The Greeks, like the Persians, began and ended their feasts with libations of wine, and some idea of the nature of an ancient Greek banquet may be obtained from the following curious account of a dinner given by Achilles in honor of Ulysses: • He cast down a great fleshing block in the firelight, and laid thereon a sheep's back and • fat goat's and a great hog's chine, rich with fat. And Automedon held them for him while Achilles carved. Then he sliced well the meat, and pierced it through with spits. Then, when the fire was burned down and the flames waned, he scattered the embers and laid the spits thereupon, after he had sprinkled them with holy salt. Then when he had roasted the meat and apportioned it in platters, Patroklos took bread and dealt it forth in fair baskets, and Achilles dealt the meat; and he sate himself over against godlike Odysseus and bade his comrade Patroklos to sacrifice to the gods, so he cast the first fruits into the fire. Then they put their hands to the good cheer lying before them.
Later, of course, the Greeks became more delicate eaters and vied with the Romans as to the elaborate character of their feasts. Like the Egyptians and Hebrews they reclined at table and their sumptuous repasts were divided into two courses: the first consisting of fish and meat, accompanied by the vegetables and several hors d'ceuvres or entrees, while' the second course comprised the pastry, fruits and other kinds of dessert.
As soon as the regular meal was finished the tables were removed and the floor was cleaned of all fragments. Other tables were then brought in by the servants, tables covered with salted cakes, cheeses and other foods provoca tive of thirst, as well as the great mixing bowls, the pitchers of water cooled in snow, and the jugs of unmixed wine, for the Greeks loved to drink heavily after eating, and as they drank, to an accompaniment of music, song and dances, young and handsome slaves garlanded their heads and breasts with twining vines and flowers, not, as has sometimes been said, as a sign of festivity, but because the garlands were supposed to cool the forehead and counteract the heady effect of the wines.
Like the Hebrews the Greeks obtained their first lessons in cookery from the Egyptians and they soon put them to good account. The Athenians were particularly apt pupils in the kitchen science and they finally came to excel the rest of Greece in gastronomic achievements just as the modern French excel the rest of Europe in this day. An excellent proof of this assertion is to be found in the circumstance that what is regarded as one of the most valuable of the lost works of antiquity is a didactic poem on gastronomy, written by Archestratus, the intimate friend of one of the sons of Pericles. (This great writer,* says Athenmus, (has trav ersed earth and sea to render himself ac quainted with the best things which they pro duced. He did not, during his travels, inquire concerning the manners of nations, as to which it is useless to inform ourselves, since it is im possible to change them; but he entered the laboratories where the delicacies of the table were prepared, and he held intercourse with none but those who could advance his pleasure. His poem is a treasure of science, every verse is a precept.* Among the great nations of ancient times the Romans were the last to learn the art of cookery. As late as the year 174 B.C. there were neither cooks nor public bakers in Rome, and the people were satisfied with and asked for nothing better than a kind of porridge made of pulse. This in addition to their vege tables and some leguminous fruits formed their principal articles of diet. The Asiatic wars, however, introduced the Romans to the luxuries of the table and,, in a day as it were, Rome, discovering that it had a palate, went mad on the subject of gastronomy. Slaves who could cook, bake or make sweets were brought to Rome in large numbers but, as every man of wealth was eager to purchase them, they brought the highest of prices.
As this was the dawning of the day of Rome's expansion it was not long before her agents began to supply her capital with dainties from all parts of the world. From the far East to the far West whatever seemed delicate of taste or that might help to tempt a nation of palates already craving a new flavor was brought to the cooks in the Roman kitchens. To improve the quality of his cuisine the Em peror Vitellius, one of the most enormous eat ers the world has ever known, sent his legions to every part of the empire to shoot game for him, while entire fleets were employed in doing nothing but catching the fish that were to grace his table. In fact it seemed as if Rome, so long satisfied with the humblest of fare, could not find a sufficient variety of foods to gratify its desire for novelty.
Even as early as Cmar's time, however, the Roman table was liberally provided with a variety of foods sufficient to satisfy almost any appetite. As an example of a feast given in those days one may take the following menu which was served at a pontifical banquet long before the advent of the golden days of Im perial Rome: The first course, which was intended to merely whet the appetite, consisted of conger eels, oysters, two kinds of mussels, thrushes served on asparagus, fat fowls, a ragout of oysters and other shell fish, with bladc and white marrons. The second course included a variety of shell fish and other marine animals, becaficos, haunches of venison, a wild boar and a pasty of becaficos and other birds. The third, and principal course, comprised the udder of svrine, boar's head, a fricassee of fish, a fricas see of sow's udder, ducks of various lcinds, roast fowl, with pastry and Picentine bread_ As the years passed Rome experienced no deterioration in its love for the good this: of the table. In fact, on the other hand, pontifical menu was really a meagre bill of fare as compared to those which were afterward prepared by the Roman coolcs for the delecta tion of the later Casars. As an illustration the following description of a banquet in the time of Nero, which is talcen from Dean Farrar's 'Dar'mess and Dawn,) is admitted by students to be a vivid but not exaggerated picture of a feast in the days of Imperial Rome. At this banquet, which was prepared under the direc tions of Otho, Nero entertained eight guests. The walls of the room °were inlaid with moth er-of-pearl and slabs of ivory. . . . The table was of cedar-wood, and it sparkled with gob lets of gold and silver . . . among which were scattered amber cups. . . . Although it was winter, garlands of exotic roses were pro vided for every guest, and none but the most youthful and beautiful of Otho's slaves were permitted to wait upon them. The supper was no supper of Trimalchio, with its coarse and heavy gluttonies. . . . The oysters were from Richborough; the lampreys were from the fish ponds of a senator who was said to have flung into them more than one slave who had of fended him; the mullet came from Tauro menos; the milk cheese from Carsina. There were two tiny dishes which represented the last and most extravagant devices of Roman gour mets, the one composed of the tongues of nightingales, the other of the brains of Samian peacocks and African flamingoes, of which the iridescent and crimson feathers adorned the silver plates on which they lay. Sea and land had been swept with mad prodigality to furnish every luxury. The wines were of the rarest vintages, and whereas four kinds of wine were thought extravagant in the days of Julius Cmsar, Otho set 80 different sorts before his guests. . . Hot mushrooms alternated with bits of ice,. Perfumes were sprinkled on the hair and feet of the guests, and the amusements that were provided were dancing by Andalusian girls, dice and gambling. Offerings to the gods were not forgotten, however, and these were thrown into the hearth.