The Romans provide ample evidence of a thriving bread making industry. There is documentary evidence of farming and the use of slaves to work the land and mill flour. Roman querns are sometimes found at archaeological sites. Bread is depicted on Roman art and artefacts and even the impression of the shapes of loaves have survived at the preserved Roman site at Pompeii. A typical Roman loaf was about 12" round and 2" deep and marked into eight segments. Smaller loaves were marked into four segments.
One segment of bread was regarded as a single portion for a meal time. The Romans would have used bread as a source of starch. It would be used to eat with other foods and mop up stock from bowls of food. A piece of bread and a cooked fish or a bowl of vegetables was an everyday meal for a roman citizen. Soldiers would eat meat more frequently as part of a meal, almost always accompanied by a segment of bread.
The Romans did not use salt in baking. This type of bread would be flavoured with honey or herbs to give it a distinct Roman taste,