An Ancient Roman Snack Bar Was Unearthed in Pompeii

Buried under a blanket of ash from the catastrophic eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD, the ancient city of Pompeii is still yielding fascinating finds nearly 2,000 years later. The latest? A thermopolium, described as the Roman version of a fast food counter or restaurant.

The counter was partially unearthed in 2019, but was soon after completely excavated and unveiled on Saturday, making global headlines and drawing comparisons to street food stalls in modern cities. 

Inside, archaeologists found duck bone fragments and various dining materials including nine amphorae, a bronze drinking bowl called a patera, two flasks and a ceramic jar. Human bones were also discovered behind the structure, belonging to a person who was at least 50 years old. 

Photographs show the counter decorated with colorful images of a sea nymph riding a sea-horse, two ducks hanging upside down, and a rooster. Other paintings depicted pigs, goats, fish and land snails, all of which indicate ingredients used in the meals sold there.

Thermopolium of Regio V, one of the snack bars at Pompeii, with an image of a Nereid riding a sea-horse, which had previously been partially excavated in 2019, re-emerges in its entirety, with other decorative still lifes, food residues, animal bones and victims of the eruption. pic.twitter.com/HYa7NbXvKp

— Pompeii Sites (@pompeii_sites) December 28, 2020

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I have 100% bought food from places in worse condition than this Pompeii snack bar pic.twitter.com/ZNxA752J8T

— David Hering (@hering_david) December 27, 2020

An illustration of a dog on a leash is also seen on the side of the counter, said to serve as a Cave Canem, or “Beware of Dog” warning. 

Thermopolia, derived in part from thermos, the Greek word for heat, were widespread throughout Rome, where hot food and wine were served and stored in large jars embedded into the masonry counter. Patrons who frequented these shops were often those who did not have cooking equipment in their homes, or people simply looking for a quick lunch to eat on the go. 

There have been some 80 thermopolia found in Pompeii, but this is “the first time an area of this type has been excavated in its entirety,” Massimo Osanna, Interim Director General of the Archaeological Park of Pompeii, said in a press release. 

Pompeii was home to an estimated 12,000 people when Mount Vesuvius erupted and killed at least 2,000 of its inhabitants, though higher tolls have been estimated. The onslaught of lava, ash and fire is largely responsible for the preserved state of the town, which sits in the Campania region of Italy, southeast of Naples. 

It was later deemed one of the most dangerous volcanoes in the world but it has not having erupted since 1944. 

The thermopolium is the latest of many discoveries and preservations related to Pompeii recently. These include the remains of two men who were scalded to death by the volcanic eruption, the body of an ancient horse, as well as graffiti that changes what we once knew about the historic event.