Episode 36: How Rome used cheese to conquer Britain

The Untitled History Podcast · Oct 15, 2026 · 50m

The Roman Army was powered by cheese. It fuelled its soldiers through war and occupation and, as Rome’s armies swept through western Europe, altered how an entire continent produced and consumed cheese. “It is a remarkable circumstance that the barbarous nations, which subsist on milk for so long, have been for so many ages either ignorant of the merits of cheese, or else have completely disregarded it.” So wrote the Roman historian Pliny. In doing so, he highlights that cheese was a key foodstuff for the Romans. Rome’s conquests were powered by cheese, with every Roman soldier received a…