BOOK IV.

1. Hippolochus the Macedonian, my friend Timocrates, lived in the time

of Lynceus and Douris of Samos, pupils of Theophrastus[210:1] the

Eresian. And he had made a bargain with Lynceus, as one may learn from

his letters, that if ever he was present at any very expensive banquet,

he would relate to him the whole of the preparations which were made;

and Lynceus in return made him the same promise. And there are

accordingly some letters of each of them on the subject of banquets; in

which Lynceus relates the banquet which was given at Athens by Lamia the

Attic female flute-player to King Demetrius, surnamed Poliorcetes, (and

Lamia was the mistress of Demetrius.) And Hippolochus reports the

marriage feast of Caranus the Macedonian. And we have also met with

other letters of Lynceus, written to the same Hippolochus, giving an

account of the banquet of King Antigonus, when he celebrated the

Aphrodisian festival at Athens, and also that given by King Ptolemy. And

I will show you the very letters themselves. But as the letter of

Hippolochus is very scarce, I will run over to you the principal things

which are contained in it, just for the sake of conversation and

amusement at the present time.

2. In Macedonia, then, as I have said, Caranus made a marriage feast;

and the guests invited were twenty in number. And as soon as they had

sat down, a silver bowl was given to each of them as a present. And

Caranus had previously crowned every one of them, before they entered

the dining-room, with a golden chaplet, and each chaplet was valued at

five pieces of gold. And when they had emptied the bowls, then there

was given to each of the guests a loaf in a brazen platter of Corinthian

workmanship, of the same size; and poultry, and ducks, and besides that,

pigeons, and a goose, and quantities more of the same kind of food

heaped up abundantly. And each of the guests taking what was set before

him, with the brazen platter itself also, gave it to the slaves who

waited behind him. Many other dishes of various sorts were also served

up to eat. And after them, a second platter was placed before each

guest, made of silver, on which again there was placed a second large

loaf, and on that geese, and hares, and kids, and other rolls curiously

made, and doves, and turtledoves, and partridges, and every other kind

of bird imaginable, in the greatest abundance. Those also, says

Hippolochus, we gave to the slaves; and when we had eaten to satiety, we

washed our hands, and chaplets were brought in in great numbers, made of

all sorts of flowers from all countries, and on each chaplet a circlet

of gold, of about the same weight as the first chaplet. And Hippolochus

having stated after this that Proteas, the descendant of that celebrated

Proteas the son of Lanice, who had been the nurse of Alexander the king,

was a most extraordinary drinker, as also his grandfather Proteas, who

was the friend of Alexander, had been; and that he pledged every one

present, proceeds to write as follows:--

3. "And while we were now all amusing ourselves with agreeable trifling,

some flute-playing women and musicians, and some Rhodian players on the

sambuca come in, naked as I fancied, but some said that they had tunics

on. And they having played a prelude, departed; and others came in in

succession, each of them bearing two bottles of perfume, bound with a

golden thong, and one of the cruets was silver and the other gold, each

holding a cotyla,[211:1] and they presented them to each of the guests.

And then, instead of supper, there was brought in a great treasure, a

silver platter with a golden edge of no inconsiderable depth, of such a

size as to receive the entire bulk of a roast boar of huge size, which

lay in it on his back, showing his belly uppermost, stuffed with many

good things. For in the belly there were roasted thrushes, and paunches,

and a most countless number of figpeckers, and the yolks of eggs spread

on the top, and oysters, and periwinkles. And to every one of the

guests was presented a boar stuffed in this way, nice and hot, together

with the dish on which he was served up. And after this we drank wine,

and each of us received a hot kid, on another platter like that on which

the boar had been served up, with some golden spoons. Then Caranus

seeing that we were cramped for the want of room, ordered canisters and

bread-baskets to be given to each of us, made of strips of ivory

curiously plaited together; and we were very much delighted at all this,

and applauded the bridegroom, by whose means we were thus enabled to

preserve what had been given to us. Then chaplets were again brought to

us, and another pair of cruets of perfume, one silver and one gold, of

the same weight as the former pair. And when quiet was restored, there

entered some men, who even in the Potfeast[212:1] at Athens had borne a

part in the solemnities, and with them there came in some ithyphallic

dancers, and some jugglers, and some conjuring women also, tumbling and

standing on their heads on swords, and vomiting fire out of their

mouths, and they, too, were naked.

4. And when we were relieved from their exhibition, then we had a fresh

drink offered to us, hot and strong, and Thasian, and Mendæan, and

Lesbian wines were placed upon the board, very large golden goblets

being brought to every one of us. And after we had drunk, a glass goblet

of two cubits in diameter, placed on a silver stand, was served up, full

of roast fishes of every imaginable sort that could be collected. And

there was also given to every one a silver breadbasket full of

Cappadocian loaves; some of which we ate and some we delivered to the

slaves behind us. And when we had washed our hands, we put on chaplets;

and then again we received golden circlets twice as large as the former

ones, and another pair of cruets of perfume. And when quiet was

restored, Proteas leaping up from his couch, asked for a cup to hold a

gallon; and having filled it with Thasian wine, and having mingled a

little water with it, he drank it off, saying--

He who drinks most will be the happiest.

And Caranus said--"Since you have been the first to drink, do you be the

first also to accept the cup as a gift; and this also shall be the

present for all the rest who drink too." And when this had been said, at

once nine of the guests rose up snatching at the cups, and each one

trying to forestall the other. But one of those who were of the party,

like an unlucky man as he was, as he was unable to drink, sat down and

cried because he had no goblet; and so Caranus presented him with an

empty goblet. After this, a dancing party of a hundred men came in,

singing an epithalamium in beautiful tune. And after them there came in

dancing girls, some arranged so as to represent the Nereids, and others

in the guise of the nymphs.

5. And as the drinking went on, and the shadows were beginning to fall,

they opened the chamber where everything was encircled all round with

white cloths. And when these curtains were drawn, the torches appeared,

the partitions having been secretly removed by mechanism. And there were

seen Cupids, and Dianas, and Pans, and Mercuries, and numbers of statues

of that kind, holding torches in silver candlesticks. And while we were

admiring the ingenuity of the contrivance, some real Erymanthean boars

were brought round to each of the guests on square platters with golden

edges, pierced through and through with silver darts. And what was the

strangest thing of all was, that those of us who were almost helpless

and stupefied with wine, the moment that we saw any of these things

which were brought in, became all in a moment sober, standing upright,

as it is said. And so the slaves crammed them into the baskets of good

omen, until the usual signal of the termination of the feast sounded.

For you know that that is the Macedonian custom at large parties.

And Caranus, who had begun drinking in small goblets, ordered the slaves

to bring round the wine rapidly. And so we drank pleasantly, taking our

present liquor as a sort of antidote to our previous hard drinking. And

while we were thus engaged, Mandrogenes the buffoon came in, the

descendant, as is reported, of that celebrated Strato the Athenian, and

he caused us much laughter. And after this he danced with his wife, a

woman who was already more than eighty years of age. And at last the

tables, to wind up the whole entertainment, were brought in. And

sweetmeats in plaited baskets made of ivory were distributed to every

one. And cheesecakes of every kind known, Cretan cheesecakes, and your

Samian ones, my friend Lynceus, and Attic ones, with the proper boxes,

or dishes, suitable to each kind of confection. And after this we all

rose up and departed, quite sobered, by Jove, by the thoughts of, and

our anxiety about, the treasures which we had received.

But you who never go out of Athens think yourself happy when you hear

the precepts of Theophrastus, and when you eat thyme, and salads, and

nice twisted loaves, solemnizing the Lenæan festival, and the Potfeast

at the Anthesteria. But at the banquet of Caranus, instead of our

portions of meat, we carried off actual riches, and are now looking,

some for houses, and some for lands, and some of us are seeking to buy

slaves."

6. Now if you consider this, my friend Timocrates, with which of the

Greek feasts that you ever heard of do you think this banquet, which has

just been described to you, can be compared? When even Antiphanes the

comic writer jokingly said in the Oenomaus, or perhaps it is in the

Pelops--

What could the Greeks, of sparing tables fond,

Eaters of salads, do? where you may get

Four scanty chops or steaks for one small penny.

But among the ancestors of our nation

Men roasted oxen, deer, and lambs entire,

And last of all the cook, outdoing all

His predecessors, set before the king

A roasted camel, smoking, hump and all.

And Aristophanes, in his Acharnians, extolling the magnificence of the

barbarians, says--

_A._ Then he received me, and to dinner ask'd me,

And set before us whole fat oxen roasted.

_B._ Who ever saw a roasted ox? The braggart!

_A._ I'll take my oath he likewise put on table

A bird three times as burly as Cleonymus;

Its name, I well remember, was Th' Impostor.

And Anaxandrides, in his Protesilaus, ridiculing the feast made at the

marriage of Iphicrates when he married the daughter of Cotys king of the

Thracians, says--

7.

If you do this as I bid you,

You will ask us all to a supper,

Not to such as that in Thrace,

Given by Iphicrates--

Though, indeed, they say that

Was a very noble feast.

For that all along the market

Purple carpets there were spread

To the northern corner;

And a countless host of men

With dirty hands and hair uncomb'd

Supped on butter. There were too,

Brazen goblets, large as cisterns,

Holding plenty for a dozen

Of the hardest drinkers known.

Cotys, too, himself was there,

Girt around, and bearing kindly

Rich soup in a gold tureen;

Tasting all the brimming cups,

So as to be the first to yield

Of all the guests t' intoxication.

There was Antigenides

Delighting all with his soft flute,

Argas sung, and from Acharnæ

Cephisodotus struck the lyre,

Celebrating Lacedæmon

And the wide land of the Heraclidæ,

And at other times they sung

Of the seven-gated Thebes,

Changing thus their strain and theme.

Large was the dowry which 'tis said

Fell to the lucky bridegroom's share:

First, two herds of chestnut horses,

And a herd of horned goats,

A golden shield, a wide-neck'd bowl,

A jar of snow, a pot of millet,

A deep pit full of leeks and onions,

And a hecatomb of polypi.

This they say that Cotys did,

King of Thrace, in heartfelt joy

At Iphicrates's wedding.

But a finer feast by far

Shall be in our master's houses;

For there's nothing good or fine

Which our house does stand in need of.

There is scent of Syrian myrrh,

There is incense, there is spice;

There are delicate cakes and loaves,

Cakes of meal and polypi,

Tripe, and fat, and sausages,

Soup, and beet, and figs, and pease,

Garlic, various kinds of tunnies,

Ptisan, pulse, and toast and muffins,

Beans, and various kinds of vetches,

Honey, cheese, and cheesecakes too,

Wheat, and nuts, and barley-groats,

Roasted crabs, and mullets boil'd,

Roasted cuttle-fish, boil'd turbot,

Frogs, and perch, and mussels too,

Sharks, and roach, and gudgeons too,

Fish from doves and cuckoos named,

Plaice, and flounders, shrimps, and rays.

Then, besides these dainty fish

There is many another dish,--

Honeycombs and juicy grapes,

Figs and cheesecakes, apples, pears,

Cornels, and the red pomegranate,

Poppies, creeping thyme, and parsley,

Peaches, olives, plums and raisins,

Leeks and onions, cabbages,

Strong smelling assafoetida,

Fennel, eggs, and lentils cool,

And well-roasted grasshoppers,

Cardamums and sesame,

Ceryces, salt, and limpets firm,

The pinna, and the oyster bright,

The periwinkle, and the whelk;

And besides this a crowd of birds,

Doves and ducks, and geese and sparrows,

Thrushes, larks, and jays, and swans,

The pelican, the crane and stork,

Wagtails and ousels, tits and finches;

And to wash all these dainties down

There's wine, both native and imported,

White and red, and sweet and acid,

Still or effervescent.

8. But Lynceus, in his Centaur, ridiculing the Attic banquets, says--

_A._ Yon cook, the man who makes the sacrifice

And seeks now to receive me as my host,

Is one of Rhodes. And I, the guest invited,

Am call'd a citizen of fair Perinthus.

And neither of us likes the Attic suppers;

For melancholy is an Attic humour;

May it be always foreign unto me.

They place upon the table a large platter

Holding five smaller plates within its space,

One full of garlic, while another holds

Two boil'd sea-urchins; in the third, a cake;

The fourth displays ten cockles to the guest,

The last has caviar.--While I eat this,

He falls on that: or while he dines on this,

I make that other dish to disappear.

But I would rather eat up both myself,

Only I cannot go beyond my powers;

For I have not five mouths, nor twice five lips.

True, these detain the eyes with various sights,

But looking at them is not eating them:

I but appease my eyes and not my belly.

What shall I do then? Have you oysters? Give me

A plate of them, I beg; and that a large one;

Have you some urchins?

_B._ Here's a dish of them

To which you're welcome; this I bought myself,

And paid eight obols for it in the market.

_A._ Put then this dish on table by itself,

That all may eat the same at once, and not

One half the guests eat one thing, half another.

But Dromeas the parasite, when some one once asked him, as Hegesander

the Delphian relates, whether the banquets in the city or at Chalcis

were the best, said that the prelude to the banquets at Chalcis was

superior to the whole entertainment in the city, calling the multitudes

of oysters served up, and the great variety of fish, the prelude to the

banquet.

9. But Diphilus, in his Female Deserter, introduces a cook, and

represents him as saying--

_A._ What is the number of the guests invited

To this fine marriage feast? And are they all

Athenian citizens, or are there some

Foreigners and merchants?

_B._ What is that to you,

Since you are but the cook to dress the dinner?

_A._ It is the first part of my art, O father,

To know the taste of those who are to eat.

For instance, if you ask a Rhodian,

Set a fine shad or lebias before him,

Well boil'd and hot, the moment that he enters.

That's what he likes; he'll like it better so

Than if you add a cup of myrine wine.

_A._ Well, that idea of shads is not a bad one.

_B._ Then, if a Byzantine should be your guest,

Steep all you offer such a man in wormwood.

And let your dishes taste of salt and garlic.

For fish are all so plenty in their country,

That the men all are full of rheum and phlegm.

And Menander says, in his Trophonius--

_A._ This feast is for a guest's reception.

_B._ What guest? whence comes he? for those points, believe me,

Do make a mighty difference to the cook.

For instance, if some guests from the islands come

Who always feed on fish of every sort

Fresh from the sea, such men like not salt dishes,

But think them make-shifts. Give such men their food

Well-season'd, forced, and stuff'd with choicest spices.

But if you ask a guest from Arcady

He is a stranger to the sea, and loves

Limpets and shell-fish;--but the rich Ionian

Will look at nought but Lydian luxuries,

Rich, stimulating, amatory meats.

10. The ancients used food calculated to provoke the appetite, as for

instance salt olives, which they call colymbades: and accordingly

Aristophanes says, in his Old Age--

Old man, do you like flabby courtesans,

Or tender maidens, firm as well-cured olives?

And Philemon, in his Follower, or Sauce, says--

_A._ What did you think, I pray, of that boil'd fish?

_B._ He was but small; do'st hear me? And the pickle

Was white, and much too thick; there was no smell

Of any spice or seasoning at all,

So that the guests cried out,--How pure your brine is!

They also eat common grasshoppers and the monkey grasshopper as

procreatives of the appetite. Aristophanes says, in his Anagyrus--

How can you, in God's name, like grasshoppers,

Catching them with a reed, and cercopes?[218:1]

But the cercope is a little animal like a grasshopper or prickly roach,

as Speusippus tells us in the fourth book of his Similitudes; and

Epilycus mentions them in his Coraliscus. And Alexis says in his

Thrason--

I never saw, not even a cercope

A greater chatterer than you, O woman,

Nor jay, or nightingale, or dove, or grasshopper.

And Nicostratus says, in his Abra--

The first, a mighty dish shall lead the way,

Holding an urchin, and some sauce and capers,

A cheesecake, fish, and onions in rich stuffing.

11. And that they used to eat, for the sake of encouraging the appetite,

rape dressed with vinegar and mustard, is plainly stated by Nicander, in

the second book of his Georgics, where he says--

The rape is a mix'd breed from radishes;

It's grown in garden beds, both long and stiff;

One sort they wash and dry in the north wind,

A friend to winter and to idle servants:

Then it revives when soak'd in water warm.

Cut thou the roots of rape, and gently scrape

The not yet juiceless rind in shavings thin;

Then dry them in the sun a little while,

Then dip them in hot water, and in brine,

And pack them closely; or at other times

Pour in new wine and vinegar, half and half,

Into one vessel, and put salt on the top.

And often 'twill be well to pound fresh raisins,

And add them gently, scattering in some seeds

Of biting mustard; and some dregs of vinegar,

To reach the head and touch the vigorous brain:

A goodly dish for those who want a dinner.

And Diphilus or Sosippus, in the Female Deserter, says--

Have you now any sharp fresh vinegar?

I think, too, we've some fig-tree juice, my boy.

In these I'll press the meat as tight as may be;

And some dried herbs I'll spread around the dish;

For of all condiments these do most surely

The body's sensitive parts and nerves excite.

They drive away unpleasant heaviness,

And make the guests sit down with appetite.

12. And Alexis, in his Tarentines, when speaking of their banquets, says

that the Athenians used to dance at their drinking parties--

_A._ For this now is a common native practice.

At the divine and all-accomplish'd Athens.

They all rise up and dance together when

The first sweet scent of wine doth reach their nostrils.

_B._ You tell me of a strange and novel custom.

_A._ So you would say, indeed, if unexpected

You on a sudden dropp'd in at a feast;

And beardless boys are sure to meet with favour;

But when I see that rogue Theodotus,

Or some impure and cheating parasite,

Affecting nice and delicate airs, such loathing

Does seize me, that I'd gladly seize the man,

And nail him to the vilest cross.

And Antiphanes, in his Carians, with reference to the Attic fashion of

dancing, turns one of the sophists into ridicule, as dancing at a

banquet, in the following verses--

Do you not see that eunuch capering,

Waving his hands, no signs of shame he shows;

He who was lecturing us on Heraclitus,

The only master of Theodectes' school,

The spouter of Euripides's proverbs.

And it will not be foreign to the subject to quote here what is said by

Eriphus the comic poet, in his Oeolus--

For 'tis an ancient proverb, and a wise one;

That old men seek for wine to make them dance,

Spite of their age, against their will, my father.

And Alexis, in the play entitled Isostasium, says--

They drank in picnic fashion, only seeking

For some excuse to dance. There was the name

Of meat and vegetables; fish, and crabs,

Gudgeon and tench, and similago fine.

13. But Matron the parodist, says Plutarch, has given a very agreeable

account of an Attic banquet; and as it is very rare I will not scruple,

my friends, to repeat it to you--

The feast for much and varied food renown'd,

Given by Xenocles, O Muse, resound;[220:1]

For when at Athens he his cards sent round,

I went invited, hungry as a hound.

What loaves I saw, how large, how round, how fine,[220:2]--

So white, on them alone one well might dine!

Boreas, enamour'd of the well-baked train,

Gazed on them fondly;[220:3] while along the plain

The stately Xenocles survey'd the ground,

And placed the guests the goodly board around.

Near him the parasite Chærephoon stood,

And like a cormorant gazed upon the food,[220:4]

Ever at other's cost well pleased to eat:

Meanwhile the cooks prepared the dainty treat,

The skilful cooks, to whom is given all sway

The sumptuous feast to quicken or delay.

Then all the rest the herbs and greens did seize,

But me the solid meats did rather please;

Rich oysters guarded in their solid shell,

While to Phoenician-brine I said farewell;

And threw away the urchin's tasteless meat,

Which rattled falling at the servant's feet,

Loud as the waves the rocky shore which flout,[220:5]

While they in fun the prickly spines pull'd out.

There came th' anchovy of Phaleric race

Holding a dirty veil before its face,[220:6]

Friend of the Triton, to the Cyclops dear;

* * * * *

And pinna's sweet, and cockles fat were there

Which the wave breeds beneath its weedy bed,

The gristly turbot, and the mullet red.

First in the fray on them I laid my hand,

And called on Phoebus, by his slave to stand;

But when Stratocles, scorning fear, I saw

Hold in his hand the mullet's luscious jaw,

I seized it too, and while it came apart,

Quick with the dainty bit rejoiced my heart.

There, too, the silver-footed Thetis came,

The fair-hair'd cuttle-fish, the mighty dame,

Fairest of Nereus' daughters, none but she

Of fish can both with black and white agree.[221:1]

There, too, the conger, Tityos of the main,

Lay on nine tables and o'erspread the plain.[221:2]

Next came the eel, who charm'd the mighty Jove,

And soften'd his stern soul to tender love.

So mighty that two wrestlers, of the days

Of old Astyanax, could scarcely raise

Her from the ground and place her on the board,

Nine fathoms long, and full nine cubits broad.

Up stairs, down stairs the busy cooks did haste,

While more fresh dishes on the board they placed.

Next forty large black pots appear'd in view,

And forty platters from Euboea too.

Then various Iris, Jove's commands to bear,

In shape of cuttle-fish flew through the air.

The shining perch, the black tail next appear'd;

A mortal fish to join immortals dared.

Alone, apart in discontented mood,

A gloomy dish, the sullen tunny stood;[221:3]

For ever sad with proud disdain he pined,

And the lost arms for ever stung his mind.

The shark, to masons and upholders dear,

Good nurse of youth, though rough its skin appear;[221:4]

Nor do I know on earth a nicer food,

Though what came next is very near as good,

A roasted cestreas; nor alone it lay,

For twelve fine sargi came the self-same way.[221:5]

And a dark amias, of every sea

Who knows the depths, great Neptune's comrade he.

And squills the minstrels of Olympian Jove,

Whom none to look at, all to taste of, love.

The chrysophrys, for shining beauty famed,

The crab's hard shell refusing to be tamed.

All these, and many more besides, I saw

Crush'd in each hungry guest's devouring jaw.

The royal sturgeon led the second band,

Towards whom, though nearly full, I stretch'd my hand;

He like ambrosia to my senses look'd,

Which I had always thought for gods alone was cook'd.

Then came a lamprey, large and richly fed,

As when he seeks the dragon's daughter's bed.

And next, (the goddesses such sandals wear,)

Of mighty soles a firm and well-match'd pair.

Then the sea thrushes young and fierce, who dive

Mid the deep rocks and tear their prey alive.

The sargus, mormyrus, hippurus, spar,

The shad, the gale; so countless fishes are.

The feast to view the guests' eyes joyful beam'd,

And all the house with the rich odour steam'd.

The host bade all sit down: myself, I thought

This woman's food, and something solid sought.

Large in the centre lay a vacant space,

Which herbs and salads did with verdure grace.

Then a sea blackbird came, a morsel nice,

And disappear'd, devoured in a trice.

Then came a ham, t' its foes a helpless prey,

And while it lasted none could keep away.

But when the feast was o'er I wept with sorrow

To think I could not eat on till to-morrow,

But must fall back on barley-meal and cheese.

* * * * *

Black broth subdued him and boil'd pettitoes;

Then came some ducks from Salamis, sacred isle,

Borne by the cook, who with a cheerful smile,

Marshall'd them where the Athenian phalanx stood;

And Chærephon survey'd the various food,

That he might know to choose and eat the best;

Then like a lion leapt he on the feast,[222:1]

And seized a mighty leg of turkey hot,

To make his supper when he home had got.

Then groats which Vulcan made into a cake,

And in Attic pan full thirteen months did bake

But when our wish for food was satisfied,

We wash'd our hands in ocean's foaming tide;

One beauteous slave came round with rich perfume,

Another garlands strew'd around the room.

Then foam'd around old Bacchus' rosy tide,

And each guest merrily with his fellow vied.

Then the dessert was served; the juicy pear,

The apple and pomegranate too were there.

The grape, the nurse of Bacchus, and the plum,

And fig, and medlar on the table come.

But I ate nought, I was so full before,

Till I that lovely child of Ceres saw,

A large sweet round and yellow cake; how then

Could I from such a dish, my friends, abstain?

Had I ten mouths, aye, and as many hands,

A brazen stomach within brazen bands,[222:2]

They all would on that lovely cake have sprung.

And so the feast of Stratocles I've sung.

14. And Alexis, in his Men running together, ridiculing the Attic

banquets, says--

I wish that I could get a brace of cooks,

The cleverest in their art in all the city.

For he who a Thessalian would invite,

Must never stint his fare in Attic fashion,

Nor practise over strict economy;

But have in all things a well-order'd feast.

And the Thessalians are truly fond of eating; as Eriphus says in his

Light-armed Soldier, thus--

It is not Corinth now, nor Lais here,

Nor any feast of sumptuous Thessalians,

Whose habits well I know.

And the author, whoever he was, of the play called The Beggars, which is

ascribed to Chionides, says that the Athenians, when they place a

banquet for Castor and Pollux in their Prytaneum, serve up on the tables

cheese and barley-cakes, and olives which have fallen, and leeks, for

the sake of reminding people of the ancient manner of living. And Solon

enjoins them to serve up barley-cakes to those who eat in the prytaneum:

and besides that, to place bread on the table at festivals, in imitation

of Homer; for he, too, when collecting the chiefs around Agamemnon,

says--

The cakes were baked.

And Chrysippus, in the fourth book of his treatise on Beauty and

Pleasure, says--"But at Athens they say that two festivals are

celebrated there (neither of them of great antiquity), one at the Lyceum

and one in the Academy, and when the confectioner had brought into the

Academy a dish for some other purpose, all those who were offering

sacrifice at once broke the dish, because something had been introduced

which did not belong to the city, and everything which came from afar

ought to have been kept away. And that the cook at the Lyceum having

prepared some salt-fish in order to serve up a dish of it, was scourged

as a man who used his invention in a very wicked manner." And Plato, in

the second book of his Republic, represents his new citizens as

feasting, and writes--"You make your men feast without any second

course, says he. You say the truth, I replied; I forgot that they will

have a second course--namely, salt, and olives, and cheese, and onions;

and besides, they will boil such vegetables as are found in the fields;

and moreover, we shall serve up some sweetmeats to them,--figs, and

beans, and vetches. They shall roast myrtle-berries too and

beech-acorns at the fire, drinking moderately all the time. And in this

manner they shall pass their lives in peace, growing old, as it is

probable they will, in the enjoyment of good health, and transmit a good

constitution to their posterity."

15. We must next speak of the Lacedæmonian banquets. Now Herodotus, in

the ninth book of his Histories, speaking of the preparation of

Mardonius, and mentioning the banquets of the Lacedæmonians,

says--"Xerxes, when fleeing from Greece, left all his equipment to

Mardonius. And when Pausanias beheld the appointments of Mardonius's

tent, and his tent itself all furnished with gold and silver and

embroidered curtains, he ordered the bakers and confectioners to prepare

him a supper exactly as they had been in the habit of preparing for

Mardonius. And when they had done as they were commanded, Pausanias,

beholding the couches of gold and silver all ready laid and covered, and

the silver tables, and the superb banquet which was prepared, marvelling

at what he saw, by way of ridicule ordered his own slaves to prepare a

banquet in the Lacedæmonian fashion. But when it was made ready,

Pausanias laughed, and sent for all the generals of the Greeks; and when

they were come he showed them both the banquets which were prepared

before him, and said: O Greeks, I have assembled you, because I was

desirous to exhibit to you the folly of the general of the Medes; who,

while he was used himself to live in the manner which you behold, came

against us who are in the habit of living in the hard way which you see

here."

And some say that a citizen of Sybaris, who was staying at Sparta, and

who dined at their Phiditia, said--"It is natural enough for the

Lacedæmonians to be the bravest of men; for any man in his senses would

rather die ten thousand times over, than live in such a miserable way as

this."

16. And Polemo, in his treatise on the Wicker Carriage mentioned by

Xenophon, says "that Cratinus in his Pluti, mentioning the feast which

is called by the Lacedæmonians Copis, speaks as follows--

Tell me, I pray you, is it true that all

The strangers in that country, who arrive,

May banquet at the Copis at their pleasure?

And at their parties do there hang around

Cakes fix'd on pegs, that every one who will,

Young men and old, may take a bite at them?

And Eupolis says in his Helots--

And let a Copis be this day prepared.

Now the Copis is a peculiar sort of entertainment, just as that which is

called Aiclon. And when it takes place, first of all they erect tents

near the temple of the god; and in them they place beds of leaves; and

on them they strew carpets, and then they feast those who recline on

them, not only those who arrive, being natives of the country, but those

foreigners also who are sojourning in the place. And at these copides

they sacrifice goats, but no other victim; and they give portions of its

flesh to every one, and they distribute also what they call a

physicillus, which is a little loaf like an encris, made of oil and

honey, only rounder in shape. And they give to every one who is present

a newly made cheese, and a slice of paunch, and black-pudding, and

sweetmeats, and dried figs, and beans, and green kidney-beans. And any

one of the rest of the Spartans who chooses, partakes of this Copis.

"They also celebrate copides in the city at the festival called

Tithenidia,[225:1] which is celebrated on behalf of the children. For

the nurses at this season bring the male children into the fields, and

to the Diana surnamed Corythallia; whose temple is near the fountain

called Tiassus, in the parts towards Cleta; and there they celebrate

copides, in a manner similar to those which have been already mentioned.

And they sacrifice small sucking-pigs, and they also at the feast set

before the guests some of the loaves called ipnitæ. But this aiclon is

called by all the other Dorians =deipnon=. At all events Epicharmus, in

his Hope, says--

For some one of his own accord has ask'd you to an =aiklon=,

And do thou gladly go in haste of your accord to eat it.

And he repeats the same lines in his Periallus. But at Lacedæmon, after

supper is over, they set what they call =aiklon= (not =aiklon=) before

all those who come to the Phiditium; namely, loaves of bread in a small

basket, and a slice of meat for each person. And an attendant follows

the servant who distributes the portions, proclaiming the =aiklon=,

adding to his proclamation the name of him who has sent it round."

17. This was the statement of Polemo. But Didymus the Grammarian

contradicted him, (and Demetrius, of Troezen, calls him a Bookforgetter,

on account of the number of books which he has edited, for they amount

to three thousand and five hundred,) and said--"Polycrates, in his

history of Lacedæmonian affairs, relates that the Lacedæmonians

celebrate the festival called Hyacinthia for three days, and on account

of their lamentation for Hyacinthus, they do not wear crowns at their

feasts, nor do they bring bread there, but they distribute cheesecakes,

and other things of the same kind. And they sing no pæan to the god, nor

do they introduce anything of that sort, as they do in other sacred

festivals, but they eat their supper in a very orderly manner, and then

depart. But on the middle one of the three days there is a very superb

spectacle, and a very considerable and important assembly; for boys play

upon the harp, girt up in their tunics, and singing to the music of the

flute, running over all the strings of the harp at the same time with

the plectrum, in an anapæstic rhythm, with a shrill tone, and in that

manner they sing a hymn in honour of the god. And others riding on

horses and handsomely dressed go through the theatre; and very numerous

choruses of young men enter, and they sing some of their native poems.

And dancers mingled with them perform an ancient sort of dance to the

music of a flute and singing. And virgins also, some in wooden curved

chariots, called canathra, beautifully made, and others in crowds of

large waggons drawn by horses, make a procession; and the whole city is

in a state of agitation and of delight at the spectacle. And they

sacrifice great numbers of victims all this day. And the citizens give a

banquet to all their friends, and to their own slaves; and no one omits

attending the sacred feast, but the whole city is evacuated by the whole

body of citizens flocking to the spectacle.

"And the copis is also mentioned by Aristophanes or Philyllius in the

Cities, and by Epilycus in the Coraliscus, where he says--

When I shall bear a copis to the fane

Of sacred Amyclæ, then many baraces,

And loaves, and luscious sauce shall show my coming:

saying expressly that barley-cakes are set before the guests at the

copides, (for that is the meaning of the word =barakes=, which does not

mean cheesecakes, as Lycophron asserts, nor barley-meal porridge, as

Eratosthenes believes,) and loaves, and a particular sort of broth very

highly seasoned. Moreover, what the copis is, is very perspicuously

explained by Molpis in his treatise on the Polity of the Lacedæmonians,

where he writes, They also have feasts which they call copides. But the

copis is a supper consisting of barley-cakes, loaves, meat, raw

vegetables, soup, figs, sweetmeats, and warmed wine. Moreover,

sucking-pigs are not called =orthagoriskoi=, as Polemo pronounces the

word, but =orthragoriskoi=, since they are sold at early dawn (=pros ton

orthron=), as Persæus relates in his treatise on the Lacedæmonian

Polity. And Dioscorides, in the second book of his Polity, and

Aristocles, in the first book of the treatise which he also wrote

concerning the Lacedæmonian Polity, make the same statement. Besides,

Polemo says, that supper is called =aiklon= by the Lacedæmonians, and

that all the rest of the Dorians give it the same name. For Alcman

says--

At the mill and also at the suppers (=tais synaikleiais=),

where he uses =synaikleiai= as equivalent to =syndeipnia=. And in a

subsequent passage he says--

Alcman prepared an =aiklon=.

But the Lacedæmonians do not call that portion which is given after the

supper =aiklon=, nor that which is given after supper at the phiditia;

for that consists of bread and meat: but that is called =epaiklon=,

being, as it were, an addition to the =aiklon=, which is regularly

appointed as a part of the phiditia; and that is what I imagine the name

implies. For the preparation of what is called the =epaikla= is not

simple, as Polemo supposed, but of a two-fold nature. For that which

they give to the boys is very slight and trifling, being merely meal

steeped in oil, which Nicocles, the Lacedæmonian, says that they eat

after supper, wrapped up in leaves of the bay-tree, from which those

leaves are called =kammatides=,[227:1] and the cakes themselves are

called =kammata=. And that it was a custom of the ancients to eat the

leaves of the bay-tree at dessert, Callias or Diocles asserts in the

Cyclopes, speaking thus--

You will eat the leaves meant for supper,

And this belongs to the figures which . . .

But what they serve up at the phiditia of the men is prepared of some

few regular animals, one of those who are rich men providing them for

the phiditia, or sometimes several men club together to furnish it. But

Molpis tells us that the =epaikla= are also surnamed =mattyê=."

18. But concerning the =epaikla=, Persæus, in his treatise on the

Lacedæmonian Constitution, writes as follows:--"And immediately he

levies on the rich men a tax of money to provide the =epaikla=; and this

word means the sweetmeats which come on after supper. But he enjoins the

poor to bring a reed, or a straw, or a leaf of the bay-tree, in order

that they may be able to eat the =epaikla= after supper. For it consists

of meal steeped in oil; and this is wholly like the arrangement of some

small state. For in these =epaikla= they attend to all such points as

these: who ought to sit down first, or second, or who ought to sit down

on a small couch; and so on." And Dioscorides gives the same account.

But concerning the words =kammatides= and =kammata= Nicocles writes

as follows:--"But the Ephor, having heard the cause, pronounces an

acquittal or a condemnation. And he who has gained the cause is slightly

taxed to provide some =kammata= or =kammatides=. Now the =kammata= are

cakes; but the =kammatides= are what they wrap them in in order to eat

them."

19. But concerning the banquet of the Phiditia, Dioscorides gives this

account in his book entitled Tripoliticus. "In the first place, each

individual has his supper put down separately before him, and he has no

participation with any one else; and after that each has as much

barley-cake as he pleases. And again, a cup is placed before each

person, to drink whenever he pleases. And the meat is always the same

for every one, being boiled pork; but sometimes they have no meat at

all, except some little bit weighing at the outside about four minæ; and

besides this, nothing at all except the broth which comes from it; which

is sufficient for every one at the whole banquet to have some. And

sometimes there may be some olives, or some cheese, or a few figs: and

sometimes they have some small addition--a fish, or a hare, or a pigeon,

or something of that sort: and then, after they have eaten very rapidly,

the things are brought round which are called =epaikla=. And every one

contributes to the phiditium about three Attic semimedimni[228:1] of

meal, and about eleven or twelve choes[228:2] of wine; and in addition

to this they contributed a certain weight of cheese and figs; and

moreover, for purchasing meat, they gave ten Æginetan obols."[228:3]

But Sphærus, in the third book of his treatise on the Lacedæmonian

Constitution, writes--"The partakers of the phiditium do also themselves

contribute the =epaikla=. And sometimes most of them make their

contributions consist of what has been caught by them in hunting. Not

but what the rich contribute also bread and whatever vegetables or

fruits may be in season, in such quantities as are sufficient for one

meal; thinking that to provide more than is just enough is superfluous,

as it will not be eaten." And Molpis says--"But after the supper is over

something is always contributed by some one or other, and sometimes by

many joining together; and the =mattyê=, which they call the =epaiklon=,

is prepared by them at their own houses: but no one goes to any expense

in buying what he contributes for this purpose. For they do not

contribute it for the purpose of giving pleasure, or of indulging in any

immoderate eating, but with the view of making a display of their own

skill in hunting. And many also who breed flocks of sheep, give their

produce very liberally. And this =mattyê= consists of pigeons, geese,

two hen-doves, thrushes, blackbirds, hares, lambs, kids. And the cooks

always proclaim the name of him who has contributed each dish, in order

that all men may see his devotion to hunting, and his eagerness to

contribute to their enjoyment."

But Demetrius the Scepsian says, in the first book of his treatise on

the Trojan Array, "that the festival of the Carnea among the

Lacedæmonians is a representation of a military expedition. For that

there are nine spots marked out; and they are called sciades,[229:1]

having something like tents in them; and in each of them nine men sup;

and everything is proclaimed by the crier as if it were a military

order. Now each scias has three phratriæ. And this festival of the

Carnea lasts nine days."

20. Subsequently the Lacedæmonians relaxed the rigour of this way of

living, and became more luxurious. At all events, Phylarchus, in the

fifteenth and again in the twentieth book of his Histories, writes thus

concerning them:--"The Lacedæmonians had given up assembling for the

phiditia, according to the custom of their country, and whenever they

met, after having had a few things brought round, for the sake of a

seeming compliance with the law, other things were then prepared;

couches furnished in a very expensive way and of exceeding size, and all

differing from one another in their adornment; so that some of the

strangers who were invited used to be afraid to put their elbows on the

pillows; and those who formerly used to rest on a bare bench during the

whole banquet, perhaps once leaning on their elbows for a few minutes,

had now come to such a pitch of luxury as I have spoken of, and to a

serving up of many cups of wine, and of all sorts of food procured from

all countries and dressed in every kind of luxurious way; and besides

that, they had come to use foreign perfumes, and also foreign wines and

sweetmeats. And the people began this fashion who lived a short time

before the reign of Cleomenes, namely Areus and Acrotatus, rivalling the

indulgences of the court of Persia; and they in their turn were so far

exceeded by some private individuals, who lived in Sparta at that time,

in their own personal extravagance, that Areus and Acrotatus appeared

people of such rigid economy as to have surpassed the most simple of

their predecessors in self-denial."

21. "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

cotylæ,[230:1] and a cyathus;[230:2] and the spoon was 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:--

If you should live in Lacedæmon's walls,

You must comply with all their fashions there.

Go to their spare phiditia for supper,

And feast on their black broth; and not disdain

To wear fierce whiskers and seek no indulgence

Further than this; but keep the olden customs,

Such as their country doth compel.

22. And concerning the Cretan banquets, or =syssitia=, Dosiades speaks

in the fourth book of his treatise on Cretan Affairs, speaking as

follows:--"But the Lyctians collect men for the common meal (=syssitia=)

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;

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 Æginetan stater[232:1] a head. The

citizens are all divided into messes; and they call them =andreia=. 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

=syssitiai=, 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 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."

23. 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

abandon it: and whatever they decide on when sober, they reconsider when

they are drunk."

24. 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. 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.'"

25. 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 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."

26. 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

the 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 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 =hoi syndeipnoi=) 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."

27. 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."

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 =tykta=, but in Greek =teleion=; and that is the only day

that 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--

Then we do not in these matters act as we should do

When to the gods we sacrifice; for then we go and buy

A sheep, an offering for the gods, for scarce ten drachmas' price.

And then we send for flute players, and ointments, and perfumes,

And harps, and singing women, eels, and cheese, and honey too;

And ample jars of Thasian wine; but these can scarcely come,

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:--

See how these housebreakers do sacrifice!

Bearing such beds and couches, not to please

The gods, but their own selves. Incense is pious,

So is the votive cake; and this the god

Receives well-baked in the holy fire.

But they when they have offer'd the chump end

Of a lean loin, the gall bladder, and bones,

Not too agreeable or easy to eat,

Unto the gods, consume the rest themselves.

28. And Philoxenus of Cythera, in the play which is entitled The Supper,

(for he it is whom Plato the comic writer mentions in his Phaon, and

not Philoxenus the Leucadian,) mentions the following as the preparation

made for a banquet--

And then two slaves brought in a well-rubb'd table,

And then another, and another, till

The room was fill'd, and then the hanging lamps

Beam'd bright and shone upon the festive crowns,

And herbs, and dishes of rich delicacies.

And then all arts were put in requisition

To furnish forth a most luxurious meal.

Barley-cakes white as snow did fill the baskets,

And then were served up not coarse vulgar pots,

But well-shaped dishes, whose well-order'd breadth

Fill'd the rich board, eels, and the well-stuff'd conger,

A dish fit for the gods. Then came a platter

Of equal size, with dainty sword-fish fraught,

And then fat cuttle-fish, and the savoury tribes

Of the long hairy polypus. After this

Another orb appear'd upon the table,

Rival of that just brought from off the fire,

Fragrant with spicy odour. And on that

Again were famous cuttle-fish, and those

Fair maids the honey'd squills, and dainty cakes,

Sweet to the palate, and large buns of wheat,

Large as a partridge, sweet, and round, which you

Do know the taste of well. And if you ask

What more was there, I'd speak of luscious chine,

And loin of pork, and head of boar, all hot;

Cutlets of kid, and well-boil'd pettitoes,

And ribs of beef, and heads, and snouts, and tails.

Then kid again, and lamb, and hares, and poultry,

Partridges and the bird from Phasis' stream.

And golden honey, and clotted cream was there,

And cheese, which I did join with all in calling

Most tender fare. And when we all had reach'd

Satiety of food and wine, the slaves

Bore off the still full tables; and some others

Brought us warm water for to wash our hands.[238:1]

29. 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:--"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,

expressed 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 Ethiopian 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 to 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 dress of Bacchus, and he used to

sit on the tribunal as judge in that dress.

30. 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 meanspirited 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.

31. 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 minæ 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 who brings the wine says, May you sup

well. And then 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 Bacchus 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 them 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 crossroads: and after the libations a pæan 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."

32. But among the Naucratitæ, according to the account given by Hermeas

in the second book of his treatise 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 to 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, all making a libation together; and, after that,

sitting down again, each of them takes two cotylæ of wine, except the

priests of the Pythian Apollo, and of Bacchus, for each of them 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 they call cribanites. And a joint of pork

is placed before them, and 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 =timouchoi=. 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.

33. 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."

34. "But among the Galatians," says Phylarchus 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 Galatians 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."

35. 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 stuck 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 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 choenixes,[244:1] 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.[244:2]"

36. 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 established and the customs which

prevailed in many nations, says--"The Celtæ place food before their

guests, 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 =thyreoi=, 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

=ambikos=. 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, and oftener still without any honey; and they call

it _corma_. And 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

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."

37. 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.

38. 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

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

Beroean, 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.

39. 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 joints; 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 Peripatetic school, in the hundred-and-tenth book

of his History, 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.

40. 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 minæ to be offered

to any one who chooses to 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."

41. And Hermippus, in the first book of his treatise on Lawgivers,

asserts that the Mantineans were the original inventors of men to fight

in single combat, and that Demonax, one of their citizens, was the

original suggestor of such a course; and that the Cyreneans were the

next to follow their example. And Ephorus, in the sixth book of his

History, says--"The Mantineans and Arcadians were in the habit of

practising warlike exercises; and even to this day they call the

military dress and the ancient fashion of arming the Mantinean, as

having been invented by that people. And in addition to this, the

exercises of single combat were first invented in Mantinea, Demeas being

the original author of the invention. And that the custom of single

combatants was an ancient one, Aristophanes shows, when he speaks thus

in his Phoenissæ--

And on the heroes twain, the sons of Oedipus,

Has savage Mars descended; and they now

Seek the arena dread of single combat.

And the word =monomachos= appears not to be derived from the noun

=machê=, but rather from the verb =machesthai=. For as often as a word

compounded of =machê= ends in =os=, as in the words =symmachos,

prôtomachos, epimachos, antimachos=, and the =philomachos= race of

Perseus, spoken of by Pindar, then it is acuted on the antepenultima;

but when it has the acute accent on the penultima, then the verb

=machesthai= comes in; as is shown in the words =pygmachos, naumachos=;

in the expression =auton se pylamache prôton=, in Stesichorus; and the

nouns =hoplomachos, teichomachos, pyrgomachos=. But Posidippus the comic

writer, in his Pornoboscus, says--

The man who never went to sea has never shipwreck'd been,

But we have been more miserable than =monomachountes= (gladiators

in single combat).

And that even men of reputation and captains fought in single combat,

and did so in accordance with premeditated challenges, we have already

said in other parts of this discussion. And Diyllus the Athenian says,

in the ninth book of his Histories, that Cassander, when returning from

Boeotia, after he had buried the king and queen at Ægæ, and with them

Cynna the mother of Eurydice, and had paid them all the other honours to

which they were entitled, celebrated also a show of single combats, and

four of the soldiers entered the arena on that occasion.

43. But Demetrius the Scepsian, in the twelfth book of Trojan Array,

says, "that at the court of Antiochus the king, who was surnamed the

Great, not only did the friends of the king dance in arms at his

entertainments, but even the king himself did so. And when the turn to

dance came to Hegesianax the Alexandrian from the Troas, who wrote the

Histories, he rose up and said--'Do you wish, O king, to see me dance

badly, or would you prefer hearing me recite my own poems very well?'

Accordingly, being ordered rather to recite his poems, he sang the

praises of the king in such a manner, that he was thought worthy of

payment, and of being ranked as one of the king's friends for the time

to come. But Duris the Samian, in the seventeenth book of his Histories,

says that Polysperchon, though a very old man, danced whenever he was

drunk,--a man who was inferior to no one of the Macedonians, either as a

commander or in respect of his general reputation: but still that he put

on a saffron robe and Sicyonian sandals, and kept on dancing a long

time." But Agatharchides the Cnidian, in the eighth book of his History

of Asia, relates that the friends of Alexander the son of Philip once

gave an entertainment to the king, and gilded all the sweetmeats which

were to be served up in the second course. And when they wanted to eat

any of them, they took off the gold and threw that away with all the

rest which was not good to eat, in order that their friends might be

spectators of their sumptuousness, and their servants might become

masters of the gold. But they forget that, as Duris also relates, Philip

the father of Alexander, when he had a golden cup which was fifty

drachmas in weight, always took it to bed with him, and always slept

with it at his head. And Seleucus says, "that some of the Thracians at

their drinking parties play the game of hanging; and fix a round noose

to some high place, exactly beneath which they place a stone which is

easily turned round when any one stands upon it; and then they cast

lots, and he who draws the lot, holding a sickle in his hand, stands

upon the stone, and puts his neck into the halter; and then another

person comes and raises the stone, and the man who is suspended, when

the stone moves from under him, if he is not quick enough in cutting the

rope with his sickle, is killed; and the rest laugh, thinking his death

good sport."

43. This is what I had to say, my friends and messmates, O men far the

first of all the Greeks, being what I know concerning the banquets of

the ancients. But Plato the philosopher, in the first book of his

treatise on the Laws of Banquets, speaks in this manner, describing the

whole matter with the greatest accuracy--"And you would never see any

where in the country or in the cities which are under the dominion of

Lacedæmon, any drinking parties, nor any of their accompaniments, which

are calculated to excite as much pleasure as possible. Nor is there any

one who would not at once impose as heavy a fine as possible on any one

whom he met carrying his revely to the degree of drunkenness; and he

would not even excuse him if he had the pretext of the Dionysiac

festival of Bacchus. As I have known to be the case among you, in the

case of men carried in carriages, and at Tarentum among our own

colonists, where I have seen the whole city drunk at the time of the

Dionysiac festival. But at Lacedæmon nothing of the sort ever takes

place."

44. And Cynulcus said on this,--I only wish that you had played at that

Thracian game and been hanged yourself. For you have kept us in suspense

till we are almost famished, as if we were waiting for the rising star,

till which arises, those who have invented this beautiful philosophy say

that it is unlawful to taste of any food at all. But I, wretched man

that I am, according to the words of Diphilus the comic poet--

Am almost become a mullet from the extremity of hunger.

And you yourselves also have forgotten those admirable verses of the

poet, who said--

For it is not a bad thing to eat supper at a proper season.

And the admirable Aristophanes has said in his Cocalus--

But it is now, O father, altogether noon,

When it is right for the young men to sup.

But for me it would be much better to sup as the men are represented as

supping in the banquet given by Parmeniscus the Cynic, than to come

hither and see everything carried round us as if we all had fevers. And

when we laughed at this, one of us said,--But my most excellent fellow,

do not grudge giving us the account of that Parmeniscean banquet. And

he, raising himself up, said--

I swear to you most solemnly, my friends,

according to the words of the sweet Antiphanes, who, in the Woman given

in Marriage, said--

I swear to you, O men, by the god himself,

From whom the joys of drunkenness and wine

Do come to mortal men, that I prefer

This happy life which here is mine at present,

To all the splendid pomp of king Seleucus.

'Tis sweet to eat e'en lentils without fear,

But sad to sleep on down in daily terror.