LE LEGES CIBARIAE E LA FILOSOFIA DEL CIBO NELL’ANTICA ROMA
LEGES CIBARIAE AND THE PHILOSOPHY OF FOOD IN ANCIENT ROME

Summary/Abstract: The mentality at the end of the Roman Republic and the struggle against luxury gave rise to the enactment of laws such as the lex Orchia de cenis, the senatus consultum de ludis Megalensibus, the lex Fannia, the lex Didia, the lex Aemilia sumptuaria, the lex Licinia de sumptu minuendo, the lex Cornelia sumptuaria, the lex Antia, and the lex Iulia sumptuaria. This article seeks to answer the question of whether the leges cibariae can be regarded as an expression of specific opinions, convictions, and dietary ideas of the ancient Romans. In other words, whether there exists a correlation between their content and the philosophy of food of the time. The present article is structured into four sections: The leges cibariae as an example of leges sumptuariae (1); The principal leges cibariae (2); The ratio of the leges cibariae(3); Philosophical reflections of the ancient Romans on food (4). The author primarily employed the historical-legal and dogmatic-legal methods. He concluded that the leges cibariae were not only an expression of nostalgia for times past, characterized by simplicity, but also reflected the values of moderation, harmony, and concern for health—those same values taught by Seneca and Lucretius. For both the Stoics and the Epicureans, moderation in the consumption of food was considered a factor with a positive impact on moral and social life.

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