Banquet
Rich architectural decoration, gardens, sumptuous furniture and textiles, aromatics, entertainments, tableware, food and wine, all awaited guests of upper-class Roman convivia (banquets). In a standard triclinium (dining room) nine diners reclined across three couches arranged around a mensa (central table).
In the ideal banquet, dishes comprising air, land and sea creatures were served on fine tableware across multiple courses. Food and wine were graded by quality and provenance, and were prepared by specialised slaves. Such banquets were a resonant symbol of the status of the host.
The reality of Roman banquets contrasts with the attitude of Roman authors who often treated them with mockery or disdain. The enormous cost of ephemeral and personal pleasures, they felt, eroded traditional Roman values. Roman moralists believed that the hedonistic atmosphere of the banquet spelled ruin for the individual and the Roman state as a whole.
“I could hardly change your wish to tickle your palate with peacock... You’re seduced by vain show, a rare bird costs gold, with its ornate tail spectacularly spread... Do you ever eat those feathers you admire?”
Horace, Satires, 2.2.24-26
The appliqués on this terracotta plate celebrate some of the luxury foods found at Roman banquets, such as boar and hare. Terracotta tableware was common in Roman households, but was not a high status item. Instead, glass and metalware predominated on the tables of the wealthy. Theatrical presentation and service of dishes was a fundamental aspect of the luxurious banquet, satirised by Horace when he references a dish of peacock, served with its feathers intact.
“Drink on…wine harms you not at all when garlands hang over your face and dip into your cups... Let the table swim even more liberally with floods of Falernian, let it bubble more lusciously in your golden goblet.”
Propertius, Elegies, 2.33b
Glass and bronze tablewares were essential items found in luxury drinking sets. Slaves would mix wine with water in the ‘Greek manner’ using items such as bronze ladles. The cheapest wines were little more than vinegar, served commonly in tavernae across the empire. More expensive vintages, such as the celebrated Falernian wine, were rare and luxurious consumables. Wine was ambiguous: it was celebrated as a hallmark of Roman culture, yet was feared by moralists for its intoxicating effects.
