this post was submitted on 03 Nov 2024
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Rough Roman Memes
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The Celts lived in houses built on piers, eating the fish you were shitting on would wipe out your tribe due to cholera and dysentry, they imported their water from local springs. They ate locally caught seafood but not freshwater fish. Carp were introduced by the Romans however the Romans had a means to wash the fish prior to consumption. There was no need to eat something possibly detrimental due to a lack of population pressure, the Romans washed carp in fresh water for a period of days prior to consumption, the Celts didn't simply because they didn't have to.
Interesting! I always just assumed that was Cassius Dio spouting off half-remembered rumors about those strange northern folk.
This suggests cultural matters may have been an influence.
No, freshwater fish apart from predatory fish have never been on the menu in the UK, top feeding fish like trout or pike but never tench, bream or subsequent to the Romans, carp. The BBC article relates to one site and even there is a possibility that the aversion to fish was due to fecal contamination causing illness. In East Anglia scales from sea fish were common however apart from trout other local fish was not present in middens.