Deipnosophistae

Athenaeus of Naucratis

Athenaeus. The Deipnosophists or Banquet Of The Learned Of Athenaeus. Yonge, Charles Duke, translator. London: Henry G. Bohn, 1854.

But Cleomenes was a man of eminent wisdom in his discernment of matters, (although he was but a young man,) and also was exceedingly simple in his manner of life. For he, being king, and having such important affairs intrusted to his management, displayed such behaviour to any who were invited to any sacrifice, as to make them see that what they had daily prepared at home for themselves was in no respect inferior to what he allowed himself. And when many embassies were sent to him he never made a banquet for the ambassadors at an earlier hour than the regular time; and there never was anything more laid than a common pentaclinum; and when there was no embassy, what was laid was a triclinium. And there were no orders issued by the regulator of the feasts, as to who should come in or who should sit down first: but the eldest led the way to the couch, unless he himself invited any one else to do so; and he was generally seen supping with his brother or with some of his friends of his own age. And there was placed on a tripod a brazen wine-cooler, and a cask, and a small silver cup holding two cotyle,[*](A cotyla held about half a pint.) and a cyathus;[*](A cyathus held about a twelfth part of a pint.) and the spoon was
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made of brass. And wine was not brought round to drink unless any one asked for it; but one cyathus was given to each guest before supper: and generally it was given to himself first; and then, when he had thus given the signal, the rest also asked for some wine. But what was served up was placed on a very common-looking table; and the dishes were such that there was neither anything left, nor anything deficient, but just a sufficient quantity for every one; so that those who were present should not feel the want of anything. For he did not think it right to receive guests as sparingly, in respect of soup and meat, as men are treated at the phiditia; nor again, to have so much superfluity as to waste money for no purpose, exceeding all moderation and reason in the feast; for the one extreme he counted illiberal, and the other arrogant. And the wine was of rather a better quality when he had any company. But while they were eating they all kept silence; but a slave stood by, holding in his hand a vessel of mixed wine, and poured out for every one who asked for it. And in the same manner, after supper there was given to each guest not more than two cyathi of wine, and this too was brought to each person as he made a sign for it. And there was no music of any kind accompanying the meal, but Cleomenes himself conversed all the time with each individual, having invited them, as it were, for the purpose of listening and talking; so that all departed charmed with his hospitality and affability.

But Antiphanes, ridiculing the Lacedæmonian banquets, in the style of the comic poets, in his drama which is entitled Archon, speaks as follows:—

  1. If you should live in Lacedæmon's walls,
  2. You must comply with all their fashions there.
  3. Go to their spare phiditia for supper,
  4. And feast on their black broth; and not disdain
  5. To wear fierce whiskers, and seek no indulgence
  6. Further than this; but keep the olden customs,
  7. Such as their country doth compel.

And concerning the Cretan banquets, or συσσίτια, Dosiades speaks in the fourth book of his treatie on Cretan Affairs, speaking as follows:—

But the Lyctians collect men for the common meal (συσσίτια) of the nation in this way:— Every one brings a tenth part of the fruits which his land produces and throws into the common stock of the mess;
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and they also bring their share of the taxes due to the city, which the chief magistrates of the city distribute among each separate family. And each one of the slaves pays an Aeginetan stater[*](A stater was about 3s. 3d. ) a head. The citizens are all divided into messes; and they call them ἀνδρεῖα. And a woman has the superintendence of their meals, having-three or four of the people under her to obey her orders. Now each one of the company is followed by two servants bearing wood; and their title is calophori. And there are in every town of Crete two houses set apart for these συσσίτιαι, one of which they call the men's house, and the other, that, namely, in which they receive strangers, they call the sleeping house. And in the house which is set apart for these public meals, there are first of all two tables set out, called the strangers' tables, at which those foreigners who are present sit; and after that tables are laid for the rest. And the younger men have half the quantity of meat; and they touch none of the other dishes. Then a bowl of wine is placed on each table, mingled with water; and all drink of this in common at the common table; and when they have finished supper then another bowl is put on the table. But for the boys one common bowl is likewise mixed; but the elders have liberty to drink more if they feel inclined to. And the woman who has the superintendence of the mess takes away from off the table, without any disguise or concealment, the best of what is served up, and puts it before those who are distinguished for warlike achievements or for wisdom. And when they have finished supper, then, first of all, they are in the habit of deliberating on the affairs of the state; and then, after that, they converse about exploits which have been performed in war, and extol those who have behaved like valiant men, and so exhort the younger men to acts of valour and virtue.

And Pyrgion, in the third book of his treatise on Cretan Laws, says—

At their public meals the Cretans sit and feast merrily. And those who are orphans have dishes served up to them without any seasoning; and the youngest of them minister to the others; and having uttered words of good omen they pour libations to the gods, and distribute the dishes served up to all the guests. They distribute some also to the sons who are sitting just behind the seat of their
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fathers; giving them one-half as much as is given to men; but the orphans have an equal share. And whatever is served up to them has no seasoning nor any luxurious mixtures compounded in it. There were also three seats designed for strangers, and a third table, on the right hand side as you went in to the house where the men ate; and that they called the table of the Jupiter of Hospitality, and the table of Hospitality.

And Herodotus, comparing the drinking parties of the Greeks with the banquets in fashion among the Persians, says—

But the Persians are accustomed to honour that day above all others on which they were born. And on that day they think it right to have a more splendid feast than on any other day. And on that day those of them who are rich serve up an ox, and an ass, and a horse, and a camel, all roasted whole in ovens: but those who are poor serve up only the smaller animals, such as sheep; and they do not eat a great deal of meat, but great quantities of sweetmeats, and no salt. And on this account the Persians say that the Greeks, when they eat, leave off being still hungry, because after supper nothing is served up to them worth speaking of. For that if anything good were put before them they would not leave off eating it: but they sit very long at their wine. And it is not allowed to them to vomit, nor to make water in the presence of one another. And these laws are strictly observed among them. And after they have drunk hard they are accustomed to deliberate on the most important affairs. And whatever they determine on at these deliberations, the next day the master of the house, wherever they were when they deliberated, proposes to them over again when they are quite sober; and if they adopt the same determination when sober, then they act upon it, but if not, they a abandon it: and whatever they decide on when sober, they reconsider when they are drunk.

But concerning the luxury of the kings among the Persians, Xenophon, in his Agesilaus, writes as follows:—

For men travel over the whole earth in the service of the king of Persia, looking to find out what may be pleasant for him to drink; and ten thousand men are always contriving something nice for him to eat; and no one can tell the number of contrivances they propose to cause him to sleep well.
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But Agesilaus, because he was a man fond of exertion, drank whatever was set before him with pleasure, and ate whatever came across him with appetite; and every place suited him to sleep pleasantly in.
And in his treatise entitled Hiero, speaking of the things which are prepared for kings, and also of the dishes which are prepared for private individuals to eat, he uses the following expressions:—
' And I know,' said he, ' O Simonides, that most men consider that we eat and drink more pleasantly than private individuals in this respect, because they think that they should more gladly eat of what is served up to us than of what is set before them. For that whatever is out of the ordinary routine gives pleasure; on which account all men gladly receive invitations to festivals, except kings. For as their tables are always loaded to satiety, it is quite impossible that they should be susceptible of any addition at the time of feasts; so that in this particular pleasure which is derived from hope they are surpassed by private individuals. And in the next place,' he continued, ' I am sure that you yourself know from experience that the more any one sets before people that which is more than sufficient, in that exact proportion is a disgust at eating quicker in coming on; so that a man who has a very large and varied dinner set before him is inferior to those who live moderately also in the duration of his pleasure.' 'But, by Jove,' said Simonides, as long as the mind feels an appetite, so long are those who are bred up amid more expensive preparations delighted in a much higher degree than those who are in the habit of living in a most economical manner.'

But Theophrastus, in the Book on Royal Authority, addressed to Cassander, (if indeed the book under that title, attributed to him, be a genuine work of his, for many say that it was written by Sosibius, to whom Callimachus the poet addresses a triumphal hymn in elegiac metre,) says that

the Persian kings were so luxurious as to offer by proclamation a large sum of money to any one who could invent any new pleasure.
And Theopompus, in the thirty-fifth book of his Histories, says, that
the king of the Paphlagonians, whose name was Thys, whenever he supped, ordered a hundred dishes of every sort to be placed on his table, beginning with oxen. And that when he was led captive to the king of Persia and kept in prison, he still continued to have the
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same profusion served up to him, living in the most splendid manner. So that Artaxerxes, when he heard of it, said that he appeared to him to be living like a man who knew that he should soon die.
But the same Theopompus, in the fourteenth book of his History of the Exploits of Philip, says—
When the king comes to any one of his subject cities, twenty talents are expended on his supper, and sometimes thirty; and some even spend a much larger sum still. For it is a very old custom, that every city is bound to supply a supper in proportion to its greatness, just on the same principle as its tribute to the revenue and its taxes are exacted.

But Heraclides the Cumæan, who compiled a history of Persia, in the second book of that work, which is entitled Preparatory, says—

And those who wait upon the Persian kings while they are at supper, all minister after having bathed, wearing beautiful clothes; and they remain nearly half the day in attendance at the feast. But of those who are invited to eat with the king, some dine outside, and every one who chooses can see them, but some dine inside with the king: and even these do not actually eat with him; but there are two rooms opposite to one another, in one of which the king eats his meal, and in the other the guests eat theirs. And the king beholds them through the curtain which is at the door; but they cannot see him. But sometimes, when there is a feast, then they all sup in one room, namely, in the same room as the king, being the large room. And when the king has a drinking party, (and he has one very often,) his guests are about a dozen in number, and when they have supped, the king by himself, and his guests by themselves, then one of the eunuchs summons those who are to drink, with the king: and when they come, then they drink with him, but they do not have the same wine; also they sit on the ground and he reclines on a couch with golden feet; and when they are very drunk indeed they go away. But for the most part the king breakfasts and sups by himself: but sometimes his wife sups with him; and sometimes some of his sons do so. And at supper his concubines sing and play to him; and one of them leads, and then all he rest sing in concert. But the supper,
he continues,
which is called the king's supper, will appear to any one who hears of it to be very magnificent; still, when it is examined into, it
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will turn out to be economically and carefully managed, and in the same manner as the meals of the other Persians who are in office. For the king has a thousand victims slain every day: and among them are horses, and camels, and oxen, and asses, and stags, and an immense number of sheep; and a great many birds too are taken; and the Arabian ostrich (and that is a very large animal), and geese, and cocks; and a moderate quantity of them is served up to each of the mess-mates of the king, and each of them carries away what is left for his breakfast. But the greater part of these victims and of this meat is carried out into the court to the spear-bearers and light-armed troops whom the king maintains; and in the court the masters of the feasts portion out the meat and the bread into equal portions; and as the mercenary troops in Greece receive money for their hire, so do these men receive food from the king, on account, as if it were money. And in the same way, at the courts of the other Persians, who hold office as magistrates, all the food is placed at once upon the table; and when the mess-mates of the magistrate have finished their supper, then he who superintends the meal distributes what is left on the table (and the greater part of the bread and meat is left) to each of the servants. And each attendant, when he has received his share, has his food for the day. For the most honourable of the mess-mates (their title is οἱ σύνδειπνοι) never come to the king except to dinner; because, forsooth, they have requested permission not to be bound to come twice in the day, in order that they themselves may be able to receive guests at their own houses.

But Herodotus, in his seventh book, says, that

the Greeks, who received Xerxes in hospitality, and invited him to supper, all came to the very extremity of ruin, so as to be utterly turned out of their houses; as for instance, among the Thasians, who, because of the cities which they had on the continent, received the army of Xerxes and entertained it at supper. Antipater, one of these citizens, expended four hundred talents in that single entertainment; and he placed on the tables gold and silver cups and goblets; and then the soldiers, when they departed after the supper, took them away with them. And wherever Xerxes took two meals, dining as well as supping, that city was utterly ruined.
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And in the ninth book of his Histories, the same author tells us,
The king provides a royal entertainment and this is provided once every year, on the day on which the king was born. And the name of this feast is in Persian τυκτὰ, but in Greek τέλειον; and that is the only day tat he has his head rubbed, and gives presents to the Persians.

But Alexander the Great, whenever he supped with any of his friends, as Ephippus the Olynthian relates in his book on the Deaths of Alexander and Hephæstion, expended each day a hundred minæ, as perhaps sixty or seventy of his friends supped with him. But the king of the Persians, as Ctesias and Dinon relate in the Histories of Persia, supped with fifteen thousand men, and there were expended on the supper four hundred talents; and this amounts in Italian money to twenty four hundred thousand of sesterces. And this sum when divided among fifteen thousand men is a hundred and sixty sesterces of Italian money for each individual; so that it comes to very nearly the same as the expense of Alexander; for he expended a hundred minæ, according to the account of Ephippus.

But Menander, in his play called Drunkenness, estimates the expense of the most sumptuous banquet at a talent, saying—

  1. Then we do not in these matters act as we should do
  2. When to the gods we sacrifice; for then we go and buy
  3. A sheep, an offering for the gods, for scarce ten drachmas' price.
  4. And then we send for flute players, and ointments, and perfumes,
  5. And harps, and singing women, eels, and cheese, and honey too;
  6. And ample jars of Thasian wine; but these can scarcely come,
  7. When all together reckon'd up, to a small talent's sum.
And it is as the very extravagance of expense that he has named a talent at all. And in his Morose Man he speaks as follows:—
  1. See how these housebreakers do sacrifice!
  2. Bearing such beds and couches, not to please
  3. The gods, but their own selves. Incense is pious,
  4. So is the votive cake; and this the god
  5. Receives well-baked in the holy fire.
  6. But they when they have offered the chump end
  7. Of a lean loin, the gall bladder, and bones,
  8. Not too agreeable or easy to eat,
  9. Unto the gods, consume the rest themselves.

And Philoxenus of Cythera, in the play which is entitled The Supper, (for he it is whom Plato the comic

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writer mentions in his Phaon, and not Philoxenus the Leucadian,) mentions the following as the preparation made for a banquet—
  1. And then two slaves brought in a well-rubb'd table,
  2. And then another, and another, till
  3. The room was fill'd, and then the hanging lamps
  4. Beam'd bright and shone upon the festive crowns,
  5. And herbs, and dishes of rich delicacies.
  6. And then all arts were put in requisition
  7. To furnish forth a most luxurious meal.
  8. Barley-cakes white as snow did fill the baskets,
  9. And then were served up not coarse vulgar pots,
  10. But well-shaped dishes, whose well-order'd breadth
  11. Fill'd the rich board, eels, and the well-stuffd conger,
  12. A dish fit for the gods. Then came a platter
  13. Of equal size, with dainty sword-fish fraught,
  14. And then fat cuttle-fish, and the savoury tribes
  15. Of the long hairy polypus. After this
  16. Another orb appear'd upon the table,
  17. Rival of that just brought from off the fire,
  18. Fragrant with spicy odour. And on that
  19. Again were famous cuttle-fish, and those
  20. Fair maids the honey'd squills, and dainty cakes,
  21. Sweet to the palate, and large buns of wheat,
  22. Large as a partridge, sweet, and round, which you
  23. Do know the taste of well. And if you ask
  24. What more was there, I'd speak of luscious chine,
  25. And loin of pork, and head of boar, all hot;
  26. Cutlets of kid, and well-boil'd pettitoes,
  27. And ribs of beef, and heads, and snouts, and tails.
  28. Then kid again, and lamb, and hares, and poultry,
  29. Partridges and the bird from Phasis' stream.
  30. And golden honey, and clotted cream was there,
  31. And cheese, which I did join with all in calling
  32. Most tender fare. And when we all had reach'd
  33. Satiety of food and wine, the slaves
  34. Bore off the still full tables; and some others
  35. Brought us warm water for to wash our hands.[*](I have only attempted here to extract a few of the sentences and words which appeared a little intelligible. The whole quotation is perhaps the most hopelessly corrupt in all Athenæus. Schweighauser says,—Even the most learned men have given up the whole extract in despair, and that it is only a very few words from which he can extract any sense by the greatest freedom of conjecture.)

And Socrates the Rhodian, in the third book of his History of the Civil War, describing the entertainment given by Cleopatra the last queen of Egypt, who married Antony the Roman general in Cilicia, speaks in the following manner:

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But Cleopatra having met Antony in Cilicia, prepared him a royal entertainment, in which every dish was golden and inlaid with precious stones, wonderfully chased and embossed. And the walls,
continues he,
were hung with cloths embroidered in gold and purple. And she had twelve triclinia laid; and invited Antony to a banquet, and desired him to bring with him whatever companions he pleased. And he being astonished at the magnificence of the sight, exressed his surprise; and she, smiling, said that she made him a present of everything which he saw, and invited him to sup with her again the next day, and to bring his friends and captains with him. And then she prepared a banquet by far more splendid than the former one, so as to make that first one appear contemptible; and again she presented to him everything that there was on the table; and she desired each of his captains to take for his own the couch on which he lay, and the goblets which were set before each couch. And when they were departing she gave to all those of the highest rank palanquins, with the slaves for palanquin bearers; and to the rest she gave horses, adorned with golden furniture: and to every one she gave Aethiopian boys, to bear torches before them. And on the fourth day she paid more than a talent for roses; and the floor of the chamber for the men was strewed a cubit deep, nets being spread over the blooms.
And he relates further, that
Antony himself, when he was staying at Athens, a short time after this, prepared a very superb scaffold to spread over the theatre, covered with green wood such as is seen in the caves sacred to Bacchus; and from this scaffold he suspended drums and fawn-skins, and all the other toys which one names in connexion with Bacchus, and then sat there with his friends, getting drunk from daybreak,—a band of musicians, whom he had sent for from Italy, playing t him all the time, and all the Greeks around being collected to see the sight. And presently,
continues he,
he crossed over to the Acropolis, the whole city of Athens being illuminated with lamps suspended from the roof; and after that he ordered himself to be proclaimed as Bacchus throughout all the cities in that district.

And Caius the emperor, surnamed Caligula, because he was born in the camp, was not only called the young Bacchus, but was also in the habit of going about dressed in the entire

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dress of Bacchus, and he used to sit on the tribunal as judge in that dress.

Now a man looking at these instances which have occurred in our country before our time, may marvel at the poverty of the Greeks, especially if he sets his eyes upon the banquets which take place among the Thebans; concerning whom Clitarchus, in the first book of his Histories relating to Alexander, speaks, and says that all their wealth, when the city was razed to the ground by Alexander, was found to amount to four hundred and forty talents, because they were mean spirited and gluttons in eating and drinking, preparing in their banquets forced-meat balls, and boiled fish and anchovies, and encrasicholi, and sausages, and ribs of beef, and soup; on which Attaginus the son of Phrynon feasted Mardonius, with fifty other Persians; a man whom Herodotus mentions in his ninth book as having amassed an enormous amount of riches. And I think that they would never have escaped, and that there would have been no necessity for the Greeks being marshalled against them at Platæa, as they would certainly have been killed by such food as that.

But Hecatæus of Miletus, describing an Arcadian banquet in the third book of his Genealogies, says that it consists chiefly of barley-cakes and pork. But Harmodius of Lepreum, in the third book of his treatise on the Laws of the People of Phigalea, says—

The man among the Phigaleans who is appointed superintendent of the food, brought every day three choes of wine, and a medimnus of flour, and five mine weight of cheese, and other things suitable for the preparing of the victims. And the city provided each of the choruses with three sheep, and a cook, and a water-carrier, and tables, and seats for the guests to sit down upon, and all other similar appointments; only that the choregus supplied the vessels which the cook required. And the banquet was of the following description: Cheese, and barley-cake, for the sake of' preserving the laws, served up in brazen baskets, which are by some people called mazonoma, having derived their name from the use to which they are put; and together with the barley-cake and cheese, paunches and salt are given the guests to eat. And when they have offered these things to the gods, then they give every one a portion of wine to drink in a small mug, made of earthenware: and he
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who brings the wine says, May you sup well. And the there is put on the table for general use some soup and some minced meat; and every one has two slices of meat put within his reach. And it was a custom of theirs at all their banquets, and most especially at those which were called Mazones, or barley-feasts, (for even now the feast in honour of acchus has this name,) to give those of the young men who ate most manfully, a larger quantity of broth, and also to set before them barley-cakes and loaves, for such an one was considered a noble-minded and a valiant man for a large appetite was considered an admirable and a famous thing among them. But after supper was over, they used to make libations, without having washed their hands, but merely wiping hem on pieces of bread; and each of them took away with him that on which he had wiped his hands, doing this on account of the nightly objects of fear which arise to frighten men in the cross roads: and after the libations a paean is sung. But when they sacrifice to the Heroes, a very large sacrifice of oxen takes place, and they all feast with the slaves; and the children sit at table with their fathers, sitting naked on the stones.

But Theopompus, in the forty-sixth book of his account of the Exploits of Philip, says—

The Arcadians in their banquets admit both masters and slaves, and prepare but one table for all; and they place the food for all in the middle, and they mix the same bowl of wine for the whole company.

But among the Naucratitæ, according to the account given by Hermeas in the second book of his treatis respecting the Grynean Apollo, they sup in the prytaneum on the birthday festival of Vesta Prytanitis; and at the Dionysiac festival; and again at the assembly of the Comæan Apollo, —all of them coming in white robes, which even t this day they call prytanic garments. And when they have sat down to eat, they rise up again on their knees while the herald of the sacred festival repeats the national prayers, a making a libation together; and, after that, sitting down again, each of them takes two cotylæ of wine, except the pries of the Pythian Apollo, and of Bacchus, for each of then receives a double portion of wine and of all other things; and then a loaf of white bread is set before each of them, made very broad, on which another loaf is placed, which hey call cribanites. And a joint of pork is placed before hem, and

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a platter of ptisan or of some vegetable or herb which is in season, and a couple of eggs, and a slice of cheese, and some dry figs, and a cheesecake, and a garland. And whatever maker of a sacrifice prepares anything beyond this is liable to be fined by the magistrates, who are called τιμοῦχοι. And those who eat in the prytaneum are not permitted to take anything away to be eaten; but they only eat what is set before them, and give what is left to their slaves. And on all the other days of the year it is lawful for any one who pleases of those who are fed at the prytaneum to go into the prytaneum to sup, having prepared at his own home some vegetable, or some pulse, or some salt meat, or some fish, or a very little bit of pork; and when he eats this, he may also have a cotyla of wine. But no woman is allowed to go into the prytaneum excepting the woman alone who plays the flute. And no spoon may be brought into the prytaneum. But if any one of the Naucratitæ makes a marriage feast, as it is written in the law which regulates the ceremonial of marriage, it is forbidden for him to have eggs or honey cheesecakes served up; but what is the reason of these restrictions we may hope to be told by Ulpian.

But Lynceus, in his treatise on the Affairs and Constitution of Egypt, comparing the Egyptian banquets to the Persian ones, says—

When the Egyptians made an expedition against Ochus, king of Persia, and were defeated, when the king of the Egyptians was taken prisoner, Ochus treated him with great humanity, and invited him to supper. And as there was a very splendid preparation made, the Egyptian laughed at the idea of the Persian living so frugally. But if you wish,' said he, ' O king, to know how happy kings ought to feast, permit those cooks who formerly belonged to me to prepare for you an Egyptian supper.' And when the Persian had ordered that they should do so, when it was prepared, Ochus was delighted at the feast, and said, 'May the gods, O Egyptian, destroy you miserably for a wicked man, who could leave such a supper as this, and desire a much more frugal repast.'
But what the Egyptian feasts were like Protagorides teaches us in the first book of his treatise on the Daphnic Contests, speaking as follows:—
And the third description of suppers is the Egyptian, whose tables are not laid at all, but dishes are brought round to the guests.

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But among the Galatians,
says Phylarchu in his sixth book,
it is the custom to place on the tables a great number of loaves broken promiscuously, and meat just taken out of the kettles, which no one touches without first waiting for the king to see whether he touches anything of what is served up before him.
But in his third book the same Phylarchus says that
Ariamnes the Galatian, being an exceedingly rich man, gave notice that he would give all the Galaians a banquet every year; and that he did so, managing in this manner: He divided the country, measuring it by convenient stages along the roads; and at these stages he erected tents of stakes and rushes and osiers, each containing about four hundred men, or somewhat more, according as the district required, and with reference to the number that might be expected to throng in from the villages and towns adjacent to the stage in question. And there he placed huge kettles, full of every sort of meat; and he had the kettles made in the preceding year before he was to give the feast, sending for artizans from other cities. And he caused many victims to be slain, —numbers of oxen, and pigs, and sheep, and other animals,— every day; and he caused casks of wine to be prepared, and a great quantity of ground corn. And not only,
he continues,
did all the Galatians who came from the villages and cities enjoy themselves, but even all the strangers who happened to be passing by were not allowed to escape by the slaves who stood around, but were pressed to come in and partake of what had been prepared.

Xenophon also mentions the Thracian suppers in the seventh book of his Anabasis, describing the banquet given by Seuthes in the following words—

But when they all came to the supper, and the supper was laid so that they might all sit round in a circle, then tripods were brought to all the guests; and they were about twenty in number, all full of meat ready carved: and leavened loaves of large size were tuck to the joints of meat with skewers. And most especially were tables always placed before the guests, for that was the custom. And first of all Seuthes behaved in this manner taking the loaves which were near him, he broke them into small pieces, and threw the pieces to whoever he chose; and he acted in the same way with the meat, leaving before himself only just as much as he could eat; and the rest also did the same,—those
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I mean before whom the tables were set. But a certain Arcadian, Arystas by name, a terrible fellow to eat, said that throwing the bread and meat about was folly; and taking a large loaf in his hand, of the size of three chœnixes,[*](A chœnix held about a quart.) and putting the meat upon his knees, made his supper in that manner. And they brought round horns of wine, and all pledged one another; but Arystas, when the cup-bearer came to him with the wine, said, as he saw that Xenophon was no longer eating any supper, 'Give him the wine, for he has time to drink it, but I have not time yet.' And then there arose laughter. And as the liquor went round, a Thracian came in, having a white horse, and taking a horn full of wine, said, ' O Seuthes, I pledge you, and I make you a present of my horse: and if you ride him you will catch whatever you wish to catch; and when you retreat you will never need to fear an enemy.' And another man brought in his son, and gave him to him in the same manner, pledging him in wine: and another gave him garments for his wife. And Timasion, pledging him, gave him a silver goblet, and a scimitar worth ten minæ. But Gnesippus, an Athenian, rising up, said that there was an ancient and excellent law, that those who had anything should give it to the king as a compliment, and that the king should make presents to those who had nothing. But Xenophon rose up boldly, and taking the horn, said— 'I, O Seuthes, give you myself and these my companions to be faithful friends to you; and not one of them is unwilling that I should do so: and now they are present here asking for nothing, but being willing to encounter labour and danger on your behalf.' And Seuthes, rising up, drank to Xenophon, and spilt the rest of the contents of the horn at the same time that he did. And after this there came in men who played on horns such as are used for giving orders with, and also on trumpets made of raw bull's-hide, in excellent tune, as if they had been playing on a magadis.[*](The magadis was a three-cornered instrument like a harp, with twenty strings arranged in octaves, like the πῆκτις. It was also a Lydian name for a peculiar kind of flute or flageolet, producing a high and low note at the same time. V. Liddell and Scott in voc.)

And Posidonius the Stoic, in the histories which he composed in a manner by no means inconsistent with the philosophy which he professed, writing of the laws that were

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established and the customs which prevailed in many nations, says—
The Celtæ place food before their gusts, putting grass for their seats, and they serve it up on wooden tables raised a very little above the ground: and their food consists of a few loaves, and a good deal of meat brought up floating in water, and roasted on the coals or on spits. And they eat their meat in a cleanly manner enough, but like lions, taking up whole joints in both their hands, and gnawing them; and if there is any part which they cannot easily tear away, they cut it off with a small sword which they have in a sheath in a private depository. And those who live near the rivers eat fish also, and so do those who live near the Mediterranean sea, or near the Atlantic ocean; and they eat it roasted with salt and vinegar and cummin seed: and cummin seed they also throw into their wine. But they use no oil, on account of its scarcity; and because they are not used to it, it seems disagreeable to them. But when many of them sup together, they all sit in a circle; and the bravest sits in the middle, like the coryphæus of a chorus; because he is superior to the rest either in his military skill, or in birth, or in riches: and the man who gives the entertainment sits next to him; and then on each side the rest of the guests sit in regular order, according as each is eminent or distinguished for anything. And their armour-bearers, bearing their large oblong shields, called θυρεοὶ, stand behind; and their spear-bearers sit down opposite in a circle, and feast in the same manner as their masters. And those who act as cup-bearers and bring round the wine, bring it round in jars made either of earthenware or of silver, like ordinary casks in shape, and the name they give them is ἄμβι???κος. And their platters on which they serve up the meat are also made of the same material; but some have brazen platters, and some have wooden or plaited baskets. And the liquor which is drunk is, among the rich, wine brought from Italy or from the country about Marseilles; and this is drunk unmixed, but sometimes a little water is mixed with it. But among the poorer classes what is drunk is a beer made of wheat prepared with honey, ad oftener still without any honey; and they call it corma. Ad they all drink it out of the same cup, in small draughts, not drinking more than a cyathus at a time; but they take frequent draughts: and a slave carries the liquor round, beginning at
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the right hand and going on to the left; and this is the way in which they are waited on, and in which they worship the gods, always turning towards the right hand.

And Posidonius continuing, and relating the riches of Lyernius the father of Bityis, who was subdued by the Romans, says that

he, aiming at becoming a leader of the populace, used to drive in a chariot over the plains, and scatter gold and silver among the myriads of Celts who followed him; and that he enclosed a fenced space of twelve furlongs in length every way, square, in which he erected wine-presses, and filled them with expensive liquors; and that he prepared so vast a quantity of eatables that for very many days any one who chose was at liberty to go and enjoy what was there prepared, being waited on without interruption or cessation. And once, when he had issued beforehand invitations to a banquet, some poet from some barbarian tribe came too late and met him on the way, and sung a hymn in which he extolled his magnificence, and bewailed his own misfortune in having come too late: and Lyernius was pleased with his ode, and called for a bag of gold, and threw it to him as he was running by the side of his chariot; and that he picked it up, and then went on singing, saying that his very footprints upon the earth over which he drove produced benefits to men.
These now are the accounts of the Celtæ given by Posidonius in the third and in the twentieth books of his History.

But in the fifth book, speaking of the Parthians, he says —

But a friend who is invited does not share the same table, but sitting on the ground while the king reclines near on a lofty couch, eats whatever is thrown to him from the king, like a dog. And very often he is torn away from his feast on the ground for some trifling cause, and is scourged with rods and knotted whips; and when he is all covered with blood he falls down on his face on the floor, and adores the man who has punished him as his benefactor.

And in his eleventh book, speaking of Seleucus the king, and relating how he came against Media, and warred against Arsaces, and was taken prisoner by the barbarian, and how he remained a long time in captivity to Arsaces, being treated like a king by him, he writes thus—

Among the Parthians, at their banquets, the king had a couch on which he reclined
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by himself higher than all the rest, and apart from them; and a table also was laid for him by himself, as for a hero, laden with all sorts of barbaric delicacies.
And when he is speaking of Heracleon the Ber$oan, who was promoted to honour by that king Antiochus who was surnamed Grypus, and who very nearly turned his benefactor out of his kingdom, he writes as follows in the fourth book of his Histories:
He also gave entertainments to the soldiers, making them sit down on the ground in the open air by thousands: and the entertainment consisted of large loaves and meat; and their drink was any sort of wine that could be got, mingled with cold water. And they were waited on by men girded with swords, and there was an orderly silence throughout the whole company.

Again, in his second book, he says—

In the city of the Romans when they feast in the temple of Hercules, when a general who is celebrating a triumph furnishes the entertainment, the whole preparation of the banquet is of a Herculean character; for honey-wine is served out to the guests as wine, and the food consists of huge loaves, and smoked meat boiled, and also great abundance of roast meat from the victims which have been lately slain. But among the Etruscans luxurious tables are spread twice a-day; and couches embroidered with flowers, and silver drinking cups of every sort. And a great number of well-appointed slaves is at hand, dressed in expensive garments.
And Timæus, in the first book of his Histories, says that all the female servants in that nation always wait at table naked till they are quite grown up.

And Megasthenes, in the second book of his Indian History, says—

Among the Indians at a banquet a table is set before each individual; and it is like a sideboard or beaufet; and on the table is placed a golden dish, in which they throw first of all boiled rice, just as if a person were going to boil groats, and then they add many sorts of meat dressed after the Indian fashion.

But the Germans, as Posidonius relates in his thirtieth book, eat for dinner meat roasted in separate joins; and they drink milk and unmixed wine. And some of the tribes of the Campanians practise single combat at their drinking parties. But Nicolaus of Damascus, one of the philosophers of the

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Peripatetic school, in the hundred-and-tenth book of his His- tory, relates that the Romans at their feasts practise single combats, writing as follows—
The Romans used to exhibit spectacles of single combats, not only in their public shows and in their theatres, having derived the custom from the Etruscans, but they did so also at their banquets. Accordingly, people often invited their friends to an entertainment, promising them, in addition to other things, that they should see two or three pairs of single combatants. And when they had had enough of meat and drink, they then called in the combatants: and as soon as one of them was killed, the guests clapped, being delighted at the exhibition. And in one instance a man left it in his will that some beautiful women, whom he had purchased as slaves, should engage in single combat: and in another case a man desired that some youthful boys whom he had loved should do so; but the people would not tolerate such notorious proceedings, and declared the will invalid.
And Eratosthenes says, in the first book of his Catalogue of the Victors at Olympia, that the Etruscans used to box to the music of the flute.

But Posidonius, in the third, and also in the twentieth book of his Histories, says—

The Celtæ sometimes have single combats at their entertainments. For being collected in arms, they go through the exercise, and make feints at, and sometimes they even go so far as to wound one another. And being irritated by this, if the bystanders do not stop them, they will proceed even to kill one another. But in olden times,
he continues,
there was a custom that a hind quarter of pork was put on the table, and the bravest man took it; and if any one else laid claim to it, then the two rose up to fight till one of them was slain. And other men in the theatre having received some silver or gold money, and some even for a number of earthen vessels full of wine, having taken pledges that the gifts promised shall really be given, and having distributed them among their nearest connexions, have laid themselves down on doors with their faces upwards, and then allowed some bystander to cut their throats with a sword.

And Euphorion the Chalcidian, in his Historical Memorials, writes as follows—

But among the Romans it is common for five mine to be offered to any one who chooses to
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take it, to allow his head to be cut off with an axe, so that his heirs might receive the reward: and very often many have returned their names as willing, so that there has been a regular contest between them as to who had the best right to be beaten to death.