Honey in Ancient Rome: Mulsum, Apicius and Roman Beekeepers

Where our knowledge comes from

Beekeeping historian Eva Crane, in Beekeeping in the World of Ancient Rome, explains that almost all knowledge of Roman beekeeping comes from Latin agricultural and natural history texts written between about 200 BCE and 400 CE. No Roman hives survive because they were made of perishable materials.

Roman writers on bees

Several authors wrote about bees:

How Romans kept bees

Crane notes that Roman hives were usually horizontal tubes about three feet long, made preferably from cork bark or fennel stalks, then wicker or wood, with earthenware considered worst. Beekeepers inspected hives, used smoke, moved hives to better forage, fed bees in lean times, and left part of the honey for the bees. Honey was graded, and thyme honey was considered best.

Virgil's bees

Book IV of Virgil's Georgics is a poem about beekeeping, describing the hive as a miniature state with a king, citizens and laws. It also tells the myth of Aristaeus and the strange idea of bugonia, bees born from the carcass of an ox, which Romans believed. Rachel Carlson's University of Washington study explores how Roman writers used bees as political symbols.

Mulsum: honey wine

Mulsum was wine sweetened with honey, often served as an aperitif at the start of a meal. Conditum paradoxum was a spiced honey wine with pepper, saffron, bay and dates. Romans also drank mead and honey water.

Honey in savory Roman cooking

Roman cooks loved sweet-sour-salty flavors. Many recipes combine honey with garum, a fermented fish sauce, plus vinegar, pepper, cumin and herbs. Honey glazed roast meats, ham and dormice, and honey sauces were poured over fish and vegetables.

• Honey with garum and vinegar
• Honey-glazed ham
• Honey and pepper sauces
• Honey with roasted vegetables

Apicius and honey recipes

The cookbook known as De Re Coquinaria, attributed to Apicius, includes many honey recipes: dates stuffed with nuts and fried in honey, honey custards, and sauces for meat and fish. Cato the Elder, in On Agriculture, gave recipes for libum and savillum, cheesecakes made with honey, sometimes offered to the gods.

Preserving with honey

Romans preserved fruits like quinces and figs in honey, and even meat. Honey's low moisture helped keep food from spoiling. Our article on honey as a preservative explains the science.

Honey in religion and ritual

Honey cakes were offered to gods at festivals, and honey was poured on altars. Newborns in some traditions were given a taste of honey. Bees were seen as messengers of the gods.

The honey economy

Crane notes beekeeping was a respected and profitable occupation, producing large amounts of honey and beeswax. Wax was used for writing tablets, candles, seals and in art. Honey traveled across the empire, with Greek, Spanish and Sicilian honeys traded.

Roman legacy

Roman beekeeping methods influenced medieval European practice, and Virgil's Georgics was studied by beekeepers for centuries. Our article on honey in medieval Europe continues the story.

Try a Roman-style dish

Stuff dates with walnuts, roll in salt, fry briefly in olive oil and drizzle with Raw Wildflower Honey, harvested in New York State, a nod to Apicius. Or glaze roasted ham with Raw Buckwheat Honey, black pepper and vinegar.

The takeaway on honey in ancient Rome

Honey in ancient Rome was the sweetener of wine, sauces and cakes, and a key farm product. Roman writers left detailed beekeeping guides, and Roman recipes still inspire sweet-savory cooking.

Defrutum and other Roman sweeteners

Honey was the prestige sweetener, but Romans also boiled grape juice into thick syrups called defrutum and sapa. These were cheaper and used widely in cooking and wine. Some were boiled in lead pots, which modern historians think may have exposed Romans to lead. Honey in ancient Rome remained the choice for fine dishes and offerings.

Pliny on honey types

Pliny the Elder described honey by season and flower, praising thyme honey and warning that some honeys, made from certain plants, could cause illness. He also recorded beliefs that honey fell from the sky as dew, which bees gathered from leaves. These ideas show how Romans observed honey closely even without modern science.

Honey in Roman homes

Archaeologists at Pompeii have found carbonized loaves, kitchen pots and wall paintings of food, including scenes with fruit and honey-sweet dishes. Wealthy households kept storerooms of honey and wine, while ordinary Romans used honey more sparingly.

Cook like a Roman

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