ACCUBATION, the posture of reclining on couches at table, which prevailed among the Jews in and before the time of Christ. We see no reason to think that, as commonly alleged, they borrowed this custom from the Romans after Judea had been subjugated by Pompey. But it is best known to us as a Roman custom, and as such must be described. The dinner-bed, or triclinium, stood in the middle of the dining-room, clear of the walls, and formed three sides of a square which enclosed the table. The open end of the square, with the central hollow, allowed the servants to attend and serve the table. In all the existing representations of the dinner-bed it is shewn to have been higher than the enclosed table. Among the Romans the usual number of guests on each couch was three, making nine for the three couches, equal to the number of the Muses ; but sometimes there were four to each couch. The Greeks went beyond this number (Cie. In Pis. 27); the Jews appear to have had no particular fancy in the matter, and we know that at our Lord's last supper thirteen persons were present. As each guest leaned, during the greater part of the entertainment, on his left elbow, so as to leave the right arm at liberty, and as two or more lay on the same couch, the head of one man was near the breast of the man who lay behind him, and he was, therefore, said 'to lie in the bosom' of the other. This phrase was in use among the Jews (Luke 'mi. 22, 23 ; John i. I S ; xiii. 23), and occurs in such a manner as to shew that to lie next below, or 'in the bosom' of the master of the feast, was considered the most favoured place ; and is shewn by the citations of Kypke and Wetstein (on John xiii. 23) to have been usually assigned to near and dear connections. So it was 'the disciple whom Jesus loved' who 'reclined upon his breast' at the last supper. Lightfoot and others suppose that as, on that occasion, John lay next below Christ, so Peter, who was also highly favoured, lay next above him. This conclusion is founded chiefly on the fact of Peter beckoning to John that he should ask Jesus who was the traitor. But this seems rather to prove the contrary—that Peter was not himself near enough to speak to Jesus. If he had been there, Christ must have lain near his bosom, and he would have been in the best position for whispering to his master, and in the worst for beckoning to John. The circumstance that Christ was able to reach the sop to Judas when he had dipped it, seems to us rather to intimate that he was the one who filled that place. Any person who tries the posture may see that it is not easy to deliver anything but to the person next above or next below. And this is not in contradiction to, but in agreement with, the circumstances. The morsel of favour was likely to be given to one in a favoured place ; and Judas being so trusted and honoured as to be the treasurer and almoner of the whole party, might, as much as any other of the apostles, be expected to fill that place. This also gives more point to the narrative, as it aggravates by contrast the turpitude and baseness of his conduct.
The frame of the dinner-bed was laid with mat tresses variously stuffed, and, latterly, was furnished with rich coverings and hangings. Each person
was usually provided with a cushion or bolster on which to support the upper part of his person in a somewhat raised position ; as the left arm alone could not long without weariness sustain the weight. The lower part of the body being extended diagon ally on the bed, with the feet outward, it is at once perceived how easy it was for 'the woman that was a sinner' to come behind between the dinner-bed and the wall, and anoint the feet of Jesus (Luke vii. 37, 38; John xii. 3).
The dinner-beds were so various at different times, in different places, and under different circumstances, that no one description can apply to them all. Even among the Romans they were at first (after the Punic war) of rude form and materials, and covered with mattresses stuffed with rushes or straw ; mattresses of hair and wool were introduced at a later period. At first the wooden frames were small, low, and round; and it was not until the time of Augustus that square and orna mented couches came into fashion. In the time of Tiberius the most splendid sort were veneered with costly woods or tortoiseshell and were covered with valuable embroideries, the richest of which came from Babylon, and cost large sums (U.K. S. Pomfieii, ii. 88). The Jews perhaps had all these varieties, though it is not likely that the usage was ever carried to such a pitch of luxury as among the Romans; and it is probable that the mass of the people fed in the ancient manner—seated on stools or on the ground. It appears that couches were often so low, that the feet rested on the ground; and that cushions or bolsters were in general use. It would also seem, from the mention of two and of three couches, that the arrangement was more usually square than semicircular or round (Light foot, Hor. Heb. in John xiii. 23).
It is utterly improbable that the Jews derived this custom from the Romans, as is constantly alleged. They certainly knew it as existing among the Persians long before it had been adopted by the Romans themselves (Esth. i. 6; vii. 8) ; and the presumption is that they adopted it while subject to that people. The Greeks also had the usage (from the Persians) before the Romans; and with the Greeks of Syria the Jews had very much inter course. Besides, the Romans adopted the custom from the Carthaginians (Val. Max. xii. 1, 2; Liv. xxviii. 28); and, that they had it, implies that it previously existed in Phoenicia, in the neighbour hood of the Jews. Thus, that in the time of Christ the custom had been lately adopted from the Romans, is the last of various probabilities. It is also unlikely that in so short a time it should have become usual and even (as the Talmud asserts) obligatory to eat the Passover in that posture of indulgent repose, and in no other. All the sacred and profane literature of this subject has been most industriously brought together by Stuckius (Atzttg. Cornrivathim, ii. 34) ; and the works on Pompeii and Herculaneum supply the more recent informa tion. [BANQUETS. ]-J. K.