04-04-2012, 06:18 PM
Quote: Imagine it this way: to feed fifty men a portion of beef, say 100 grams (1/4 lb, more or less) requires 5 kg (approx 10 lb) of meat--to feed 50000 men the same amount takes a large herd of cattle: 5000 kg (10,000 lbs). That's a lot of cows.
it requires not necessarily so many cows. modern Europeans and Americans tend to eat only relatively small parts of an animal and spoil much of it. my (Asian) wife eats almost everything that is in a fish, chicken or pig and spoiles near to nothing, not even the bones. I would not be surprised if it were the same for the Romans. but I agree that for having a good filling for the stomach you really need some bread.
