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

y the Emperor at one of his public feasts were graded in quality according to whether one was a
senator or eques, or merely one of the plebs. 141
Some officials disregarded social harmony and order altogether for the sake of promoting
their own social preeminence. While the exploitation of public feasting was common and
acceptable, flagrant abuse of the institution could backfire. Verres held extravagant meals in the
public forum at public expense without inviting the public. Worse, he forced local civic leaders
and Roman equites to stand and watch him eat. These were serious insults, and were used by
Cicero in his prosecution as evidence against his character. 142 Members of the general public did
not rely solely on the euergetism of the elite, however. By the Empire, citizens of low status had
formed their own eating clubs based on trade, religious or neighborhood affiliations; these were
modeled after exclusive eating clubs that elites established during the Republic.
Eating clubs
Dinners for select groups of individuals were one benefit of Roman social organizations
known as collegia or sodalicia. These were associations of people who shared business, social,
civic, or religious interests. These clubs met on a regular basis at homes, taverns or club-houses
(scholae) where they held sacrifices, shared meals and conducted club business. 143 Inscriptional
evidence at Lanuvium attests to club eating and drinking, and dining rooms with masonry
triclinia are preserved in collegium headquarters at both Pompeii and Ostia (Fig. 1.18). 144 Special
dinners provided opportunities for people with common interests to form and reinforce bonds of
friendship and community.
141 Suet. Dom. 5.
142 Cic. Ver. 2.3.61-65. Likewise Tacitus' comments about Nero and his domus aurea: "giving private dinners
in public places and using the entire city as if it were a private house" (D'Arms 1990, 309 translation of Tac.
Ann. 15.37).
143 A central feature of these clubs was the simple guarantee of a decent burial for those who paid their
dues. Imperial legislation attempted however to limit the frequency with which these clubs met in order to
defuse their potential for subversive political behavior. See Stambaugh 1988, 209-212; Fisher 1988, 1209-
1210, 1219-1224; Dill 1905, 251-286, all with references.
144 At Lanuvium, an inscription records the senatorial charter of A.D. 133 authorizing the collegium of Diana
and Antinous and quotes the club's regulations, including the provision of bread, wine and sardines for the
monthly club dinners (Fisher 1988, 1221-1223; Inscr. Dessau 7212). At Pompeii, a guild-house for shippers
was found outside the walls which contained five masonry triclinia in rooms around a peristyle, each with a
wooden screen, perhaps to help ensure privacy during business transactions over meals (Jashemski 1979,
179-180; Elia 1961). Another collegium may have been centered at I.7.15-17 in Pompeii (see the Gazetteer).
At Ostia, the Caseggiato dei Triclini (I.12.1), the seat of the collegium of the fabri tignuarii formed ca. A.D.
120, preserves four rooms fit with masonry triclinia off of a central court (Pavolini 1989, 31, 108-109).
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