Ángela Stella Matutina
myrmepropagandistHow long would you like to vacation in Ancient Rome?
You will have local currency, an escort if needed, clothing etc.
One Day
A week or two
Few months
No thank you.
Poll ended at .
libramoonsounds like fun -- can I just stay?
Mastokarl 🇺🇦@libramoon @futurebird well given the life expectancy then I would rather not.
Josh 
@futurebird So extremely conflicted about this. The archaeologist in me (amateur, and not in the mold of Indiana Jones) says yes. The other archaeologist in me (very much in the mold of Indiana Jones) wants to know if I can bring back souvenirs.
llewellyreminds me of the old SF time travel trope of an archaeologist becoming famous from discovering the most wonderful artefacts, only to have their career ruined by radiometric dating, which says the artefacts are all mysteriously modern, despite having every other sign of authenticity. And the reason is: secret time travel!
@990000@mstdn.social@futurebird it would probably be complete suicide and torture but maybe worth it for just a month 😬
John K@futurebird
Nope. I coincidentally just watched a YouTube video where this guy made his own garum from an old roman recipe and that done did it for me. I don't think it was a life of pizza, and spaghetti like we imagine.
Nope. I coincidentally just watched a YouTube video where this guy made his own garum from an old roman recipe and that done did it for me. I don't think it was a life of pizza, and spaghetti like we imagine.
Kevin Riggle@snork303 @futurebird oh garum is like fish sauce, that’s the good parts
@kevinriggle
Uh huh.
Not doing it.
@snork303 @futurebird more for me!
D2@kevinriggle @snork303 @futurebird uh… fermented fish , including the gutsy parts I call ‘bait’. I like sushi as much as anyone, and garum stands apart.
Papamoscas Cardenalito@snork303
You need tomatoes for the pizza and they are from America, and the pasta is Chinese.
Ancient Rome didn't have those ingredients.
@futurebird
@rivas
You don't say.
Charles Herold@rivas @snork303 @futurebird WHAT?!!! Next you'll be telling me you couldn't get a decent bagel in New York City in 1750!
Le Néandertal sous benzo@rivas @snork303 @futurebird I think this is in Wikipedia's list of common misconceptions. There were recipes akin to lasagna in the ancient Rome.
Garum is a condiment, like nuoc cham. You're not supposed to feed on this.
M.S. Bellows, Jr.@HydrePrever @rivas @snork303 @futurebird Yeah, the food sounds really interesting! "The ancient Roman diet included many items that are staples of modern Italian cooking. Pliny the Elder discussed more than 30 varieties of olive, 40 kinds of pear, figs (native and imported from Africa and the eastern provinces), and a wide variety of vegetables. Some of these vegetables are no longer present in the modern world, while others have undergone significant changes. Carrots of different colours were consumed, but not in orange. Many kinds of vegetables were cultivated and consumed. These included celery, garlic, some flower bulbs, cabbage and other brassicas (such as kale and broccoli), lettuce, endive, onion, leek, asparagus, radishes, turnips, parsnips, carrots, beets, green peas, chard, field greens, cardoons, olives, and cucumber. *** Roman chefs made sweet buns flavored with blackcurrants and cheese cakes made with flour, honey, eggs, ricotta-like cheese and poppy seed. Sweet wine cakes were made with honey, reduced red wine and cinnamon. Fruit tarts were popular with the upper class...." https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancient_Roman_cuisine
Zeborah@msbellows A YouTube channel I watch sometimes (which might be what the commenter who mentioned garum saw) is at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5S7Bb0Qg-oE&list=PLIkaZtzr9JDkCHpSx2Kf2XWRcgqjClDff - he reconstructs recipes from ancient Rome and tries them out, and I'd definitely give quite a lot of it a go.
I finally made GARUM | Ancient Rome's favorite condiment
Yes that's the channel. He did a follow up later in which he made garum. It's gross.
Jay Stephens@HydrePrever you're rigth, it's in the misconception list. Thanks!
@HydrePrever @rivas @snork303 @futurebird correct, evidence of Etruscans making pasta dates back to about 400 BCE.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pasta#History
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pasta#History
suzanne@snork303 @futurebird
I'd love to go and stay long enough to get a really good feel for the place. But I do think I'd avoid the garum!
I'd love to go and stay long enough to get a really good feel for the place. But I do think I'd avoid the garum!
John M. GambleTasting History? It's a great channel.
Garum … read about it being the centerpiece of putting flavor into food back then, and I’m curious. But I bet I’d start out minimal, like when handed a strange hot sauce. Swirl a whisper of it onto / into my food, taste, add a bit more, etc. it’s partly why I said I think I want a few months: To really explore & adapt.
Summer Dad Mode Unlocked@futurebird honestly? just going back to acquire some Silphium seeds and hang out with a gardener that can help teach me how to make them thrive
Mobile Suit Larry@hex @futurebird I read a while ago that a promising candidate has been discovered growing wild in a remote part of Anatolia, either the domestic silphium gone feral or maybe its closest wild cousin. Don't know if anything came of it
@hex @futurebird do some prep research and figure out several spots climatically ok and that seem to go 2000y somewhat undisturbed, and plant some.
@futurebird on the understanding that I never get a choice, eh, it would be the worst place I’ve lived but some places ain’t much better
moggieNot Rome, but I would like to vacation that way in Tenochtitlan, or in Constantinople.
@EverydayMoggie @futurebird I recently read Four Lost Cities by Annalee Newitz (I'm a big fan of her sci-fi but this is a pop archeology book) and she covered Catalhoyuk, Pompeii, Angkor, and Cahokia. The first and last hold the greatest fascination for me because we know hardly anything about their cultural context
Samuel Smith ✅@futurebird so long as I can steer clear of the leaded water, it might be interesting!
A culinary tour of Ancient Rome! What did they _really_ eat? Were the feasts as lavish as the tales would have us believe? Oh, and the baths - must have a bath at each of the springs to complete the experience.
I am decidedly not thinking about the disease, politics, and other social ills. It's a vacation after all.
a sentient rib@futurebird i do not wish to go backwards in time it's already bad enough in this timeline lol
Mostly Boring@futurebird oh crud. I might have misinterpreted your use of the word escort there.... Can I change my vote?
Elie ايلي 🇵🇸🏳️🌈 (He/Him)@futurebird no thanks, I like my indoor plumbing, hot water, vaccines, electricity, and the internet
sidereal@elie @futurebird Romans had the first two, at least
Matt McIrvin@elie @futurebird
They had indoor plumbing! And heated floors sometimes. No electricity or internet, though.
They had indoor plumbing! And heated floors sometimes. No electricity or internet, though.
AMS@futurebird So basically TwoFlower situation? Make sure to have a good guide. Leave the Gibbon at home.
SchACABfstelze 🎗🖤@futurebird republic rome or fascist dictatorship rome?
(not sure if the difference was huge)
Digital Mark λ ☕️ 🕹 🙄@futurebird I could see autumn through Saturnalia as fun. Rome in summer pre AC? Less fun.
@futurebird I might have trouble keeping my mouth shut about treatment of slaves, or the Emperor if it's post-Caesar. I got a real bad temper, but they also had a lot of wine, and books (assuming the time machine also lets me read/speak Latin & Greek).
cathos@futurebird you say vacation. I hear 'chance to record stuff from the perspective of women and non-citizens'. and also maybe mess with history just a little. or a lot.
Krypt3ia@futurebird Will I have volcano insurance?
Bruce HeerssenI don't see why not, but you probably shouldn't ask about rates for Pompeii.
@bruce @krypt3ia @futurebird Actually, I'd rather go to ancient Pompeii than ancient Rome, so long as I got to avoid certain eruptions.
@krypt3ia @futurebird well, one hopes enough presence of mind to fucking run the other way if Pompeii or another volcanic zone and the wrong dates get mentioned. We know when things went boom.
@cascheranno @futurebird Tell that to Pliny.
@futurebird Can I stay omg
Ronnie@futurebird @lisamelton I want to stay longer but I think we might die quickly. I’ll take a day.
Michael BuschThe food is bad. I pass.
Bread? Olive oil? What more do you need!
The wine might not be that good either... though I suspect some of it might have been very nice.
I can't eat the wheat or the barley.
(Rome was not a great place for those of us with celiac; based on the skeletons.)
AlsoPaisleyCat@michael_w_busch actually millet cakes were a usual thing - to the point of being broken of the couple’s heads at weddings.
Food would still be scary though.
Joel VanderWerf 🐧@futurebird @michael_w_busch I'd like to try the Roman garum and find out if it tastes like southeast Asian fish sauce.
@futurebird @michael_w_busch a side secret to wine, mead, beer: if it tastes nasty at full fermentation, pitch, let the yeasty beasties do their thing for 3 days, and consume. Residual sweetness is still high, but alcohol and co2 enough to kill off most microbes.
And this was likely commonplace for millennia for ales and mead. Especially the day to day stuff would likely macerate in fruit or add honey and water or simmer up a malt mash (and water) steadily so the barrel tasted nice, incurred a soft buzz, etc. Kinda like maintaining a sourdough starter.
W@futurebird
Maybe for a day as a man. Not as a woman.
Maybe for a day as a man. Not as a woman.
Aatch@futurebird a week is probably enough. The lack of modern conveniences isn't a big deal and given that it's a vacation I don't have to worry about many of the realities of day-to-day life in the ancient world.
astroPugIt depends on the escort as I have some safety concerns about frolicking in Ancient Rome, but I am curious and would like to try some of the wine and bread.
I’ll bring my own tooth paste and tooth brush though. Also, I remember that they used lead for something where it would allow for absorption into the body, so I want to avoid that…