The Manitowoc pilot. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1859-1932, 1869-10-14
q Roma Dinner Parry.
From Western Monthly for October.


The ordinary Roman dnner>rarty was
not large the rule was that the guests
should be not less than three, the number
OF the Graces nor more than pine, the
number of the Muses.. The tables were
made OF rare woods, finely carved and some
times entirely OF precious metals. Table
cloths we're unknown. Those who dined
used neil her knives nor forks, but helped
themselves with their finger. nevertheless,
as soups could not be eaten in this primi-
tive way, necessity, the mother of invention,
devised spoons. To handle hot dinner
without burning the fingers, required as
much dexterity as The juggler displays in
playing with heated pokers. Gentlemen
with tender digits and irrepressible appe-
titles wore metallic finger tips, like thimbles
which enabled them to put finger into the
hottest pie with impuhity. After each dish
they prepared themselves for the next
course by dipping their fingers into ewers
OF water, carried around by servants, and
drying them on napkins, each guest bring
ing his own napkin with him. Wealthy
persons are said to have used a very costly
kind OF asbestos napkin, which, when
soiled, they threw into the fire; the
IRE eleansed it without consuming it. Re-
lined epicures sometimes wiped their hands
on the long hair OF the cupbearers, a Gus
tom that Is very common in the Orient,
and recalls the officers performed by Mag
dalsn to the feet Of Jesus The Romans
began the day with az early breakfast OF
bread, seasoned with salt and eaten with
olives, dried grapes or cheese At noon
they took warm lunch OF eggs, fish, etc,
together with their favorite beverage, called
cdtdd, sort ..of punch, composed of water
and wine, seasoned with spices and sweet
ened with honey. This drink was to the
Romans what tea and coffee are to us. The
wine in the mixture, being considerably
diluted, possessed only very mildly intoxi
eating properties, SO that it could be used
quite freely without unpleasant effects and
| Cowper's description of a tea party,
where
1.-THE bubbling and loud-hissing urn
| Throws up steamy column and the cups
That cheer but not inebriate wait on ach,
would correspond very well to a calda-par-
| ty OF Roman ladies nineteen centuries ago.
| Several calda urns bronze have been found
at Pompeii. The principal meal Tea Il d
cHnd) was eaten about four O'Clock, and
lasted several hours People, like the ell
der Pliny, who dined only three hours
were considered remarkably frugal and
time-saving. In Pompeii there are numer-
Gus paintings of feasts, which give consid,
cradle information as to the bill of fare In
the center of the table, for example, is
large dish containing four peacocks, so ar
ranged as to form u stately done with their
tails here there are Holsters, each holding
something in its claws; one has blue egg,
another an oyster, third stuffed rat,
fourth has little basket Of grasshoppers,
or some similar appetizing delicacy There
are also four plates of fish, several pleas
ants, hares and squirrels, each holding It's
head between It's paws besides peaches,
melons and other fruits, a variety of vege
tables fantastic forms of pastry, and differ
ent kinds of wine. In order u equip the
table as magnifcently as possible, many ar
ticles were provided not because they were
agreeable to The palate. but because they
added to the splendor and costliness of the
| banquet. Dishes, too. which would excite
in us the most intense disgust were held in
high esteem. In one picture, man is re-
presented as rlnking from cows horn,
pierced at the smaller end so as to allow a
thin sire III of wine to flow into the mouth
as he holds it up at arm length-a meth
cd of imbibing still practiced by the COM
mon people OF Southern Italy. Other cups
were fashioned, by the whimsical fancy of
the potter, into tie head ola pig, ram, a
stag; or some other animal many OF them
are of cheap material (clay1, but all show
by their excellent workmanship that they
were made by good artists One advan-
tage of such drinking>vos ,el in the eyes OF q
vesterian tippler would be that, owing to
its peculiar shape, it could not stand up
right, and when once filled must be empt-
led before it could be set down again upon
the table. Among the Greeks it was not
customa y TO invite women to dinner par
ties, although the Sybarites did SO, and,
according to Plutarch, used to send the in
vitations a year beforehand, in order to
give the ladies ample time to dress for the
occasion. But among the Romans, women
were not admitted to banquets, az is evil
dent from several Pompeiian paintings, but
We may believe what contemporary poets
say of them, were also especially proud of
their feats of drinking and Shakespeare
is true to Roman customs when he makes
Cleopatra boast of such triumphs over An
tony:
g Ere the ninth hour drunk him to his bed
| Then mt nv tires and mantles on him willis at