Roman Orgy Essay, Research Paper
By far the segment most familiar to us of Roman society is probably the upper class. When we hear about life in ancient Rome and the food/cooking, it is the lavish dinner parties, or orgies, given by these people that come to mind. or Perhaps Animal House.
But The Romans didn t build their empire on orgies of the popular concept though The Romans called their orgies convivia. cenue (banquets). or comissationes (revels). As there were no Five-Star restaurants in ancient Rome. all the best cooks belonged to wealthy. aristocratic households, and here is where the gourmet dinner parties and banquets (as well as orgies ) took place.
Because they were the regular form of social contact. the Roman orgies were in the main quite tame and under control. with moderate drinking, an occasional dirty joke. a few classy men. mistresses. or flute-girls AND THEY PLAYED MORE THAN JUST A FLUTE THEY WERE (prostitutes). Some banquets were down right educational. the only titillation being the exchange of ideas and philosophical yearnings. Other banquets were devoted to political or business negotiations. Some Romans also cherished a real ORGY, featuring boys that were used for anal intercourse. prostitutes. naked or near naked slave girls and boys, and indeed, sex acts both speakable and unspeakable.
One important fact of ancient Greek and Roman orgies was that the sex act itself was normally done behind closed door s, Even the insanely lewd emperor Caligula would withdraw to his bedroom for this purpose. If Caligula happened to be on your guest list, definitely don t bring your spouse. He used to lead his fellow diner s wives away between courses, then return to chat pleasantly about the good and bad points of their performance.
Not surprisingly Drinking at such orgies was excessive, and occasionally to the point of fatality. Plutarch tells of a Macedonian drinking wine in which the winner. a certain Promachus. drank three gallons of wine. He won the money. but he died three days later. as did forty-one other contestants in the competition?
All of these excesses belonged, however to the bacchanal or drunken revelry. During the revelry. emperors and slaves, senators. even ladies now and then. take a nibble of each other along with mountains of foodstuff. Occasionally. somebody stagger s over to be sick in a marble basin. The orgiastic carousel inevitably progresses in waves of innumerable and unmentionable sexual acts which take place in innumerable and unmentionable ways. Which I will leave for the sexuality presentation.
Even the dictionary defines orgy as wild, drunken or licentious festivity or revelry.. .any proceedings marked by unbridled indulgence of passions.. .deep religious ritual used in the worship of Bacchus. characterized in later times by wild dancing. singing. and drinking.
Some three thousand years ago ancient Greek women did celebrate the rites of the god Bacchus with an orqia orgy. This ritualistic orgy ranged in its ecstatic scope from tearing wild beasts to pieces and eating them raw to nursing young wolf cubs on their human breasts: from crazed. torchlight processions through the enchanted mountains of Greece to orgasmic and frenzied human sex. As the Greek poet Euripides put it: Bacchus does not ask for sexual control from his women.
The real staples of the Roman orgy were not bodies, alcohol, or sex, but the food, the flowers, wine and their subtly alluring and mystically sweet flavors and bouquets. Cooking. drinking. and eating the fascinating foods of ancient Rome is what its is all about. So hat else happened at the banquets besides what we see on German Commercials starting at 11pm?
Well lets start out with the invitation.You had to be invited to these orgies as Mira stated earlier. Once you responded, you were welcomed with the pleasant tradition for guests to receive garlands of fresh flower s to adorn their legs and heads, Some party goers believed that the wine vapor s would leave them if their heads were warmed by wreaths. thus delaying the onset of drunkenness.
Guests were met at the door by household slaves who removed their sandals and washed their feet. Sometimes togas were taken off or loosened so that the diner could better relax and bulge. An usher next showed the guests to thei
Once the guests had taken their places on the couches. slaves poured plain or perfumed water over their hands. (This was so a guests fragrant fingers will increase their appetite every time he raises his hand to his mouth.) Then gifts of fruits. fish. or wine were given out. To the ancients. a cocktail was something attached to a chicken. Booze hadn t been discovered. so the hor s d oeuvres were placed immediately on the tables by the slaves (ministratores). A libation was poured for the gods and. forthwith. the meal began.
The wise host would serve the best wine first since his guests rapidly marinating taste buds soon grew more tolerant of a less expensive product. In more lavish banquets. various servings of the main course would be interspersed with poetry readings. dice or board games. dramatic or comic performances. philosophical discussions, music, acrobatics. or dancing. Those busy slaves washed the guests hands at each intermission.
Another tradition, a showy entertainment gesture of the ancient Cardians of northeastern Greece. that did not pass down to the Romans:The Cardians trained their war horses to dance at their banquets, tripping the hoof to a certain flute tune. Unfortunately, the enemy learned the tune. tootled it in battle. and the Cardians were trounced when their horses started a merry dance instead of charging.
With dessert and the after-dinner festivities beginning, an arbiter bibendi (referee for drinking) was chosen who decided how strong the wine should be. Almost all ancient wines were diluted with water.
The Romans and Greeks were great games men. with or without sex. The played Geography. naming the places. rivers. arid mountains of the known world in accordance with the letters of the alphabet. there was a dice game too, the number up on a roll was the number of cups of wine you had to then gulp.
Plutarch tells of a Macedonian drinking wine in which the winner a certain Promachus drank three gallons of wine. He won the money, but died three days later. as did the forty=one other contestants in the competition?
Emperor Augustus liked to auction off paintings after his dinners. Not so unusual, except that the paintings were turned to the wall so bidders were in total ignorance.
Songs and riddles were popular too.
USE OTHER SHEET
After all of that fun… it was time to go vomit! To the Vomitorium! Self induced vomiting before or after meals was a common practice. In fact a physician, Celsus, wrote about vomiting in his book on medicine (1st AD) titled They vomit to eat, and eat to vomit. and he gives this advice: Vomiting should not be used for the sake of luxury: sometimes for health it is good practice. I know this by experience. He who wishes to be healthy and reach an old age, however, should not vomit every day.
Another physician and scientist, Galen. advised vomiting before each meal. Quite clearly. one needed a second opinion even in antiquity.
When a guest belched he offended no one because according to philosophers, the highest wisdom was to follow the dictates of nature., but it was a different matter if he let out gas from the other end. Just as it is today. anal flaws was normally a source of humor and/or embarrassment. but a few hosts permitted guests this gaseous liberty. The emperor Claudius passed down an edict permitting the breaking of the Imperial wind at his banquets because a friend of his had almost suffered severe injury trying to avoid such an accident.
Roman diners often engaged in some rather obnoxious or toxious habits! Those dictates of nature included the belching, farting, spitting and even urinating in full view of other guests. some Diners would snap their fingers to summon slaves, who helped them relieve themselves into chamber pots without leaving the table.
The Romans rarely threw away their leftovers. nor did they store them in the undergrounds pits filled with snow which they used for refrigeration. Instead, the leftovers were given to the slaves, or they were given to the guests to take home.
The reason why there are nine people at each table is not just a coincidence. three groups of three, Nine. was to represent the muses. Plus Plato said the size of a party is right so long as it remains one party.