Food import
The Mediterranean region provided a great deal of fruit such as figs, dates and grapes as well as olives.
Amphora, the vessels used to transport wine, oil and fish sauce, made the food trade particularly eye-catching.
These have been found in almost all digs and originate mainly from Italy, North Africa and Southern France and Spain as their shapes and frequently applied workshop stamps reveal.
The Mediterranean region provided a great deal of fruit such as figs, dates and grapes as well as olives.
Amphora, the vessels used to transport wine, oil and fish sauce, made the food trade particularly eye-catching.
These have been found in almost all digs and originate mainly from Italy, North Africa and Southern France and Spain as their shapes and frequently applied workshop stamps reveal.
Luxury from afar
Long-distance trading also led to many luxury goods being brought here for example silk, papyrus, ivory, precious woods as well as medicinal plants, perfumes and incense which played an important role in the religious cult.
Oysters and seafood, meanwhile, came from the coast and rice and exotic seasoning, for example, from the Orient.
Feast like the Romans
The increased range of food available during romanisation also changed the eating habits and tableware of our region.
An elegant, gleaming red earthenware, the terra sigillata, was typically Roman and initially came from Central Italy.
Although production moved to southern Gaul and later central Gaul already under Emperor Tiberius (14–37).
During the 2nd and 3rd centuries most of the terra sigillata vessels for our region were produced by workshops in Trier.
Glasses initially came from Italy and the eastern Mediterranean although from the 2nd century Rhenish glass blowers, in particular the Cologne Glassworks, supplied the local market.
Precious metal vessels out of bronze and luxury silver tableware was supplied by Italian workshops although this later also came from Gaul.