The Garum Debate

Scholars question whether “pure” garum (a popular Roman sauce that was made from various types of fish and marine life) was intended for Jews or for the followers of other Greco-Roman mystery religions that observed dietary restrictions or purity laws. Classics professor Robert I. Curtis of the University of Georgia clarifies and expands on his own interpretation of garum jars found at Pompeii and what they might suggest about the Jewish population that lived there.