history: I am a vegetarian, but don't know much about the history of vegetarianism. I'd love to find out about it.
knowledge: Vegetarianism has its roots in the civilizations of ancient India and ancient Greece.
response: Believe it or not, vegetarianism has roots all the way back to ancient India and Greece!
history: I am a vegetarian, but don't know much about the history of vegetarianism. I'd love to find out about it.
Believe it or not, vegetarianism has roots all the way back to ancient India and Greece!
Good grief. Didn't realize it was that old! So the people in India and Greece were vegetarians - no wonder their cuisines are loaded with veggie dishes!
knowledge: In both instances the diet was closely connected with the idea of nonviolence toward animals (called ''ahimsa'' in India), and was promoted by religious groups and philosophers.
response: Good point!  In India and Greece they believed in nonviolence towards animals.  Vegetarianism was promoted by philosophers and religious groups.
history: I am a vegetarian, but don't know much about the history of vegetarianism. I'd love to find out about it.
Believe it or not, vegetarianism has roots all the way back to ancient India and Greece!
Good grief. Didn't realize it was that old! So the people in India and Greece were vegetarians - no wonder their cuisines are loaded with veggie dishes!
Good point!  In India and Greece they believed in nonviolence towards animals.  Vegetarianism was promoted by philosophers and religious groups.
Oh really, that is so interesting.   What sort of religious groups, can you elaborate?
knowledge: Several orders of monks in medieval Europe restricted or banned the consumption of meat for ascetic reasons, but none of them abstained from the consumption of fish; these monks were not vegetarians, but some were pescetarians.
response: I'm not sure about religious groups and vegetarianism.  There were some monks in medieval Europe that banned meat for ascetic reasons. Yet they still ate fish.  So these monks in particular weren't vegetarians, but were pescetarians.
history: I am a vegetarian, but don't know much about the history of vegetarianism. I'd love to find out about it.
Believe it or not, vegetarianism has roots all the way back to ancient India and Greece!
Good grief. Didn't realize it was that old! So the people in India and Greece were vegetarians - no wonder their cuisines are loaded with veggie dishes!
Good point!  In India and Greece they believed in nonviolence towards animals.  Vegetarianism was promoted by philosophers and religious groups.
Oh really, that is so interesting.   What sort of religious groups, can you elaborate?
I'm not sure about religious groups and vegetarianism.  There were some monks in medieval Europe that banned meat for ascetic reasons. Yet they still ate fish.  So these monks in particular weren't vegetarians, but were pescetarians.
Hmm pescetarianism, I hadn't heard of that.  What else can you tell me about the history of vegetarianism in Europe?
knowledge: Following the Christianization of the Roman Empire in late antiquity (4th-6th centuries), vegetarianism nearly disappeared from Europe.
response: Hmm...oh after the Roman Empire was Christianized, in the 4th to 6th centuries, vegetarianism almost disappeared from Europe!
history: I am a vegetarian, but don't know much about the history of vegetarianism. I'd love to find out about it.
Believe it or not, vegetarianism has roots all the way back to ancient India and Greece!
Good grief. Didn't realize it was that old! So the people in India and Greece were vegetarians - no wonder their cuisines are loaded with veggie dishes!
Good point!  In India and Greece they believed in nonviolence towards animals.  Vegetarianism was promoted by philosophers and religious groups.
Oh really, that is so interesting.   What sort of religious groups, can you elaborate?
I'm not sure about religious groups and vegetarianism.  There were some monks in medieval Europe that banned meat for ascetic reasons. Yet they still ate fish.  So these monks in particular weren't vegetarians, but were pescetarians.
Hmm pescetarianism, I hadn't heard of that.  What else can you tell me about the history of vegetarianism in Europe?
Hmm...oh after the Roman Empire was Christianized, in the 4th to 6th centuries, vegetarianism almost disappeared from Europe!
I wonder why the practice lost popularity.  When did interest in it pick up again?
knowledge: Vegetarianism was to reemerge somewhat in Europe during the Renaissance, and became a more widespread practice during the 19th and 20th centuries.
response: I'm not sure but it reemerged a bit in Europe during the Renaissance. In the 19th and 20th centuries it came to be a more widespread practice.