Dyson told Discovery News that the new book "was meticulously researched" and that his own work in Pompeii and Rome supports Allison's conclusions.
He said, "We've also found numerous fast food restaurants in Pompeii and other parts of ancient Rome."
Dyson likened these places to a cross between "Burger King and a British pub or a Spanish tapas bar." Open to the street, each had a large counter with a receptacle in the middle from which food or drink would have been served.
"Most Romans lived in apartments or rather confined spaces, and there is not much evidence for stoves and other cooking equipment in them," he said.
Dyson thinks "fast food" restaurants became popular because they were plentiful, the same way modern New Yorkers often eat out due to the panoply of affordable choices. Additionally, many of Rome's and Pompeii's residents, who worked as artisans, shopkeepers, weavers and such, made enough money to support these places.
Grabbing food to go, either in a house or on the street, also seems to match the energy and flexibility of the Italian mindset.
Dyson said, "Italy's vibrant street and bar scenes today, along with the often multipurpose design of homes with bedsteads stacked in a corner, or kitchenettes in surprising places, reflect the wonderful, slightly chaotic, aspects of early Roman life."
