For many centuries the meaning of food has been much more than  merely nutrition on the table. The types of food a man eats, the ways  in which he cooks it, the style in which it is served: all these carry  their own significance which is extended by contemporary and later  observers to describe the identity of the unwitting eater.  

This book looks at the way in which food was employed in  Greek and Roman literature to impart identity, whether social,  individual, religious or ethnic. In many instances these markers are  laid down in the way that foods were restricted, in other words  by looking at the negatives instead of the positives of what was  consumed. Michael Beer looks at several aspects of food restriction  in antiquity, for example, the way in which they eschewed excess  and glorified the simple diet; the way in which Jewish dietary  restriction identified that nation under the Empire; the way in which  Pythagoreans denied themselves meat (and beans); and the way in  which the poor were restricted by economic reality from enjoying  the full range of foods.  

These topics allow him to look at important aspects of Graeco-  Roman social attitudes. For example, republic virtue, imperial  laxity, Homeric and Spartan military valour, social control through  sumptuary laws, and answers to excessive drinking. He also looks  closely at the inherent divide of the Roman world between the twin   centres of Greece and Rome and how it is expressed in food and its consumption.  

The chapter headings are as follows:  

Michael Beer received his doctorate from the University of Exeter in pursuing the topic of his  book. He now teaches in Exeter. This is his first book.  The book is written for the intelligent and educated reader but does not rely on quotations  in the original Latin or Greek. It is fully referenced and indexed.