Dinner was the main meal of the Roman day. It could be informal, a relaxing and enjoyable family occasion, traditionally taken in the atrium. Or it could be a social occasion held in a formal dining room or triclinium, with the host providing the best menu, wine and entertainment he could afford to entertain and impress his guests.

The Roman Culture of Dining

Dinner or cena occurred late in the afternoon, at around 5 pm modern time, after the day’s business concluded and people had visited the baths. For the poor, it was a simple affair, with food prepared on a brazier in an apartment block or perhaps eaten out in a tabernae.

A house, however, offered greater scope for entertaining that was nevertheless relaxed. While they were an opportunity for female guests to dress up, men were not expected to dress too formally at a Roman dinner party ( togas were only required for formal occasions as they were difficult to wear, let alone eat in). Instead, male guests would don a much more relaxed tunic known as a synthesis. 

Roman dining customs differed from modern ones in many ways. For instance, rather than bringing a bottle, Roman guests were expected to bring their own napkin. While this was still used for wiping hands and mouths, the napkin doubled as a doggy bag for leftover titbits guests could take home.

On arrival, the guests were greeted with a bowl of water to wash their hands and changed from outdoor footwear into indoor sandals — a purification ritual that also prevented the soil of the streets from being dragged into their host’s home. The host would then present them with dining wreaths made of plants sacred to the gods the host wished to honour that evening.

The Atrium or the Triclinium?

Traditionally, families would dine in the atrium, the location of the lararium or shrine to the household gods. It was customary to offer a portion of the meal to these deities, but with time, those with the space and the money built a separate dining room, the triclinium. 

For the very affluent and influential, the aim was to have two triclinia: one for winter and one for summer. The summer triclinium often overlooked the garden and honoured guests would be positioned, so they had the best view.

Seating Arrangements

The standard seating arrangement in a Roman dining room was three couches arranged around a central table or tables, each couch accommodating three people. It is this triple arrangement that gave the ”triclinium” its name.

Many couches were immovable, solid structures covered with cushions and mattresses. Others were freestanding and ornate, made from wood and ivory.

This standard setting meant only nine people could be accommodated around a table. So more tables and couches were added for larger dinner parties. 

The importance of the individual guests would be indicated by where they sat. The host would sit at the top end of the left couch. The guest of honour would be seated next to him but on the back couch, head to head with his host so he could share his view. The next two most important guests shared the left-hand couch with their host. Lesser guests filled the other spaces.

Serving Dinner

Guests would help themselves to dishes placed on the tables in front of them. Forks were generally only used for serving; eating occurred with spoons or the fingers. In early times, dining services in wealthy households were simple, made of pottery rather than gold or silver, as ostentation was frowned upon and indeed legislated against. However, with time, precious metals became acceptable. 

If the host could afford it, he would serve food on one or two well-placed dishes of precious metal. But pottery remained the norm, mainly because it was possible to acquire excellent glazed sets, such as the famous Samnium wear.

A Typical Dinner Menu

Dinner with the family would probably be simple and consist of various vegetable courses or salads accompanied by eggs, cheese and beans. A meat course may have followed, with fruit and nuts for dessert.

If guests were invited or the host’s social standing permitted, dinner would be more lavish. However, contrary to the image portrayed by some sources, orgies were the exception rather than the rule. It was regarded as vulgar to display too much ostentation a dinner parties, as Petronius’s satire ”Dinner with Trimalchio” highlights. Even those who could afford it would not serve meat with every course. Likewise, breaks between courses to purge through vomiting would have been rare.

Dinner parties would begin with the first course or gustatio — usually, a salad consisting of lettuce or leeks, accompanied by eggs or, if available, fish. Several other small courses would follow, such as olives and cheese. A meat course, if applicable, followed. At its most simple, this could consist of sausages or plain fowl or poultry. More elaborate meat courses included delicacies such as dormice, sows udders or whole roast pigs. 

Dessert could be simple fruit or one of the sweet sticky pastries favoured by the Romans, sticky with honey and filled with dried fruit.

Roman Wine

The Romans rarely drank their wines unmixed. Instead, they often diluted them with water to prolong sobriety or flavoured with spices and honey. At an elaborate dinner, several types of wine would be served. Only a bad host would reserve the best wine for honoured guests while serving the others lesser vintages.

A common wine served with dinner was a mulsum, a chilled white wine sweetened with honey.

Ancient Roman Entertainment

No matter how simple the dinner, entertainment would always be an integral part. At its most basic, this would include conversation (although never about business) or poetry readings. Music was often performed, with small plays, juggling and acrobatics also part of the entertainment for more lavish events. Some elite evening dinners are even recorded as being rounded off by gladiator fights.

Resources

Grant, M, 1999, ”Roman Cookery’‘. Serif: London

Matyszak, P, 2007, ‘Ancient Rome on Five Denarii a Day’. Thames & Hudson

Hooper, W D & Ash, H B, (Trans) ”Cato and Varro on Agriculture’‘. Loeb Classical Library

Sullivan, J P, ”The Satyricon by Petronius”. Penguin Books

Faas, P, 2003, ”Around the Roman Table’‘. Macmillan

Martial, ”Epigrams’‘. Loeb Classical Library