C.M.S.'s latest work is published by ‘L'Erma’ di Bretschneider, which is known for its high-quality publications and meticulous attention to detail. The appendices included in this splendid edition, featuring indexes of names, places, towns and foods, are especially noteworthy for their structure and convenience in aiding research.

The growing interest in the history of food and its value as a historiographical source is relatively modern. Since the beginnings of history, we have been able to detect the interest of ancient authors in expressing the different ways of eating in relation to one's own diet, haute cuisine, medicine, agricultural production or the differences between cultures. However, it was only in the mid-twentieth century, following the pioneering work of the Annales School and Fernand Braudel, that this field truly blossomed. The precision and interdisciplinary approach to studying the history of food has greatly enriched historiography, cementing the importance of food historians in the wider academic discourse.

This shift in the trend regarding the history of food has boosted the standing of food historians and their important role within the historiographical debate, as their perspective completes and enhances the general historical perspective. The history of food has now moved away from being regarded as a ‘minor history’. This is precisely the value of works crafted with precision, judgement and fidelity to the sources, as is the case with the present one. If historians apply rigour to the treatment of sources and to the development of research, the history of food will move from being a mere curiosity to producing its own fruits, as a result of intellectual and qualitative analysis.

C.M.S.'s work exemplifies this meticulous approach to the study of food history, although the absence of clarifying annotations and modern bibliography is notable. It adds to the already abundant and excellent works on the history of food in Rome. Prominent specialists’ studies are highlighted, such as L. Landolfi, Banchetto e società romana (1990) and the extensive bibliography of P. Garnsey (e.g. Food and Society in Classical Antiquity [1999] and Famine and Food Supply in the Graeco-Roman World [1988]). A. Dalby's contributions (such as Siren Feast [1996] and Empire of Pleasures [2000]) are also featured. Dalby collaborated with A. Davidson (The Oxford Companion to Food [1999]) on the journal Petits Propos Culinaires with an equally extensive bibliography. There are many other authors, all deserving a place on these pages, for example, in the case of the analysis of olives, olive oil or crustula.

C.M.S. focuses on identifying the characteristics of individuals through their food choices and recipes. She works closely with primary sources to describe the varied choices made by different characters at imperial banquets. The first chapter analyses one of the most emblematic and surprising banquets in Roman literature, Trimalchio's dinner. It serves as a key starting point for C.M.S.'s analysis, given its importance for exploring Roman food culture. The analysis of the Satyricon is almost an inevitable point of departure, as it is a key work for understanding the Roman diet of secondary actors formed by an ostentatious group of freedmen led by the host, Trimalchio, and his wife Fortunata, who extravagantly imitate the refined dinners of the elites.

C.M.S. presents texts in both Latin and Italian to make them more accessible. She deconstructs Trimalchio's dinner to reveal how Petronius satirises the elite's traditional meals, offering insights into dish compositions and ingredients. We know from modern scholarship that many of these dishes were consumed in the time of Petronius, although some are presented through Petronius’ satirical lens, with his characteristic sarcasm and distortions.

The second and most important chapter focuses on imperial banquets and the emperors’ tastes; from discussions of Augustus’ legendary frugality to Tiberius’ preference for wine or Vitellus’ extravagant tastes, such as his famous dish ‘Minerva's Shield’, C.M.S. explores the lives, preferences and quirks of each emperor. She also delves into the peculiarities of Commodus and Heliogabalus, whose tastes, as Lampridius noted, were known for their luxury, drawing inspiration from the original Apicius and his work, De re coquinaria. At the same time this latter emperor – Heliogabalus – sought inspiration from the refined dishes that had been developed under Nero and Vitellius and tried not to fall short in his inventions. Thus, we pass through gluttony, gastronomy, refinement, and through restraint and frugality, in relation to each emperor.

This volume is an excellent piece of work, thoroughly presenting the sources, well managed and selected, and will hold a prominent place among works on the history of food in ancient Rome.