Cena
![Banqueting scene from the House of the Chaste Lovers, Pompeii, IX.12.6](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9f/Pompei_2012_%288057098593%29.jpg)
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. During these ''cenae'', the host could show off their wealth and impress their guests, although some were prone to creating class distinctions between guests. 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. The 3rd century C.E. author, Athenaeus organizes his book Deipnosophists as a series conversations around the order of a dinner party and the meals served.
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 Pomepian Triclina. Other dishes included in the ''gustatio'' would come from the hosts garden such as lettuce, leeks, mallows, mint, and arugula or from the coast such as tuna or anchovies 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. Although throughout the Roman world, pork was the preferred meat dish in various forms, although commonly sausage and blood pudding. The third and final course included desserts such as fruits or nuts. All the courses would be served with wine and bread Only the very wealthy would consume exotic dishes such as giraffes, ostrich, lions, and peacocks. 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. 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 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. 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.
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. Provided by Wikipedia
-
1