KITCHENS AND DINING ROOMS AT POMPEII ... - Get a Free Blog

INTRODUCTION
Sometimes the distance between ourselves and the Romans seems surprisingly short.
Consider the following passages, the first from Petronius' Cena Trimalchionis, and the second a
description of the opening dinner for an American archaeological expedition in Mesopotamia:
"Following the dogs came servants with a tray on which we saw a wild sow of
absolutely enormous size. Perched rakishly on the sow's head was the cap of
freedom which newly freed slaves wear in token of their liberty, and from her
tusks hung two baskets woven from palm leaves: one was filled with dry
Egyptian dates, the other held sweet Syrian dates. Clustered around her teats
were little suckling pigs made of hard pastry, gifts for the guests to take home as
it turned out, but intended to show that ours was a brood-sow. The slave who
stepped up to carve, however, was not our old friend Carver who had cut up the
capons, but a huge fellow with a big beard, a coarse hunting cape thrown over
his shoulders, and his legs bound up in cross-gaiters. He whipped out his knife
and gave a savage slash at the sow's flanks. Under the blow the flesh parted, the
wound burst open and dozens of thrushes came whirring out!" 1
"One of the most pleasant recollections of those busy days was a Babylonian
dinner given by President Morton to the friends of the expedition. The cards at
our plates were written in the language of Nebuchadnezzar; the bread was of the
shape of Babylonian bricks; the great tray of ice-cream was the colour of the
desert sand over which sweet icy camels bore burdens of other sweet ices; and
there was a huge cake, like the tower of Babel; about it wandered miniature
Arabs with miniature picks, and concealed within its several stages was an art
treasure for each of the guests. Then and there, as the Director of the Expedition,
I opened the excavations, and from the ruins of the huge cake I rescued and
distributed its buried treasures - antiquities fresh from Tiffany's." 2
Petronius' description, usually considered to be exaggerated satire, is no more fantastic than the
factual banquet of the Americans. Both passages report supreme efforts at dinner presentation
that are meant to impress guests, reveal the cleverness of the host, and bring the company
together. Simple, routine family meals likewise forged bonds within and amongst Roman
households, because meals were occasions to express social relationships. In order to explore
mealtime social mechanics in households both large and small, I will analyze the physical
environments of kitchens and dining rooms in a cross-section of Pompeian residences.
1 Petr. Sat. 40 (trans. W. Arrowsmith).
2 E.J. Banks, Bismaya, or the lost city of Adab, New York 1912 (quoted by H. Crawford, Sumer and the Sumerians,
Cambridge 1991, 3).
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