The mid summer of 2026 brought with it a supply chain disruption in canned sardine exporting and retail appropriation. A lot of it was because people started to really get onto the dietary benefits of sardines as well as other canned fish. For me though, it interrupted my role-playing as Caesar Augustus, the first emperor of Rome. Not to be confused with his grand uncle Julius Ceasar, who preceded him as dictator of Rome and head of the Senate.
Caesar Augustus, or Octavian as he was known before assuming his title, had a lot of errands to run as emperor – kind of like me. Because he had a full day’s work, every day of emperor-ing, he was known to eat selectively throughout the day and in a way that could give him the proper healthy nutrients but fill him up as he paid visits to Senators and Roman city officials.
But it’s not like Rome had Pringles or Hot Pockets back then. So, what did they have in order to give a man like Caesar Augustus a well-balanced but ready to eat meal?
WordPress, I present to you Michael Williams’s modernized version of Caesar Augustus’s meal:
The Princeps Civitatis
(translated: “First Citizen“, the title Augustus gave himself!)
(you can click on the pictures for the full size, I just don’t want the pictures taking up the whole page)
Like me, Caesar Augustus liked the idea of moderate living and as such incorporated freshly pressed cheese and sourdough equivalent breads into his on-the-go platter. Did he eat olives? I mean, we’re in late BC early AD mediterranean vibes here. Olives were like everywhere!
For dessert, Caesar Augustus usually had dried figs or dried dates. I’m not really into those so my compromise was fig newtons – the modern take on the dessert portion of his on-the-go dish.
Of course, the final piece of the dish, from which the title of the post harkens to – is the preserved fish itself. The emperor was known to pick at brined or salted mackerel or tuna. Me, I have a tin can’s worth of sardines in olive oil. I dip any remaining bread in whatever olive oil is left.
The sardine supply chain issue put a big dent in my being able to enjoy this dish. I was still eating olives and cheese but, as modern diet experts stipulate, you really need a lean protein to round your meals. Sardines are one of those proteins that save me a lot of time on the go.
So here it is in its completion, the Princeps Civitatis – also, on brown parchment paper and a wooden plate – to really cement that Caesar Augustus/Roman Mediterranean aesthetic.
If you have an interpretation on this heart healthy dish, please feel free to take a photo of it and share it on your blog. I’d love to try different interpretations!
Finally, people do ask me: “Mike, why role-play Caesar Augustus? Why not role-play his really cool grand uncle Julius Caesar??”
and I’m like: “Bruh! I’m not trying to get stabbed repeatedly by like 20 angry people!”
😂 Have a great weekend everyone!
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