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Sometimes, more often than not, a thing kicks off a daydream which takes my time. In order to get it out of my mind, it may help to write it down. Here is one.

So while scrolling Lemmy today, i came across this story of a recent excavation at the site of the buried ancient city of Pompeii. A painting on the wall in a house that had an adjacent bakery appears to depict what could be called an ancestor of a nowadays ubiquitous delicacy. Link to an article is below but i put the short story first so that i don't spoil it. ;-D
No idea if it is good storytelling or anything, but why not just put here this crafted-for-an-afternoon piece.

PRANDIVM VELOX PANECUM*

The baker boy had come to wake up Octavius Picus from his afternoon nap. The delegation from the market at Nuceria had already arrived. They were early. Three people, the boy said, an elderly man with bad eyesight and a young woman guiding him, and another man who was carrying some scrolls. They could be heared chatting with Octavius' wife Marcella in the atrium. -- No hurry. He sat up on the bedside and rubbed his eyes.

The landlords around Nuceria had recently founded a cooperative and had now come to bargain a new deal for their grain. He wouldn't really know what to make of it, especially since his plan of opening a taberna next to the bakery would certainly require him to buy more wheat and he also wanted to have their beer. Would all that make it more expensive or less? -- It was Marcella's idea after all, to offer quickly baked meals that would be affordable not only for the wealthy summer guests.
Anyway, the painter was already done with decorating the walls in the atrium, so why not just give them a taste of the novel idea.

Alright, let's serve them something, he told the boy. Make us five of the speciality quick plates, with sausage, eggs and sweet wine ... but not the most expensive one. And do not forget to put the basilicum and cheese sauce on the panem piccum!

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