§301. Hours for Meals.--Three meals a day was the regular number with the Romans as with us, though hygienists were found then, as they may be found nowadays, who believed two meals more healthful than three, and then as now high livers often indulged in an extra meal taken late at night. Custom fixed more or less rigorously the hours for meals, though these varied with the age, and to a less extent with the occupations and even with the inclinations of individuals. In early times in the city and in all periods in the country the chief meal (_cēna_) was eaten in the middle of the day, preceded by a breakfast (_ientāculum_) in the early morning and followed in the evening by a supper (_vesperna_). In classical times the hours for meals in Rome were about as they are now in our large cities: that is, the _cēna_ was postponed until the work of the day was finished, thus crowding out the _vesperna_, and a luncheon (_prandium_) took the place of the old-fashioned "noon dinner." The evening dinner came to be more or less of a social function, guests being present and the food and service the best the house could afford, while the _ientāculum_ and _prandium_ were in comparison very simple and informal meals. §302. Breakfast and Luncheon.--The breakfast (_ientāculum_ or _iantāculum_) was eaten immediately after rising, the hour varying, of course, with the occupation and condition of the individual. It consisted usually merely of bread, eaten dry or dipped in wine or sprinkled over with salt, though raisins, olives, and cheese were sometimes added. Workmen pressed for time seem to have taken their breakfast in their hands to eat as they went to the place of their labor, and schoolboys often stopped on their way to school (§122) at a public bakery (§286) to buy a sort of shortcake or pancake, on which they made a hurried breakfast. More rarely the breakfast became a regular meal, eggs being served in addition to the things just mentioned, and _mulsum_ (§298) and milk drunk with them. It is likely that such a breakfast was taken at a later hour and by persons who dispensed with the noon meal. The luncheon (_prandium_) came about eleven o'clock. It, too, consisted usually of cold food: bread, salads (§276), olives, cheese, fruits, nuts, and cold meats from the dinner of the day before. Occasionally, however, warm meat and vegetables were added, but the meal was never an elaborate one. It is sometimes spoken of as a morning meal, but in this case it must have followed at about the regular interval an extremely early breakfast, or it must itself have formed the breakfast, taken later than usual, when the _ientāculum_ for some reason had been omitted. After the _prandium_ came the midday rest or siesta (_merīdiātiō_), when all work was laid aside until the eighth hour, except in the law courts and in the senate. In the summer, at least, everybody went to sleep, and even in the capital the streets were almost as deserted as at midnight. The