ĔPŬLŌNES, who were originally three in number (_triumviri epulones_),
were first created in B.C. 196, to attend to the Epulum Jovis, and
the banquets given in honour of the other gods; which duty had
originally belonged to the pontifices. Their number was afterwards
increased to seven, and they were called septemviri epulones or
septemviri epulonum. The epulones formed a collegium, and were one of
the four great religious corporations at Rome; the other three were
those of the Pontifices, Augures, and Quindecemviri.