Marshall County Republican. (Plymouth, Ind.) 1856-1878, 1869-11-03
A ROMAN DINNER.
Some of the Customs of Eating and
Drinking In the OIden Time.
from the Western Monthly

From the Western Monthly.
The ordinary Roman dinner party was
not large: he rule was that the guests
should not be less than three, the number
of the Graces, nor more than nine, the
number of the muses.. The tables were
made of rare woods. finely carved, and
sometimes entirely of precious metals.
Table cloths were unknown. Those who
dined neither used knives nor forks,
but helped themselves with their fingers:
nevertheless, as soups could not be eaten
in this primitive way, necessity, the moth
er of invention, devised spoons To handle
hot dinner without burning the fingers,
required as much dcxterity as the iuggler
displays in playing with heated pokers.
Gentlemen with tender digits and impress
sble appetites wore metallic finger tips,
like thimbles, which enabled them to put
a finger into the hottest pie, with impunity.
After each dish they prepared themselves
for the next course by dipping their fing-
ers into ewers of water, carried
around by servants, and drying
them on napkins. each guest
bringing his own napkin with HIM. Veal
thy persons are said to have used very
costly kind of asbestos napkin, which.
when soiled. they threw into the fire; the
fire cleansed it without consuming it. Re
fined epicures sometimes wiped their
hands on the long hair of the cup.bearers, a
custom that is very common in the Orient,
and recalls the Office performed by Magda-
len to the feet of Jesus. The Romans
began the day with an 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 calda, sort of punch composed of
water and wine, seasoned with spices and
sweetened with honey. This drink was to
the Romans what tea and coffee are to rs.
The wine in the mixture being considera-
bly, diluted, possessed only very mildly in
toxieaiing qualities, 81 that 1t could be
used quite freely withou unpleasant effects;
and Cowper's description of a tea-pariy,
where
1.-THE bubbling and loud Missing urn
Throws up steamy column, and the cups
That cheer but not inebriate wait on each,
would correspond very well TO calda-party
of Roman ladies nineteen centuries ago.
Several calda-urns of bronze have been
found at Pompeii The principal meal
(culled cPna) was eaten about o'clock,
and lasted several hours. People, like the
elder Pliny, who dined only three hours,
were considered remarkably frugal and
time-saving. In Pompeii there. are numer-
ous paintings OF feasts, which give consid-
erable information as to the bill of fare.
In the centre of the table, for example, is "A
large dish containing four peacocks. so ar
ranged as to form a stately dome with their
tails; here and there are Holsters, each hold
ing something in its claws; one has blue
egg, another an oyster, a third stuffed rat,
a fourth has little basket of grass-hoppers,
or some similar appetizing delicacv. There
are also four plates of fish, several pheas-
ants, hares and squirrels. each holding its
head between its paws; besides peaches.
melons, and other fruits, variety of veg
etables, fantastic forms of pastry, and diff
ferent kinds of wine. In order TO equip
the table as magnifcently az possible,
many articles were provided. not because
they were agreeable to the palate, but be-
cause they added to the splendor and cost
illness of the banquet. Dishes, too, which
would excite in us the most intense dis
gust were held in high esteem. A man Is
represented as drinking from "A cows horn.
pierced at the smaller end so as TO allow a
thin stream of wine to flow into the mouth as
he holds il mp at arms length-a method of
imbibing still practiced by the common
people of southern Italy. Other cups were
fashioned. by the whimsical fancy of the
potter, into the head of a pig, a ram, q
stag, or some other animal; m my of them
are of cheap material (clay), but all show
by their excellent workmanship that they
were made by good artists. One advantage
of such drinking vessel in the eve of
veteran tippler would be that, owing TO its
peculiar shape, it could not stand upright
and when once filled it must be emptied be-
fore it could be set down again on the table.
Among the Greeks it was not customary to in
vite women to dinner parties, tho the Syba-
rites didso, and, according to llutarch, used
to send the invitations year beforehand
in order to give the ladies ample time to
dress for the occasion. Butamong the Ro-
mans women were not only admitted t.
to banbuets, as is evident from several
Pompeiisn paintings, but, it We may believe
what contemporary poets say of them, were
also especially proud of their drinking; and
Shakespeare is true to Roman customs when
he makes Cleopatra boast of such triumphs
over Antony:
''Ere the ninth hour drunk him to his bed;
Then put my tires and mantle on him, whilst
l wore his sword Philippan."