CARDUOS (Thistles in eggs’ sauce)

(Apic. 3, 19, 1) Ingredients:

• Thistles*, a taft
• Liquamen (or 5 tblsp soya sauce + 5 tsp anchovy paste)
• 5 tblsp oil
• 4 eggs

Instructions:
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Clean, cut and boil the thistles. Boil eggs. Put in a pan Liquamen and oil, mesh and boil. Put the thistles in the sauce and cut eggs over it. Cover and leave it marinate for half an hour, without boiling. Serve hot.
*It’s possible to use artichoke instead of thistles.

 

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In the corner where Via dell’Abbondanza enters the Forum we find a building that acted as a sort of polling station for municipal elections. The original building could be reached via five entrances in the northern wall and five in the eastern one, so that voters could enter from the Forum and go straight out into Via dell’Abbondanza. However, after the earthquake of 62 A.D. only three entrances were used: one in the north wall and two leading the Forum. On the southern side of the building we find a podium where the magistrates sat when presiding over the electoral proceedings, while the other two walls contained niches housing honorary statues.

(Apic. 1, 35, 1) Ingredients:

• Mint
• Rue
• Coriander
• Fennel
• Lovage
• Pepper
• Honey
• Liquamen (or 3 tblsp soya sauce + 3 tsp anchovy paste)
• Vinegar

Instructions:
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Smash and homogenize all the spices. Add honey and Liquamen and mix it all. Taste and, if necessary, add some vinegar. Serve with bread.

Love was a common topic of conversation in Pompeii. Feelings, passions, poetic love, sex, homosexuality, prostitution and so forth were all part of daily life and not a source of prejudice. The concept of “obscenity” seems to have been unknown. Love and sex were considered earthly practices of a man’s life that were encouraged by the benevolence of Venus. The thousands of examples of graffiti found on the town’s walls are unequivocal proof of what the people of Pompeii thought about love and sex.