Roman Society from Nero to Marcus AureliusDill, Samuel
Philosophy
Roman Society from Nero to Marcus Aurelius
Dill, Samuel
Rome -- Religion; Rome -- Social life and customs
a banquet to the townsfolk.(1318) One other example, out of the many which
crowd the inscriptions, may serve to complete the picture of civic
hospitality. Lucius Cornelius of Surrentum received on his death the
honour of a public funeral by a vote of the Curia. The inscription on his
statue records that, on assuming the garb of manhood, he had provided a
meal of pastry and mead for the populace; when he became aedile, he
exhibited a contest of gladiators; and, twice reaching the honours of the
duumvirate, he repaid the compliment by splendid games and a stately
banquet.(1319)
At these entertainments a gift of money, always graduated according to the
social rank of the guests, decurio, augustal, or plebeian, was generally
added to the fare.(1320) Sometimes the distribution took the form of a
lottery. A high official of Beneventum, who had probably inherited a
fortune from his father, a leading physician of the capital, once
scattered tickets among the crowd, which gave the finder the right to a
present of gold, silver, dress, or other smaller prizes.(1321) Women
appeared sometimes both as hostesses and guests on these occasions. Caesia
Sabina of Veii, on the day on which her husband was entertaining all the
citizens, invited the female relatives of the decurions to dinner, with
the additional luxury of a gratuitous bath.(1322) It is curious to observe
that at the festivities in which women are entertained, the sharp
demarcation of ranks is maintained as strictly as it is among their male
relations. Thus, in a distribution at Volceii, the decurions, augustales,
and vicani, receive respectively thirty, twenty, and twelve sesterces
apiece; while the proportion observed among the ladies of the three social
grades is sixteen, eight, and four. Nor were children, even those of the
slave class, forgotten on these festive occasions. One kindly magnate of
Ferentinum left a fund of about £750 to give an annual feast of pastry and
mead upon his birthday for all the inhabitants with their wives, and at
the same time, 300 pecks of nuts were provided for the children, bond and
free.(1323)
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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