Roman Dining in Pompeii

choi

Farah Nayeri, Some Wine to Go with the Stuffed Mouse; An exhibition explores what was on the menu for the Roman residents of Pompeii. New York Times, Aug 8, 2019 (in the Arts section).
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/ ... per-in-pompeii.html

Note:
(a) "A starter of stuffed dormouse, anyone?  The dish was a delicacy in ancient Rome. It was prepared by gutting the mouse, filling it with pork mince, and bake it. The dormouse had previously been fattened n a special jar that had tiny ledges molded inside, so it could run around before it was slaughtered. One such jar is on view in 'Last Supper in Pompeii,' a new exhibition hat runs through Jan 12 [starting July 25, 2019], at the Ashmolean Museum here. * * * Dormouse is one Roman specialty that has persisted. It is still served in Croatia and Slovenia."
(i) Dormouse
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dormouse
(nocturnal; known for their long periods of hibernation ['six months out of the year']; section 1 Etymology; body lengths between 6 and 19 cm (2.4 and 7.5 in) )

Quote: "The edible dormouse (Glis glis) was considered a delicacy in ancient Rome, either as a savoury appetizer or as a dessert (dipped in honey and poppy seeds). The Romans used a special kind of enclosure, a glirarium, to raise dormice for the table. It is still considered a delicacy in Slovenia and in several places in Croatia" (citation omitted).

(ii) This is an exhibition review. Museum's website is not helpful at all.  Ashmolean Museum
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ashmolean_Museum
(is the world's first university museum; established "to house the cabinet of curiosities that Elias Ashmole gave to the University of Oxford in 1677")

(b) " 'People used to modern Italian cuisine would be very surprised by ancient Roman food: No tomatoes for a start [which is a phrase: the same as 'for starters,' meaning 'to begin with'], meaning , and no pizzas and [should be 'or'] pasta,' said Mary Beard, a professor of classics at Cambridge University, in an email. * * * "
(i) tomato: "originated in western South America and Central America. The Nahuatl (Aztec language) word tomatl gave rise to the Spanish word [noun masculine] tomate [the same spelling in French, which is noun FEMININE, however], from which the English word tomato derived"  en.wikipedia.org (citations omitted).
(ii) pizza
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pizza
(section 1 Etymology; section 2 History: Modern pizza evolved from similar flatbread dishes in Naples, Italy, in the 18th or early 19th century)
(iii)
(A) Without plural, pasta is a "mass noun."
https://www.lexico.com/en/definition/pasta
(B) pasta
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pasta
("The first concrete information concerning pasta products in Italy dates from the 13th or 14th century") (citation omitted)
(iv) The English surname Beard is "nickname for a bearded man (Middle English, Old English beard). To be clean-shaven was the norm in non-Jewish communities in northwestern Europe from the 12th to the 16th century, the crucial period for surname formation." Dictionary of American Family Names, by Oxford Univ Press.
(v) classics (n): "(also Classics)  a subject at school or university which involves the study of ancient Greek and Latin literature, philosophy, and history  <an honours degree in Classics>"
https://www.lexico.com/en/definition/classic

choi

(c) "Elsewhere is a reconstitution of a dining room, or 'triclinium,' in which wealthy Romans reclined on a three-sided masonry couch at meal time."
(i) reconstitution
(A) For reconstitution, see reconstitute (vt): "to constitute again or anew  especially : to restore to a former condition by adding water"
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/reconstitution
(B) constitute (vt): "SET UP, ESTABLISH"
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/constitute
(ii) triclinium
(A) Latin-English dictionary:
* triclinium (noun neuter; from Ancient Greek triklínion, from treîs three + klínō, to lean):
"dining room, where three couches are laid out for dining around a small serving table"
https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/triclinium
(B) triclinium
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triclinium
("from triklinion, from τρι-, tri-, three, and κλίνη, klinē, a sort of 'couch' * * * three klinai on three sides of a low square table")

This Wiki page does not explain klinai or say its origin: Latin or (Ancient) Greek.

klinai: "(couches; singular klinē) * * * Reference: Mark Stansbury-O'Donnell (27 January 2015). A History of Greek Art. John Wiley & Sons. pp. 119–. ISBN 978-1-4443-5014-2"
https://encyclopedia.thefreedictionary.com/Klinai

Ancient Greek-English dictionary
* κλίνη klī́nē (noun feminine): "bed, couch"
https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/κλίνη

(d) "At its height, the Roman Empire stretched all the way from Egypt in the southeast to Britain in the northwest. Roman conquests introduced plenty of foods to previously foreign territories such as Britannia ([Latin for] Britain), which is the focus of the exhibition. These included cabbage, cherries, rabbits, chickens, but also plus, pears and eating apples, Mr [Paul] Roberts[, 'the exhibition's curator, who also heads the Ashmolean's antiquities department,] said; even beer came from breweries started by the Roman legions in Germany."
(i)
(A) "The Roman conquest of Britain was a gradual process, beginning effectively in AD 43 under Emperor Claudius" till 84 (when Romans failed to conquer Caledonia (meaning unclear; Latin name for present-day Scotland).  en.wikipedia.org for "Roman conquest of Britain."
(B) Roman Britain
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_Britain
(Latin: Britannia; 43 AD–c 410)
(C) Great Britain
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Britain
(am island; section 1.1 Toponymy: "The name Britain descends from the Latin name for Britain, Britannia or Brittānia, the land of the Britons")
(ii) Where cabbage or apricot was domesticated remains unclear. For the latter, Armenia or China (neither is from DNA sequencing).
(iii) cherry
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cherry
("The indigenous range of the sweet cherry extends through most of Europe, western Asia, and parts of northern Africa, and the fruit has been consumed throughout its range since prehistoric times")

(e) "a pungent [fermented] fish sauce called garum"