Cena — Mediated Wiki

thumb|Banqueting scene from the House of the Chaste Lovers, Pompeii, IX.12.6

In Ancient Roman culture, '''''cena'''''<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.primaryhomeworkhelp.co.uk/romans/food.html|title=Roman Food|website=www.primaryhomeworkhelp.co.uk|access-date=2018-09-18}}</ref> or '''''coena'''''<ref>{{Cite web |title=A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities (1890), CENA |url=https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.04.0063:entry=cena-cn |access-date=2023-12-25 |website=www.perseus.tufts.edu}}</ref> was the main meal of the day. The grammarian, Sextus Pompeius Festus, preserved in his ''De verborum significatione'' that in earlier times, ''cena'' was held midday but later began to be held in evenings, with ''prandium'' replacing the noon meal.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Festus |first1=Sextus Pompeius |title=De Verborum Significatione |location=54}}</ref> ''Cena'' would occur after work was completed for the day and was a focal point of social life, along with the public baths, the frequenting of which often preceded the meal.<ref name='auto1'>{{cite book|article=Meals|title=Oxford Companion to Classical Civilization |date=2004 |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=Oxford|editor-first=Simon|editor-last1=Hornblower|editor-first2=Antony|editor-last2=Spawforth|isbn=0-19-860958-2 |page=456}}</ref> Seating during dinner was in the triclinium, three couches for reclining arranged as three sides of a square, with a small table for food in the middle of all these, although masonry dining areas have been found in Pompeian gardens for out of doors dining during warmer weather.<ref name="auto2">{{cite journal |last1=Ling |first1=Roger |title=The Arts of Living |journal=The Oxford History of the Classical World |date=1986 |pages=737–743}}</ref> Whether inside or out, the couches would have been cushioned by mattresses and pillows while the diners reclined on their elbows.<ref name="auto2"/> Ancient Romans believed that having more than one meal per day was unhealthy.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Paoli |first1=Antonio |last2=Tinsley |first2=Grant |last3=Bianco |first3=Antonino |last4=Moro |first4=Tatiana |date=2019-03-28 |title=The Influence of Meal Frequency and Timing on Health in Humans: The Role of Fasting |journal=Nutrients |language=en |volume=11 |issue=4 |pages=719 |doi=10.3390/nu11040719 |issn=2072-6643 |pmc=6520689 |pmid=30925707 |doi-access=free }}</ref>

thumb|Banquet Fresco from the House of the Triclinium, Pompeii, V.2.4

While most often ''cena'' would be a simple affair, for wealthier Romans on special occasions it could be an elaborate banquet as described by Martial, Pliny, and Petronius.<ref name="auto2"/><ref name="auto5">{{cite book |last1=Beard |first1=Mary |title=The Fires of Vesuvius |date=2008 |publisher=The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press |location=Cambridge |isbn=978-0-674-02976-7 |pages=217–219}}</ref> During these ''cenae'', the host could show off their wealth and impress their guests, although some were prone to creating class distinctions between guests.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Pliny the Younger |translator-first= J.B. |translator-last= Firth |title=Letters: Book 2 |url=http://www.attalus.org/pliny/ep2.html#6 |website=Attalus.org |access-date=31 August 2025}}</ref> Some of the surviving descriptions are prone to exaggeration such as the banquets of the emperor's written about in the Lives of the Twelve Caesars and the Lives of the Later Caesars.<ref name="auto5"/> The 3rd century C.E. author, Athenaeus organizes his book Deipnosophists as a series of conversations around the order of a dinner party and the meals served.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Athenaeus |title=Deipnosophists |date=1854 |url=http://www.attalus.org/info/athenaeus.html |access-date=9 November 2022}}</ref>

thumb|Still life from Pompeii showing Grapes and Apples

The ''cena'' traditionally consisted of three parts. The appetizer course (''gustatio'') often included eggs, olives, and honeyed wine, but could include clams and snails as found in nearby refuse piles by some outdoor Pompeian Triclina.<ref name="auto2"/> Other dishes included in the ''gustatio'' would come from the host's garden such as lettuce, leeks, mallows, mint, and arugula or fish from the coast such as tuna or anchovies.<ref name="auto3">{{cite book |last1=Martial |title=Epigrams |date=1897 |publisher=Bohn's Classical Library |url=https://topostext.org/work/677 |access-date=9 November 2022}}</ref><ref name="auto4">{{cite web |last1=Pliny the Younger |translator-first= J.B. |translator-last= Firth |title=Letters: Book 1 |url=http://www.attalus.org/pliny/ep1.html#15 |website=Attalus.org |access-date=31 August 2025}}</ref> The second, main course often included the main meat dish, like a roasted pig, or for variety sheep or goats alongside vegetables like beans or cabbage.<ref name="auto3"/><ref name="auto4"/> Throughout the Roman world, pork was the preferred meat dish in various forms, although sausage and blood pudding were also common.<ref name="auto6"/> The third and final course included desserts such as fruits or nuts.<ref name="auto4"/> All courses would be served with wine and bread.<ref name="auto2"/><ref name="auto6"/>

Only the very wealthy would consume exotic dishes such as giraffes, ostrich, lions, and peacocks.<ref name='auto1'/> Some of the dishes would be elaborately sauced and dressed, with many enslaved cooks drawing inspiration from M. Gavius Apicius, a famous chef from the early imperial period.<ref name="auto2"/> Many of these enslaved cooks would also be skilled at disguising dishes as things they are not, adding to the pageantry of the more elaborate of these events<ref name="auto6">{{cite book |last1=Beard |first1=Mary |title=The Fires of Vesuvius |date=2008 |publisher=The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press |location=Cambridge |isbn=978-0-674-02976-7 |page=223}}</ref> which could include musicians, singers, acrobats, poets, and dancers in addition to the displays of food service. Many, but not all of the entertainers were enslaved persons.<ref name="auto2"/> Some meals would be a time for storytelling and philosophical discussions between the guests, often being a time for them to hear news from around the empire.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Pliny the Younger |translator-first=William |translator-last= Melmoth|title=Selected Letters |url=https://sourcebooks.fordham.edu/ancient/pliny-letters.asp |website=Ancient History Sourcebook |publisher=Fordham University |access-date=24 December 2022}}</ref>

thumb|Part of the Silver Hoard from the House of Menander

The courses of the more elaborate ''cena'' would have been served on silverware, as evidenced by the hoards found at Boscoreale and the House of Menander, or if that was unaffordable then bronze or glass. The ''cena'' of a farmer would be served on simple wood or terracotta dishes.<ref name="auto2"/>

==References== {{Reflist}}

Category:Culture of ancient Rome Category:Meals