An essential part of Roman life was the convivium or banquet. It is said well-connected Romans used these as a means of keeping their friends close and their enemies even closer and no expense was spared by the host in serving the most exotic foods, wines and entertainments for his guests.
Most domestic conviviums were held in the triclinium (dining-room) and were small, intimate affairs usually comprising six to nine guests reclining on three couches - each couch accommodating three diners - which were arranged in a "U-shape" around a central table on which the food was served.
Pictured is a young Roman patrician selecting the slaves who'll serve at tonight's banquet for five of his closest friends. He has chosen his six most handsome, young slaves whose duties will involve serving the different courses - there will be six - and ensuring the guests' wine goblets are kept filled.
The Master has decided the slaves will serve "au naturel" as their nudity will add spice to the dinner and, no doubt, be the cause of much ribald humour.
As the night progresses and more wine is consumed, the host and his guests will loose their inhibitions and naturally grope a slave's pert ass or fondle his cock and balls. And then …… well one thing leads to another, doesn't it?
Here, the young Master instructs his slaves in their duties and warns them that they will yield to all demands made of them by his guests and deny them nothing. Otherwise, they face dire punishment should they give his guests cause for complaint!
Artwork by Theo Blaze (a truly great artist); text is mine.
A really beautiful illustration by Theo Blaze …… and a very “tempting” text.
ReplyDeleteRoman banquets offered by rich and powerful Aristocrats were, as you rightly say, an essential part both of private and public life for the upper Social Classes of the Roman Society.
Your historical description
“Most domestic conviviums were held in the triclinium (dining-room) and were small, intimate affairs usually comprising six to nine guests reclining on three couches - each couch accommodating three diners - which were arranged in a "U-shape" around a central table on which the food was served.”
is correct but refers to “domestic” and “normal” banquets.
But, especially in the Imperial era, there were several banquets with much more dining guests, held in enormous banquet-halls (e.g. the Octagonal Hall in Nero’s “Golden House” or the outside “Canopus” in the Villa of Emperor Hadrian) both in the Imperial Palaces but also in the Villas of some exceptionally wealthy Senators and citizens.
What astonishes our modern minds, and demonstrates that Roman banquets were not at all just an occasion for eating and drinking, are many “oddities” and peculiarities of those dinners.
For example, just to mention a few, the fact that such banquets were often amazingly long; e.g. we know of some of them that started in the first afternoon of one day and ended well after the noon of the following day …… the fact that, after having eaten, some guests were voluntarily causing vomit to themselves, so that they could eat and drink again (!) …….. the fact that, in the most luxurious and richest houses and palaces, banquets were always accompanied, to entertain the guests by beautiful and thrilling “shows” of various kind: from performances of dancers and singers, to numbers of acrobats and jugglers …… from learned reading of poems or recitals of excerpts of tragedies and comedies to brutal and bloody fights of wrestlers or gladiators ……. even to sadistic and gruesome tortures or executions of slaves, whose punishments had been postponed and “reserved” for entertaining and amusing their Master’s guests during the banquet.
Useless to say that slaves were the “protagonists” of all those shows.
Another point that I’d like to clarify is the following: one of the most common “historical mistakes” in many historical movies and TV-series set in ancient Rome, is the fact that they show young and beautiful slave-girls serving during banquets.
This is totally wrong.
Differently than in Greece, in ancient Rome noble and rich women were participating, like men and with the same “dignity” of men, to banquets.
However, owing to an extremely ancient tradition, dating back to the Etruscans, the SERVING SLAVES IN BANQUETS were EXCLUSIVELY SLAVE-BOYS or SLAVE-YOUTHS !
Slave-girls were used in banquets but in case exclusively as DANCERS or SINGERS, while the slaves that carried and served to the guests foods and drinks were EXCLUSIVELY young MALE-SLAVES, carefully chosen for their beauty and robust and good-looking appearance.
To be noticed that this WAS NOT related to any “HOMOSEXUAL DEBAUCHERIES” …… it was simply dictated by tradition and even the (rare) Roman Lords who practiced sex only with young girls, like the famous Petronius Arbiter (and not with both young females and young males, like most Romans !) in their banquets exploited exclusively beautiful slave-boys and robust slave-youths.
(even if of course “homosexual orgies” with those very cute young slaves were not at all rare …… and not only in the above “fantasy” – see e.g. various Letters by Seneca).
Karel
These young male slaves worked in teams, that in the biggest banquets, could be teams of even twenty slaves per team; and several serving teams alternated in shifts during the longest banquets.
ReplyDeleteThey were divided into two categories: the ones who directly served foods and drinks to the dining guests and who were normally very young teenage slave-boys and slave-lads, chosen for their beauty and gracefulness, aged between about 14 / 15 to 17 / 18 years of age ….. and a bit older and much more robust slave-youths, aged between about 18 and their very early 20’s, whose duty was to carry into the dining hall the heaviest dishes (it was not rare e.g. that a whole pig or boar was roasted and carried onto one dish) or the most ponderous amphoras of wine; to cut them in smaller pieces and portions that were then served to the Lords by the younger slaves etc.
That some aroused dining guest, especially after a few goblets of wine, could lose his “inhibitions”, stretch his hand and obscenely feel and fondle, under their short tunics, the crotch or the buttocks of one of those beautiful slave-boys, lads or youths ……. it was obviously absolutely “normal” and quite frequent, as not only the Letters by Seneca but also the poems and writings of several other Latin authors testify.
Karel
Thanks for the two very academic explanations. The beautiful illustration by Theo Blaze opens itself to a lot of erotic interpretations.
ReplyDeleteIt seems that the slaves being selected are of two different types that might be being instructed as to what "show" they might be required to perform as entertainment of the guests.
It appears that the dark-haired boys a looking lustfully at the blond in the center (who seems to have just finished performing fellatio on the reclining slave. Perhaps they will be allowed (or commanded) to gang-rape the blond. They don't appear to be ready to object to that prospect.