While on my visit to the ancient Roman Empire, I wanted to see what a marketplace would be like. There is a well-known marketplace called Trajan’s Market. This is where most people would get their food or trade goods to own others. Most of the people in the Roman Empire would wait to have their main meals in the late afternoon. This is because buying food was expensive. I didn’t have much ancient Roman money on me, so I decided to wait until later in the day to go.

I saw people at the market who looked to be in the same boat as me. Not having much money to spend on food was going to be a challenge for myself along with the others I am watching. I walked over to a man who was about to buy some wine. I asked if there was something cheaper to trade for. He told me no, but that there is access to free water using the public fountains.

The citizens who were at the market were starting to end their work day and get ready for an evening of fun. I realized that most citizens here only work a 6-hour day because time for leisure during the evening was important to the romans. I knew I had to find some food quickly. I suddenly remembered I had that coin with Augustus’s face on it. That should be enough to trade for some things. I walked over to a section of the market to look for something to get. Most of the Italian food we know as today was not found in Rome back during the ancient times. While there were no tomatoes in sight, I used the coin to buy bread and olive oil. Even in the Roman Empire, Italian food is delicious!