series.
Let's just say I am a Nurse and a frustrated Archaeologist. Love ancient history and food at the same time!
Best wishes,
- Chris -
funny how in modern times act of mercy from some legionaire is viewed as cruel.
Is also viewed as cruelty because by giving him something to drink the Legionary was making sure it'd take longer for him to die
@@MollymaukT First, you dont know that. Second, in Bible its vinegar with wine, quite normal in roman times. It dulls senses. Maybe it was just posca and bible writers made mistake, but we dont know. He was thirsty, so what they should do? Dont give him anything? Or offer him their drink Posca? Jesus and many jews are probaply not fan of it,its roman taste. Or probably, romans as civilisated and hugely complex society they were, had some analgesic for executed. Now vinegar story is useful for christian propaganda and to mark romans more cruel.
Or the wine Jesus was offered tasted so bad he chose to die without it. Roman wine mixed with resin (myrrh) and/or bile (gall) sounds like a heinous concoction, considering the Romans tried everything they could to filter and flavor their wine.
The cheapest boxed wine in the 21st century would probably taste heavenly by comparison.
Remember they used a sponge to give it to him... The Romans used sponges on sticks to wipe after using the bathroom 😔
"But... Why wouldn't you want to?" :: PUPPY EYES INTENSIFY ::
which min?
🥺🥺🥺
That line killed me!
STOP STOP I'M ALREADY SUBSCRIBED
Love this channel but rarely makes me actually lol, oh my this did 😁
this wouldn't have been everyday soldier food, more like an emergency ration. and it suits that role near perfectly: long shelf life, stable in almost any climate, calorie dense, easy/quick to prepare.
now we just need an archeologist to dig up an intact kit so Steven1989 can eat it.
"Nice."
🤣
Steve: *opens ancient Roman jar*
Jar: *hisses*
Steve: "Nice hiss. Lets get that out on a tray"
@@arthas640 I genuinely wouldn't be surprised if he did eat it if he could get it 😂
Source: bro just trust me
@@hurhurhurhurhruhrurh source: it's physically impossible to live off just lard and sour wine for an extended period of time, let alone be in fighting condition. eventually your body is going to need these things called 'nutrients'.
you don't need a wikipedia citation when common sense and basic logic will do. jot that down for future reference.
3:26 "Bishop's weed"
Ngl I can't get the picture of a bishop smoking a joint with the pope in the back of the Vatican now
I love the Falinks in the background! Very much the Pokemon of the Roman legions!
I think we can all relate to Vitellius in that last story: bumping into an ex at a store, getting together again, and then selling them to the gladiators. True love!
Ugh, it only I could sell an ex or 2 to the gladiators...
@@sarahrosen4985
We could add my ex ; the fat bast@@d would make a great practice target.
Hahahahahaaaa!!!😁👌👏🙌
Sounds like there may have been some wounds that were still open there.
I'd sell my ex to a few gladiators; but she'd enjoy it!
>Does a video on a Roman Legion dietary staple
>Pokemon plush cameo: Falinks
Details like this are part of why I love your series, Max.
Who's that plush pokémon?
@@Reddotzebra I think it's a play on words because "Falinks" is how you would pronounce "phalanx".
@@standardheadache They're referring to the show where they ask "Who's that Pokemon?" about halfway through. Though I think "Who's that PokePlush?" would've worked a smidge better.
Nice! I don't recognise that pokémon, so the explanation is appreciated. :D
"It's boiled fat, with liquid fat drizzled on top of it, and you get watered down vinegar to drink with it."
- Some Roman Dude
Posca is similar to a modern white balsamic spritzer! It’s about 10-20% flavored white balsamic vinegar (peach is great!) and the rest seltzer water, over ice. Delicious!
There's a saying in military strategy circles: "Amateurs think about tactics, professionals dream of logistics."
While the quote itself is largely true, in reality, we actually have nightmares about logistics.
@@TheMajorActual I didn't say they were good dreams lol
@@sophia-helenemeesdetricht1957 lololol
Many many campaigns have been won, or lost, on accounts of good or poor logistics.
Logistics is probably the only thing stopping me from being a good general. Like battlefield tactics and strategy no problem but finding a way to feed and keep up supply lines I'm like wtf I need a manager.
When I was a teenager I worked the California Renaissance Faire and workers got dehydrated very quickly in the heat. One of the things we drank was cold pickle juice. Water, vinegar, and salt. And if you were REALLY dehydrated it tasted good and helped a lot.
I was a waterbearer at an SCA war and they gave me pickle juice to give to the fighters.
If the pickle juice tastes good, drink more because that means you need it
@@amandamiura4590 That's what they told us. They also made stuff by mixing instant lemonade with salt and you just sipped that all day when it was really hot.
My grandfather said he used to drink pickle juice when he was hungover. Swore by it.
I drink hot lemon tea with salt every morning, similar basis I'd expect.
Thank you for the interesting episodes. I have always been impressed with the physical endurance of our ancestors. For a 1598 re-enactment our team walked from El Paso to Santa Fe along the Camino Real. At the time I was in excellent shape although 50 years of age and managed 3.75 miles per hour for 8 hours with a lot of cramps and unable to continue with the team any more days. As a comparison: Roman Legions marched with 40 pound back packs at 3.4 miles per hour for days. I was carrying only a bottle of water and stopped for a quick meal at McDonald's. My ancestors arrived in the American Southwest near Colorado in 1624. Had a ranch, donated cattle and money to the American Colonial war effort against the British. They taught the Native Americans how to be cowboys. To become familiar with my ancestors history I read a great deal about the early southwest including the Lewis & Clark Expedition. The expedition found themselves eating lots of protein and suffering for the poor diet. It was the Native Americans of the Northwest Passage that taught the Expedition how to make pemmican that is about 60% fat mixed in with the meat, and other goodies. It was the fat that provided energy. And, the other ingredients for the needed minerals and vitamins that was missing from the expedition's diet. Possibly instead of a hamburger I should have snacked on a piece of laridum to give me energy on my 1598 re-enactment. Sounds yummy between 2 toasted sesame seed buns. The Lewis and Clark Expedition could also have benefitted from this episode.
The way Max just started into the camera (after highlighting important points) like he's being held at gunpoint makes me chuckle 😂😂
I love the random mentions of hardtack, followed by the 1 second clip of you smacking them together. Turns out hardtack is meme-worthy.
can double as shield or cannonball
cracks me up everytime
@@HappyBeezerStudios with how it would hold up fired by cannon, i would expect you to use it as grapeshot rather than full ball
You could probably armor plate a car with that stuff.
Makes me laugh every time
Ancient Roman Gatorade sounds terrifying and I am here for it!
Well, it terrifyies me, so quite true 😀
The original recipe for Gatorade (the hangover cure made for the University of Florida football team, long before they thought to mass-market it) was terrible, too. It was apparently really sour.
Terrifying and wonderful
With lots of sugar of lead!
@@Eviltwin531 at least it was made at U. Fl and not Florida State - if it had been made there, they would have called it "Seminole Fluid".
I respect that you could not resist the urge to make the "welcome to How to Feed a Legionaire" joke.
10/10 comedy
15:16 I just love how happy he is trying his own dishes. You can tell he loves cooking and making videos.
Max is the most charming content creator on this platform
Thank you ☺️
True, he is quite charming! I’m a straight guy and he is so handsome and his voice is so mesmerizing, that really I start to question my sexuality!
May I recommend Katie@ Royalty Soaps and Beryl Shereshewsky. Beryl also does food. Both have a similarly strong mix of personality and content.
@@TastingHistory 😺😻
Also Townsends and Mr. Botulism himself, Steve1989MREinfo
My mother used to give us homemade raspberry vinegar, either with sparkling water, or in hot water- for coughs, sore throats etc.
Cures what ails ya
In England the National Trust sell damson vinegar and one of the serving suggestions is as a cordial diluted with water. It was very tasty, once you'd got over the vinegar scent!
I know that from my grandmother as well. I personally think that french mustard (the really hot one from Dijon) clears a sore throat way better. Horseradish and chili help as well. No kidding, my throat is better within the hour.
A glass of apple cider vinegar diluted with water and sweetened with a bit of honey is said to give the metabolism a kick when drunk first thing in the morning.
The Falinks in the background is well-suited to this video (I love how you use Pokemon relevant with the history/recipes of your videos)!
Hey Max after making this meal, I truly understood why a Roman legionaries would eat it. Currently I’m in Keto diet and I’m also an athlete. Most legionnaires would not be in such diet, they would just preserve the carbs as they understood the importance of it. This food It’s easy to maintain and to preserve it. Yet it has tons of fat and protein to get you moving easily. Idk if the Romans understood nutrition or what, but I could see the added benefit of the olive oil in such cases of extreme workout (remember this dudes marched a lot).
In czechoslovakia(1918 to 1939) people added a litttle bit of vinegar to their water as a substitute for lemon
just thought this would be a cool fact for this episode
Why would you put lemon in water in the first place? XD
I've wondered for a while, if lemonade and vinegar water/posca have the same origin; if the sourness and flavor came from lemon juice instead of red wine vinegar, and then you added some sweetness (because in order to have enough flavor from watered-down lemon juice, it's too sour to be palatable) from honey or sugar, you'd have lemonade (at least, how we Americans make it -- not fizzy)!
@@krankarvolund7771 take a wild quess mate because its refreshing and tastes good
@@danieljhalab6775 I agree. Not all places have water that tastes or actually is refreshing. I really like water, either standing or plain seltzer, with a slice of lemon. I find the citrus oil makes your mouth feel refreshed. Perhaps when citrus was lacking a wine vinegar could give a similar relief.
@@kimquinn7728 it really does i sometimes still put wine vinegar in my water
Posca: I remember my grandma telling that she and her relatives would drink water mixed with apple cider vinegar in hot sweltering summer when the grain was harvested or hay was made. That was around the end of WW II.
It works!
Yes! And some added a pinch of ginger & sugar. a.k.a. "ginger water"
Switchel. I make it with a bit of molasses added to the vinegar and water.
@@flygirlfly
Oh I've heard of this. It was mentioned in one of the Laura Ingalls books
Absolutely ADORE the story you told about your old boss talking up "his team"!!!!!!!!! Been there, done that, got the T-shirt!!!!!!! 💖💖😘😘😂😂❤❤
I have seen exactly one opera in my life, and it just so happens that it was Tosca. Saw it in NYC on a college trip. Good stuff!
This reminds me of the episode where Mr Bean ran out of wine and Twiglets for his guests, so he served them vinegar with sugar in it and actual twigs dipped in Marmite. Mr Bean was obviously a history buff.
😆 I just watched that one the other day. He's hilarious. 🤣
Oh wait it is Marmite?
I didn't notice since i watch it a long time ago, i thought it was chocolate
Of course he is. He’s lived it ;)
@@liv8370 Oh no, another conspiracy theory? Aside from him being an alien? Amongst other alien clones of him?
4 weeks of roman recipes. I'm in love
And they just get harder and weirder
@@TastingHistory Sounds like fun! I'm here for it!
@@TastingHistory That's what she said.
12:43 ya know what might have been a good idea for a legion going to war.
Have during down time, after your soldiers have checked their gear, when going out to retrieve supply, make it policy to basically trade labor for food.
Have them chop down a clearing of wood to plant fruit trees, help the farms work their land for a day, etc etc etc.
This would insure the locals aren’t too hateful to the army, that there’s a food supply at their back that the locals can and will work (possibly increasing population), etc.
Maybe establish a battalion of the military specifically to work the land and help build up farms for civilians for free. This insures that steady supply of food and population.
I love the Falinx in the background. He... well they since there are like 6 of them seem happy to be there.
I love how when Max says things like don’t pay people with salt especially the IRS because they don’t have a sense of humor about these things I love how it sounds like he’s actually done it and gotten in trouble for it.
It’s in the same spirit as Skippy’s list 😁
lmao remember that astronaut who had to call for an extension /while in space/?
@@EB-yx4fn
Who was that?
@@ragnkja Jack Swigert, on Apollo 13! funny story, Swigert wasn't on the original team for 13, but Ken Mattingly was exposed to the measles, so he was taken off of the team with two days to spare before the launch. So obvs Swigert had to hustle to join the team, and he wasn't thinking about income taxes!
but then also, when 13 blew a leak, the fact that Mattingly, aka the single person still on earth most prepared for the mission, was still available to help mission control, undoubtedly helped save all their lives :)
The "It sounds like Tosca" sidebar is exactly the content so many other cooking shows desperately need!
🤣
Agreed. Tosca is wonderful 🥰
Great channel, thank you for testing all those historic dishes. About Posca and Laridum, the beauty of it is in it's simplicity.
Max, I'd love to see you make an episode of kimchi, or perhaps sauerkraut. I've been making the former at home for a while now, and it's just a great food in summer seasons or if you live in hot weather, as the liquid has a "sparky bubbly fresh" sour taste as you can expect, but very vivid too. I used to just cut and smash the ingredients but these days I use a grater for everything, even onion and garlic. And generous amount of high quality sea salt.
I've actually been making Posca as a mid summer daytime staple for years now. I take it on bike rides with me, and sometimes when it's really hot it's literally only Posca that will make me feel like I've drank enough liquids. Really wonderful stuff.
My recipe is generally red wine vinegar, honey, toasted corriander seeds, and salt. I keep that in the fridge and use it like a cordial to whatever strength I'm in the mood for.
Do you have a recommendation about proportions?
@@varana
In my kitchen notebook I have:
1.5 cups vinegar
0.5 cup honey
1 T of crushed coriander seeds
Generous pinch of salt.
Dilute to taste. I usually go maybe 1 part posca cordial to 8 parts water as general
@@boyobane1590 Thanks a lot! :)
@@varana Oh you'll also want to strain out the corriander after a few hours of soaking too, or you might get unpleasant chewy bits in your drink lol
Last time I was this early Rome still had a king.
Emperor.
@@progrip1985 no, he’s referencing the kingdom that came before the Republic.
That’s a great joke
That joke just rexed this whole thing.
@@lhfirex ohhhh i like that one
I love that your almost at a million subs Max, I found you right when you had started this channel. Love the information, food and HISTORY!
I hope you are happy with your choice to continue Tasting History I know I am, your show is fun, informative, and always a joy to watch. You are great at what you do!
Your old boss watched this with a tear in his eye..."I thought I was their friend...*sniff*...:("
Oh nooo
Well, he did get laid off just before starting this channel, so there may have been some animosity that needed to be addressed.
@@vigilantcosmicpenguin8721 nooo furloughed. No animosity, just the business he was in 😞
**Max explaining the act of 'Decimatio'...**
Mr. New Vegas: And you thought your boss was a pain...
I'VE GOT CALIGAE THAT GO JINGLE INGLE JANGLE
I mean, he has a point you know?
My mind immediately: “Y’know, sometimes the journey beats the destination, and especially if your spurs go Jingle Jangle Jingle and ya meet some nice gals along the way...”
Tasting History knows about Fallout new Vegas? 😳
AVE TRUE TO CAESAR
Hey you are a really funny guy i'm living now in one of the old capitals of Rome, Trier (or Treveris i think it was then called) and it is great to learn something about the romans in english for a change. And food is great of course! subscribed!
In the state of Guanajuato, Mexico, they have a peculiar drink called Cebadina. It is similar in the fact that it contains vinegar but instead of being infused with herbs it is infused with fruits. They also don't drink it as is, because they add a bit of sodium bicarbonate to the glass immediatly before drinking it. It reacts with the vinegar and fizzes up, creating some sort of "artisanal soda".
Posca sounds like a version of switchel, or haymaker's punch: water, honey, ginger and apple cider vinegar. Love it!!!
That actually sounds pretty delicious!
Yesss, I've loved switchel ever since discovering it on Townsend's channel
I think it’s highly probable that switchel is merely a renamed continuation of posca. I should probably read some more about the history of switchel before saying that, but it sounds really logical to me.
Or shrub, which is berries and sugar/honey in vinegar that's added to water as a "drinking vinegar"
Switchel would be made with molasses, not honey
Most of the recipes you show: "That looks really incredible, but there's no way I'm actually going to create that myself."
You show pouring vinegar and water into a mug: "My time has come!"
😂
It tastes good actually, the red wine vinegar in its' diluted form tastes quite fruity.
@@longyu9336 I did actually make it! It was decent, I certainly wouldn't drink it for just the taste on a regular basis but it wasn't bad! I'll probably mess around with spiced variants at some point.
@@JB-xl2jc Add some honey or even some black currant syrup. Will make it nicer, a bit sweet and bit tangy.
5:43 How could someone resist such an adorable man’s face.
so glad you are getting sponsors on your vid now you deserve it with content this excellent, thank you
I suspect that boiled fat with liquid fat was just the thing when you're feeding an army of men who march around all day. They probably had rather different caloric requirements.
Boiled fat ("SALO" - Сало) also is still popular in post soviet areas, specially in Ukraine and Russia, and we still use it in our MRE. Its really nice in cold weather and you also can use it as lubrication for "freesing" parts of weapons, cars,...
@@user-gp7rr3ll5f food for your body and your equipment
@@user-gp7rr3ll5f My only concern with using animal fat as machinery lubrication is the risk of the fat going rancid. I'm assuming this either isn't a problem in your part of the world because of the cold, or that the fat is used as a quick fix that is intended to be replaced soon.
I say this as someone who makes his own Сало on occasion when good pork fat is cheap. :)
@Tiberius I'mserious No you're right about lard, butter and bacon fat being replaced with canola, soybean and palm oils.
Before the name change, canola oil used to be called "rapeseed oil" and it was used as a non-toxic oil for paint mixing. For example, Cheetos were fried in coconut oil until canola oil became cheaper.
Plant oils are better off used as lantern fuel than whale fat. Whale oil is healthier than plant oils, the only problem is the slight fishy taste.
@@MK_ULTRA420 Wait, canola oil is rapeseed oil? The name change never happened where I am (which caused a shock when i was told about the rape fields)
Max beating hard tack together is just the Channel's official meme at this point
I busted up laughing. It was so perfect. Lol
@@brednbudr2406 same except i was also eating so nearly choked to death
Love the channel always interested in what the ancients ate, and the different pokemon stuffys in the background
I love vinegar. I drink a medium sized glass of it straight. And if you use some condensed balsamic and cut it the same amount of red wine vinegar and water, the syrupy sweetness of the balsamic offsets the sour red, and with the water the whole thing becomes very refreshing.
That "Who Wants to Feed a Legionnaire" pun was GOLD
Thank you 😊
And he even sounded like Regis Philben!
It made me cackle so loud, that my husband came to see what I was watching.
“Cooked lard” that is basically extra fatty bacon actually sounds amazing. Imagine that, some cheesy potatoes, and a roasted carrot to make it look like a balanced diet....😋
Just had some posca, it's great! Thanks for posting this!
“Who wants to feed a legionnaire” was a solid joke
When the boss comes and talks to the team was too relatable 🤣
We have all been there
My grandfather was full Southern Italian, and as a young adult was known to drink red wine vinegar, sometimes diluted. It seems like the tradition somehow persisted over the millenia. 😁
Here in the US there's "shrub" and "switchel" which are traditional drinks made with vinegar, herbs or fruits, and honey.
My old roommate drank it (with water) to cure heartburn...
Cold apple cider vinegar with a little water is fantastic on a hot summer day.
Vinegar doesn't cut stomach acid. The lining of your stomach detects the acidity and turns off the cellular process producing hydrochloric acid.
@@christopherneelyakagoattmo6078 yes, that is the same explanation that was given to me... I suppose it could be considered a "homoeopathic" remedy? (in other words, "It sounds stupid, but people swear that it works because of the law of opposites", or something like that), so... more power to them, I say... My roommate was a vegan hippie weirdo; she also snorted hot salt water up her nose from a tiny clay tea-pot, and she put yoghurt in her private parts, so... "To each his/her/their own", but I'll stick with Tums and Omeprazole when I get agita. 😉
I love seeing your various Pokémon in the back and trying to figure out how they relate to the video. So cute and clever!
In Romanian there is a word called posirca that might be descending from Posca. It means poor quality wine, or diluted / left open wine. Basically some sort of almost vinegar
As a cook for 25 years, vinegar water is great when you're working a 15 hour shift in 110 degrees.
When my dad was growing up in Florida the coach would have them take salt tablets before heading out onto the field for football practice. This was not too long before the University of Florida figured out the original “Gatorade.”
Water (at non-kitchen-but-regular-room temperature) with ample lemon juice and some sea salt was my "Gatorade" in the kitchen. Even after switching to service a couple of years ago, I drink it by the liter if things get busy - and you basically put the duracell bunny to shame.
Spike things with a strong espresso every few hours, and you're good for some 12h+, provided you've got a polysaccharide rich - but not too heavy - meal first to provide the energy you're burning off over time.
(I'm on lockdown furlough since November, all restaurants closed etc; oh, how I almost long for those shitty shifts by now...)
@@GutnarmEVE Feeling you, there. I've been on furlough since last March, and at this point, I wouldn't even mind cleaning up after my scatterbrained chef. My other "work Gatorade" was slamming a cup of pickle brine with my 65 year old, 4 foot tall Guatemalan abuelita dishy (Gladys, god I miss her).
Would you mind elucidating the benefits of this drink? Both long and short term? Would be interesting.
@@caradocapcunobelin2875 1: It's tasty. 2: It's got what plants crave.
I can imagine that conversation with an IRS agent
"What is this?"
It's salt
"What?"
"Well you see back in ancient roman times.."
@@ryanf4106 Okay okay, fine. I'll throw in a bolt of silk and a jar of spices.
While you're at it, fill out all the forms with Roman numerals.
I absolutely love you to channel, It gives me so much inspiration, and I love the information you give us with every dish you make😁😁. Thank you so much