Smith, William: A smaller dictionary of Greek and Roman antiquities (London, 1871)

COENA.

96

COENA.

those which were usually partaken of at a
Roman entertainment. The most common
food among the Greeks was the p-afa, a kind
of frumenty or soft cake, which was prepared
in different ways. Whcaten or barley bread
was the second most usual species of food ; it
was sometimes made at home, hut more
usually bought at the market of the apTomuAai
or apTOTrwAiSes. The vegetables ordinarily
eaten were mallows (p.aA.axrj), lettuces (flpi'6a£),
cabbages (pd^avoi), beans (ici!ap.oi), lentils
(</>aic<u), ice. Pork was the most favourite
animal food, as was the case among the Ro-
mans. It is a curious fact, which Plato has
remarked, that we never read in Homer of
the heroes partaking of hsh. In later times,
however, hsh was one of the most favourite
foods of the Greeks. A dinner given by an
opulent Athenian usually consisted of two
courses, called respectively -n-puiTai. Tpa7refai
and Sevrepai Tpan-efou. The first course em-
braced the whole of what we consider the
dinner, namely, fish, poultry, meat, &c. ; the
second, which corresponds to our dessert and
the Roman bellaria, consisted of different
kinds of fruit, sweetmeats, confections, &c.
When the first course was finished, the tables
were taken away, and water was given to the
guests for the purpose of washing their hands.
Crowns made of garlands of flowers were also
then given to them, as well as various kinds
of perfumes. Wine was not drunk till the
first course was finished ; but as soon as the
guests had washed their hands, unmixed wine
was introduced in a large goblet, of which
each drank a little, after pouring out a small
quantity as a libation. This libation was
said to be made to the " good spirit"
(dyaOoO Sat'p.oi'os), and was usually accompa-
nied with the singing of the paean and the
playing of flutes. After this libation mixed
wine was brought in, and with their first cup
the guests drank to Aio; Soj-njpos. With the
libations the deipnon closed ; and at the in-
troduction of the dessert (SeuVepai Tpan-efat)
the 7toto;, oxip-Troaioi', or Kwp-o; commenced, of
which an account is given under Symposium.
—(2) Roman- As the Roman meals are not
always clearly distinguished, it will be conve-
nient to treat of all under the most important
one ; and we shall confine ourselves to the
description of the ordinary life of the middle
ranks of society in the Augustan age, noticing
incidentally the most remarkable deviations.
The meal with which the Roman sometimes
began the day was the jentaculum, which was
cliielly taken by children, or sick persons, or
the luxurious. An irregular meal (if we may
so ex press it) was not likely to have any very
regular time : two epigrams of Martial, how-
ever, seem to fix the hour at about three or

four o'clock in the morning. Bread formed
the substantial part of this early breakfast, to
which cheese, or dried fruit, as dates and
raisins, were sometimes added. Next followed
the prandium or luncheon, with persons of
simple habits a frugal meal, usually taken
about twelve or one o'clock. The coena, or
principal meal of the day, corresponding to
our " dinner," was usually taken about three
o'clock in the time of Cicero and Augustus,
though we read of some persons not dining
till near sunset. A Roman dinner at the
house of a wealthy man usually consisted of
three courses. The first was called promuhis,
antccuena, or gustatio, and was made up of
all sorts of stimulants to the appetite. Eggs
also were so indispensable to the first course
that they almost gave a name to it (ab ovo
usque ad mala). The frugality of Martial
only allowed of lettuce and Sicenian olives ;
indeed he himself tells us that the promulsis
was a refinement of modern luxury. It would
far exceed our limits to mention all the dishes
which formed the second course of a Roman
dinner. Of birds, the Guinea hen (Afro, avis),
the pheasant (phasi<aia, so called from Pha-
sis, a river of Colchis), and the thrush, were
most in repute ; the liver of a capon steeped
in milk, and beccaficos (ficedulae) dressed
with pepper, were held a delicacy. The pea-
cock, according to Macrobius, was first intro-
duced by Hortensius the orator, at an inau-
gural supper, and acquired such repute among
the Roman gourmands as to be commonly sold
for fifty denarii. Other birds are mentioned,
as the duck (anas), especially its head and
breast; the woodcock (attagen), the turtle,
and flamingo (phoenicopterus), the tongue of
which, Martial tells us, particularly com-
mended itself to the delicate palate. Of fish,
the variety was perhaps still greater; the
chart (scarus), the turbot (rhombus), the stur-
geon (acipenser), the mullet (mulhts), were
highly prized, and dressed in the most various
fashions. Of solid meat, pork seems to have
been the favourite dish, especially sucking
pig. Boar's flesh and venison were also in
high repute : the former is described by
Juvenal as animal propter convivia natum.
Condiments were added to most of these
dishes : such were the muria, a kind of
pickle made from the tunny fish ; the garum
sociorum, made from the intestines of the
mackerel (scomber), so called because brought
from abroad ; alec, a sort of brine ; faex, the
sediment of wine, &c. Several kinds of fungi
are mentioned, truffles (boleti), mushrooms
(tuberes), which either made dishes by them-
selves, or formed the garniture for larger
dishes. It must not be supposed that the
artistes of imperial Rome were at all behind