A HARD-WORKING DIET. 51 
studied their use from a dietetic point of view are 
sure to have been a minority. It is so in every land.° 
We know very little of fish eating among the The Romans. 
Romans. It is probable that whether under kings— We have 
scanty infor- 
triumvirs—emperors, or after the dismemberment of ™&tion as to 
use of fish by 
the nation, it was much used by the people of the ee ere 
land as it was plentiful, but what everybody did no tion. 
one thought of recording. From the satires written 
on the follies of the luxurious age, we know more of 
occasional freaks of extravagance than we do from 
history of the regular habits of the people. 
No Roman banquet was complete without its fish 
course, and most lavish prices were paid for tur- 
bot and mullet. As with the Greeks, the Romans 
used oysters from Britain or from Lucrini Lake with 
pickled tunny, similar to the scadeccio of modern Italy 
as hors deuvres, while turbot, mullet, sturgeon, char, 
eels, lamprey, and pike, dressed with a skill probably 
little, if at all, behind that of the chef of the present 
day, were part of the first course. The taste of the 
Romans for fish was so fine that not only were various 
species of fish selected, but those from certain waters 
or fed in certain pools were held to be especially 
good. This attention to condition led to the con- 
struction of stews or fish-ponds in which fish were 
preserved and fed for the table. In the reign of © 
Domitian, Vedius Pollio is reported to have fed the 
eels in his pools with the flesh of slaves put to death 
for that purpose, but though strongly rebuked by the 
emperor this act met with no serious punishment. 
In the main the use of fish among the Romans 
