Heading Down the Publicum | The Art Newspaper

A view of the tavern from the east. 

Photo: Benjamin P. Luley, Gaël Piquès and Antiquity.

The recent discovery of a possible Roman tavern in the south of France could shed new light on daily life in the ancient empire. Excavations at Lattara (modern Lattes in the Languedoc-Roussillon region), published in the journal Antiquity, have revealed a structure that could have been used to feed large numbers of people, built between 125 and 75 BC.

Located at a major intersection, the structure had a bakery, where fish and meat were prepared in addition to flatbread, and a dining hall with benches along its walls, where numerous drinking vessels were excavated. Both rooms were connected to a shared courtyard. Although no sleeping quarters have so far been discovered, these may have been upstairs, or elsewhere nearby.

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