1892 The flowing bowl when and what to drink (1892, c1891)

DESCRIPTION OF A ROMAN BANQUET.

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er of joy and mirth. Wine raised the spirits of the youth, and taught age to forget its gray hairs and dis- regard its infirmities.

J3e0criptton of a Homan Banquet.

THE chief meal of the Romans took place in "the evening, and was the last meal of the day. In early morning, before going out, it was the custom to break the fast on bread and salt, eaten with fruit, cheese or olives; about noon followed the luncheon, or prandium; and then about midway between noon and sunset, though often much later, the ccena, which might be prolonged far into the night. The prandium was sometimes more substantial, and comprised fish, eggs, shell-fish and wine; but the proper art of the kitchen was reserved for the ccena. This consisted usually of a variety of entrees, provocative of appetite, followed by two very substantial courses and a des- sert. But the Romans were not at first thus luxurious. In the early time a kind of porridge of pulse formed their principal food, and this, with the addition of vege- tables and leguminous fruits, especially beans, remain- ed the diet of the lower classes at all times. Down to the year 174 B. C., there were neither cooks nor bakers in the city who regularly followed their trades. The Asiatic wars first made the Romans acquainted