Post No. 39. Pizza. Pizza is a savory dish of Italian origin, consisting of a usually round, flattened base of leavened wheat-based dough topped with tomatoes, cheese, and often various ingredients (anchovies, olives, meat, etc.) baked at a high temperature, traditionally in a wood-fired oven. Food similar to pizza have been made since the Neolithic Age. Records of people adding other ingredients to bread to make it more flavorful can be found throughout ancient history. In the 6 th century BC, the Persian soldiers of Achaemenid Empire during the rule King Darius I baked flatbread with cheese and dates on top of their battle shields. An early reference to a pizza-like food occurs in the Aeneid, when Celaeno queen of the Harpies, foretells that the Trojans would not find peace until they are forced by hunger to eat their tables (Book III). IN Book VII, Aeneas and his men are served a meal that include round cakes (like pita bread) topped with cooked vegetables. When they eat