1. The Roman convivium, or banquet, had two distinct stages: an initial reception in the library followed by the main dinner in the triclinium. 2. The triclinium featured three couches arranged around a central table, allowing up to nine diners to recline comfortably. 3. In contrast, Greek women did not participate in male symposia and were confined to separate areas of the home, showing the different gender roles between Roman and Greek culture.

1. A Roman Symposium:The
Development of the
Convivium
By Henry Zeng

2. The Convivium: A Roman Symposium
Two distinct stages of the Convivium can
be recognized:
1. The reception and entertainment of the
guests in the library before the meal.
2. An announcement by a slave.
3. The gather of the guests in the triclinium
for the dinner itself.

4. Verres’ henchman, Rubrius, asks Philodamus to summon his daughter to
the party.1
It is not the custom of the Greeks that women should recline at the
convivium of the men.2
- Response of Philodamus in Cicero’s Verrine orations
A brawl breaks out, one the Romans is killed, and eventually the
unfortunate Philodemus and his son are condemned to death.3

5. For what Roman is ashamed to bring his wife to a feast, or whose consort does
not occupy the best room in the house, and live in the midst of company? 1
But in Greece the case is far otherwise; for a wife is neither admitted to a feast,
except among relations, nor does she sit anywhere but in the innermost
apartment of the house, which is called the gynaeconitis, and into which
nobody goes who is not connected with her by near relationship. 2
-Cornelius Nepos in Lives of Eminent Commanders

6. Definition of Triclinium
noun | tri·clin·i·um | trī-ˈkli-nē-əm
1: A couch extending around three sides of a table used by the ancient Romans for reclining at meals.
2: A dining room furnished with a triclinium.

7. Layout of the Triclinium
Three couches, each holding up to three diners in comfort, fitted closely
together around a single central table.1
The room, with its black walls, is elegant but crowded, with very little
space available for the servants.2
A single round table in the center, and niches beneath the sides of the
couches where objects could be stored.3

10. Roman Triclinium found at the Casa del Criptoportico, Pompeii

12. The Stibadium
A rectangular room had the mosaic divided into two portions; the front
half is richly decorated, the back marked out with a broad semicircle.1
Seven individual wedge-shaped segments into which the couch was
divided.2
The central square was used in part by those serving at the meal. It was
here that the servants stood in readiness to attend to each diner’s
summons.3

13. Those reclining on the sigma-couch could look out through the dining
room’s folding doors into a courtyard framed by curving colonnades and
equipped with a well-stocked fish pond. Beyond this lay a magnificent
view of the Garonne valley and the surrounding hills. 1
- Sidonius’ account of Leontius’ villa in Gaul

14. Roman Sarcophagus lid with Hunters’ Picnic found in Germania Inferior

15. Roman Stibadium found at Dargoleja, Spain

16. Roman Triconch

17. Roman villa architecture after the 6th century

18. The Last Supper (Leonardo Da Vinci)
ca. 1495 A.D.

19. Sources
Slide:2
Slater, William J. Dining in a Classical Context. Ann Arbor: U of Michigan, 1991. Print. Page 200 of this book contains the information above.
Slide:3
Murray, Oswyn, and Manuela Tecușan. In Vino Veritas. London: British School at Rome in Association with American Academy at Rome ..., 1995. Print.
Refer to Dunbabin’s article from Scenes from the Roman Convivium p.259 for both images.
Slide:4
Nielsen, Inge, and Hanne Nielsen. Meals in a Social Context: Aspects of the Communal Meal in the Hellenistic and Roman World. Aarhus: Aarhus UP, 1998.
Print. Refer to Dunbabin’s article on page 81.
Slide:5
Nepos, Cornelius. Lives of Eminent Commanders. N.p.: n.p., n.d. Print. Refer to the Preface on page 305.
Slide:6
Definition taken from https://www.google.com/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&rlz=1C1CHFX_enUS578US580&ion=1&espv=2&ie=UTF-
8#q=definition%20of%20triclinium
Slide:7
Slater, William J. Dining in a Classical Context. Ann Arbor: U of Michigan, 1991. Print. Refer to page 123 in Dunbabin’s article Triclinium and Stibadium.

20. Sources cont.
Slide:8
Courtesy of http://blogs.getty.edu/iris/reclining-and-dining-and-drinking-in-ancient-rome/. Website contains a simplified interpretation of a
Triclinium labeled with hierarchy of order.
Slide:9
(Left) Antioch, Atrium House, triclinium mosaic. Photo courtesy Department of Art and Archaeology, Princeton University. Refer to index of
Dining in a Classical Context by Slater.
(Right) Antioch, House of Drinking Contest, triclinium mosaic. Photo courtesy Department of Art and Archaeology, Princeton University. Refer
to index of Dining in a Classical Context by Slater.
Slide:10
Pompeii I.6.2-4,Casa del Criptoportico, Triclinium. Photo KMDD. Refer to index of Dining in a Classical Context by Slater.
Slide:11
(Left) Dining room Triclinium courtesy of the Roman Open-air miuseam Hechingen-Stein. http://www.villa-rustica.de/tour/tour08e.html
(Right)Thysdrus, House of the Months, triclinium mosaic, drawing. After L.Foucher, Latomus 20, 1061,pl.XI. Refer to index of Dining in a
Classical Context by Slater.
Slide:12
Slater, William J. Dining in a Classical Context. Ann Arbor: U of Michigan, 1991. Print. Refer to page 129-130 in Dunbabin’s article Triclinium
and Stibadium.
Slide:13
1Slater, William J. Dining in a Classical Context. Ann Arbor: U of Michigan, 1991. Print. Refer to page 200-201 in Rossiter’s article Convivium
and Villa in Late Antiquity.

21. Sources cont.
Slide:14
Leiden, sarcophagus lid with hunters’ picnic; Rijksmuseum van Oudheden,Inv. Nr. H *8. Photo Courtesy Rijksmuseum van Oudheden, Leiden.
Refer to index of Dining in a Classical Context by Slater.
Slide:15
Dargoleja, room for Stibadium, drawing. After J.M Blazquez, Mosaicos romanos de Sevilla, Granada, Cadiz y Murica (CMEsp IV, Madrid 1982),
fig. 9. Refer to index of Dining in a Classical Context by Slater.
Slide:16
Refer to index of Dining in a Classical Context by Slater.
Slide:17
(Left) Kessler, Herbert L., and Johanna Zacharias. Rome 1300: On the Path of the Pilgrim. New Haven, CT: Yale UP, 2000. Print. Refer to page
34 for Sketch of the Council Hall of Pope III at the Lateran by Pompeo Ugonius.
(Right) http://www.romeartlover.it/Vasi46.html Remade triclinium of Leo III under Pope Benedict XIV. Currently located between the facade
of St.John Lateran and the Scala Santa.
Slide:18
Refer to https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=90&v=IL29tfxfzl0 (at 2:19).