Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1869-11-03
A ROMAN DINNER,
Some of the Customs of Eating and
Drinking in the OIden Time.
Frnrn the Western Monthly


From the Western Monthly
The ordinary Roman dinner party was
1 not large; the 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
I 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
/ a hot dinner without burning the fingers.
required as much dcxterity as the iuggler
displays in playing with heated polzers
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 fng-
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 soile5, 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, q
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. AZ noon
hey took warm lunch of eggs, fish, ETC.,
70
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 u.s.
The wine in the mixture being considera-
bly, diluted, possessed only very mildly in
toxicating qualities, SO that it could be
used quite freely without unpleasant effects:
and Cowper's description of a tea-party,
where
-''The bubbling and loud kissing urn
Throws up steamy column, and the cups
That cheer but not inebrate wait on each, ;,
would correspond very well to a calda-party
of Roman ladies nineteen centuries ago
Several calda-urns of bronze have been
found at Pompeii. The principal meal
(culled cCepd) was eaten about 4 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-
Gus paintings OF feasts, which give consid-
erable information as to the bill Of fare
In the centre of the table, for example, is
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 a blue
egg, another an oyster, a third a stuffed rat,
fourth has a little basket of grass -hoppers,
or some similar appetizing dehcacy. There
are also four plates of fish, several pneas-
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 as possible, |
many articles were provided, not because
they were agreeable to the palate, but be-
cause they added to the splendor and cost
liness Of the banquet. Dishes, too, which
would excite in US the most intense dis
gust were held in high esteem. A man is
as drinking from cows horn, |
pierced at the smaller end SO as to allow a
thin stream of wine to flow into the mouth as !
he holds it up at arms length-a method of |
imDibing still practiced by the common |
people of southern Italy. Other cups were |
potter, into the head of pig, a ram,
stag, or some other animal; mony 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 a |
veteran tippler would be that, owing to it's
peculiar shape, it could not stand upright, |
and when once filed it must be emptied be- |
fore it could be set down again on the table. |
Among the Greeks it was not customary toin
vite women to dinner parties, tho the Syba- |
rites didso, and, according to llutarrh, used |
to send the invitations a year beforehand, |
in order to give the ladies ample time to |
dress for the occasion. Butamong the Ro- |
mans women were not only admitted to |
to banbuets, as is evident from several |
Pompeiian paintings, but, if 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
wore his sword Philippan."