A convivium was an important part of socialising in upper-class Roman society. It draws many parallels to a traditional Christmas dinner in modern society. Both involve inviting people round to your house, eating a meal them, drinking some alcohol with them and engaging in conversation with them. The aim of both events is in fact the same. To form and maintain relationships through food and drink. However, the two events differ when it comes to how the meal was shared, how people were seated and the types of alcohol consumed. The aim of both events is in fact the same. To form and maintain relationships through food and drink.
The dinner is a large part of Christmas for many people, especially in Europe. It is a shared dinner to celebrate …show more content…
However, the meal in the earlier periods of Rome were not like the Christmas dinner. The food itself was different but also the food was not served out from communal dishes, each guest was given his/her own plate of food depending on their class. A senator might receive duck whereas a merchant might receive pork simply because he was not born into a high-status family (Hudson 2010). At a convivium the guests would not be seated in individual chairs like a Christmas dinner. Rather a standard Roman dining room would contain 3 couches that were made for 2-3 people. They were usually arranged in a ‘u-shape’ with a shared table in the middle (Raff 2000). This meant that a standard convivium could seat 9 people who would recline on the couches to eat their food. Due to this this type of dining room became known as a triclinium. Alcohol was consumed at conviviums as well as Christmas dinners. However, it was served in different forms. Wine was brought out to the guests in a large amount and then mixed with water in a crater (krater in Greek). The water was usually heated in an early water heater. They could take many shapes but the most elegant was the samovar. A servant would then serve wine with a ladle to ensure a precise amount (Dunbabin
The dinner is a large part of Christmas for many people, especially in Europe. It is a shared dinner to celebrate …show more content…
However, the meal in the earlier periods of Rome were not like the Christmas dinner. The food itself was different but also the food was not served out from communal dishes, each guest was given his/her own plate of food depending on their class. A senator might receive duck whereas a merchant might receive pork simply because he was not born into a high-status family (Hudson 2010). At a convivium the guests would not be seated in individual chairs like a Christmas dinner. Rather a standard Roman dining room would contain 3 couches that were made for 2-3 people. They were usually arranged in a ‘u-shape’ with a shared table in the middle (Raff 2000). This meant that a standard convivium could seat 9 people who would recline on the couches to eat their food. Due to this this type of dining room became known as a triclinium. Alcohol was consumed at conviviums as well as Christmas dinners. However, it was served in different forms. Wine was brought out to the guests in a large amount and then mixed with water in a crater (krater in Greek). The water was usually heated in an early water heater. They could take many shapes but the most elegant was the samovar. A servant would then serve wine with a ladle to ensure a precise amount (Dunbabin