Dinnertime!

If you've ever visited anyplace in Europe, you know that people there often eat dinner later than most Americans. And they take their sweet time in doing so. Whenever I visit Rome, my traveling party usually opens the restaurant and we're usually finished before other clients start arriving. My gut feeling was that the ancient Romans made dinner their social hour, just  the way modern Europeans do today.

And it all happened inside triclinia.

A triclinium was a dining space. In wealthy homes, triclinia were some of the most magnificent domestic areas. It was here that intricate mosaics were placed on the floor. Sometimes they actually designated the areas where couches and pieces of furniture were to be placed. Many artists would create mosaics for the floor that were pictures of food or even food scraps, as though they'd fallen off the table! Wall paintings were also central as decoration. Perhaps the most splendid Roman wall-paintings ever discovered are from the Villa of the Mysteries in Pompeii. Featured in traditional "Pompeian red" hues, the series of paintings depict what might be an initiate undergoing the Dionysian mysteries. 

A typical triclinium held a trio of couches. With three guests per couch, it was considered good taste to offer between three and nine invitations. The invitations themselves could be verbal--extended at the baths, the Curia, or even at public latrines! For formal dining or when inviting an honored guest, written invitations were used. The late 1st century writer Plutarch explains, “A guest comes to share not only meat, wine, and dessert, but conversation, fun, and the amiability that leads to friendship.” In Roman times, many a dinner party was used to seal marriage contracts, weddings, end funerary rites, or celebrate a son's coming of age. In Son of Rome, Marcus's toga ceremony culminates with a large banquet. In this scene, the family rents extra dining couches to accommodate more guests. Wealthy homes might have both an indoor and outdoor triclinium--one used in winter and the other during the warm summer months.

I've always thought that reclining while eating would be fun! Especially at Thanksgiving, when everyone is so full afterward, it's easier to lie around than sit in a chair! During the height of the Republican Period, Roman women always dined in chairs. It wasn't until around the time of the 1st century BC that men and women began reclining together during meals. 

So--is anybody HUNGRY? 

This is inside a real Roman triclinium. Recently cleaned and restored, the vibrant colors in the panels of these wall-paintings were created in the 1st century BC!!! Layers of ash and pumice from Mt. Vesuvius preserved them. They decorate the triclinium in Pompeii's Villa of the Mysteries. Scholars still argue as to what is depicted here. Some say it's an initiation into the Dionysian Mysteries. Others claim it's a bride preparing for her wedding. Note the tiles on the floor in an argyle pattern. Scholars believe they may have indicated the layout where couches were to be placed.