6/5/2023 0 Comments Carpe diem banquet hallThe act of reclining while dining, however, was a privilege reserved for men only. Lying down also allowed feast goers to occasionally doze off and enjoy a quick nap between courses, giving their stomach a break. mosaic depicting an unswept floor after a banquet De Agostini/Getty Images This trompe-l’oeil tactic, or the “unswept floor” effect, was a clever mosaic technique.Ģnd century A.D. The Romans liked to decorate banquet hall floors with such images in order to camouflage real food strewn on the floor. To get a sense of the scene, consider one mosaic found in a Roman villa in Aquileia, which depicts fish and food leftovers scattered on the floor. So they ate with their hands and the food had to be already cut by slaves,” Jori said.įood leftovers and meat and fish bones were thrown on the floor by guests. The left hand held up their head while the right one picked up the morsels placed on the table, bringing them to the mouth. “The Romans actually ate lying on their bellies so the body weight was evenly spread out and helped them relax. The horizontal position was believed to aid digestion – and it was the utmost expression of an elite standing. The comforts and privilege of wealthy menīloating was reduced by eating lying down on a comfortable, cushioned chaise longue. Emperor Claudius, who reigned from 41 AD to 54 AD, is said to have even issued an edict to encourage flatulence at the table, based on writings in the “Life of Claudius” by Roman historian Suetonius. It was also considered normal to break wind while eating, because it was believed that trapping gas inside the bowels could cause death, Jori said. In other words, when nature called, revelers didn’t necessarily go to the bathroom often the WC came to them, powered again by slave labor. Gaius Petronius Arbiter’s literary masterpiece “The Satyricon” captures this typical social dynamic of Roman society in mid first century AD with the character of wealthy Trimalchio, who tells a slave to bring him a “piss pot” so he can urinate. “They had bizarre culinary habits that don’t sit well with modern etiquette, such as eating while lying down and vomiting between courses,” Franchetti said.Īn engraving of a banquet at the house of Lucius Licinius Lucullus from around 80 B.C. Gorging for hours on end also called for what we would consider untoward social behavior in order to accommodate such gluttonous indulgences. Clever sleight of hand, combined with shock factor, counted for a lot in these competitive displays. The fish would be presented with head and tail, but the inside was stuffed with cow liver. It was an “eating joke” made to amaze and fool guests. These cultural tours also delve into the eyebrow-raising rituals that accompanied these meals.Īmong the unusual recipes prepared by Conte is salsum sine salso, invented by the famed Roman gourmand Marcus Gavius Apicius. Together, the duo organizes dining experiences at archaeological sites in Italy that give guests a taste of what eating like a Roman noble was all about. Giorgio Franchetti, a food historian and scholar of ancient Roman history, recovered lost recipes from these repasts, which he shares in “Dining With the Ancient Romans,” written with “archaeo-cook” Cristina Conte. “Dormouse was a delicacy that farmers fattened up for months inside pots and then sold at markets,” Jori said, “while huge quantities of parrots were killed to have enough tongues to make fricassee.” What’s more, hosts played a game of one-upmanship by serving over-the-top, exotic dishes like parrot tongue stew and stuffed dormouse. Game meat such as venison, wild boar, rabbit and pheasant along with seafood like raw oysters, shellfish and lobster were just some of the pricey foods that made regular appearances at the Roman banquet. 'The Roses of Heliogabalus' by Lawrence Alma-Tadema (1888) depicting Roman diners at a banquet Active Museum/Alamy
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