Breakfast truly is the monarch of meals, that time of the day when one is allowed to gorge on a cornucopia of nonchalantly combined delicacies ranging across the sweet and savoury spectrums, all washed down with streams of the world’s favorite drug in caffeine, as well as the white liquid excretions of cow’s, and/or the juices from the mangled, crushed bodies of our fellow living entities on this earth of the fruiting variety.

Besides, one can happily plow through such a caloric smorgasbord with the reassuring knowledge that our bodies may need huge amounts of energy before tackling another day of heavy toil, depending on what exactly your exact profession is. For example, skipping breakfast is attributed to costing the Roman Republic a massive defeat at the Battle of the Trebia River in December of 218 BC.

On that occasion, brilliant Carthaginian general Hannibal Barca unleashed his elite Numidian cavalry against the Roman camp at daybreak, to provoke them into an early battle. Ancient historian Polybius clearly stated that ‘His object [was] to get at the enemy before they had had their breakfast, or made any preparations for the day.’ Dehydrated, calorie starved soldiers in the end performing worse than their better nutritioned counterparts.

Host: Simon Whistler

Author: Arnaldo Teodorani

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