Feeding the Soldiers

[Sean Manning]

Ave Civitas,

I have a question that may have been already addressed, but if it has, I can't find it.

Did the Roman Army have mess halls? Were there communal eateries in the army? I think it would be a bother for every contuberni or century to have to cook their own meal when they traveled together with the legion.

I can understand this when there is a small detachment on a lone mission, but it seems complicated to have a hundred little cooking fires burning at the same time.

Thanks.
Tom

Think of it in the reverse direction though. A centralized dining system requires more organization, and more work by the organizers, and any mistake will affect more people. Then if its cold or wet, the soldiers would still want their own fires anyways. The Greeks got by with hardly any formal military institutions for a long time; supply and transport were up to the individual soldiers, as were cooking, with the generals expected to provide a market or somewhere to loot but no more than that.