The Conservative. (M'connelsville, Ohio) 1866-1871, 1869-11-05
A ROMAN DINNER.
Some of the Customs Of Eating and
Drinking In the Olden Time.

LtfOm the Mebtcfu mouAulgs
The ordinary Roman dinner party was
not large; the rule was that the guests
should not be less han three, the number
of the Graces, nor more than nine, the
number Of tho muses.. The tables were
made of rare woods, finely carved, aud
sometimes entirely of precious metals.
Table cloths were unknown. 4Aose who
dined neither used knivelG Nor forks,
but helped themselves with eheir fingers;
nevertheless, rs soups could not be eaten
in this primitive way, necessity, the moth
er of invention, devised spoons To handle
a 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
sible 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 fug-
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 useda very
costly kind of asbestos napkin, which,
when soiled, they threw into the ife;the
fire cleansed it without consuming It. Re-
fined epicuros sometimes wiped their
hands on the long hair of tho cup.bearers, a
custom that is very common in the Orient,
and recalls the office performed by MIagda-
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 a warm lunch of eggs, fish, etc,
together with their ~favorite beverage,
called calda, a 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 us.
The wine in the mixture being consdora-
bly, diluted, possessed only very mildly in
toxicating qualities, so that il could be
used quite freely without unpleasant effects;
and Cowper's description Of a ~tea-parly,
where
1.-THE bubbling and loud kissing urn
Throws up a stCamy column, and tho cups
That cheer but not inebriatc wait on each, %
would correspond very well to calda-party
Of Roman ladies nineteen centuries ago
Several calda.urns of bronze have been
found ut Pompcii. The principal meal
(culled canal was eaten about 4 o'clock,
and lasted several hours. People, like the
elder Pliny, who dined only three hours,
we're considered remarkably frugal and
time-saying. In Pompeii there are numer-
u paintings of %feasts, which give consid-
cradle information as TO the bill Of fare.
In the centre Of the table, for example, is
large dish containing four peac1cks, 30 ar
ranged as to form a stately dome with their
tails; here and there are Holsters, each hold
ing something In its claws; "a has a blue
egg, another au oyster, a third a stuffed rat,
n fourth has o little basket Of grass.hoppors,
80. ..v,, aTw.fT,w n..naNg~Tyv T.Ia...vr Nh.
are also four plates of fish, several pleas
ants, hares and squirrels, each holding its
head between it's paws; besides peaches,
melons, aud other fruits, a variety of veg
etablcs, fantastic forms of pastry, and diff
ferent kinds Of wine. In order to equip
the table as magnificently 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 tho most intense dis.
gust were held in high esteem. A man is
represented as drinking from a cows horn,
pierced ut the smaller end 80 az TO allow a
thin stream Of wine TO flow into the mouth as
he holds IL up 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 tho
potter, into tho head Of a pig, n ram, q
stag, or some other animal; many Of them
are Of cheap material (clny), but all show
by their excellent workmanship that they
were made by good artists. One advantage
Of such q drinking vessel in the eve of a
veteran tipplcr would be that, owing to its
peculiar shape, IL could not stand upright.
and when once filed it must be emptied be.
fore it could be set down again on tho table.
Amongthe Greeks il wasn not CUSTOMARY toin.
vite women TO dinner parties, tho the Syba-
rites didso, and, according TO llutarch, used
TO send the invitations a year beforehand.
in order to give the ladies ample time to
dreSs for the occasion. Butamong tho Ro-
mans women were not only admitted to
to banbuets, as is evident from several
Pompeiian paintings, but, il we may believe
what contemporary poetssay 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 10 his bed:
Then put my tires and mantle on him, whilst
/ wore his sword P%lilippan."