The purpose of this paper is to re-examine the production and consumption of meat from domesticated animals in Roman Italy using zooarchaeological and textual evidence. The focus is on the proportions of meat from the three main domesticates (cattle, pig, sheep/goat) and their chronological changes.The most important livestock meat eaten by Romans is traditionally considered to have been pork. Certainly there is much more literary evidence for pork than for beef or mutton/goat meat. Such apparent Roman preference for pork is typically seen in Apicius' De re coquinaria, where the preference for pork (11 references) over mutton (2), goat meat (1) and beef (2) is obvious; likewise, the number of references to meat from young animals is much larger for suckling pig meat (22 references) than for lamb (10), kid meat (7) or veal (4). K. D. White considered that “meat was not a prime article of diet … and beef was less important within this restricted range than pork …”. J. M. Frayn believed sheep were reared primarily for wool, not for meat or cheese, and that lamb was eaten only exceptionally. Beef and mutton/goat meat are thus considered to have been of much less importance than pork in the Roman diet.

中文翻译：

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罗马意大利的牛肉

本文的目的是利用动物考古学和文字证据重新审视罗马意大利驯养动物肉类的生产和消费。重点是来自三种主要驯养动物（牛、猪、绵羊/山羊）的肉类比例及其时间变化。罗马人吃的最重要的牲畜肉类传统上被认为是猪肉。当然，猪肉比牛肉或羊肉/山羊肉有更多的文学证据。这种明显的罗马人对猪肉的偏爱通常在 Apicius 中看到De re coquinaria，其中猪肉（11 篇参考文献）优于羊肉（2）、山羊肉（1）和牛肉（2）是显而易见的；同样，乳猪肉（22 次引用）比羔羊肉（10 次）、小羊肉（7 次）或小牛肉（4 次）更多地提及年轻动物的肉类。KD White 认为“肉类不是主要的饮食……在这个有限的范围内，牛肉的重要性不如猪肉……”。JM Frayn 认为羊主要是为了羊毛而饲养的，而不是为了肉或奶酪，而且羊肉只是在特殊情况下才被吃掉。因此，在罗马人的饮食中，牛肉和羊肉/山羊肉被认为不如猪肉重要。