The mode of rationing the Roman armies, and the manner in which the
supplies were obtained and preserved, is well shown in the extant writings
of those times. Besides the allowance of wheat daily,--one to two
pounds,--the Roman soldiers often received a ration of pork, mutton,
legumes, cheese, oil, salt, wine, and vinegar. With the grain, a
porridge-pot, a spit, the casque for a cup, and with vinegar to mix with
their water,--which formed the regulation drink posea, or acetum,--they
marched rapidly, and retained their extraordinary vigor in the midst of
pestilential regions. Every soldier carried his own food for a given
length of time, which was from eight to twenty-eight days. "_Cibo cum
suo._" Hence Josephus wrote, the Roman soldier is laden like a mule. This
food was always of the best quality; and the wheat was always carefully
selected by a commission appointed for the purpose, as we may learn from
the inscription on the column of Trajan. This wheat was not always eaten
raw; but was oftener roasted, and crushed upon a stone.
"Frugesque receptas
Et torrere parant flammis et frugere saxo."
With all of these arrangements and movements, there was method even as to
the time of taking food. The soldier ate twice a day, and at appointed
hours--at the sixth hour, "Prandium;" and at the tenth hour, "Vesperna."