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Thepopina (pl.:popinae) was anancient Romanwine bar, where a limited menu of simple foods (olives, bread, stews) and selection of wines of varying quality were available. Thepopina was a place for plebeians of the lower classes of Roman society (slaves, freedmen, foreigners) to socialize and in Roman literature they were frequently associated with illegal and immoral behavior.[1]
The word is theOsco-Umbrian equivalent ofLatincoquina, from Latincoquere "tocook".
Popinae were a type of wine bar generally frequented by the lower-classes and slaves, and were simply furnished with stools and tables. They provided food, drink, sex and gambling. Because they were associated with gambling and prostitution, thepopinae were seen by respectable Romans as places of crime and violence.[1]Juvenal, a 2nd-century CE Roman poet, mentions thepopina to be frequented by assassins, some sailors, thieves, fugitive slaves, executioners and coffin-makers.[2]
Although gambling with sets of dice was illegal, it would appear from the large number of dice found at cities likePompeii that most people ignored this law. Several wall paintings from Pompeianpopinae show men throwing dice from a dice shaker. Prostitutes frequentedpopinae, but as many of these wine bars found at Pompeii had no rooms provided with a bed, they must have met their customers at these bars then taken them elsewhere. Thepopina differs from the Romancaupona in that it did not provide overnight accommodation.[1]
Thepopina usually fronted streets and was separated by a broad doorway. A service counter in a L or U shape would be in the main room where workers likely served customers food and drink. Frequently, a small water heater would be included into the counter or located nearby. In somepopina, there would even be water basins embedded into the counter, such as inOstia.[2]Martial, a 1st-centuryLatin poet, describes apopina that had grown so massive it had occupied the entire street.[2][3]
Physical remains oftaverns and bars are found in well-preserved Roman cities. About 120popinae were identified in Pompeii, but many of them might have been misidentified.
The taverns are often identified by evidence of storage jars set into them. However, regular shops also contained those storage jars. Some believed that the food and drink was sometimes catered when it was requested by a customer.